A Step Away From Falling ➸ h.s. [Needs Editing]

Chapter 21: "First Kiss"

Helen's POV

"Stop, Harry please just stop" I begged breathlessly. I could only see his wide back and the curls of his hair bouncing in every direction while I ran after him. He turned around, revealing his dimpled smile at me and something fluttered inside my stomach. I was getting used to the weird feeling by now, it had been haunting me for a couple of months now. I used to wonder what it meant, the fluttering, but I stopped wondering once I realized it only happened when I was with Harry. Now I preferred not knowing. Harry and I, we had been best friends for seven years now, since we were eight, now we were 15 and whatever I was feeling towards him, it was better to be ignored. "What's wrong slowpoke?" he called me out, stopping to let me catch up. "I'm dead. Dead. So very dead" I forced out between breaths. He chuckled at my theatricals. "I see you very much alive" he commented with a fake yawn. I huffed, not even bothering to respond, which resulted on a smirk settling on his lips. "Jerk" I muttered. "What was that?" he challenged, even though he knew exactly what I said since I was a couple of feet away from him at this point. "You. Are. A. Jerk" I pronounced each word carefully and was met by sizzling green eyes that held my gaze, gluing me to the spot like a magical spell. "I dare you to call me that again" he said calmly, his eyes blazing with what? anger? No, it was something else. Something I can't name because I have never seen it before. "You're a jerk" I said, but it was barely a whisper. He smiled, but not  in a sweet way, more in like a mischievous way. Before I could even begin to guess what was going through his mind, he cut the distance between us, picked me up and threw me over his shoulder. I started fighting, trying to get free but to no avail. "Harry, put me down in this instant!" I demanded. I was met by silence and the rumbling of his body which meant he was laughing. I started kicking and punching blindly but he ignored my frail attempts and kept walking with me on his shoulder. I could see we were at the neighborhood park, then I was distracted by the fact that Harry's hand was holding my waist, to keep me in place while his other arm held my legs so I wouldn't kick him in the face. I was wearing shorts, so the contact of his hand against my skin felt very warm. I shook my head and decided it was better to not over-think stuff. Then an idea hit me. How are you going to like this, Styles? I sunk my teeth on the skin on top of his left shoulder blade and Harry cursed under his breath before swinging me off him. He didn't let me go though, he pushed his body against mine, making me tumble down on the grass, with him on top of me holding both my arms at my sides. "Did you just bit me?" he asked in disbelief. His curly hair fell on his face, obscuring my view of his hypnotizing eyes. "Yeah. But you brought it upon yourself" I mumbled. "Did I really?" he asked mockingly. I just rolled my eyes at him. "How would you like it if I bit you?" he added. I had to control the shiver that almost went through me at the thought. "You wouldn't do that" I stated, almost to try to convince myself more than him. "You'd be surprised at the things I would do" he said, his voice deeper, huskier. This time i did shiver, not able to control it. Stupid teenage hormones! Then I don't know what happened. One moment I was just holding my breath because I had no idea what to say or how to respond to what he said, and the next, his mouth was on mine. I just went along with it because really, what was I supposed to do? Harry's hold on my arms loosened  but I no longer cared of being released, I was too ensnared on our innocent kiss to think of anything else. The kiss was soft and kind of sloppy, thanks to my lack of experience, but it still felt like heaven to me, and Harry wasn't complaining. His hand brushed mine for a moment before intertwining my fingers with his. I couldn't think of a reason why we should stop, or why I thought it was a bad idea to have feelings for Harry. It was all clear to me; I was in love with my best friend. When we broke off the kiss, he didn't just pull away, he lingered close to my face and then bit my lip playfully. I winced in surprised, but it was the good kind of pain. "I said you'd be surprised at what I would do" he said  his voice sounding deep and breathless, just like I felt. I giggled and he smiled. Then he cluelessly shattered my heart when he told me we should pretend that the moment never happened, because best friend's are not supposed to kiss like that.