blind. 2 | styles (hariana)

XVI. We Keep This Love In A Photograph

~ Ariana ~

Feeling inexplicably happy, I buried my face into his neck again. His soft hands came to rest along my lower back and they held me close to him as I murmured through my embarrassment about how much I missed him.

He only chuckled and laid the situation to rest as his lips relaxed against my forehead.

"It's okay baby." His chest rumbled as he spoke.

His words remained as gentle vibrations against my skin. I wanted to remain in his arms forever, or at least long enough for my worries to wash away. But then I remembered that I was only clad in a towel which had fallen already, and so I pulled away and held my towel tighter. Of course, my cheeks were only mildly blushing.

"I gotta go change." I told him, and his eyes softened as he nodded understandingly.

As I made my way to my bedroom, Harry trailed behind me.

"So I called the facility earlier to have you signed out early so I can surprise you and take you out, but then they told me that you didn't attend the afternoon session. I sort of figured that you would be here." Harry chuckled.

"I saw no point in staying. I'm progressing pretty well, an afternoon off wouldn't hurt. Plus I really wanted to see you. Of course, I thought you'd be back later. I wanted to prepare myself." I told him as I entered my bedroom.

I expected Harry to follow after me, but he remained in the doorway with a thoughtful look on his face. His hands rested on either side of the frame and he leaned forward as if he was contemplating going in or not.

"Why do you need to prepare yourself?" He asked.

"I don't know," I shrugged, and continued. "I didn't look, kept together today. I was wearing my food pants and I wasn't wearing any makeup; I just felt, yucky. I didn't want you seeing me like that." I said.

I glanced at Harry who remained quiet after my revelation. Slowly, he bowed his head until his eyes met his feet which were glued in their spot. Then tryingly, he placed one foot into my bedroom. He raised his head again and his inquisitive eyes met my own. I nodded and calmly, he walked further into my room and approached me.

"What?" I asked him, sighing deeply as his hands found their place on my waist again.

"When we were dating, you never cared what you looked like around me."

"That's different." I muttered. "Things are different now."

"How, because you can see? Because we're not together anymore?"

I couldn't meet his intense stare, I was afraid of what I was going to see.

"Look at me Ariana."

I shook my head.

"Ariana, please. Look at me."

His pleading ceased to whispers and finally I managed to look up at him. His expression softened as his lips pursed as his eyes studied me closely. I was still very much naked under my towel but I felt even more naked under his stare that ripped through the barriers I was putting up relentlessly.

"Nothing has changed. I'm still me and you're still you. And the 'me' that's standing in front of you knows you look beautiful no matter what you look like. I know it sounds overused, but that's how I always saw you. You could be caked in makeup and wear the sultriest dress, or be like this– naked and natural; I will still know you are the most beautiful girl in the world."

I had a knack for knowing when someone was lying. I read countless times in books that eyes were the window to the soul. It was a saying often used to describe the judgement between characters. The eyes of the other were like a looking glass, which we were allowed a glimpse through if we were lucky. Looking into Harry's enticing greens, I understood that what he was saying was true to him, but to me I felt otherwise.