Change My Mind

20 - Butterflies and heartbeats

Harry found my place incredibly interesting. He asked many questions and I tried my best to answer all of them. We were taking things really slowly, which I was happy with. He just held my hand, grazed against me and stood close to me looking at things on my shelves and walls. His smile hit me like a suckerpunch, and I blushed when he looked at me and his gaze drifted to my lips. He laughed heartily at my small anecdotes and it struck me that within his first twenty minutes in my apartment, I felt far more comfortable than I usually did with anyone except for my family and closest friends.

I showed him to my bedroom, and felt my pulse skyrocket. "So this is my bedroom," I said and couldn't look at him. I had a full size bed, a white metal bed frame with just enough room for two. The bed was made with crisp, white bed linen and lots of pillows. My mom had knitted me a bed throw in a mint green shade, which laid across the foot of the bed. There was a small vanity in the corner and a dresser for all of my clothes. Just like in my living room I had lots of plants and pictures and posters on my walls. Harry walked around the room and looked at everything like he was at an art museum. 

"Who drew this?" He pointed towards a small pencil drawing of a ladybug. 

"I did," I said and scrunched my nose. "I draw a lot. It's very relaxing." 

He smiled and looked closer at it. He tilted his head and really studied it, which made me chuckle at him. "What?" he asked with an amused expression. 

"It's just a drawing of a ladybug. You look like you're at the Louvre looking at the Mona Lisa." I leaned against my dresser and waited for him to be done studying my walls.

"I think it's really beautiful," he said and smiled. "Do you have other drawings?" 

I nodded and gestured towards my bookshelf. "All the black sketchbooks on that shelf are full of the stuff I've doodled. Mostly nature; bugs, trees, flowers, plants, animals. But there's a bit of everything."

"Will you show me some of them?" He asked as he walked over and ran his finger along the line of black sketchbook spines. I gave him a coy smile and nodded softly.

***

When we finished the grand tour of my tiny home, I suggested he could sit on the couch and relax, while I cooked dinner.

"Oh I'll help," he said and washed his hands in the kitchen sink. I handed him a towel and he smiled as he took it. He handed it back to me, but when I grabbed it, he pulled it back making me giggle. A short round of tug war ended when he let go of the towel and placed his hand on my lower back, pulling me closer. There were inches between our faces and my breathing became slightly unsteady. He wetted his lips and kept his eyes on mine to determine if I was uncomfortable with the sudden closeness. I wasn't in any way, it was actually quite a relief that he made the first move, because I was aching to kiss him. His hand on my lower back, was tracing circles on the fabric of my top, while he looked questioningly at me. 

"Can I..." He started, but I interrupted him by kissing him before he could finish his question. There was a familiarity with kissing him by now, it felt like something I had missed, but finally found again. Even though my heart was beating fast, and I was slightly nervous, I found myself relaxing into him very quickly. He pulled back before things got too heated, but kept his arms wrapped around me. 

"Your water's boiling," he said and smiled cheekily. "Felt like it was getting a little hot in here," he fanned his face to cool down. I chuckled at him, and shut off the heat on the stove. "What can I do?" He asked and rolled up the sleeves of his shirt. 

"You can slice and fry the garlic maybe?" I said as I got the freshly made pasta that had been resting until now. 

He looked surprised at the pasta drying rack filled with freshly made spaghetti. "Did you make pasta from scratch?" He looked impressed.