Light Me Up [HS AU]

21

"Are you sure, you're okay with this?" I was applying a layer of mascara to my lashes in the ladies room at work, while Morgan sat on the counter and followed my every move. 

"Mm-hmm, I'm sure. He needs to move on and I trust you to be gentle with him," she said and tucked a strand of my hair behind my ear. Harry had asked me out straight after work, an informal date with some food and then a movie or a walk somewhere. It was perfectly innocent and might as well just have been a friendly get-together. But my nerves were out of this world. I didn't want to have any expectations or for him to think I was completely head-over-heels in love with him, because I wasn't. I didn't really know how I felt, except for the fact that he made me nervous, my heart was racing when he was around and that I very much wanted to kiss him again. 

"You look pretty," Morgan interrupted my train of thought and smiled at me. 

"Really?" I said shyly, feeling insecure about my choice of a white shirt tied in the front paired with a pair of tight-fitting jeans. It was casual, but not sweatpants and a t-shirt-casual. 

"Very," Morgan smiled and opened another button from the top. I chuckled and tied the knot a little tighter, allowing a peek at my exposed midriff, which made Morgan wag her eyebrows at me. "Listen, he's definitely doing better," she started, "but he's still struggling with the whole commitment issue. I know he wants to change, and he wants to be serious about someone again, but I'm just not 100% sure he knows that yet. But the way he acts around you is new, well not new to Harry pre-Willow, but since she passed away."

I nodded and felt a new wave of nerves sneaking up on me. What if I wasn't the right choice at all? I had my own baggage and there was always the risk that he found out how much that baggage might weigh me down and bring him straight to the bottom along with me. 

"Don't be nervous, P," Morgan said and cupped my cheek. "It's just pizza and a walk on the pier." I nodded with a nervous exhale, making her laugh softly at me. "I only have one rule for you..." 

"What's that?" I asked while packing my makeup into my bag. 

"Don't let him go too far too fast." She looked genuinely concerned for her brother, and I hugged her as I promised I wouldn't. "Not just for his sake, but for yours too," she mumbled into my hair. "A whirlwind romance often ends as abruptly as it begins, leaving intense memories and emotions behind. I don't think any of you will be okay after that." 

She wasn't just looking out for her brother, but for me too. She didn't want either of us hurt, and I loved her for it. 

***

Morgan insisted on walking me down to the foyer and handing me over to Harry like a dad seeing off his little girl, making sure her date knows the rules and her curfew. 

Harry was waiting, swiping on his phone, while a lot of the people who passed by took a second look at him. A couple of female colleagues of ours spotted him and took second and third glances, before they walked through the revolving door, exiting the building while giggling. You couldn't blame them; he was leaning against a pillar, wearing a pair of dark jeans, a white t-shirt with a black, open shirt over. His hair framed his face perfectly, and I imagined that every single woman, who gave him second and third glances would have loved to touch those curls. Morgan marched me over, holding my hand and Harry looked up and smiled. At first at her, then at the way she was clutching my hand. And finally he smiled at me, making everything else disappear. His smile was unreal when his dimples appeared, underlining the charm of his already captivating expression.