(DISCONTINUED)

○ 3.5 :: Heart Warmer ○

Dedicated harrysnirvana because she always used to complain about the cliffhangers :P

[[sorry, it was literally just laziness and lack of inspiration :/]]

*

It only took me five minutes of steely silence for me to crack.

"Are you mad at me?"

Harry momentarily looked over at me, surprise written on his features. "What? Why would I be mad at you?"

I shifted uncomfortably in my seat, diverting my attention to a suddenly very interesting patch of rust on the car in front of us. "Well... you haven't said much since we left my dorm," I stated uneasily. "And..." I purposely glanced down at the rucksack full of his books that sat between us, having been specifically put there by him.

Harry followed my line of vision, his lips parting and guilt flooding his face when the pieces fell into place in his mind. "Oh! I-I didn't..." Keeping an eye on the red traffic light, he picked up the bag and placed it in his lap, then patted the middle seat next to him. "C'mere," he mumbled. With flushed cheeks, I undid my seatbelt and shuffled across the leather seat without meeting his eyes. My own eyes followed the rucksack's trail as Harry carelessly threw it to the other side of the cab where I'd been previously sat, and they stayed on it, leaning forlornly against the door, even when Harry pushed down on the accelerator as the light turned green. Had I looked like that when I'd been pathetically moping? All slumped and forgotten and sad?

I had been stressed for absolutely not reason; he hadn't even been mad. Did I seem really clingy now? My shame deepened the more I thought about it. "You didn't have to-"

"Hey," Harry said, cutting me off before I could say any more by letting his hand fall to my thigh. I peeked up at him, finding him doing his best to look at me whilst paying attention to the road. When he caught me looking, he sent me a gentle grin, and in return I offered him a small, hesitant smile. "It's my fault," he continued. "I didn't think about how my actions could've come across, and I'm sorry."

I quickly shook my head. "No, I read too much into it and-"

"Pumpkin," Harry chuckled, leaning down so his face was a few mere inches from mine. "Let me take the blame for this one, yeah?"

I gulped at his proximity and dropped my eyes to my lap, a rather bright shade of red spreading across my cheeks. "Okay."

He chuckled some more, briefly kissed my temple, then returned his attention to the road just as somebody behind us beeped to tell him to move forward. I was sure he rolled his eyes, but otherwise he didn't react, which was a little surprising in itself. It seemed like everything and nothing Harry did surprised me anymore. Of course, it was surprising to find out new aspects of him that made me fall just a little bit more - like his ability to sing, cook, and write - but it was no longer surprising to find out that he had a few tricks up his sleeve. I had almost come to just expect the unexpected. One of these unexpected things was Harry's careful driving. This wasn't the first time he had driven me anywhere, but I found myself a lot more aware of it this time around, since we weren't exactly busy talking like the last time. He was one of those people who waited until the lights switched to green instead of driving off on amber; one of those few people who always used their indicators (a skill that my father had often rather explicitly expressed that a lot of people lacked); one of those people who slowed for every turn and never purposely tried to cut anybody off; one of those people who stayed firmly within the speed limit, without driving annoying slow. I felt extremely safe with him behind the wheel, and the show wasn't too bad either. The only disadvantage to sitting next to Harry rather than at the other end of the seat was that it was difficult to get a good, full view without him noticing. I loved watching the look of concentration on his face: the gentle frown, the way he would occasionally chew on his lip, or the way his tongue was always darting out to wet them. I secretly loved watching the muscles in his jaw tick, or the muscles in his arms tense as he switched gears or turned the steering wheel. And especially loved the way he kept his hand on my leg whenever he could.