Wings

Chapter 12: Small Moments

Harry's lips were soft and warm, moving against mine sweetly. I had never kissed a boy before, never had the time or opportunity for it, but despite my inexperience I was sure he was a good kisser.

One of Harry's large hands came to my face, cupping my cheek, the other around my back to bring me to him more. I instinctively had one of my own hands on his shoulder, the other on his upper arm.

It wasnt short nor long but after a time we pulled apart. Harry pressed his forehead to mine as I dropped my eyes, probably blushing slightly. With his hand still on my cheek, his thumb worked back and forth slightly.

"Kari?" He asked quietly. I realized that he seemed to use my name a lot, when he was pretending I existed.

"Yah?"

"Look at me please." I obliged, meeting his green gaze that made me melt.

"I'm so sorry," Harry said. "I'm sorry that happened to you and I'm sorry you had to relive it."

I nodded, showing I had heard his words but not knowing how to respond.

"But that's why we're here," Harry added a moment later. "The Recovery exists so that more people don't have to experience this, don't have to know this heartbreak, this horror. We have to make it end."

Harry's words provoked a thought in my mind for the first time. What was his story? How had he become a part of all this? His words had included him in people who had experienced loss as I had. Whom had he lost? And dare I ask?

Before I could decide if I should, Harry retired the conversation, turning away and pulling me back to him, my cheek against his shoulder as we sat side by side.

It was silent for a time, just us divulging in one another's presence. Then Harry began to hum a bit, his chest resonating deeply as he did.

"What are you humming?" I asked him. It was no melody I knew but it ha also been a very very long time since I had heard any sort of music.

"Something Ed wrote," Harry told me. "He writes music a lot, it's amazing stuff."

"I didn't know that." We were speaking so quietly as though afraid of the echo of our voices in the empty space.

"Yah he has a guitar, probably one of the only ones in the city at this point. I think Niall can play too." Wow these boys were full of surprises.

More silence. We were really good at comfortable silence. And then Harry spoke.

"What brought you here tonight?" He asked.

"I was craving space," I told him. I can't stand low ceilings.

"Oh, I see." There was a note of disappointment in his voice that I couldn't place. Why was he upset by that?

"It's just hard for me being inside all the time," I elaborated. "I'm used to outside all the time."

"What was day to day like for you before?" Harry asked.

"Scary. I was on my own. I would wake up before dawn most days and I would basically spend all my time looking for food and supplies. I had nothing, literally, just the clothes on my back and a few things in my 'home.'" I did air quotes to show Harry how unlike a home my dwelling had been. "It was all about survival, in the moment. I couldn't plan for tomorrow because I didn't even know if I would make it through today. Winter was the worst, if I got sick it was terrifying. Being weak and having to try and keep up the routine. There was no one else to find food, I had to go anyways or I would starve but I would get so weak and so numb from the cold that going out could have killed me too." I was so glad to be here now, it was a place I didn't have to worry each day, wake up with uncertainty for life. I already felt more comfortable here than I had walking the streets of London.

"That sounds terrible," Harry said. "I'm glad you're here now, even if it is late."

"It's not late, I'm here and alive," I told him. "But a little sooner probably could have saved me some trouble." I had a joking tone in my voice about the last bit, teasing.

"Are you missing your home at all?" I knew he meant my hole-in-the-wall despite the fact that my brain automatically jumped to the cottage my family had inhabited.

"Barely. A tiny part of me is thinking about the stuffed bear I had that sat in my blankets. But I don't miss anything about that lifestyle, not that I've found yet."

"Did your bear have a name?"

"Well I found him in a little London apartment years ago and he had a sweater on with 'Charlie' knitted into it so I just called him Charlie."

"Cute," Harry replied, a small smile in his voice.

We settled into more comfortable silence and I leaned into him, this time Harry taking to it naturally and not hesitating. My eyelids felt heavy, it must have been past eleven or twelve in the evening, and they slipped shut unawares to me.

**Sorry about the different formatting and any spelling errors. I have been on the road this whole weekend and had to type on my phone so I will go back and clean this up and change the formatting to my regular look. The road trip is also my excuse for it being a bit shorter (which is no real excuse, I'm sorry!) Please vote if you enjoyed this chapter and comment to leave me feedback! Love any and all readers of Wings, you guys are helping my dreams come true! Reads mean more than you think to me :) **

**I fixed the formatting now so ignore that bit of my note haha**