book club

twenty-one || foreshadow

(This chapter will be in Harry's point if view because I wanted to give you guys another perspective. Hope you like it)

Lea's eyes are shut, moving restlessly back and forth under the bluish skin of her lids. The long eyelashes that fan over the tops of her cheeks are wispy and dark, her pink lips set in an adorable pout. My arm has since fallen asleep underneath the weight of her body, but I would never wake her to relieve myself. I would lose a limb for her. It suddenly occurred to me that, if given the opportunity, I would, without a doubt, risk my life for Lea Golding, my Hazel Grace in the flesh.

She shifts next to my chest, light colored eyes fluttering open to look at me

"Why do I always fall asleep?" She mumbles, rubbing her eyes with her knuckles.

I pull the covers over her chest and shrug. "I don't know, perhaps you're half sloth."

She laughs and throws her arms around my neck, giving me the best reward; Her smile.

Lea rolls to her side, pressing her back to my chest. "I still haven't finished that book." She says.

I brush the hair from her elegant neck. "You're going to cry buckets." I nod.

"Like you?" She peers at me over her shoulder, a touch of a smile gracing her lips.

Nope, I don't cry." I say, pressing my lips to the shell of her ear.

Her eyes soften with pity.

"You and I both know that isn't true."

I try to ignore her gaze. I try to ignore the dull ache in my side. I try to ignore the green and purple tinge of the skin over my ribs. I try so hard that my head begins to throb.

"I saw the bruise. Why didn't you tell me?" Her eyes are wide as glossy.

"I didn't want you to worry. My dad does it all the time, it's okay."

I try to press a kiss to her lips but she turns her head and it lands on her cheek.

"No, it isn't okay," She audibly swallows. "It's wrong and you don't deserve it."

She begins to cry softly, burying her face in my bare chest. Her tears glisten on the taut skin of my bare chest, the sheen of saline glazing the tattoos under my collarbones.

"Hey, don't cry. I'm fine, baby." I bury my fingers in her hair and nuzzle my nose in her neck.

"I'm not crying, my eyes are perspiring. God, stop being mean to me." She mutters.

I can't help but chuckle at Lea, she's crazy and I'm so in love with her.

"It's alright," I whisper. "We're going to be alright."

I say we, because without her I am not a being. Without her there is no 'I', there is no 'me'. It's us, or it's nothing at all.

"I would run away with you," I tell her, gently running my thumb over her cheek. "I would take you away from here and we'd live in the country somewhere great, and we would stay up all night with the windows open, in a tent made of blankets, and the only light we would need would be the sparkle of the stars."

She grins at me, her skin seemingly brightening about two shades. She's beautiful, god damn it, she's exquisite.

"That sounds nice." She brushes her small nose against mine and pushes the hair up from my forehead.

"We could do that now, you know." I say.

She frowns. "Run away?"

I shake my head and smile. "We could do that too, but I meant we could make a duvet fort."

She scrambles to her feet, jabbering on and on in excitement as she pulls the blankets off my legs and fashions the corners to hang over a small space in the corner, right below the window.

She's still half naked, only in her undergarments as she rushes around the room.

"Oh Harry," She exclaims. "Come look at the stars, bright, like you said."

I follow her to the window, fastening my arm around her waist and kissing the top of her head.

"Wow." I breath.

Lea points to the sky. "Those stars sorta look like a heart. The way they're clustered..."

I squint at the sky. It does look like a heart, all of the stars are aligned properly except for one, the flaw, the fault.

"Yeah, but do you see that one?" I ask.

She leans forward and frowns. "It almost looked like a heart. But there's just that one, that one fault."

"That fault, the fault in our stars."

We spend the rest of the night sitting knee to knee in the blanket fort. Lea's eyes never part from mine, she makes constant eye contact the three hours we are under the duvet and it awakens the butterflies in my stomach, and they flutter more than they did they day I met her.

"You know," She begins to chew on a square of watermelon gum. "The day we met seems so long ago."

I nod and pick at her beige carpet. "I know, it's crazy huh?" I reply.

She thoughtfully tilts her head. "Yeah, it is crazy. You're crazy too."

I laugh. "I'm crazy and you're out of your mind."

"I'd like to think we make a pretty good couple then." Lea grins.

Me too, Lea.

Me too.