Cheshire Cat [[EDITING]]

3

"So, do you always bring this many people shopping with you?" I joke trying to lighten the mood. He flashes me a smile, and then looks back at the road.

"Sometimes I need multiple opinions." He manages to speak through his curled up lips.

"Fair point." I shrug and look to the road ahead of us trying to keep my eyes off him for more than five seconds.

"Look I know this is weird but I can explain you see it has to do with my job." He points to the paparazzi his tone has now shifted to serious. "I didn't think I could hide it, but you ran into me and I saw you start to bleed my immediate reaction was to make sure you were okay." He glances over to me then back to the road again, eyeing my reaction I am assuming.

"Then when we were in the back, for those ten minutes I forgot about them all. I felt like, normal like it was just me and you hanging out, not a bunch of paps trying to get my business." He uses his large hands to elaborate his words as if to give a deeper explanation and I watch intently as he does his best to defend the situation.

I could tell there were mixed emotions on our surrounding situation. I am not sure if I should mention that I recognize him, that I am a fan even. Or that I will be attending a couple of his shows this weekend. Maybe now wasn't the best time.

My heart aches for him. I didn't realize how tough this was for him. The side of him seen in the press seems to handle it all so well, but here with me I see the impact full force. I reach my hand over and rest it on his arm spread across the center console. I can see the smile tugging on the edges of his lips.

I am not the kind of person that is good at comforting people, although all my friends always ask me for help. I usually try my best but feel as if I fail every time. Right now in this moment I am stuck. I have to think on my feet for a response but nothing is coming out. I look out the window to see a few pretty determined paparazzi trailing behind us.

"So is it weird? You know, driving on left side of the car compared to the right in England?" I smile at him.

I decide it was best to change the subject. I understand where he is coming from and I don't want to make him feel like he needs to explain himself to me. I want him to relax and feel at ease with me, how I felt with him.

"What is with Americans and asking that?" he laughs "It's basically the same concept, you see there is a break, a gas pedal and sometimes there is a third pedal called a clutch." He teases.

"Hey! Excuse me I didn't read the book 'What not to ask people with accent.'" I say in my best defensive voice but crack with a small laugh at the end.

"Everything is the same just mirrored. The cars don't float or anything." He says through a half laugh.

"I get the vibe that you have been asked a lot of ridiculous questions." I say, the smile on my face is so big my cheeks are sore.

"Yeah but it's cute when you do it." He admires. My stomach does a flip at the sound of his words.

We continue our light banter for the remainder of the ride; his hand would occasionally graze my skin, setting it aflame. I could feel my heart beating in my stomach I was that tense, but I loved the surge of adrenaline it gave me. He asked what I was in town for and I explained to him that it was my friend's birthday so we were looking to celebrate. I failed to mention attending his shows because I wanted to keep the mood light, I can tell him later.

We pull into the parking lot of the hotel we seem to be sharing and he expertly maneuvers through the crowd finding a space to park. He jets to my door opening it for me then placing his hand on my mid back again, and led me through the mess of people who were now going crazy especially once they noticed Harry with an unknown woman. We quickly reach the door where security is waiting to escort us to an elevator almost directly inside the entrance. The crowd was not there earlier when we checked in; it is amazing how fast word can travel.