DEVIANT [H.S.]

32 - Safe

Things are more quiet here than I imagined. Even the clinking of vials together in my hands is more silent than I anticipated.

We're back up in the lab. Harry left into my room to go lay down and rest. He offered for me to join him, but the faster I figure out what is in these vials, the more time I will have with him.

Besides, he needs to sleep. He just regained his memory back; I don't want him to feel strained to stay up to be with me.

It feels weird yet so normal to be standing here again. I have learned to love working in the lab. I love putting my mind to work.

But there's a problem: my mind likes to wander off towards the man currently asleep in my bed.

The whole picture, task versus him, is like a sunset. The task is the sun, and he is the sky. I should be focusing on the sun, but the shades of the sky tend to sneak in and shift my attention to the gradients of colors.

I set the vials in their labeled positions on the test tube rack, knowing that I won't be able to focus completely on testing the vials with Harry in the other room. I slip off my gloves and put them aside, shrugging off my coat before heading out.

My hands begin to feel clammy and my knees start to shake. Am I really this nervous? I shouldn't be. I've been alone with Harry before.

This time, however, we're absolutely on our own. It's just us. We're each other's question and answer.

And I have never been more nervous to walk into my own room than right now.

I open my door slowly and find Harry stretched out over my bed, his shoes kicked off at the end of the bed and his infamous leather jacket on the floor beside him.

I chuckle to myself and stride over to the piece of clothing, picking it up and walking over to my closet to hang it up. I figure Harry will want to stay in the same space as me while we're here, so I decide to head down to his room and gather some of his belongings.

I roll my bandaged shoulder back a few times, massaging out a few kinks then carefully exiting my room without making too much noise to wake Harry up.

I don't even want to think about how much sleep I've missed out on; I know it's been a while since I've gotten a solid night's worth.

Even though we're alone in the compound, I still jog down the stairs and run to Harry's quarters. There's always a constant nagging to be efficient since I've been with the Coalition.

I push my thoughts aside and twist the doorknob of Harry's quarters and walk in, observing the room that once used to be ours. Both our beds are still in here, reminding me of my first days in the compound.

Everything looks the same; the bookcase at the foot of his bed, posters on his wall, the clock on the nightstand. I carry myself over to his closet and drag out a large duffel bag and start to take clothes off their racks and stuff them in.

Before I leave the room, I don't forget to grab his battered copy of The Hunger Games trilogy from his bookshelf.

When I return back to my room, Harry's eyes are open and staring at the ceiling. His stare shoots to me and he sits up, his face reading concern.

"Where did you go?" He asks me, standing to his feet and walking towards me.

"I brought you some clothes and things, just so you wouldn't have to keep going back and forth, you know? That's all," I say, biting my tongue before I have the chance to ramble on more.

My nervous side is beginning to seep out and I don't want Harry to notice. But the look in his eyes tells me otherwise.

Harry slides the duffel bag off of my shoulder, his hand gliding back up my arm after the bag hits the ground with a soft thud. "You didn't have to do that for me," He counters.