Breaking The Ice

Free

TJ's POV

The ride was silent.

I just stared out the windshield at the road in front of us as it carried us further and further away from my brother, the guilt for leaving him behind eating at me as I wondered if I'd just said goodbye to him for the last time.

I wondered if I should have fought harder, strapped myself to his bed and refused to leave, but I knew none of it would have mattered. If my mother wanted to keep me from him she would stop at nothing, and the last thing I wanted was to cause a scene while he was trying to recover. Still, the idea of him waking up and me not being there absolutely broke my heart.

I knew Harry was worried about me. I could tell by the way he would periodically look over at me, the sympathetic look on his face telling me he was desperate to comfort me, but he had no idea what to say. He knew me well enough to know I just needed to think, sort it out in my own head, so he just held my hand as we drove, gently stroking his thumb over mine to remind me he was there.

"I'll be right back." He said as he pulled into the gas station and got out, and I just took a deep breath and stared out the window at a group of drunk guys hanging out in the parking lot.

One of them reminded me of Louis, being obnoxiously loud as he told some joke, the rest of them finding him hilarious as they laughed. I missed him, and all of the stupid little things he did that irritated me, and I just closed my eyes and tried to ignore the unrelenting ache in my chest.

Harry finished pumping the gas and got back in the car, handing me a pack of skittles and putting a tea in the cupholder before he started to put his seatbelt back on. I stared down at the skittles, feeling overcome with emotion as I held the red package in my hand, before I looked up to see him watching me worriedly when he noticed I wasn't eating them.

"I just...thought you might want some." He sighed. "I'm sorry, I just fucking hate that I can't do anything to fix this, to make it any better."

I looked over at him, the helplessness he felt written all over his face, and without really thinking I leaned over and pressed my lips to his cheek. I felt something leave him as he closed his eyes and sighed, almost seeming relieved, as I pulled away and looked at him. His beautiful green eyes studied my face, and I couldn't help but acknowledge the fact that just looking at him made everything seem better.

Just being there with him, having him there to bring me skittles and tea, trying to make sure I was okay, made me feel something I'd never really felt before.

I felt taken care of.

And I adored him for it.

"Thank you, Harry." I said softly, reaching up to brush the hair off his forehead.

"I just want you to be okay...I need you to be okay, Teej." He said, lacing our fingers together and bringing the back of my hand up to his mouth to press his lips to it.

"Well...some idiot once told me that tea makes everything better." I smiled, leaning forward to grab the cup out of the holder.

"I mean...he sounds more like a genius." He said, a soft smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. "He's probably ridiculously attractive too."

"Meh, he's alright." I shrugged, settling back into my seat as Harry chuckled.

He pulled back out onto the road, both of us shooting each other a small smile, before we fell back into a comfortable silence for the rest of the drive. We got back into town, a few blocks from school, before Harry seemingly came up with an idea.

"Hey, it's still Thanksgiving break." He said, thinking out loud.

"Nothin gets past you." I laughed lightly and he rolled his eyes at me.