Beneath Your Beautiful (H.S. AU)

Chapter 25

Lying on the couch with Harry's arms around my waist made me feel whole for once in a very long time. For as long as I could remember something seemed to be missing, but in that moment, it suddenly didn't feel like it anymore. I was uncertain of what the two of us were, but I was savoring every minute of our time together knowing that good things in my life always came to an end. Being around Harry felt strange and foreign. Yet, feeling him close to me made me feel safe, protected, like nothing else mattered, which was something I had never felt before. I had not even felt this way with Niall how bad that may have sounded. Niall and I had always mostly just been friends, though I loved him dearly and still did. But our relationship was built on a need. Perhaps, Harry and I's was too but it was in a different way. Niall had wanted to be there for me, helping me every step of the way just like I needed him to. Harry on the other hand had popped up when I least expected it, bringing me over the edge and taking me on this huge roller coaster. It hadn't been an easy road with him and I guessed that was exactly what I needed. Life wasn't easy and I needed to see that with my own eyes. Being around Niall had been too easy, and I really needed the eye-opener that was life. I knew it was not fair on Niall, which was why I was happy that I had ended things with him. I still missed him though. But I knew for sure that what I was feeling with Harry was something I'd never felt before.

"You know I should really go to the gym. My father will kill me if I don't start showing up for practice," Harry said breaking the comfortable silence.

"Then why don't you?" I wondered. I really didn't want him to get another black eye. It truly pained me to know what his dad was doing to him.

"Because I like staying here with you more," he whispered in my ear and shivers ran down my spine. I turned around on the couch and looked at him. He brushed a strain of hair behind my ear and looked at me with such intensity that I was certain he would want to eat me and even if he did I would let him. "I don't want you to get hurt again," I confessed and looked down. I really worried about him and knowing what his dad did to him truly pained me.

Harry let out a chuckle and tilted my head up. "You're worth it though. Besides I'm a big boy, I can take care of myself."

"I just wish you didn't have to," I confessed, and he planted a kiss on my forehead.

"You know you're really cute when you worry. But really there is no need to." He smiled. "Besides right now he has no idea where I am. It won't really be possible for him to lay a hand on me."

"I guess you're right."

Honestly, I was happy he didn't want to leave because I surely didn't want him to. Being alone in the apartment was not only lonely, but it also reminded me of all the horrible things in my life I was trying my hardest to block out. I could really use some distraction.

He pressed his lips against mine, taking me by surprise. I placed my right hand in his hair as he wrapped his hands around my waist making sure I wouldn't fall down from the couch. Tingles ran through my lips, and I felt my whole body getting warmer. Sparks ignited and I just wanted to stay here with him like this all day every day. One of his hands ran up under my shirt and though I liked his touch it also reminded me of a certain someone I had tried my hardest to escape from. In the moment it became too much for me. Unfortunately, he always had a way of coming back into my life. "Harry," I breathed out pulling away from him, trying my hardest not to hurt his feelings.

His hand left the inside of my shirt and found its way back to my waist. "What? Did I do something?" He asked, and I shook my head though it wasn't exactly the truth.

"What are we?" I asked needing to know. I couldn't continue the road we were heading down without knowing if he could see me in his future. If he couldn't  we needed to stop everything before my feelings for him grew and I ended up hurt. I wasn't sure if kissing friends was normal for him, but it surely wasn't normal for me.