sign {h.s.}

chapitre trente-trois

"I DON'T WANT to go out tonight." Coming from my lips, the words sound unceremonious to start but the effect is heightened when Harry hardly looks up from his laptop to agree with me. He'd secured the majority of our plans for Paris, but still spends his free time glued to a screen in order to ensure that everything is as it should be.

"D'you wanna stay here?" The words leave his lips in one long slur. He hardly breaks his concentration from the computer screen as he speaks them.

"Yeah."

"Help yourself to the closet," he allows, returning his attention back in the direction of the computer screen. I think right now, his biggest concern is ensuring that we have transport to and from the airport. He claims Paris to be a very accessible city. There is an abundance of public transport that goes to and from the airport into the city center. Though, Harry admitted to not being interested in cramming our bags into a metro for an hour when we could have the comfort of a car.

Personally, I am of the same sentiment. But, I figured that I should remain relatively hands off in the situation. Harry is the one with the more intimate knowledge of the city and the language, not to mention that he has made it abundantly clear that he is paying for everything entirely. I didn't want to pressure him into spending money that I he was not comfortable with spending in the first place—not that I've ever noticed it to be a problem before. "Need anything?"

He absentmindedly shakes his head as I stand up. I walk around the back of the couch in the living room so that I don't have to step over his feet which are outstretched on the coffee table. Just as I am behind them, though, he reaches out and grabs my wrist. I stop in my spot, leaning down over the back of the couch. My head is pressed against his, and he releases my hand to hold my head firmly where it is. In a quick movement, he turns his face to press a kiss against my cheek, causing me to giggle. Mimicking the gesture to him, he turns a light pink color at my display of affection.

As I walk down the hallway towards his bedroom, I find myself slowing as I move towards the other room; the room with the permanently shut door. Mystery clouds that room. More than anything, I want to reach my hand around the knob and twist to find what is inside. It's a primal sort of desire within me, but it's one that I cannot capitalize on. Not after the conversations that we've had about trying to put our pieces back together. Prying is the last thing that I should be doing to show him that I heard him when he spoke about how I had made him uncomfortable.

So, I shake off the thoughts of the room.

I continue on to his bedroom and help myself to the closet, just like he had told me to do. I tug on a sweatshirt, stopping to messily tie my frizzy hair back into place before I continue on and slip on a pair of sweatpants, too. The clothing is too large for me, but it feels and smells like home. For this, I don't mind the clothing that hangs at weird angles. Not when I get to feel the warmth that I associate with being surrounded by simply the warmth of his smell.

Upon walking back, curiosity strikes again. I promised to respect his boundaries, but he had promised that he wanted me to get to know him. This door seems to be at the intersection of those points, so I pause to ask before I can overthink anything. "Harry?"

"Hm?"

"What is in this room?"

I can't see his face as he processes my question. The silence that I get is enough to make me regret it. My heart seizing in my chest, I begin to walk closer to him, prepping all the ways that I can apologize for already disrespecting the boundaries that he'd very clearly established.

But, I don't have the chance to. Not really.

Before I open my mouth to let the slew of apologies tumble out, Harry is walking towards me. He moves quietly, a blank expression on his face as he reaches out and twists the doorknob. The door swings open, a pool of blackness barely illuminated by the lighting in the hallway. Steadily, he reaches around me and flicks the light on to illuminate the room.