The Writer (AU)

Chapter Twenty Nine: Sleeping with my Sweater

Harry's POV:

"Can I ask you something?" she whispered, raking her fingers through my hair.

"Anything," I smiled, trying to hide my shiver as her nails lightly grazed my scalp,

"Will you tell me what has hurt you the most in life?" I was silent for a moment before looking down at our joined hands.

"When I'm not around you."

"What do you mean?" How was I supposed to tell her that after only three weeks of being together, she was the one thing that was on my mind at any time of the day or night. She was an extension of me as I her. Our souls had melded into one and I could literally feel what she was feeling when we weren't together. I couldn't stand not being around her.

"When I'm not around you, I'm not me. Without you, I'm just Harry. With you, I'm Harry and I feel like I'm on top of the world. You calm me just as much as you rile me up," I chuckled.

"So I'm the Lois Lane to your Clark Kent?" she grinned widely.

"Essentially we're the Cois Lent of our school."

"That's a horrible ship name." Her laugh filled my ears and I laughed along with her, relishing in the fact that she was smiling and laughing and in my arms.

"What's you're ship name for them then, missy?" I countered teasingly.

"Cois Kane."

"Babe."

"It's better than Lent."

"Mhmm."

"Shut up," she giggled, ruffling my hair.

"You know you love me," I grinned, kissing her cheek.

"That I do, silly boy." Looking up at the shadow cast along her neck, I studied her. Her jawline was sharp, her face thin, the lighting making her neck look elegant and longer than it was. Placing my lips softly against the hollow between her jaw and ear, I pressed softly before running my nose along her jawline, my eyes closing. I honestly didn't think she'd tell me she loved me. I mean, I understood where she was coming from when she said she trusted me, but just hearing the words come from her mouth, it was like being drunk on the most expensive wine on the planet.

"I love you," I whispered, my eyes still closed, nose still against her neck.

"I love you," she sighed, her arms wrapping around my neck. I moved my arms around her torso and fell against the comforter, her legs straddling my waist. It was nothing sexual, we were just holding each other and I don't think I'd ever been happier than I was in this moment. Feeling her heart pounding against my torso, I soothingly ran my hand up and down her back.

"Harry?"

"Yeah?" I chuckled.

"Can we go get some food?" Ellie burst into a fit of laughter.

"Sure," I laughed and pushed into my bed to sit up. The sun was still bright outside as we made our way to the car and I opened the door for her.

"Where do you wanna go?" she asked once we were on the road.

"I don't know. Do you wanna go downtown and then go shopping? My mum hasn't gone to the grocery store yet and I'm having fruit snack withdrawals," I joked.

"I mean we can go wherever. If we go downtown, we should go to Grill Marks."

"Perfect." Opening the sunroof, warm air encased us and the sun shone against her light brown hair. Taking my free hand in hers, I smiled before gingerly kissing the back of it as we continued down the highway and into downtown. Traffic was hell, but it was expected for a weekend day. Pulling into a parking spot, I rolled up all the windows and closed the sunroof before getting out and opening Ellie's door while placing a small peck on her cheek. Walking down the sidewalk, people stared at us and I realized now how uncomfortable it made Ellie. Her hand tightly clutched mine and a woman stopped in front of us.

"If you don't mind me asking, how tall are you?" she smiled up at Ellie.

"I'm 6'9," Ellie chuckled nervously.

"And how tall are you?" she asked, turning to me.

"7'1."

"That is so great. Do y'all play basketball?" We both nodded, looking at each other and laughing slightly. I was secretly hoping she would just go away.

"That's so great. Have a great day." The woman walked away and we both burst into fits of giggles as we made our way inside the restaurant. Ducking under the doorframe, I felt everyone's eyes on us as we sat down across from each other in a booth and waited.

"They have the best burgers and shakes here," Ellie beamed.

"Have you ever been to Shake Shack in New York?" I teased.

"No, but I'd love to go."

"They have pretty good stuff. In-N-Out is the best though." Thinking back to the summers I spent traveling, I relished in the memories, hoping to take Ellie to California one day.

"You've been to In-N-Out?!" she squealed. "I'm dying to go there."

"I'll have to take you sometime when I go visit my cousins," I laughed.

"Let me start saving money now," she joked.

"It's okay. I can cover it."

"Nah, Harry. If I ever do get to go, I'd want to pay for it." As I took a breath to say something, the waiter came toward us with a smile. Ordering our drinks, I perused the menu before setting it back down on the table and looking at Ellie.

"Ellie, I want to make you happy. If you want to go to California, we'll go. I have more than enough money for the both of us. You don't have to worry about anything." I hated that she had nice things, but they were gifts she had tried to keep nice over the span of years. She only deserved the best things and clearly wasn't getting them because her dad.

"I'm not a charity case, Harry. We've talked about this before." I could tell she was getting embarrassed, so I dropped the subject, settling that I would pay for lunch and whatever she wanted when we went shopping. Rubbing my thumb over the back of her hand soothingly, I just sighed and smiled at her.

"I love you."

"I love you too," she sighed. Damn.

"I'm sorry for bringing it up, baby. It's not my place," I apologized, knowing a little bit about her circumstances.

"It's fine. It's just difficult for me to talk about with people."

"I know."

"Sorry," she blushed.

"For what?" What?

"Just being me," she laughed. "And poor and awkward."

"You're amazing. You're not awkward and you're not poor. You've got me, my mum, Robin, Gemma, and your brothers and sister. That's all you need," I assured her.

"I barely have my brothers and Gemma seems to dislike me," Ellie sighed.

"She's a special character. She likes you." Gemma and I had spent hours talking about Ellie after they met. I had been hurt so much by girls in the past, Gemma made it a point to be a hard as in the beginning, but she went on and on about how much she liked Ellie.

Ellie just sighed, looking down at the menu. This is what she did when she was upset, embarrassed, or both. She just completely shut down and tried to act like everything was okay when it clearly wasn't. Watching the waiter carry our drinks, I quietly thanked him as he sat hem down. Placing our order, the tension was thick and we sat in silence long after the waiter left.