Labels || H.S. [#Wattys2020]

THIRTY

Reagan was never really good at the whole boy thing. You have to consider that she hadn't even had her first kiss until a few weeks ago. So the fact that Harry wanted to kiss her, wanted to do more than kiss her, was a bit overwhelming. At that point it wasn't even that she didn't feel good enough for him, it was that she had absolutely no idea what to expect. She wanted to kiss him, to do more than kiss him. She knew it was a natural response, that it was all the years of pent up sexual frustration finally trying to come out. And for some reason, on that particular day, she just couldn't seem to contain it. Maybe she could blame it on a case of temporary insanity, or maybe Harry just really is that good with girls, but she wanted to kiss him more than anything. More than she had even wanted to that first time, and it scared the shit out of her.

It was a nice break from the whole mess that was going on though. She wasn't thinking about how she would have to run when she got home because she didn't go in the morning, or how she looked, or even about the whole mess that went on the day before. All she could think about was Harry's eyes lingering upon her lips as he was about to lean in and kiss her.

"You okay there?" Harry asked as they parked his car inside of the garage.

"Oh, me? Yeah, of course." She said, feeling herself blush furiously.

"Doesn't sound like it. Have I gotten you all rattled?"

"I'm tired of these games, Harry." She said, unbuckling her seat belt and grabbing her bag, about to open the door. He locked it though from his side, implying that he had no intentions of letting her go just yet. She simply sighed, "It's 7:55."

"We have a few minutes."

"No, we really don't."

"Reagan."

"What?"

"Do we really need seven months? I like you, you like me. What's there to figure out."

She turned to look at him, "Your tour, your career, your new album," She began holding up her hand and counting off the list on her fingers just to show him how much there was to figure out, "Your fans, your reputation, my career, my family, my reputation-"

"Enough. I'm tired of having the same conversation." He said, taking the keys out of the ignition and turning to face her. "Look, I get it, we can't be public because of the uproar, fine. But can't we...can't we just..." He grabbed her hand in his and intertwined his fingers, "Can't we just accept this for what it is, Rae. I fucking just...I fancy you like I've never fancied anyone before. But you're driving me mad."

She looked at his hand in hers and shrugged slightly, "I don't know."

He looked at her discretely, it had to be the first time he actually saw her cracking. She was actually still holding his hand, she was actually still considering it. She didn't shut him down, she didn't say no. Maybe he actually had a chance this time.

"Look. You want to wait seven months to go public, I'll do it. Not because I'm ashamed of you, not because I don't want to show you off to the world, but because I know your job means the world to you and I don't want you to lose it."

She stayed silent, she knew that if she looked at him she would give in. He could sense her resolve waning and decided to continue,"Rae, I don't care how many more times you have to hear it, I'll keep saying it. I fancy you. I want to be with you."

"Harry."

"It's not that hard Reagan. We'll just keep hanging out, we'll be careful. I won't throw you into the public eye like that again, I'm sorry. That was a bloody stupid thing for me to do. But it won't happen again."