Canyon Moon | H.S.

Promise (34)

I wake up the following morning before Harry, blinking my eyes blearily as I adjust to the bright room. He really should put some curtains up, but then the beautiful view would be spoiled. He's still fast asleep, his arms draped around me. We must not have moved the entire night, as I'm pretty sure we fell asleep in the exact same position.

I lay there and watch him for a moment, the way his eyelashes flutter ever so slightly as he sleeps, the rise and fall of his chest as he breathes, the quiet puffs of air he blows out through his nose. Thank goodness he's not a snorer.

I watch him until the need for a wee becomes too much and I carefully extract myself from his arms, trying not to wake him. I go for a wee, take my pill and brush my teeth, smiling at myself in the mirror as I stand there, completely naked, still buzzing from the night before. I try and wipe the giddy smile off my face but give up.

As I slowly climb back into bed, Harry wakes up, blinking at me confused.

"Good morning." I say quietly, placing a soft kiss on his lips and lying back down in the same position I was in previously.

"Morning." He says sleepily, his voice raspy.

He doesn't move immediately, obviously still sleepy enough to be comfortable, so I distract myself by running my fingers across his tattoos. Starting with the one on his stomach, I trace the outline of the butterfly, the blank ink jumping off his skin. Then on his arm, each little mark. I want to catalogue them all. To store every little detail about him in my memory.

He chuckles softly as I get to his Late Late tattoo.

"That was a weird experience, that's for sure." He says, and I meet his eyes.

"Bekah showed me the video," I say, remembering her coming sprinting into the pub one day, phone already open. "You looked so fucking hot in that interview."

"Yeah?" He mumbles, raising his eyebrow at me.

"I was practically indecent." I mutter.

His chest vibrates underneath me as he laughs, the corners of his eyes crinkling in amusement, and I can't help but laugh too. My fingers work their way up his arm and to the top of his chest, when something catches my eye.

There's a chain around his neck that I haven't noticed before. I was too distracted last night to take any notice. It's just a simple silver chain with a ring threaded through it.

"What's this?" I ask, holding it between my fingers.

He glances down at it and then sits up, reaching up to take the chain from around his neck. I stare at the ring closer, and it looks really familiar.

"It's your ring." He says quietly, and my eyes widen in realisation. "You took it off one night you were sleeping in my bed and left it on the bedside table."

"I didn't go into your room when I was packing. I must've missed it." He holds the ring between his fingers, staring at it.

"I kept it, obviously. It was the only thing I had of you. Only physical thing."

He takes it off the chain and holds it out to me, a strange look in his eye,

"You can keep it." I say gently, pushing it back towards him.

"No, I want you to have it back... but I want to give it to you." My brow furrows in confusion as he takes my hand in his own.

"I love you, Natalie, more than I've ever loved anyone before in my life. I know nothing about my life is certain, but I am certain that I want to spend the rest of my life with you."