Deserve [H.S.]

Chapter 37

GUARD

Harry's heartbeat was pounding wildly and he had no control of his jaw as it immediately went slack.

"What the fuck," he found himself muttering, hardly believing that what he was seeing was real.

"Really? That's the first thing you say to me?" The person outside his room said, rolling their eyes and crossing their arms. "I'm offended, handsome."

Harry stared at Noah in shock, still processing what he was seeing. His mouth opened and closed multiple times as he tried to gather his thoughts and think of what to say. Before he replied, though, he soon picked up on the potential danger of Noah standing outside his hotel room in the open, so he opened the door wider and wrapped his hand around Noah's arm, quickly yanking her inside and slamming the door shut.

Noah turned around to look at Harry with furrowed brows, awaiting his next words. He quickly spun around and made eye contact with her right away, still with a shocked expression on his face.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" He asked in a harsh whisper, feeling his heart pound as he looked at Noah for the first time in over four months. She was somehow prettier than he remembered. He didn't think that was possible.

"This is the first time we've seen each other in four months and this is the greeting I get?" Noah was trying to not focus on how toned Harry still was, because there were clearly more pressing matters at hand, but it was difficult. She had also noticed how the scar across his eyebrow had somewhat faded, becoming an even fainter white line, but the slightly jagged skin was still evident.

Harry's mind was still running rampant as he said, "you shouldn't be here... why are you here?" His hands were brought up to rub his face in frustration before he dug them into his hair.

"Harry, relax," Noah said, walking up to him and grasping his forearms to pull his hands down. She caressed his cheeks with both hands and directed his gaze to hers, "no one followed me here. No one knows you're here. It's okay. We're safe."

Staring into Noah's eyes helped calm Harry's nerves. It had been so long since he looked into her eyes and feeling her soft touch on his cheeks only heightened all of his senses. His heart started pounding even harder as he could still hardly believe that she was right in front of him, literally touching him.

"Why are you here?" He repeated in a quiet whisper, feeling his resolve weakening as he held her soft gaze.

Noah lowered her own voice to a whisper as she responded with, "can't we just appreciate the fact that we're seeing each other for the first time in four months before I explain? We have time."

A poignant moment of silence passed as Harry stared deeply into Noah's eyes before he quickly threw his arms around her shoulders, applying pressure against her back to crash her into his chest. He felt an intense heat flood throughout his entire body, overwhelming him as he felt her body against his for the first time in four months.

It took Noah hardly a second to respond, as she was kind of caught off guard, but it was still quite natural to hug him. When she did respond, she brought her own arms up to wrap around his back and closed her eyes to savor the feeling. She even felt a single tear streak down her cheek as her emotions were on overdrive. She had missed the feeling of safety and secureness that came from being in his arms.

They had been both waiting for this moment for over four months. Harry was still scared that he was dreaming again.

Harry reveled in the feeling of finally having Noah's body against his own; a feeling he never thought he would experience again.