red herring [h.s.]

57.

Harry.

We woke up a tangled mess of limbs. I was completely curled around Stella's body, my arms around her as she breathed into my chest. I was holding her like I was shielding her from the outside world, like I was keeping her warm even if it was boiling hot beneath these thick pink covers.

I had subtly kicked the duvet off of my legs for a little coolness a few minutes ago but didn't dare moving around too much because I didn't want to wake Stella. She looked so peaceful and sleepy. I loved watching her when she slept.

There was just that vulnerability and softness to her that was unmatched in any other moment. The second she blinked open those green eyes, she was an overthinker. In every sense of her being, she was an overthinker.

She hated it when I saw her going back and forth between what to wear. And then she apologized for keeping me waiting as she changed into the thing she was wearing before and then critically stared at the mirror. Usually, I said nothing in times like that. I knew me saying she looked good, wouldn't change a thing.

It would only irk her more because she didn't feel it. The more often she changed back and forth, the more anxious and impatient she got. She turned that around into me being annoyed and waiting for her even if I never said such thing.

She would then be frustrated to the core and she'd hate that I'd see her like this, because it took her a while to cool off then.

And the clothing was just a stupid example for so many more things. What to order, how to do her hair, what to say, how to behave. When I first met her, that innocence could frustrate me, until I realized that it all came from a place of insecurity.

I never truly understood where that insecurity came from, not that it mattered. I also knew that no matter how often I complimented her, it would never give her that ego boost that it would give her to feel those same things about herself.

"Harry?" Stella whispered into my chest before her lashes fluttered against my skin. I pecked the top of her head, inhaling her shampoo, "Morning, my baby."

She let out a sleepy breath and nuzzled into me, "Missed waking up with you." She yawned while closing her eyes again, "You're so warm."

I smiled to myself and held her a little tighter, pressing her all the way into me, "Yeah?"

"Hmm." She hummed, "So squishy. Feels safe."

I kissed her head again and relaxed, letting myself melt and sink into her. This was pure bliss. I kept my eyes closed and enjoyed the feeling of her body to mine, her breath on my skin. The second I'd open them, I'd be freaked out again by all the pink in the room. It was a colour I had never associated Stella with before. To me, she was green. A comforting, deep shade of green. A little dark and melancholic, but comforting and warm. Soft.

"Talk to me." She whispered quietly, "I love your voice in the mornings."

I chuckled breathily, "Do you, angel?"

Stella hummed, "It's really sexy."

My body shuddered in a chuckle as I pressed my bare chest further into hers. We were both just wearing underwear as my wandering hands pried the shirt off of Stella's torso during the night. I always craved that skin-on-skin contact with her so much. It made me feel so at home.

"Okay," I softly cleared my throat, "Why don't I talk about you for a bit?"

Stella quietly groaned into my neck in protest and I chuckled, "About how much I love you, hm? How pretty you are... how sexy you are..."

I didn't have to see her face to know she had a fresh blush on her cheeks as I teased a little and squeezed her shoulder, "You snored a little tonight, it was adorable. It woke me up for a bit and I just stared at you. Little bit of drool falling from your mouth."