evergreen ↠ harry styles ✓

+9

River heard Harry move before she felt anything, the chair he sat on made a creaking noise as he lifted from it, then settled on the one next to her. Warmth radiated off of him as his thigh pressed to the side of hers, their knees bumped. The material of his trousers and her beige dress felt much too thin of a barrier between them.

"Hey," Harry called to her again, and she opened her eyes to find his facial expression in a frown. "Do you need anything?"

A bed. Something to drink. Some energy.

Instead, River shook her head. Inhaled through her nose, and pushed herself higher in the seat. "I'm okay."

The way Harry kept his eyes on her, sharp yet careful as though he didn't want to push beyond boundaries, River could tell that he didn't believe her for one second. The knowledge of this was strange, a thought that she could barely process.

Rather than engaging in what would've turned out to be an argument, Harry stood up from the chair and took his warmth with him. Until then, River didn't realise how nice it felt to be pressed against him like that, to share comfort with him in such a way. It confused her hazy mind because she didn't understand why it felt so good. In fact, guilt washed over her as she sat there, alone, and a little dizzy, because he obviously did not like her, he thought she was a stuck-up princess—he literally called her that—so she needed to rein her heart in.

Perhaps when she felt better, stronger, because the moment he appeared again in his trousers, and nice shirt, slightly tousled hair, River's heart took a leap in her chest. For a second, she thought she would choke on the organ as it levelled to her throat, soaring until she swallowed deeply.

Harry passed her the can of Diet Coke, wet from just how chilled the beverage was inside of it, and a granola bar. Slightly taken aback, River's eyes followed the way he sat down in the chair again, one empty between them.

As much as it surprised River to receive anything from Harry, much less exactly what she felt she needed, she didn't waste much more time to try and figure out why he'd done this kindness. She set the granola bar on her thigh and opened the can, took a couple of refreshing sips, and enjoyed the feel of the bubbles against her throat.

Slight shakiness accompanied her movements as she opened the granola bar, and the sweet smell of dried fruits and chocolate caused the saliva to gather beneath her tongue. Unexpectedly, her stomach growled like it knew it would be fed and taken care of, and that was when River realised how badly she treated herself.

Then again, she wasn't surprised. While it was stupid, she usually attended parties on an empty stomach to intensify the effects of whatever would mix into her bloodstream during the night. The following day, she rarely, if ever, found she had an appetite, so she completely forgot about the lack of nutrients her body needed.

As she munched away on the granola bar, she couldn't help but wonder what exactly could've happened to Harry's brother. Even though this had nothing to do with her, some form of worry pushed its way through her brain as her eyes settled on Harry. He seemed distressed whilst he sat against the concrete wall, his legs spread wide enough that one of them covered the space before the empty chair between them.

"Is there anything I can help you with?"

The sound of his tone gave away the length of his irritation, how deeply rooted it truly happened to be. River raised her eyebrows ever so slightly, her skin barely moved. She'd spent enough time with her etiquette teacher to know how to hold her reactions in, even if they sometimes proved to be difficult around Harry.

"What happened to your brother?"

For she thought the best way forward was through the mud, River went for the question that hit the jugular. If Harry was taken aback by it, he didn't let it show, and she found that curious. He handled himself incredibly well in situations where River expected him to spiral.