Matilda | Harry Styles

NINETEEN

"Yeah?" he raised an eyebrow, glancing over at me, before his eyes landed back on the road. "So what, working in a corporate office isn't the end goal?"

I blew out a breath, trying not to get too caught up in the topic, despite me being the one to bring it up. "I guess it is. I need to get my degree first," I pointed out, "then maybe I can be my own boss, instead of working under some other lawyer."

"Do you like your boss?" he asked me, "are they good to you?"

"They're fine," I replied, equally ignoring both the way my chest fluttered at the latter question, and the fact that I knew, as well as Grace and Johnny who had witnessed my working dynamic, at home, that it was anything but bearable. The bosses of the firm were a group of people I'd barely ever encountered in person - I reported to a number of supervisors; one in particular, being the very woman who had granted the leave I required for this trip. "They let me come here, didn't they?"

"And what about your current boss?" he asked me. My view of his side profile allowed me to notice the traces of a playful smirk twisting onto his lips. Though I reported to Ally, I knew it was Harry who ultimately pulled the strings; this whole operation depended on him. "Is he good to you, too?"

"I don't know, he's pretty average. Kind of cocky; not the most likeable," I said, drawing out my words as if pondering in thought, only to be cut off by Harry's hand drawing back from mine to pinch lightly at my thigh in a way that made me squeal. His fingers then jabbed lightly at my ribs and I attempted to grab his hand with both of mine in hopes of pulling his touch away. "Focus on the road!" I attempted to veer his attention away from me as uncontrollable laughter continued to escape my lips at his touch.

"Oh, I can focus on you and the road, Iz," his voice came back, filtering through my outbursts of laughter, his touches not relenting despite my continued screams of protest.

"Stop, stop!" I laughed, and he finally drew his hand back from me and allowed me to catch my breath. My face was hot, and my ribs ached from both laughing and attempting to combat Harry's hand, but it was the most foreign, most glorious feeling; this elation granted just by the presence of somebody else - without complication, just their company. 

As his hand landed quickly back between my own, it almost felt crazy that it hadn't always been this way - that we'd both denied ourselves of this simplicity for weeks. We'd fought, and battled, and withheld, only making things harder, when they could've been like this; freeing, and easy, and fun.

"Y'know, I kind of admire it," he said, as some of the traffic appeared to clear ahead, and he picked up a little speed, "you working somewhere, doing something you hate," he teased, referencing back to my job at home. A lawyer who doesn't like law, as he'd called me. 

"I don't hate it," I attempted to argue, but I knew I didn't need to. There was more to it than he could ever know, but I didn't want to even begin to delve into it. I could try honesty - but this was a little far, too quickly.

"Mhm," he only hummed another gentle, teasing response, before he brought one of my hands, grasped in his own, towards him to press his lips gently against my knuckle, causing a shiver to travel up the length of my spine. A tiny part of me felt that if anybody was ever to crack me, it'd be him; if somebody was somehow able to draw up everything I worked so hard to keep suppressed, that somebody would be him; him, and those knowing smiles, and careful green eyes - but that didn't mean I'd try my best not to sabotage things, and relent.

"I'm going to change your mind about LA," he told me suddenly, as he took a left to pull into a parking lot. I couldn't help but smile at his sentence, before I lay eyes on our new surroundings; a huge, vast building that I somehow wouldn't have even noticed if he hadn't pulled the car in front of it. It felt like Harry could probably change my mind about anything.