[H.S] Shots

Shy

“Now, sweetums, would you like the dinosaur egg oatmeal or the cinnamon apple? I know you love both but we’re leaving in a week to spend some time with grandma and I don’t want any to go to waste.”

He holds both packages out in front of him for Amelia to look even though he already knows the answer. She’s an absolute sucker for the dinosaur egg oatmeal and always has been since she could chew, even though Harry didn’t understand the hype.

And just as he thought, Amelia squeals and grips the dinosaur egg oatmeal in her tiny hands, shaking the box with excitement.

He chuckles to himself, shaking his head softly before taking the box from her and placing it in the trolly. He grips the handle harshly with one hand while holding onto Amelia’s with the other, rounding the corner of the aisle as his eyes stay on the food on display.

“Alright then, sweets. Want anything else before we leave for grandmas? Don’t want you to be hungry of anything—“

His question is ended abruptly as his trolly crashes into another, making him quick to make sure nothing falls (even though it’s highly unlikely) and make a mess of things.

“Oh, gosh! I’m so sorry!” A voice gasps, ”I wasn’t paying much attention to where I was going because I was too busy reading the recipe for this dessert I’m trying to make later and I—“

Her breath hitches in her throat as she looks to the man she rammed her trolly into. And gosh, is he good looking—with his black skinny jeans and black sneakers, grey sweater fitting him perfectly and green eyes to melt for.

Of course, she lost her train of thought. How could someone as gorgeous as him make her focus on anything at all?

“I’m sorry.” She finishes with shaken words.

Harry is left breathless.

She’s the most beautiful woman he’s ever laid his eyes on and he doesn’t even know how that’s possible. She’s so beautiful, in fact, that he isn’t even sure if anything could ever compare to it—with her feet tucked into Sperry rain boots, a long hunter green jacket hanging from her shoulders and hair frizzy from the weather.

How the hell is he ever going to get a word out when she looks so goddamn good?

“Oh! Oh, no! Don’t be sorry it’s—it’s totally fine!” He gulps, eyes unblinking as if he doesn’t want to waste a single second not looking at her. “I’m Harry, by—by the way.“

Goddamn it, he thinks, this is not the time for a 23-year-old man to be stuttering like a teenager.

She blushes, fingers tucking loose strands of hair behind her hair as she sways herself between her toes and heals, lips pursing from just how cute he is.

“I’m Y/n.” She greets with a grin.

And as her eyes wander down to the floor, she can’t help but notice a little girl hidden behind Harry’s leg—gripping onto the back of his jeans with cheeks flushed red. She’s heart-swellingly beautiful, too, with green eyes just like her father and wavy hair parted into ponytails.

“And look at this little one!” Y/n smiles enthusiastically, "Hello, gorgeous!”

The little girl hides herself even further behind his leg.

Ever since Harry’s girlfriend abandoned the family within the first year and a half of Amelia’s birth, Amelia has never been the same since. Her once extroverted and fearless personality suddenly altered to a much more quiet, shy persona.

She no longer laughed around strangers, talked around her family, or even allowed anybody to hold her unless it was Harry due to her severe attachment issues. And, quite frankly, it destroyed Harry to know that she’d never be the same again—all because her mother left her without a single goodbye.

So, her cowering away from the interaction and holding onto her father for dear life was no surprise to Harry. In fact, it was the exact reason Harry almost came up with an excuse to leave the supermarket before Y/n came any closer, even if he wanted to stay for her.

Y/n tentatively leans down eye-level to the little girl, a weak smile on her face and nothing but fondness in her eyes. 

“Well, don’t you look just like a princess? I bet your dad picked you right up from a castle, didn’t he?” She speaks in a slightly higher pitch than usual, her fingers gently nipping at the air just before her nose. “And what would your name be, pretty girl?”

When Amelia refuses to answer her as she’s still tentative, Harry decides to do it for her. “Her name is Amelia and she’s actually quite—quite..shy…”

His words die down on his tongue and his brows tighten when he sees Amelia slowly creep away from behind his leg, tiny fingers still keeping a hold on his pants but opening herself up more to Y/n.

Even showing the smallest initiative to involve herself further in an encounter is so foreign to him that he genuinely doesn’t know what to think. It’s been a year since he’s seen her so involved in a stranger that his heart is jumping in his chest, warming at the sight of it all.

“That’s a good girl, you are.” She pats on her knees softly, reassuring her that it’s okay to come closer. “I saw your dad bought you some dinosaur egg oatmeal! Those were my absolute favorite growing up! Loved them so much that my mummy told me the store stopped selling them just so that I could stop eating them so much!”

The more Y/n speaks, the more Amelia makes her way towards her. She eventually let go of her nervous grip on Harry, now taking it upon herself to feel comfortable around the stranger she didn’t even want to look at just five minutes ago.

“I mean, can you believe that?! Mummy had to lie to me so that she didn’t have to buy them anymore! How crazy is that?! Haven’t even had them since! Let’s hope your daddy doesn’t do that to you!”

She leans closer to Amelia’s ear, eyes wandering around as she pretends to make sure nobody is listening, cupping the air around her mouth softly as if leaning in to tell her a secret. “And if he does, you tell me and I’ll make sure daddy will build you an entire store of dinosaur egg oatmeal just for you!”

Amelia giggles, showing Y/n the most adorable smile she can offer as she falls into her arms.

Harry is so shocked that he actually has tears springing in his eyes, a laugh falling past his lips that sounds more of a mix between a breath of admiration and disbelief at the interaction. And he doesn’t care how stupid he looks to Y/n or anybody else in the store, he’s never seen anything quite like it and he isn’t so sure if he can ever walk away from this—ever.

And to make him even more emotional, Amelia turns around with an even bigger grin than before, squealing and jumping in Y/n’s hands.

“Daddy! Daddy! Can we please eat the dinosaur egg oatmeal with Y/n at home?!”

And as he stands there—seeing both Y/n and Amelia wearing the most heartwarming smiles at the idea of spending time together—how could he say no?

***

Credits:https://harry-writings.tumblr.com/post/169061703797/shy