Carolina [h.s]

forty seven

And so we go.

***
Sunlight burns bright as we exit the business of the freeway towards Charleston. I've been a few times before but never on my own. But Harry always opens possibilities.

The first few times we drove out spontaneously on a whim, I felt a little lost. A little scared. My head started to spin about how we got here. I think about being high with him on the ferris wheel. I think about the first time I let him lead me out of town all the way to the nation's capital.

My choices with Harry have always been risky, but okay because I was with him. Even after everything I could trust him. And here I am, I thought as the same boy in the driver's seat switched lanes, I'm still following him, trusting him over my own judgment.

I'm miles away from home with my trouble-maker without a second thought. Sea-salt breeze blows through our hair, as a new Radiohead song plays on the radio. I begin to stretch and yawn as we sway through unfamiliar town roads. My body feels heavy and my feet are half asleep from sitting in the car for too long.

"How much longer?" I asked, and it isn't the first time in the last few hours.

Harry just smiled, shaking his head. Despite my impatience, he seems to have a lot of his own.

"I told you to tell me when you wanna stop somewhere," He reminds me.

"Everything has been nothing so far," I looked out the window at the passing of the little beach town.

A clear view of the oceanfront passed us by and rows of small buildings stacked up the narrow streets as crowds of people gathered upon the sidewalks and cars lined up and down the streets.

"All I know is I need some coffee. There's a decent cafe on 9th, we can figure out the rest there." Harry suggests before we parallel park up the same street.

Harry only looks at me with a knowing smile when I order chocolate chip waffles. I give him the same look when he orders bitter black coffee but I find him stealing some of my breakfast anyways.

"There's a lot of touristy places around Charleston. What do you wanna check out?" I wonder as I sip some coffee and read through the tourist pamphlet.

"I wanna see whatever you wanna see," Harry answered dismissively. I rolled my eyes at him.

"Come on be at least a little helpful, I suck at making these kinda plans," I sighed at his uninterested demeanor. "Pick something to do," I shove the paper his way.

"I've already decided what I wanna do, V." He doesn't even look at the list. "I want to go to the closest hotel, then tie you to the bed and do whatever I want to you until you're begging for me to stop." He shrugs behind a smirk, his tone calm but words meaningful.

My heart sinks anyway and my cheeks heat noticeably. "Harry—

"Pick an antique store to shop in or something, love, you can't handle my truth." He laughed.

So that's what we do, because poking the bear would take time and we didn't have a lot of it.

We spent the rest of the day in the small touristy beach town of Charleston, South Carolina. We go to quaint little shops that carry little souvenirs like magnets in the shape of surfboards and merchandise that brands the location. Harry buys a little guitar keychain and when we go into a jewelry store I'm fascinated with all the rings and necklaces.

Between making selections up the aisles of jewelry, trouble is patience in my indecisive presence and never lurks too far. After time though, he seems more distant and that particular patience he's had today starts to waver.