skinny || h.s. au [Rewrite Now Up!]

twentysix

And at this point her heartbeat is nonexistent because she didn't really mean to say it aloud. But now she can't take the words back even if she could pluck them from the air and shove them down her throat. It's too late and Harry heard them.

"I..." Marley closes her eyes in an attempt to clear her head. "I mean--"

But her thought is cut off by Harry's lips. Completely catching her off guard. Just like their first kiss.

I will slap him again, goddamnit Marley!

And like that kiss, Marley pulls away too soon due to a voice in her head that causes migraines.

"Wait." Harry says. Their noses still brushing. His hands holding her waist to not let her slip away so easily. "Don't shut me out."

Marley's arms reach around his neck and her eyes stay closed. "I'm not. I just... need a second."

Step away from him right now! I knew this whole trip was a mistake. A big goddamn mistake!

"Please just let me have this." She whispers to her. More mouthing the words than anything. "Please."

But Harry still catches them. Yet somehow he knows they're not directed to him. And he waits while the girl with crystal blue eyes that remind him of icicles and frost-bitten noses has a battle in her head. He just doesn't know how unfair that battle is. But for a moment he thinks she just might be worth being patient for. So he waits.

Their breathing is a synchronized, calm rhythm. Harry's fingers slide under the hem of her shirt. Marley's hips are bony but her skin isn't quite as cold as her fingers. And if Harry opened his eyes he would see a few small freckles just like the ones on her cheeks, sprinkled across the skin there.

After a moment, Harry thinks she might step away from him. But she catches him by surprise and pulls him closer to her. The battle in her head temporarily suspended as the side that wants to kiss him clearly won when their lips touch again.

But their kiss isn't perfect or even sweet. It's a deeper kiss than they've previously shared. Neither one wants to stop. Neither one wants to let the moment pass before dwelling in it a while.

Feet move backward until Marley finds her back against a sturdy tree. The roots jut out in odd formations and she steps up on one to bridge the gap between their height. The bark is slightly rough against her back but she doesn't pay attention to it.

Harry can't get enough of her. He just can't. Because the girl with the crystal blue eyes that remind him of icicles and frost-bitten noses is in his arms and kissing him back.

Her fingers tangle through his hair and he wonders if maybe this is a dream. Maybe he's in heaven. Because she isn't holding back and hell, she is just so god damn beautiful. How could a girl like her even want to be around a boy like him? Let alone kiss him back in the middle of the woods with the sun shinning just above the horizon and bouncing off her freckled cheeks and into his soul.

But that's exactly what it is. He's not dreaming. He's not dead.

He is very much alive and so is she as the world becomes nothing more than a blur outside of their perfect bubble.

That is until a butterfly flutters into their campsite. And lands delicately on Marley's shoulder.

Harry smiles at the beautiful thing. It's wings light and almost transparent.

But the funny thing is, Marley is terrified of butterflies.

She squeals an odd noise, waving her hands in the air as she ducks away from the tree. Eyes wide yet beautiful.

Harry laughs because it's a butterfly. Just a butterfly. "What?"

"It was on me!" She shakes out her damp hair as if it may still be hiding in the tangles. "It could have bit me or something."

"A butterfly?"

"There's a such thing as butterflies that drink your blood." She says, crossing her arms. "And they fly."
Marley is serious but Harry can't tame the smile that stretches across his cheeks. He tries. But the attempt is futile. "But babe, a butterfly?"

"All bugs that fly are terrifying." She says but can't help but smile at the humor he finds in the situation.

Harry takes her hand, guiding her toward the fire he was previously in the middle of lighting before she walked up. Marley's fingers are cold like they always are. And Harry finds the normality of their temperature quite reassuring.

He doesn't hold her hand too tight because her entire being seems fragile. And he can't help but compare her to the butterfly. Both so delicate and so exquisitely beautiful.

So maybe that's what really scared Marley. She wasn't afraid of the insect itself but rather its fragile beauty, vulnerability and ability to fly so gracefully through a sometimes-messed-up world while staying obliviously naïve.

And maybe that's why she was afraid of herself.

_______________________

GUYS I FORGOT TO MENTION THAT HARRY DOESN'T HAVE TATTOOS IN THIS STORY SIMPLY BECAUSE THEY DON'T FIT HIS CHARACTER (cries bc his tattoos in real are my life...)

QOTD:

1- on a scale of 1-10 how much do you hate Maria? (1 being v little/none, 10 being you've already imagined leaping into the book and slitting her throat)

2- if you could change one thing about Harry (as a character, other than the lack of tattoos) what would it be?

STAY BEAUTIFUL DONT FORGET TO VOTE AND COMMENT!