Waves {h.s.}

Prologue

2 years ago.

«      "I'm scared, Em."

He groaned deeply and turned his head. I kept my eyes on him, waiting to see if he was about to say anything else. He stayed silent and kept his eyes fixated on the stars above us. Carefully, I sat up and felt Harry's gaze follow my movement. I straightened the cover under me before getting up and opening the small cooler we had bought with us. I grabbed two beers and went to sit next to Harry. We were side by side, facing each other, our thighs touching.

He sat up and took the beer I was offering him. We opened them and clinked them together before taking the first sip. While mine was short, Harry decided to chug his whole. Halfway through it, I reached for his hand and lowered his beer. I took a hold of it and settled it next to mine on the ground while our fingers intertwined with each other. His eyes met mine, unintentionally showing me how lost and scared he was, and I caressed the back of his hand with my thumb.

Under the light of the moon and stars, I couldn't help but to think he looked incredibly handsome. Even if his red cheeks stood out because of the amount of beer he had consumed, even if his eyes showed just how sad he was. Harry was beautiful to me and I was in love with him. I wanted to make him feel better, I wanted to make him forget, so when he reached for me that night and our lips connected for the first time in two years, I didn't stop him.     »

- Anchor, Chapter 9

THEY WERE ALL hands and mouths. Touching, moaning, exploring. Feeling, together, for the first time since the first time. They were two loved up teenagers, just about 18 years of age, getting drunk on each other's touch. And they were breathing, breathing for the first time since the first time.

That was exactly how it felt: like it was their first time. Even if a lot had changed since then, a lot had changed between them and around them. But they were two loved up teenagers, and it was enough for now. It's simple really, a simple act that set their world in motion again. Yet, they can't help but to be scared, because it set their world in motion again.

So they concealed it. They covered it behind stolen kisses so that their world could turn again. They sought to be skin-to-skin, heart to heart so that maybe the next day wouldn't be as scary as it seemed. They wanted to breathe together in hopes that the storm wouldn't come.

But it's inevitable.

A storm was coming and the two loved up teenagers knew it. They just chose to ignore it and focused on each other, so that once again they would be all hands and mouths, skin to skin, heart to heart, until they fell asleep together, right under the stars.

The next day, it's the sun that woke them up. They didn't immediately realize what happened the night before, too focused on keeping their eyes closed and fighting the light, in hopes that they would sleep a little longer. They didn't want to wake up, they didn't want to face reality. So instead they bathed in the warmth of the sun, they tightened their arms around the other and hoped that they could just sleep the day away. But reality caught up to them, Emily had to go to work.

So they got up in silence because the both of them didn't really know what to say, they didn't know if they should say something. Somehow, they sensed that they talked enough the day before. Concerns had been voiced, and there really wasn't anything left to say about that.

All that mattered was that they woke up together, after a perfect night, and Harry was happy. So Emily decided to keep her mouth shut and let him have this moment. She figured it was better to talk about it later, keep the little bit of happiness they had and save it for as long as they could.