Sensation (h.s)

Chapter Twenty Four

"No, of course not. Brandon is... I'm pretty sure he'd like to date you before he'd like to date me." I lay my hands flat on his firm chest and continue to grin like an idiot when he leans in to press a delicate kiss to my forehead.

"Ah, I see." He nods slowly and chews his lip for a second before speaking again.

"Did you miss me?" He asks in a low voice. I nod my head quickly, not even considering the question before answering.

"I missed you so much." I respond confidently.

"I tried to get ahold of you while you were gone, but you wouldn't answer your phone. I have so much to tell you." I grab his hands from where they've dropped to his sides and lace my fingers between his.

"I told you I didn't know if I'd be able to talk while I was gone. I was out of the country, baby."

"I know. But, I really needed to talk to you. Why didn't you call me earlier when you got back to America?" I sway slightly impatiently as I wait for him to respond. He doesn't seem to be quite as worried as I am.

"I was trying to surprise you. Is everything okay?"

"I don't know if I'd say everything is okay." I bite down on my lip and glance around us in paranoia, then back up at Harry.

"I need to talk to you about some things. Can we go somewhere and talk?" I add. He glances around the same way I did a moment ago before nodding unsurely.

"Yeah, that's fine. I'll buy you a coffee and we can catch up." His hand moves to the small of my back and we begin walking once again towards the main part city.

After ten minutes of small talk, Harry and I arrive at a small cafe somewhere near campus. He sits us down towards the corner of the small shop where there's a few cushioned chairs. He leaves me to sit alone momentarily while he stands in line and orders our drinks.

My paranoia from the course of the week makes a reappearance as I tap my fingers nervously against the armrest of the chair and look continuously around the cafe. I don't seem to recognize anyone or see anyone that looks suspicious. I don't let my guard down though and continue to sit in a stiff silence while waiting for Harry to return.

When he finally does make his way back to our seats, he passes off my coffee to me and takes a seat directly beside mine. I cross my legs and finally sit back to get comfortable now that he's beside me. I feel an unmistakable sense of safety just having him in my presence.

"Alright, babe, what's going on?" He asks with a sigh as he relaxes into his own chair. He turns to face me and taps his fingers against his leg while staring back at me.

"Um..." I consider how to begin, then realize he's probably sighing because we haven't been together for more than twenty minutes and I'm already springing a million problems on him.

"We can talk later. Tell me about your trip." I say instead, even though my brain is beginning to bubble over with mass amounts of things I want to talk to him about.

"If there's something going on then I want you to tell me, Kate. We have all the time in the world to talk about my trip. What's going on with you, though?" He grabs my hand from my lap and comfort immediately floods my body as his fingers lace between mine.

"Don't worry, Harry. I'll tell you later. It's nothing major, though." I play down the issue once again even though I know soon enough I'll have played it down to the point of no one taking it seriously. I should have reported it to my parole officer the second I realized James was trying to contact me in the first place, but I ignored it. Now I know he for sure is getting closer to discovering my location and I'm still pretending that it's not a big deal.