Resolution

50. Give Me Love

"All I want is the taste that your lips allow, my my, my my, give me love."

Song: Give Me Love

Artist: Ed Sheeran

A strange sense of dejavu settled over me as Harry and I stood silently in his kitchen.  Only days ago we’d stood in nearly the exact same position, holding on to each other as we let the silence settle around us.  I could still feel the sudden vulnerability Harry was feeling in the way he held on to me; his arms were wound around my waist and his fingers pressed firmly into my skin in a gentle desperation.  His head tilted forward, his forehead resting on my shoulder while I had my arms wound around his neck. 

I couldn’t stop myself from tilting my head every once and a while to press a kiss into his neck.  I breathed in the scent of him and was disappointed to find the metallic hint of blood still tainted it.  My hand rose from behind his head, my elbow resting on his shoulder as my fingers pet through his hair.  The wet blood that had been there earlier had dried, crusting the usually smooth strands together. 

“Harry,” I whispered.  I had managed to clean his hands and face, but there was still a lot of mess to clean up. 

“Hmm?”

“Let’s take a shower,” I suggested gently.  I wanted to clean him of any reminders of what he’d been through tonight.  He squeezed his fingers against my skin once before nodding into my shoulder.

He straightened up, his grip on me just as tight as ever as he looked me in the eye.  My eyes flitted back and forth between his for a few seconds before I leaned forward to press my lips lightly into his.  It was the first time I had kissed him on the lips since this all had happened, and it felt like it had been years.  He returned the light pressure, and I could feel the cut on his lip against mine.  I pulled back, smiling at him softly before he unwound his arms from me and took my hand to lead me down the hall. 

He led us into the bathroom and flicked on the light.  I released his hand to start the shower, and we were immediately surrounded by the soft sound of the water splashing against the tub.  I straightened up to see him standing exactly where I’d left him.  He was watching me closely with the same intense expression he’d worn for the last hour or so.  It was hard for me to tell exactly what was going through his head, but I guessed it was linked to his vulnerable state right now. 

I walked up to him, my lip sucked lightly into my mouth as I looked up to his face.  My hands gently gripped his shirt, which I now noticed was also stained with blood, and pulled the hem up over his stomach.  He watched me closely as I pulled it up further, lifting his arms to allow me to pull it off.  I sucked in a gasp when I saw the angry red blotches covering his ribcage from when Ben had kneed him. 

My gaze was trained on his torso while my fingers lightly drifted over the marks, their touch feather light as they took in the damage.  I could feel him watching me still but I couldn’t look away from the injury.  The darkest spot seemed to be situated on the bottom of his ribcage on his left side, but he didn’t flinch away from my touch as it passed over his skin. 

“Harry…” I breathed.  My eyes flitted up to meet his gaze, which was searing intensely into my own, before they returned to his side.  Slowly, I ducked my head down to press my lips lightly into his side.  He watched closely as my lips touched the heated skin, the area feeling warmer than usual because of the damage done beneath the surface.  My lips lingered for a few seconds before I straightened up again.

“Let’s get in, Hal,” he said, ignoring my expression of concern from before.  He reached forward to run his thumb lightly across my lip before he shifted to undo his jeans.  I followed his lead, taking a deep breath before I started to peel my layers off.  I could feel his gaze on me as I did so, but it was different from the burning, lustful gaze he normally would have worn if I were undressing in front of him.