No Matter What // Harry Styles AU -- Dunkirk inspired

Chapter Thirty Five

Harry's P.O.V

I'm home.

Or at least that's the only way I know how to describe it.

And what's crazy about it is that it has nothing to do with the ground I stand on, but rather everything to do with the girl who sinks into my embrace. With Hazel in my arms, every inch of my body feels purposeful, like I was put on this earth to hold her, to keep her safe, to love her. With Hazel in my arms, I feel like.. like I'm home.

In the giddiness of this realization, I playfully begin to waltz her up the road, her toes just barely grazing the tops of my feet as I keep her lifted up against me. She tosses her head back laughing and I stare longingly at her delicate, long neck, my desire to place wet kisses up and down her throat burning a fire in my heart.

She gasps suddenly, a tiny sound, rich with joy and excitement, as raindrops fall down from the sky on us. I look up to see dark clouds masking the moonlight, and I know it's about to downpour.

"Quick, love," I say, dropping her gently when we reach the truck.

"No, wait!" she protests, planting her feet firmly in the muddying path. I nearly trip into her, but catch myself by sticking my hand out against the truck, pinning Hazel between me and the vehicle. Tilting her face up to the weeping sky, she closes her eyes and with a smile, lets the rain pepper her skin with little kisses. Part of me is in love with how beautiful she looks, but another bigger part of me loves the fact that she isn't upset about her hair or gown being ruined.

"I love the rain," she says.

"You love courting pneumonia," I tease.

She crinkles her nose as she giggles deeply, a breathy, warm sound. It's sweet and innocent, but I can't help but remember the seductive sound she made when her body writhed against mine, breathless from our kissing. I quickly try to repress the thought as Robin's words echo in my mind.

"Doesn't it feel marvelous?"

"It does," I concede quietly, but I don't mean the rain. Her cheeks flush a scarlet red as the rain dampens her hair. She looks up at me with eyes like a puppy, and I'm filled with an overwhelming desire to take her inside and warm her up with my kisses. But then of course the idea of what she looks like bundled in bed pops up into my head and my stomach flips, riddled with aching desire and complete guilt.

I clear my throat, nervous she'll somehow be able to read my thoughts, but I only grow more anxious when out of the corner of my eye, I catch a glimpse of yellow light through the upstairs window.

"We should get a move on," I say flatly, not really wanting separate from her, but wanting even less to have another awkward conversation with my parents.

She stares at me for a moment, and then nods quietly as I open the door for her. I swiftly trot around to get in and get the car started quickly, but it's a struggle to keep my eyes focused on the road in front of me as we make our way back to her Grandparent's. Hazel sits practically on the window, staring out into the blackness of the night as droplets form on the glass. Bloody hell is she mad at me for rushing us?

"I hope my family wasn't too much for you," I say, digging for her mood.

"You act like I'm made of glass," she replies, her gaze fixed out of the window.

"No," I deny, even though it's been hard to shake the idea of her as some sort of princess from my head. "My family can just be... a lot."

"I'd love to see you meet my family then," she chuckles softly, turning her sweet face towards me. "It's honestly one of the best nights I've had in ages," she adds.