Redemption [h.s]

ten

"Good morning! I brought cupcakes" I said as soon as Harry opened the door, proudly holding up the white bag.

He smiled briefly. "Do you mind if we go at yours instead?" He asked, and I was taken aback by the weird request. "I just... It's messy here, so yeah" he explained, giving a fast look to the inside of his house.

Just like mine, it had a small entrance, so I couldn't really see anything but the white wall behind him.

"Sure, I suppose. Want to make yourself look presentable? I'll be at mine. No offence, but you look like you got out of bed in this exact second" I replied, taking in his appearance.

His hair was messy and he was looking at me tiredly, wearing a long sleeved shirt over what dangerously looked like his boxers. The apparent absence of pants made me realise how long his legs actually were. I realised how beautiful he was more and more every second, and I couldn't help but think of what he would've looked like without that shirt on. I knew he had a few tattoos, I'd seen the black of some of them poking out here and there, and even though I had never seen any completely, I couldn't help but wonder about them as well.

I was brought back by the sound of him clearing his throat, and I realised I had been openly checking him out for at least half a minute.

"I said, I actually got up relatively early today. But sure, I will" he said, his voice going down to a deep, gentle tone. He was looking at me straight in the eyes, I could see in those freckles of dark green and gold a shred of amusement. There was no way in the world that he hadn't realised.

I felt sudden warmth coming up my cheeks, and broke the eye contact, looking at the white wall behind him. "I'll just go, then" I replied, and I squirmed away into my flat.

As soon as I got into my house, I leaned against the wall and slowly slid down until I hit the floor, embarrassment coming through me in waves. I couldn't believe that I had just done something like that. The worst part of it was that I knew he knew. And he knew I knew he knew. I just wanted to disappear, the thought of having to see him again made my heart beat faster.

I knew he wouldn't have taken much to make himself look good - he always did, in fact. He was so beautiful, it was almost upsetting to see how spontaneous and effortless his beauty was. It was just natural. He was the prettiest creature I had ever laid my eyes on.

I stood up and checked myself on the mirror on the wall next to the entrance. My light brown eyes stared right back at me. In the sunlight coming from the window in the living room, they looked almost gold. Almost. I put my brown hair up in a bun and went in the kitchen, starting to get my coffee and his tea ready. I heard a double-knock on the front door, and I went to open it before taking the cups out of the cupboard.

Harry walked into my house wearing a warm sweater and a pair of skinny jeans that enveloped his legs nicely. I heard the tapping of the heel of his shoes on the wooden floor as I directed him to the kitchen.

I took out a white cup, poured hot water in it and put it on the table, next to a tea bag and a sugar packet. I sat down putting my cup of coffee in front of me, and he did the same.

"You're quiet today" I told him after some minutes of silence.

"I'm just thinking" he replied, stirring the cup of tea.

"About what?" I asked him.

"Things."

"About Louis? I'm worried about him" I lightly pried in.

"You shouldn't" was his sharp reply, "Despite what it might look like, he's a good person. He would never bring you any harm" he went on in a gentler way.

I looked at him. He was looking down at his hands, playing with a plain silver ring on his index.

I shook my head. "I'm afraid that he might hurt you" I admitted, and he looked up, his eyes widening in surprise.

"I can't promise he won't" he said, recollecting himself.

"Will I ever know what you've done?" I asked him.

"Maybe one day" he whispered, looking down again.

After some seconds, I took the cupcakes out of the bag. "Chocolate or blueberry?" I asked him.

"I'll go with chocolate" he replied, giving me a little smile, and I smiled back.

"Careful with that water, it's scorching hot" I advised him as he touched the mug to check if it had cooled down.

There was something of so homey and just so right in having breakfast with Harry. Despite having known him for only a few weeks, it just felt so familiar. And it scared me, because I'd realised that he was starting to mean something to me; my heart just felt like it would've burst out of my chest at the thought of something bad happening to him. I wanted him to be safe and it scared me to know that he might've not been, way more than I would've ever admitted. But what scared me the most was that, after getting a glimpse of what it meant to be around him, I just didn't want to stop hanging out with him.

"You're spacing out" Harry said, and I looked at him.

He had moved from the chair in front of me to the one next to me and he was way closer than I had expected him to be. It took all myself to not flinch back.

"What are you thinking about?" He asked softly, his green eyes shining with curiosity.

"Nothing" I replied briefly.

He looked down for a second and wet his pink lips with the tip of his tongue, just to freeze me under his stare once again. "You seemed quite concentrated, back there" he said, his voice becoming deeper and somewhat alluring. "It almost felt... Inappropriate, to disrupt you" he whispered.

"Just some things" I replied, leaning in a bit closer, almost feeling his soft breath on my lips.

All of sudden the realisation of what was about to happen crossed his green eyes, and he stood up fast. "I will help you with the cups" he said, taking the now empty mugs and putting them into the sink.

I followed right after, throwing away the white bag of the cupcakes.

"Do you have something to do today?" I asked him, trying to make small conversation to break the embarrassing silence that had been created, only interrupted by the sounds of us tidying up the kitchen.

"I have somewhere to be this night. And I'm meeting up with some people this morning" he replied.

"Friends?" I asked him again.

"I guess you could say so" he said evasively.

"I'll see you tomorrow, then?"

He put the cups in the cupboard after having washed and dried them. "I won't be at home tomorrow. But I'd like to take you out for dinner sometime next week, my treat. As a thank you for all the breakfasts you bought me. If you're free?" He asked.

"Yeah, sure" I replied, sounding quite surprised, "I work the night only on Tuesdays and Thursdays" I added.

"I guess that Monday will be just fine, then" he said. He checked the time on his phone. "I have to go now, it's past 10am" he said, "I'll see you next week, I suppose. Have a good day, Grace."

"You have a good day as well, Harry" I replied, as he got out of my house.