On Her Majesty's Secret Service ~ H.S.

Chapter 24

I instantly shut my eyes and feign sleep. Although I can pretend to be unconscious, I can't stop my heart from racing as he nears. What is wrong with me?

Shrouded in the cover of the darkness, I peek through one eye, barely open enough for me to see through my eyelashes. I see Harry standing at the foot of our bed silently, seeming to be deciding upon something. Thank god I don't have to be the one who makes the decision of whether to stay or to go. For some reason, though, I find myself itching to have him lie down on the bed.

I shut my eyes again hastily and wait. Nothing happens for a few seconds, then I hear Harry pad around the bed to his side and tentatively take his place beside me. Facing away from him, I let the smallest smile cover my face. I don't know why it appears, but it does.

With Harry next to me to protect me, I instantly feel secure and immediately the heavy pull of sleep begins to take effect. I figure that's all he'll do for now. After all, he couldn't even look at me today. There's no way we could sleep with each other the way we have been for the past few nights. I'm proven wrong.

I sense him scooting closer and closer under the blankets, barely moving an inch at a time. Slowly, but surely, he comes to rest just behind me and very carefully, he places his arm over my waist. I don't let my body indicate the relief that's flowing through me right now, but can't restrain from letting out a long sigh.

His front comes to rest comfortably against my back and I feel him breathing against my ear.

"I know you're not asleep. Goodnight, Rosy." He whispers, barely audible. My eyes pop open in surprise, but luckily he can't see. I want to reprimand him for having the audacity to say that after ignoring me the whole day, but I can't.

I remain in silence and let myself drift to sleep.

***

The next morning begins as usual. My alarm goes off at 4:30 AM sharp. Harry is no longer wrapped around my body, but lays on the other side of the bed instead. I guess we became disconnected in the night. Slowly rubbing the sleep out of my eyes, I forget that it's supposed to be awkward between us right now.

I reach my arm out and whack Harry in the chest, waking him up. This is our daily routine by now and I don't realize for a good 30 seconds the impasse I've just committed. I should not be behaving normally today, right? We kissed less than 24 hours ago. Harry and I kissed. I can't just act normal after such a strange occurrence.

He groans as usual and turns away. I guess he's forgotten, too.

"Get up." I whisper, but not as strictly as usual. Without a word I stand up and slip on my swimsuit. We're supposed to be training in the water today. Harry has made so much progress in the last couple of weeks I barely have anything left to teach him. I guess today he can work on holding his breath a little more, and maybe we can practice some of those awful exercises the General always gives us.

I don't bother to wait for Harry to change and head to the pool by myself. I worry for a second that the masked attacker might be following me, but with Harry to follow in less than a minute, I highly doubt it.

I get in the pool and swim a few laps to warm up. Luckily, MI6 has it heated for us. If they didn't, I don't know if I could bear training in the mornings.

As predicted, Harry makes an appearance after about 5 minutes. He slides into the pool with ease, none of his past anxiety making an appearance. Although during our mission the other night he was tied up and pushed into water, he doesn't seem to be phased now. I think i comforted him enough the night after when he sought reassurance.

"Um, so, probably just those exercises the General gives us and some breathing practice." I suggest. We make eye contact for a split second but I look away quickly. Yep. it's definitely still awkward. I know he called me out last night as we were falling asleep, but we both seem to be braver in that bed than anywhere else.