roses so red [harry lewis]

flower beds

"Sorry, we'll head out." He apologized, offering that sort of smile you give to your mate's dad when you're coming over after school. 

Rosalie followed suit, glancing up and pursing her lips shyly as she caught herself taking the hand Harry had offered out to help her up without even a hint of an instinct to call him out for his painfully sexist traditional ways. She kind of liked that he took her hand, because she hoped fleetingly that he wouldn't let it go once she was on her feet.

He didn't. Harry used the hand he held hers with to pull her after him towards the door, casting a wave over his shoulder to their server as the bell dinged behind them and they were hit with a front of Britain's coolest time of the evening. "I didn't realize how late it had gotten." Harry admitted, pulling his phone from his pocket to check the time as they crossed the deserted car park to his car.

The lights blinked on as the car bleated at them, Harry guiding Rosalie to the passenger side door so he could open it for her and let her get in safely before he rounded to the driver's side. His hand reached out to get the handle, but Rosalie put her hand on his first, stopping him. 
They both looked up to the other, their faces close.

Rose's flame flickered, and she stepped towards the car as she gave him a coy look. "I can get it."

Harry held up both hands, waiting as she opened the door and climbed in before he closed it after her, rounding to hop into the driver's seat and turn the car on. The heat hummed through the vents, the radio turning back on to quietly play the tunes of the year.

Rosalie got comfortable, pulling the seat belt across her chest and staring out the window so she didn't have to face Harry. She'd wanted to kiss him so badly, when they were just inches from each other and she could practically taste the burnt cafe coffee on his breath. It made her whole body tingle with discomfort to be that close to him without touching him, not when she wanted to so badly.

The drive home was mostly quiet, but it wasn't uncomfortable and tense. They both just had to think, about how their conversation was so easy, about how things between them were so different than how they'd begun, about all of the reasons why and how and where and how far because both of them wanted to just be, to feel each other, so badly.

They parked in Harry's spot underneath the tower, his car filling the empty space beside the one where Callum's car was absent. Rose climbed out, exhaling her worries about having to talk to Callum if they - well, she felt presumptuous hoping that Harry would invite her inside now that it was already so late in the night. She decided she'd wait until they got in the lift, see what button he hit. His flat was floors above hers, so she'd let him hit whatever button first and just let things play out as they would.

The pair entered the building, waiting as the lift arrived before stepping inside. And then, both of them hesitated. Nobody hit a button, and the doors closed behind them and left the two standing awkwardly in the lift while it sat in the lobby, un-moving, until finally Rosalie reached out and hit his floor. She stepped back, folding her hands in front of her and staring straight ahead with her eyebrows raised.

Harry chuckled, scratching at his chest and finally settling with his arms hanging awkwardly down at his sides. "Thanks."

She glanced over at him, her eyebrows arched high on her forehead. "You're welcome."

The lift dinged open and they walked to his front door, Harry pulling out his keys and beginning to ramble. "Would you like to come inside - I mean, just for a night cap or something if you'd like to, but if you don't that's fine. I don't mean, like, come and - well, not that I don't want to, but I don't want to seem like I'm asking -"

"Sure, Harry, I'd love to come in." Rosalie cut him off, giving the boy a cheeky smirk as she opened the door for him. "Try breathing between phrases, you might not get so dizzy and mixed up." She teased.