Just a Touch of Your Love

I

Harry was a very tactile person. He liked to cuddle up with his friends while watching a movie, arms and legs thrown over each other, hold hands with his partners as often as possible, always one for casual touch and well known for giving these all-encompassing hugs even if you had met him fifteen minutes ago. He loved feeling someone else's warmth on his skin, their muscles shifting with movement under his hands and, sometimes, getting to catch the peaceful and happy pheromones of those who were incredibly comfortable in his company.

So, naturally, being two months into college with no roommate, no friends, kind of a heartbreak and tons of homework to do, Harry was having a bit of a hard time. Just a bit, nothing to worry about. At least not yet.

He made a habit of going every other day to the little café near his residence, since surrounding himself with other people helped to control the slight itch of not having actual physical contact, and their caramel macchiato was actually pretty good. Usually, he could get a table for himself and do a bit of schoolwork, like today, or cuddle up in an armchair on the back while reading.

"Hey, want a refill?" The voice startled Harry and he looked up to it. It wasn't Martha, the nice redhead who was usually around when he came, but the boy offered a polite smile and lifted his eyebrows, waiting for his answer.

"Uh, yeah, thanks," Harry gave him a quick smile and looked back down at his reading, still trying to understand some of it. Lately, he was having problems focusing, and not just on schoolwork; a few days ago, he had caught himself passing his turn home on his way from school, twice. By now, his routine had been altered and he could no longer recognize the tiniest things, only aware of something once it was pointed out by people, and then he would be too ashamed of people noticing to give a coherent answer.

The waiter brought back his mug and a 'courtesy biscuit', as he had called it when Harry tried to return it. There was something in his face that made Harry feel... exposed, like the boy was looking deep inside of him. And wasn't sure if he liked what he saw. He shook his head and went back to the paragraph he had been trying to read for the last twenty minutes. Fuck, this is going to be one long-ass afternoon, he thought.

Harry gave up on the reading after two hours. His eyes were itchy and his back hurt for he had been bend over while reading. He packed his things with slow movements, body exhausted and limbs heavy even when all he had done for the past three hours was sitting. See, one big disadvantage of being touch starved was the constant exhaustion, and for Harry, those bloody backaches when he laid down, which meant that he wasn't getting enough sleep either. Now, at the end of the day, lifting his backpack, putting it over his shoulder and make the walk to the counter to return the mug took an unnatural amount of effort and left him panting.

He put down the mug and cringed at the bang it made. Looking up, he met the waiter's eyes and said, "Sorry, man." The blonde dismissed it with a wave of his hand. "No worries, you're not the first client to go 'round smashing the cups," he gave Harry an easy smile so he would know he was only teasing. Amused with the boy, Harry smiled back and kept looking at him until the blonde's eyes turned sympathetic before asking, "Hey, you alright? Lookin' a bit tired, mate." Even when he had been half expecting it, the question surprised Harry and made him squirm under the attention.

"Uh... Yeah, 's been a bit of a rough day." He gave the same generic answer he had been giving to whoever happened to ask in the last few weeks, scratching the back of his neck with the hand not holding his backpack. The blonde nodded and hummed before reaching for the mug on the counter and turning around to wash it. "Well, take care, or you'll be scaring everyone around with that ugly face of yours." The sentence was thrown over his shoulder and accompanied by a playful wink that made Harry chuckle. The warmth of the conversation stayed with him all the way home.