"It can be a late birthday present", he says slowly. "It doesn't have to be today. But I do want it. Want you", he whispers. My cheeks are dark red now. I know that.
I don't know what to say so I slip out of his grasp and sit down. He follows, sitting close. I take a deep breath, trying to calm myself. Ellie was right. Oh god.
"Calm down Leah. I didn't say that to make you uncomfortable", he says, leaning his head back. My heart continues to pound. "I know", I manage to say. He chuckles.
Gemma walks back into the room, breaking up some of the awkwardness. "You guys want to go get lunch somewhere?", she asks. "My treat", she adds. Harry looks at me. I don't mind. I nod. "Yeah let's go. I'll drive", he says standing up.
He grabs my hand and pulls me off of the couch. He chuckles when I almost lose my balance.
I stand up. His hand continues to hold mine. I squeeze his hand to show I'm fine.
I'm going to have to do it eventually. No, I'm not ready now but who knows what's to come. I just have to calm myself down and not think to much about it.
We walk to the front door and I grab my purse. "Thank you for having me", I say to Anne. "Oh honey you're not leaving yet. You'll come back and have dinner", she laughs. Harry shrugs his shoulders. "Alright", I smile. "See you in a bit", I add.
We follow Gemma downstairs. When we get to Harry's car he says, "Gemma why don't you let Leah take the front seat", he says. "No problem", she smiles, opening the back door.
Harry releases my hand so I can get into the car. I slide in. I cross my legs and take a deep breath. "You good?", Gemma asks. "I'm fine", I smile, turning to face her. She nods her head in content.
"Where to?", Harry asks. "You choose", Gemma and I say at the same time. He shrugs his shoulders and pulls out of the parking lot.
We pull into some steakhouse place I've never heard of before. "This better be good", Gemma teases. "Oh it is", he winks at her.
Harry gets out first. He opens Gemma's door and then mine. "Thanks", I mumble. He grabs my hand.
The restaurant is quite large. We walk into the double doors and are immediately welcomed by a younger woman. "Hello", she smiles. "Three?", she asks. "Yes", Gemma smiles. "Booth or table?", she continues. "Booth", Harry says. She nods her head and gestures for us to follow her.
When we come to the booth, I slide in first, accompanied by Harry. Gemma slides in across from us. The woman places menus on our table. "Your waiter will be with you shortly. Enjoy", she smiles. Harry pulls one of his dimpled smiles at her. "Thank you", he says. The woman blushes slightly before nodding and turning around, walking back to the front doors.
I feel a stab of jealousy but it fades quickly. He was just being polite.
I open up the menu. I look through it for awhile, before deciding what I want. "What are you getting?", Harry asks me. "Um, I'm getting a side Caesar salad and the small steak with the mash potatoes", I say, pointing to the menu. He purses his lips. "Nice choice", he laughs. I shrug my shoulders.
A very attractive man comes to our table then. "Hello, my name is Mark and I'll be your server today", he smiles kindly. "Can I start you off with something to drink?", he asks us.
Gemma starts first. "I'll have a sweet tea please", she smiles at him. Mark looks at me. "Um, lemonade", I say shyly. Harry looks at me and smiles wide. "And for you?", Mark interrupts. "Water", Harry says, continuing to look at me. "They'll be right out", Mark smiles.
"Lemonade?", Harry questions. i shrug my shoulders, trying not to blush. "I don't drink soda often and I don't like the taste of tea. The water at restaurants tastes nasty", I giggle. "You're so damn cute", Harry pecks me on the cheek. I blush again.
Gemma sits across the table, smiling wide. She makes kissy noises. Harry shoots his middle finger at her, causing her to laugh. I love that he has such a good relationship with her.
The waiter comes back, handing our drinks to us. "Are we ready to order here?", he asks. We tell him what we want. He scribbles it down on his little notepad. "Alright it'll be out soon", he smiles. I even think he winks at me. Harry must've seen it because his hand moves to rest on my knee.
We talk about school and how much we can't wait for it to be over. Gemma tells Harry and I what's to come, school wise. Harry never takes his hand off of my knee. It's really nice talking to her. I really like her.
I take a sip of my lemonade but nearly spit it out when Harry's hand slides to my upper thigh. I cough a lot, considering I almost just choked. "You alright?", Gemma asks, laughing. "Mmhmm", I reply.
His hand now rests right below the hem of my dress. He squeezes my thigh causing me to go into another coughing fit. Gemma looks over worriedly. "Must have swallowed wrong", I squeak.
Harry doesn't say a word. He smirks when I turn to him. He slides his hand a little lower. Now half of his hand is under my dress. Oh god.
I shift uncomfortably, hoping he will move his hand. He doesn't. But he does squeeze the skin there again. I tense up next to him.
"So what are your plans for college?", Gemma asks. "I..um..I'm thinking about going into radiology. Maybe becoming an x-ray tech, but I don't really know yet", the "yet" comes out as a squeak. Harry has moved his hand to my inner thigh.
Gemma squints at me, questionably. "Hmm, that's an interesting career path", she says, tilting her head a little. "It's great", she corrects herself. I nod, forcing a smile.
Harry squeezes the skin of my inner thigh. It takes everything I have to to squeal. The sensation I get from him doing that is like nothing I've ever felt. That scares me.
I quickly cross my legs, squeezing them together, hoping that will rid Harry's hand. Harry bites his lip,trying not to smile.
Gemma looks at us questionably before saying, "I'm going to go to the toilet. I'll be right back". She scoots out of her booth and walks to wherever the restroom is.
Once she's out of sight I look at Harry. "Harry this is not the time or place", I whisper to him. He slowly moves his hand back to the front of my thigh. "You like it though. I can tell", he whispers back. My breath hitches. He smirks.
"Harry..", I say boldly. He takes his hand off of my thigh and puts his hands up in surrender. "Okay. Okay. I'll keep my hands to myself", he chuckles. "For now", he adds, making my heart skip a beat.
Mark, our waiter, comes with the food. Gemma turns around the corner, quickly slipping into the booth. "Excuse me", she says politely. He nods at her and smiles. He hands us our food. It looks really good. "Thank you", Gemma and I say. Harry doesn't say anything. "No problem. Enjoy your meal", he says, walking away. I pick up my fork and begin to eat. Everything is really good. Harry did an excellent job picking the place.
We chat for awhile, pausing to take bites. Harry says things occasionally but it's mostly Gemma and I speaking.
Mark brings us the bill once we are finished eating. Harry and I offer to pay for our meals but Gemma refuses. "My treat remember", she adds, stuffing her credit card into the little black book.
Once Mark brings her card back we thank him and leave. "Where to?", Harry asks once we are inside his car. "You want to go see a film?", Gemma asks. "Like go to the movies?", I question. She nods.
I look over at Harry and he shrugs. "I don't mind", he says. "What movie?", I ask them. "Check on the theater's website", Harry says.
I pull up the website on my phone. I scroll through the list of movies before we all decide on one. It's a horror movie but I myself enjoy them. Harry and Gemma say they do as well.
"It starts in 15 minutes. Can we get there?", I ask Harry. "Sure can", he says, turning the car on. We pull away and drive to the theater.
In the theater Harry doesn't do much. He doesn't touch me like he did before. I hide behind him during the really scary parts of the movie. He laughs and wraps his arm around me but nothing more.
Gemma doesn't seem to mind the movie. She only jumps once, unlike me, who has jumped at least twenty times. Harry laughs every time I do so.
When the movie ends, we sit in the theater until everyone else is gone. The credits roll to creepy music.
"I thought you said you liked horror movies", Harry laughs. "I do. Some parts are just really scary", I giggle. Harry shakes his head, smiling.
"Alright lovebirds", Gemma says, standing. "Let's head back home. Mum is probably waiting on us", she sighs. Harry and I stand, following her out.
The sun blinds me as we step out. I shield my face with my arm. Harry squints, before pushing on his sunglasses. He looks at me. "You need them?", he asks, motioning to the glasses. "I'm good", I say, my eyes adjusting slightly. He nods.
We walk to his car. "You can sit in the front Gemma", I say. I feel bad. She should be able to sit with her brother. I mean, she rarely sees him. "I insist", I add. "Alright", she sighs, sliding into the front.
I get into the back and buckle the seat belt. Harry has sunglasses on but I can see him staring at me in the rear view mirror. He smirks when our eyes meet. I look away, blushing slightly.
I sit quietly as Gemma and Harry reminisce over old childhood memories. It makes me realize there is a lot Harry and I still don't know about each other.
I check my phone. I have two messages. One from Ellie. One from my dad. I read my dad's first.
Dad: Why weren't you at school today? Are you feeling alright?
I don't respond to his message. I can deal with him later. I read Ellie's next.
Ellie: Sex yet?
I roll my eyes and lock my phone. Not only is Ellie very invasive, she only thinks about sex. It's hard to hold a conversation with her, without her cracking a perverted joke at some point.
We pull into Anne and Gemma's apartment. Harry gets out first, running over to open our doors. "Thank you", I murmur. He takes hold of my hand and squeezes. I smile.
Anne must have gone out to get groceries because the door is locked and she isn't answering. Gemma takes out her key and unlocks the door. We step in.
"I'll call her just to make sure she's okay", Gemma says. Harry nods in agreement.
He leads me to the balcony. We step outside. "The view could be better", he laughs. All you can see is the next building and part of the sky. I don't mind. "It's fine", I laugh.
We sit down on the bench. I rest my head against the wall. "You alright? I wasn't trying to make you uncomfortable", Harry says, referring to earlier.
I nod. "It's okay. I'm fine don't worry about it", I say. "Good", he bites his lip.
The air is cool but it's starting to warm up a little. It's no longer numbingly cold. I close my eyes and enjoy the silence. Harry intertwines his fingers with mine. I love holding his hand. I feel secure.
The door opens. I open my eyes to find Gemma sticking her head out. "She's fine. She went to get something she forgot for dinner", she says casually. Harry nods firmly.
I stand up, taking Harry with me. "Let's go in", I say. He sighs but agrees. Gemma steps out of the doorframe to let us in.
Harry grabs the remote and pulls me onto the couch with him. He flicks through channels. I rest my head on his shoulder. We watch some weird show that Harry seems to enjoy, so I don't question it.
The front door opens and Anne stumbles in, carrying one grocery bag. Harry's on his feet immediately. I don't have time to catch myself. My head falls onto the couch. "Sorry", he murmurs. I sit up.
Anne rests her hands on the counter, out of breath. She puts the bag down. "Mum?", Gemma questions. Anne puts her hand up. "I'm fine", she gets out. "Just a little out of breath", she coughs.
Harry and Gemma look at each other, worriedly. "Alright mum, why don't you sit down", Gemma says walking towards her.
I don't know what's going on but Harry looks scared. Anne seems to be in really good shape. I don't see why she would be so out of breath.
Gemma leads her to the couch. Anne sits. Harry puts a pillow behind her head. I stand up, stepping back so I'm not in the way.
"Can you get me some water Harry?, Anne says. "Yeah", he says, walking towards the kitchen.
I don't really know what to do. "You okay?", I ask her. "Yes dear. I'm sorry don't mean to startle you. This happens occasionally", she sighs. "No need to apologize", I smile. She smiles weakly.
What does she mean by "occasionally"? She gets this way a lot?
Harry walks back in with a glass of water. "Thank you", Anne whispers, grabbing the glass from him. Her hand shakes as she takes a sip.
She try's sitting up to put the glass on the coffee table but misses. The glass shatters on the floor. "Shit" she curses. "It's alright mum. We'll clean it up", Gemma says. Harry stands, motionless, with wide eyes. "Harry can you get a broom?", Gemma asks. He snaps back into reality. "Oh um yea", he says, grabbing the broom.
Gemma sweeps the glass into a pile. "I have to make dinner now", Anne says, standing up. "Mum that's not a good idea..", Harry starts. She shushes him. "Mum..", Gemma protests.
Anne takes a step. Her face suddenly pales. "Mum..", Harry starts. He can't finish his sentence before Anne falls to the floor.