14. Dirty Little Secret

                                    

                                          
"Let me know that I've done wrong, when I've known this all along. I go around a time or two, just to waste my time with you . . ."
                          
When I come to my senses, there's an unfamiliar pressure on my chest as it gradually rises and falls, making the effortless action require more force. Keeping my eyes closed, I try to turn over to get into a more comfortable position but something weighs my body down, preventing me from doing so. I open my eyes and look down to see a blurry image of Harry. I rub my eyes and blink, bringing him into focus.
                          
His head rests on the area above my abdomen and his fingers grip my t-shirt, fisting the fabric in his large hands. His bandana has slipped from his head, freeing his curls to fall haphazardly in his face. My hands come up to push them back, but I hesitate. Biting my lip in concentration, I gently rake my hands through his hair, letting the strands slip through my fingers.
                          
His hair feels like silk against my skin, smooth and soft. I imagine what it would feel like to push it out of his face, revealing his green eyes as he looks up at me. Struck by a sudden sense of paranoia, I glance down to make sure that my actions didn't cause him to wake up. Much to my relief, his eyes are closed and his breathing is slow, relaxed. I smile when I see his slightly parted lips and feel his breath escaping to warm my skin through my thin t-shirt.
                          
When I had first laid my eyes on Harry, I had seen him as nothing but trouble, what with the cigarette set between his lips and the tattoos that decorated his skin. His dark demeanor had scared me, especially when he had lost his temper and attacked Miles. But now, looking at his messy hair and peaceful expression as he slept, it's hard to imagine that he had ever done any of those things. He doesn't intimidate me in this state of unawareness; he looks vulnerable, and innocent.
                          
I feel bad about the way my father has been treating him. He always jumps to conclusions about Harry without taking a step back to see him for what he really is. If he were to see us now, laying together on the couch while Harry's in nothing but boxers, he'd assume the worst, and that's the last thing that I wanted to happen. With that in mind, I slowly raise my torso from the couch, keeping my eyes on Harry's face incase he stirs.
                          
He shifts slightly when I try to scoot out from under him, tightening his grip on my shirt. I stop and wait for him to cease his movements before trying again, this time successfully letting his head slip from my stomach to rest on the couch. His fingers release their grip on my shirt, and I don't waste time in getting up now that I'm free to do so.
                          
Once I'm standing I look down at Harry, who unconsciously curls into a ball, bringing his knees to his chest and tucking his arms beneath his head to make up for the sudden loss of body heat surrounding him. I walk over and grab the blanket he had wrapped around me the night before and drape it over him, smiling at the sight of his feet sticking out of the end. He's just simply too tall.
                          
After staring at him for a few seconds, I tear my eyes away and head upstairs into the bathroom where I brush my teeth and do my best to comb through the knots in my hair. Once that's done I go in my room and change into a pair of denim shorts and a random t-shirt that I blindly pull from a hanger in my closet.
                          
Walking over to my window in my bedroom, I pull the curtain aside to look outside. Debris lay scattered on the ground as a result of the hurricane, most of them being fallen tree limbs. My eyes scan the barn and land on Harry's motorcycle that's parked inside of it. He must have moved it last night just before the storm hit, when he had left me to change in my room.
                          
Movement in the corner of my eye catches my attention, tearing me away from my thoughts. My eyes widen when my gaze lands on my father's cruiser turning into the driveway leading to my house.