Artwork [h.s]

twenty-six

As soon as we entered the car park I spotted Niall leaning against a black car. I wasn't an expert in cars at all so I didn't recognise the model, but it looked nice, and especially, perfectly clean. There didn't seem to be a single grain of dust on it, and it made me suppose that it either got cleaned often or Harry took a great care of it.

He looked up when Harry cleared his throat loud enough for him to hear, detaching his back from the window fast.

Harry pressed a button on the keys he still had in his hand as we approached the car, unlocking the doors. "Niall" he said when we reached him, giving him an eloquent look.

Niall sighed and opened the door to sit in the back, making me understand I was to sit on the passenger seat next to Harry.

I got into the car in silence, putting my bag between my legs on the floor and carefully shutting the door not to do it too loudly. I took in the looks of the inside of the car as Harry sat next to me, the smell of his cologne hitting me as he shifted to put his seatbelt on. The cleanliness of the outside reflected the inside, making me understand that Harry really did take care of his car, way more than I'd ever seen anyone else in my life do.

I passed my finger over the black leather of the seat as Harry turned on the car, the engine coming to life in a low hum. While Harry looked into the rear-view mirror to slide out of the parking lot, a deep silence fell over all of us, that was broken only when the car stopped in front of a house about fifteen minutes later.

Niall slid out of the car, leaning down and looking inside before shutting the door. "I'll see you later if you come home before midnight."

I turned around to look at him as he opened the gate, searching for the keys as he walked down to the main door. I flinched in surprise when Harry started the car again, sliding out of the street fast and in the direction of my house. I looked out of the window, sighing in the silence, that was starting to become everything but comfortable. I'd always hated awkward silence, but I'd always been way too shy to even consider breaking it. So between my shy, uncomfortable self and Harry's apparent disinterest in having any kind of conversation, the silence remained.

I was almost caught by surprise when Harry stopped the car in front of my house, turning it off and sliding out the door easily.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath before doing the same, shutting the door and scrambling to get the keys out of my bag as I approached the door, with Harry a few steps behind me. I quickly thanked whoever was above when my fingers wrapped around the cold metal, allowing me to break the somewhat awkward situation we'd fallen in.

I opened the door and stepped inside, taking a fast look at the entrance to make sure everything was in order as Harry closed the door.

I took off my coat and I hung it over another coat that was already there to leave the empty hanger to Harry. I walked up the stairs not waiting for Harry to take off his coat, hoping to eventually fix all the things that were out of place before he made his way into my room.

I walked into my room and turned on the light, noticing with a small smile that it was perfectly in order, before turning off the light and going back to the studio to take everything I needed. I found the drawing exactly where I'd left it the evening before. I looked at it in disbelief. I couldn't believe that less than a day had passed since Harry and I had started talking over text. It felt as if much longer had passed, and I blamed it on all the things that had happened since then.

I put all the stuff I needed together and I walked out of the room, almost dropping everything when I noticed that Harry was leaning against the door of my studio, an indecipherable look on his face.