Masterpiece {h.s}

34. Hearts & Kisses

Harry's POV

I drove us around the city for a while. Annabelle had suggested it and I had happily agreed. She wasn't ready to go back home and neither was I, I needed some time to think back on our date. To my opinion it went perfectly, Anna was satisfied with my choice of location and that fact alone was enough to make my whole week, but it got even better than that.

I don't know what I liked the most, the fact that she had opened up to me a little more, or how fascinated she was by the fishes. I know that logically it should be the fact that she opened up to me, since it was want I wanted since the moment I met her, but the way she looked at the aquariums, with big, bright and curious eyes, it seemed to warm my heart even more.

In a way, during those moments when she would stare at the fish swimming in front of her, her walls came down. She didn't care about what was happening around her and she wasn't on her guard like usual. As I stood behind her and followed her around, my feelings for her increased, to a point where I didn't think it was possible. It was as if I saw her with a different eye, she seemed brighter, happier, prettier.

She was getting more comfortable with me, I was sure of it, I could see it in the way she acted around me. Even now as we sat in my car, her walls were nowhere to be seen. It was her and me, no past and no problems.

"I love you," I clumsily mumbled, overwhelmed with happiness.
She turned her head towards me, her eyes were confused. "What did you say? I wasn't paying attention, sorry."
I smiled and brought her hand that I was holding to my lips. "I love you," I repeated before pressing a kiss on the back of her hand.

She smiled and leaned towards me. She pressed a delicate kiss against my cheek and I shivered, loving the feeling of her lips on me. She kissed me twice again before sitting back in her seat and returning to being lost in her thoughts.

She didn't say 'I love you' back, but it didn't matter, part of me knew that she did but that she wasn't ready to say it and I was okay with that. I had to admit that I had said those three words a little bit early, but I saw no point in keeping them in if they were true. It had happened suddenly, but I did love her, more than I had ever loved anyone and each moment I spent with her made me fall even harder.

She was a source of light in my life and I wanted to be the same for her. I wanted to make her pain go away. I knew that it was a considerable process, but I also knew that it would be worth it.

I looked at the time displayed by my car's radio. It was close to ten o'clock, which meant that I had been driving for an hour now. I looked at Anna who was still looking out the window. I squeezed her hand slightly to catch her attention.

"Are you ready to go home?" I asked her.
"Yeah, I'm getting tired," she admitted. "Are you staying at my place?"
I turned to look at her and my eyes met her hopeful one. "Do you want me to?"

She nodded and smiled shyly. She wanted me around and that was better than any I love you's.
Like I said, I didn't need to hear her say it, I already knew it. I could feel it in the way she looked at me, in the way she held me. I could hear it behind every time she said my name or when she would call me 'silly'. It was in the way she held my hand when we would walk side by side, and very recently in the way she kissed me. Those small gestures made all these effort I made to get closer to her worth it.

We weren't perfect, far from it. There were still problems tangling above our heads, threatening to fall onto us. But it was nice to have these moments that we could think back too when things would get harder.

I parked in front of her building and ran around the car to open her door for her. I saw her cheek redden and I smiled proudly. She came out of the car and I took my bag of clothes that I had packed earlier. She stood behind me, waiting for me before heading inside. I slid the strap of my bag on my shoulder and reached for her hand. She took it in hers and intertwined our fingers before walking up to her apartment.