Far Away

38

When Harry parked his Audi R8 Coupe into a vacant parking lot,  I looked over at him to see a frown fill his features. His hands stayed gripped onto the steering wheel, his eyes focused outside the windsheild.

"What's wrong?" I asked him, breaking the silence.

Harry stayed quiet for a couple seconds before turning to me with his head pressed against the headrest of his seat. His eyes stayed on mine for a moment before he said, "We don't have to do this."

"I told you I wanted to." I said, feeling myself get defensive. After hearing Harry say 'we don't have to do this' about four times, I was beginning to feel like he was the one who didn't want to. I don't know why he would offer showing me the city if he didn't actually want to. "If you don't want to we can go back to your house, then." I said, shrugging and turning forward. I tried not to look upset, but I was. Thinking about getting to walk around the city, hand in hand with Harry, seeing sights and places in London I've seen pictures of seemed amazing. It'd be nice to do something normal with him, something different.

"Mace..." Harry said, reaching out and taking my hand in his. I looked to him and raised my brows. He smirked, "I swear you forget who I am sometimes."

I stared at him for a second, my brows knotting until I understood what he meant.

"Why did you offer to do this, then?" I asked quietly.

"London isn't bad, I can go out a lot and not be bothered. I was being selfish when I offered it."

"Selfish..." I repeated, trying to understand what he meant by it.

"I still don't know if you're ready for all of this." Harry said, studying me. "I don't want the media to scare you away from me. I don't want to change or alter your day-to-day life because I wanted to take you around town." We both kept quiet for a moment before Harry continued, "I'm not going to sugarcoat any of this, Mace. I'm not going to lie to you. Being in a public relationship with me will be hectic and difficult. People are going to pay more attention to you. You'll see yourself in magazines and not everything said is going to be pleasant. I wish things were easier, but they're not. At the end of the day it's up to you."

I sucked in a breath and nodded. Harry was telling me everything I'd already known. There's already been a couple of occasions when we've made headlines. Sure, one of them was only because people thought I was a random stranger who poured my Starbucks on him, and another they hadn't seen my face as I exited the diner... but I knew what he meant. The media ate up everything Harry did, and if he was seen with a girl, it was even better. I couldn't just pretend to believe that Harry would be okay sitting around my house or his for our entire relationship, and I couldnt expect our entire relationship to last that way. Obviously going public was scary, and the idea of people constantly paying attention to me would be weird, but all of that was worth it for Harry. He's always put me first. In my entire time of knowing him, let alone being with him, he's never pressured me to do anything I was uncomfortable with.

I looked out the window at the half-empty parking lot. It didn't look so scary. And if the media did catch us, the best way to think of it is as a new chapter of mine and Harry's relationship.

"Mace?" Harry asked, running his thumb over the back of my hand.

I looked over to him and smiled, leaning across my seat to his and kissed his lips. "I really want to see London." I said, opening my eyes to see a smile spread across Harry's lips.

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We had been walking around London for the past hour, only stopping at sights and once to buy pretzels. When we stood in line, I felt the chill of the February air hit me and shivered. Harry noticed and pulled me against him and kissed the top of my head. I smiled and closed my eyes and cuddled against his warmth. Later during our touristy adventure, Harry began skipping while holding onto my hand, pulling me along. Using my hand that he wasn't holding, I gently pulled on his arm to get him to stop skipping down the street. When Harry turned and noticed my mortifyed expression, he tilted his head back and laughed. I blushed and looked down, still holding onto his arm, trying to hide my redness. Obviously, he found joy in embarrassing me.