“Do you wanna go do something?” Harry asks as we lay together in his bed. His arm is wrapped around my shoulder holding me as I lay with my head on his muscular chest. Our free hands are entwined together on his stomach, making me regret waiting so long to stop denying the inevitable. My new favorite place in the world is right here, in his arms.

I look up at him and laugh. “You do realize it’s five in the morning, right?” We’ve been laying here all night, talking, kissing, exploring each other’s body’s…

“So? I have somewhere I want to bring you.” He says completely serious before leaning forward to kiss my forehead.

“Okay.” I agreed. I don’t know where the hell he wants to bring me this early in the morning, but I do know that I want to be wherever he is.

“Stay here.” Harry says and gets off the bed. I watch him curiously as he pulls on clean boxers and a pair of blue jeans before leaving the room.

I lay on his bed, confused, yet content. I’m too happy to worry or think about what he’s doing.

Harry comes back five minutes later holding a pair of my jeans, a white T-shirt, my leather jacket, a clean pair of underwear and a bra. “Put this on.”

“Um, okay?” I wait for him to tell me where we’re going as I get dressed. Does he realize it’s almost 80 degrees outside? Why the hell do I need a jacket and jeans?

As I’m getting dressed, he pulls a plaid long-sleeved shirt from his closet and puts it on. God, he’s sexy.

“Ready?”

“Yep.” I smile and take his hand. “Are you going to tell me where we’re going now?” I can’t help it, I’m impatient.

“Do you trust me?”

“Yes.” I answer without hesitation.

He replies with a quick, but passionate kiss before we continue down the stairs. When we get into the garage, I go over to my car waiting for him to unlock the doors.

“Not today,” Harry smiles. “Put this on, baby.” He hands me a helmet and I finally put everything together.

“Harry I am not getting on that thing!”

He ignores me and takes the helmet from my hands. “On.”

I push his hands away so he can’t put the helmet on my head. “No! I’m not riding on that death trap. Let’s just take my car.” He sighs and sets the helmet on the seat of his motorcycle to take my face in his hands. “Chlo, do you think I would let anything happen to you?”

I look at his eyes and see that he’s clearly trying to reassure me nothing bad will happen. “I don’t like them.” I confess.

“Do you still trust me?”

“Yes.” I do. I trust him with my life, really, but that doesn’t mean I’m not scared.

He nods and leans forward to kiss my cheek. “Take your ponytail out.”

I oblige and pull the band out of my hair so he can put the helmet on. Once he’s done, he smacks my ass. “You look fucking hot.”

I’m suddenly thankful for the helmet because it’s hiding the blush I know is evident on my cheeks. He puts on his own helmet before he gets on the bike first and holds his hand out for me when it’s my turn to hop on.

“Hold on to me, baby.”

I do as I’m told and wrap my arms around his waist tightly. The vibrations of the engine travel through me as Harry starts the bike, backing out of the garage with his feet. Then slowly and smoothly, he pulls onto the street. My heart is hammering in my chest, my thighs gripping his hips tightly, but he’s obviously taking it easy with me on here, and I love him all the more for it. After about ten minutes we’re leaving the city, and I have no idea where we’re headed… I also don’t care. We drive for a few more minutes on a winding road up the side of a cliff, and stop when we get to the top where there’s an empty parking lot.

“Off you get.”

I swing my leg over and land on the gravel to the side of the bike. Harry kicks the stand down with his boot and turns the bike off before getting off himself. He removes his helmet, his hair all messy. He runs his hands through it as he places his helmet on the seat before taking mine off.

He looks at me anxiously, waiting for my reaction. He’s worried I didn’t like it. I grin, launching myself at him, wrapping my legs around his waist and my arms around his neck.

He laughs. “There’s that smile. Did you like it? Or are you still mad that I made you ride with me?” He holds me with one arm.

I lean back to get his face in my line of vision. “I want one. Do you think my dad will let me?”

“Don’t even think about it. Not a fucking chance in hell. Never, no way.” He shakes his head, his expression pure dread. “Only ever with me.”

I laugh at his protective response. It’s not a new feeling to be cared for, but it feels so different with the way Harry protects me.

“I loved it.” I tighten my grip around his neck, pulling myself back into him and lowering my lips to his. “Thank you.”

He bites lightly on my bottom lip. "You’re more than welcome, baby.”

“Why are we here?” I ask as I look around at the empty parking lot. The sun hasn’t risen yet, but it’s still unseasonably warm.

“Follow me.” Harry smiles and holds his hand out to me.

We leave the motorcycle behind as we walk down a dirt path. We follow it for about five minutes, and stop when it leads us to the edge of the cliff we drove up. The ledge is fenced off, but it doesn’t block the amazing view of the city below us. I realize why he brought me here, and I think I fell deeper for this boy. No guy, not even Grant has taken me to watch a sunrise or a sunset.

“My favorite place in California: San Diego Overlook.” Harry smiles and leads me to a bench facing the beautiful view.

“It’s amazing.” I tell him and cuddle into his side.

“I found this place the summer me and my mum moved here.”

We sit together in silence as we watch the sky turn into shades of pinks and oranges as the sun rises, but it’s not uncomfortable. It’s like we’re soaking in this perfect moment.

“Why did you move here?” Harry breaks the silence.

My stomach drops. I knew that if we were going to go through with this, I would owe him the truth, but his question completely blind sided me. “What do you mean?”

“Well your dad said you wanted to live with him, but you seem to miss your mum and friends back home, it just doesn't always seem like you would rather be here… I’m sorry, you don’t have to answer that…” He looked nervous as he run his hand through his hair.

“No, it’s fine… I should tell you why.” I took a deep breath and angled my body so I was looking at him. “My dad lied, I didn’t want to move here. To be honest, I hated my dad before I moved here.”

“What are you taking about?”

I took another deep breath and looked away from him. I know I need to tell him, he deserves the truth. Maybe it will help me to talk about it. A tear escaped my eye as I thought about the real reason why I moved here. Harry squeezed my hand in his, but remained silent, allowing me to elaborate.

“My mom had cancer… Some rare bone cancer that the doctors found too late. They were uncertain of how long she’d live, but they didn’t think she’d only have four months.” At this point, my cheeks were wet with tears, and I could hardly see.

Harry pulled me to his chest and rubbed my back as he kissed my forehead. “I’m so sorry baby. I’m sorry.”

“When she passed away this summer, I was living on my own because Dad had walked out on us when I was nine.” I sniffle into my sleeve. “I hated him, Harry.”

“Why didn’t you tell me any of this, Chloe?” Harry asks quietly. I can see that he’s confused as to why I kept it a secret, but feels sympathetic.

“Because I didn’t want your pity. When my dad forced me to come live with him, I just wanted to start over, forget everything back home. Grant had dumped me because apparently I was too depressed for him, and everyone felt sorry for me because I didn’t have a dad or a mom.”

“I don’t understand… You and your dad... you don’t act like you hate him.”

“That’s because I don’t anymore. Well, yeah, I still haven’t forgiven him for what he did to me and my mom, but he’s apologized, and he’s making an effort to make up for the time he’s missed. When I moved here, I was so angry at everything, and I needed to get over it so that I could get rid of some of my anger.”

Harry nods, but doesn’t say anything else. I know I’ve dumped a lot on him, but he needed to hear this from me.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.” I say quietly, suddenly worried that maybe he’s angry with me for keeping this from him.

He sighs before pulling me into a tight embrace. “Chloe, you don’t need to apologize.”

“You’ve helped me,” I admit. “so much Harry. I don’t know what I would’ve done without you.”

“What do you mean?”

“That first night we hung out, you got me to forget about all of the shit I’ve been through. And then that day you found me crying in my room, it was the day before my mom’s birthday. I was having a really hard time, but then you took me to Menchie’s and helped me get my mind off of it all.”

He stays silent for a moment like he’s remembering that day. “I’m glad I could help.” He said genuinely.

“Thank you, Harry. For everything.”

“Chloe, if you ever need anything, I’m here. Okay?” He forces me to look at him. “You don’t have to go through this alone, I understand and I’m here for you.”

He understands? How could he? Wait… “Do you speak to your father?” I ask quietly.

“Occasionally.” He shrugs and looks out at the view. “He still lives back in London with his new wife.”

“Oh.” I had expected something much worse, but I’m relieved that he didn’t have to go through the same thing as I did.

“When did you move here?”

“When I was sixteen. My mum and dad got a divorce, and mum wanted a change of scenery.”

“You didn’t want to stay with your dad?”

“He’s a business man who works all the time. I don’t think he could’ve taken care of me on his own. And plus, my mum would never let me stay.”

“Even when you’re such an ass to her?” I tease.

“Even when I’m such an ass to her.” He rolls his eyes. “I’m not not that bad, am I?”

I laugh. It still amazes me to see him like this after knowing him that first week I moved here. “She cares about you, it wouldn’t kill you to ease up."

“For you baby, I’ll try.” Harry stands up and stretches his back. “We should get going. Breakfast at Jennie's?”

“They have the best pancakes!” My mouth waters when I realize how hungry I really am.

“Well let’s get the girl some pancakes then.” Harry smiles and stands in front of me, his back to my front. “Hop on.”

I giggle as a wrap my legs around his waist and arm around his neck. He carries me effortlessly all the way back to his motorcycle before setting me down. We ride to Jennie's Diner, and the entire time I’m smiling. I’m grateful for the way things have turned out.

Notes

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