COUNTING STARS

___________________________________________________________________
Ariel’s P.O.V
I laid my palms flat against the counter, Jesse came walking pass me from behind. “You okay?” Some of his drunkenness wore off. I look up at him through his reflection in the mirror; I gave off a tight fake smile. “Yes baby, I’ll be right there…”He opened the bathroom door and walked out, the door came back slamming. I closed my eyes letting out a deep sigh; I ran my hands underneath the cold water and took some splashing it on my face. If I could I would take a shower right now, anything to wash off the mess, the guilt, the dirtiness that had just thrusted on me. I grabbed a paper towel from off the wall and patted my face; balling up the tissue I threw it into the garbage.

I opened up the bathroom door to a shock and surprise to see Harry standing there in front of me. “Oh, I-I’m sorry” I said nervously, he was catching me at a terribly time. I straightened out my hair and patted my cheeks down with my hand. “I’m sorry” I said dropping my eyes to the floor. He walked closer to me; I dared myself to lift my head to look up at him. “Why are you apologizing?” He tilted his head to an angle looking at me as if he’s trying to read my mind before I could. “I-I don’t want you to see me like this, I look like a mess….” He removed his glasses off his eyes and slipped it into the front pocket of his jeans. And there I was again slipping into a Harry coma locking my eyes on his and my lips parting slightly breathing out lightly in awe. “You look beautiful…..and I should be the one saying sorry” His accent made that compliment stand out from the typical, making me desired to kiss him, to hug him.He raised his hand up to my face I closed my eyes knowing where he was heading; he grazed the pad of his thumb across my cheek. “Uuuggg” I flinched as the pressure from his thumb strike the faded bruised spot. “Are you okay?”

He didn’t ask as in reply to accidently hurting me but as to asking me myself; my feelings my emotions and my life is all of them okay? “Yes….” I lied. “Come with me” He nodded his head towards the door; he walked in front while I followed behind him. He opened the door and once again put his hand on my lower back escorting me out first, I will never get tired of that. We walked down towards his car; he opened the front door and leaned down by the seat pulling up a lever the hood of the truck instantly popped up. I walked towards the back as so did he following behind me. He slid his hand around my waist guiding me off to the side before pulling away and lifting the hood up higher, he reached down scrambling for

something. His forearm had thin lines of veins sticking out running up to his forearm before disappearing underneath the skin, and multiple tattoos’s that I didn’t understand such as “Things I can” and “Things I can’t” Does that mean that there’s things he can change and then there’s something he can’t change? Or something’s he can do and something’s he can’t? I like how his tattoos had meanings behind them the only tattoo Jesse had was labeled across his back at the top right of his shoulder spelling out his ex-girlfriends name.

“Here love….” It was my book that I dropped this morning. I observed it, it look still new I hugged it to my chest. “Thank you…..and um did you just call me love?” He closed the truck and looked at me, he shrugged his shoulders. “I’m sorry, I’ll stop it’s just a habit” I shook my head. “No, no it’s fine just here in Beaumont you don’t really here the guys calling the girls love, it’s….I like it” He walked closer closing the space between us, he slid his hands inside his pants and raised one eyebrow as if he was on to me. “So you like when….I call you love?” The nice guy I just met a second ago was swapped for the thrilling seductive guy. His voice was back to a calm, husky inviting whisper. “Yes……I can’t lie, it’s different” It’s true I couldn’t lie; Harry has been nothing but nice to me and even stood up for me. He seems like the guy who only wants the truth and doesn’t waste his time with a lie. He backed up away from me, my mouth fell into a settle impassive line.

“Where are you going?” Curious to ask he crept the corners of his mouth up into a smile. “You’re flirting with me” Awkward! I really was but the fact that he pointed out what was meant to be left unsaid was weird. “No….what if you were flirting with me?” He stopped; rubbing his jawline thoughtfully he stared down at the ground nodding then looked back up at me smiling lightly enough for me to admire his dimples. “I was…..” I dropped my arms from crossing across my chest and I slightly parted my mouth. I’m so stupid, how could I have not known that he was flirting with me? “No you weren’t?” I didn’t notice the signs, or maybe I

just looked pass them. He nodded towards my arms “Check your arms….” He walked away heading back towards the party. I looked down at my arms lifting them higher, Goosebumps ran up and down my arm starting at my wrist all the way up to my shoulder. Did he do this? He gave me Goosebumps, maybe because of the way he stared at me or the way he spoke so calmly. I rubbed my arms creating friction to subside the tiny pores sticking out, no guy has ever gave me Goosebumps other than…..Bobby, when I saw his hand sticking out the window and….I shook the thought out of my head and started my way back towards the party as well before Jesse’s curiosity kicked in.

Notes