"I've missed you."

It'll be a miracle if both they're lips aren't bruised with the pounce Harry proceeds with in making first contact. Bo gives an undignified screech. The stumble they both take knocks her into the kitchen table where her effort to steady them ends with take-away menus and junk mail showering the floor.

Bo can't remember the last time she felt like this, so ready to be swept up and away to somewhere she only has memories of. Harry's hands have never been this quick and so sure before. He's allowed to touch her now and he's making up for all the little lost connections. All the times he wished she was there to just watch the telly with him; her feet wedged under his thigh to keep warm. The casual hand and hip grazes of two people comfortable with existing together. He's making up for all the dinners he ate alone, absent of her telling him about her day and knocking ankles with him under the table. He just wants to feel her again.

And Bo feels like she's being absorbed, pressed so close to Harry's body that she could tap out the drumming of his pulse upon his back. But she won't because those fingers are fisted in his t-shirt as he lifts her from the floor.

Now at eye level, they calm for a second, both panting as Bo skims Harry's jaw affectionately with her nose.

"Do you wanna..."

There's hope in the mumbled, unfinished question, but Bo knows what he's leaning towards.

"Yeah, yes please," she responds, followed with a sharp, "shut it," as Harry begins to laugh.

Bo's polite acceptance is smothered with how dirty the kiss feels. Practically rubbing against him and it's still not enough. With how tightly Bo wraps her legs around his waist, there's really no need for Harry to hold her up under her arse, but he does anyway, fervently. All the while her fingers tangle in his hair as he walks them a little haphazardly down the hall.

Bo's thighs give an involuntary clench around Harry's middle as her back meets the wall. She arches into him and the groan he responds with rumbles through to her chest. Running high on adrenaline, Bo grabs a little too enthusiastically, collecting up as much of him as her arms can reach around.

"Can I take you to bed?" Harry hushes quietly with his forehead pressed to hers.

Both Harry and Bo are breathing a little faster, hearts swelling a little harder at the requited longing blooming between them.

"Yes please."

They share a shy smile before Bo tries to nip at his ear in an effort to break eye contact. Because Bo's afraid if she allowed him to look so adoringly for any longer, she would have demanded him right there in the hallway. Harry makes solid headway further into a part of the flat unexplored, all the while Bo noses into his neck.

Harry's an exciting mix of old and new. The way his fingers slip between hers like they used to, his hand roughened with new calluses. Tattoos that Bo is yet to be introduced to, on familiar heated skin that her fingers and lips are becoming reacquainted with.

She hooks the neck of his t-shirt, prying it away just a little to curiously peer at all the ink he's keeping covered. There's new freckles sprinkled like stars over his sunned shoulders, and all she wants is to connect them into kissed constellations.

"Hey, no peeking," he teases her with a squeeze.

Her t-shirt rucks as Bo slides down Harry until her feet hit the floor. There's little time for suggestive looks though with Harry shouldering his way through a door that she presumes is his room. He grabs for her hand and she's laughing as her feet stumble through the doorway after him.

They share another kiss and Bo's ready for the back of her knees to hit the bed so she can drag Harry down on top of her. But the absence of a certain vital piece of furniture for a bedroom has her wrench away.

It's a mattress on the floor. And there's a moment shared between them that's not spent kissing, but just of Bo looking back and forth from Harry to the sorry excuse for a bed.

"I didn't think I'd be entertaining in here," he admits sheepishly.

Her eyebrows raise.

"Don't look at me like that," he gripes. "The bed frame is being delivered Thursday and Niall is coming over to help me assemble it - I'm not a child."

Bo holds her hands up in defence.

"I didn't say anything."

The curl of her lip confirms to Harry that she was definitely thinking it though, regardless of her denial.

"I know that look."

She eases away from Harry, taking steps backwards as she faces him. The neck of his t-shirt is stretched away from his chest, his hair a little wild with those unique set of eyes following her every move.

"What about this look?"

It sets his heart thundering.

"I don't - I haven't seen that look before."

And in all honesty, he hasn't. Harry's never seen Bo look so unashamedly provocative. He could drop to his knees for her right now, have her pull his hair until his eyes watered, deny him until it hurt. And he'd fucking thank her for the experience. He'd give her everything without a single thought.

"No?" she smiles. "Well, should I tell you what comes next?"

He trails to her like a puppy in desperate need of attention. A delicate hand hooks his neck and he's forced to suppress a smile at his delight of having to stoop to her; at having someone considerably smaller hold this sort of sway over him.

Just the way her words kiss his ear is enough for things to start happening in his pants. That's even before he's properly processed her rundown of how the evening should pan out.

She pulls away.

"Fuck," he breathes, a devilish smile growing. "Let's get started then."

It's touch down and lift off all at the same time. Bo feels as though she's coming apart under Harry's hands, every kiss unraveling her to lay bare what's been prowling under their skin from the moment they reunited. This is how it should feel.

"You got any more fancy moves to show me?" Bo pesters, because she can.

"They're hardly fancy, it's just defence."

She seems to contemplate his reply before giving him a playful shove to the bed for the evening. Once surprise settles, Harry has his hands full as Bo gracelessly climbs into his lap and encourages his back to meet the mattress. Sparkly fingernails dig into his shoulders as he's terrifyingly held captive.

"And how will you get out of this?"

At this angle, Bo might actually be squishing his kidney but Harry doesn't think he's ever been so elated to be sat on before.

"You're small, I could just roll you off."

As if in demonstration, he takes hold of her waist but doesn't shift their weight.

"Yeah?"
"I'm not gunna though."
"What's your plan then?"
"Don't have a plan, I'm just wingin' it."
***
Ominous clouds roll with the rumbling sound of thunder, the freshness in the air spilling in through the cracked window. Bo clutches him close, him on top of her as he mouths at her neck. It's all she can do to draw in little half breaths as her fingers card through short hair.

For a moment she wishes they'd never been apart. But a lot of things have changed, some necessary things that may have choked off their relationship in the long run.

Harry's so very quiet as Bo kisses over his damaged eyelid. She takes her time, making sure he knows just how much she cares for him. Up around his eyebrow and then down through his lashes. The scarred skin is ruin under her lips, her heart lurching at how pliant Harry becomes, like he can't bear to move in such a vulnerable state.

Bo draws him out of his thoughts with a final kiss to the top of his nose. She's busy with lavishing his neck and then his shoulder with hot little kisses when he pauses with trying the ruck up her shirt. His hands are burning hot to her hips before he positions them to the mattress to lean up and away from her. From this angle, if she wiggles enough to the right, his t-shirt falls away from his body slightly to torturously reveal a soft hip and suggestion of a tattoo.

"What's wrong?" Bo asks, swallowing the lump in her throat.

She wants to lick his stomach and watch his nipples pebble.

"I don't - I haven't got anything."

The confession is spoken with a softness Bo's sure is only exchanged between lovers and that gets her heart pumping just that thump too fast.

"Why are we whispering?" she hushes with the smile she wears tucked into Harry's neck. Bo encourages him closer. "What haven't we got?"

"A condom."

The words pull her tummy tight. And its, well, it's hot. Bo never thought the concern for protection would have this sort of reaction - aching thighs and grabby hands. Maybe it's the thought of what comes next as clothes are shed and wild abandonment commences.

But despite the company, she's just not willing to risk the threat of a trip to the clinic waiting room for the morning-after pill. Even if Harry is looking like every fantasy she's ever had.

Bo's frown is accompanied by a small huff.
"I came off the pill a couple of months ago."

Harry pulls away, his eyes a little wide as he sits back to soak in the information. Bo watches, lips starting to quirk as he blinks. His goldfish expression is kind of cute and she can't help but reach out to push his hair back.

Bo's about to ask him if he needs some water or a proper lie down because he's starting to look a little peaky.

"Wait."

He grabs her hand, his advance forward leaving Bo no choice but to comply and fall back to the pillow.

"If you were still on it, we could - without the condom?"

"Well, you're clean, aren't you?"

Harry gives Bo a small set of serious looking nods.

"So am I."

"That's good to know."

Bo's smile has broken into a laugh by the time Harry's rolled from her. He rubs his hands over his face as if trying to clear his head from foggy thoughts.

"That's alright. We can just wait, right?"

"Yeah, of course. That's fine," Harry leans back. "That's - that'll be fine."

Fuck. It's not fine. He's waited for her. Bo gives him a soft sort of smile, one that he can feel like an internal punch to the ribs. She sits up, drawing her bare knees to her chest so her feet are flat on the bed. He'd managed to get her yoga leggings off with a stretch, pull, and a giggle from Bo. But if he'd have known they weren't going any further tonight he would have insisted that all clothes were kept to a minimum of three layers and probably wrapped her in a blanket. Anything, so he wouldn't be faced with the sight of her bed-soft and half naked, only to be left unable to do anything about it.

She's got that adoring look on her face, with her fingers brushing his cheek, Harry's heart thuds to an old familiar beat. In all the time they were apart, he's never forgotten how softly he could be touched, and how it could make him feel more than any biting kiss or scrape of nails. How funny, it's always been her.
Fuck it.

"Petrol station down the road is open."

The words feel harsh on his tongue, like they were never meant to be a part of this moment. They've tarnished the situation and it's made more apparent as the caressing hand falls from his face. Any comfort he feels with her touch drops away with it.

"Why do you wan-"

"Condoms."

The suggestion makes him feel dirty, it shouldn't, because they're being safe. Maybe it's the desperation of it more that anything. But Harry can't muster the thought to care because the woman he's never stopped loving is currently curling her toes in his bedsheets.

"Oh," Bo replies. "You're thinking about going now?"

It's difficult to gage her reaction as whatever she's feeling is outwardly masked by surprise.

"Well, yeah."

Harry watches her nibble on her bottom lip for a second, possibly deciding on how to tackle the situation and control the hormonal teenager she must see before her.

"Did you want me to come with you?"

Oh.

"No, no," Harry implores. "Stay here, I won't be long. I-It's just down the road."
Her hand skims down the expanse of his back as he gets up from the bed.

"You already said that."

"Right, ok."

He nods to himself before trying to find something more appropriate to wear.
Bo straightens out the covers like they weren't just rolling around in them minutes before; smoothing away any crinkles around her circumference. It may be bigger than her single, but at least she actually has a bed frame.

"Can you get me a magazine and some M&M's too? Please," she adds with a sweet smile.

"Are you serious? And when are you reading this magazine? Because I sort of thought we had the evening all planned out."

"All evening?" Bo quirks.

"I told you, it's been a while."

Harry expects her to be a little bashful, but she holds his eye contact with a flicker of a smile before it develops into a crinkle-nosed grin. Fully satisfied with himself, Harry tugs the hoody he's found over his head, which catches on his ear as he yanks it down.

"What sort of M&M's?" he asks whilst pulling at the clothing.

"Peanut."

They share a look and Harry's hauled back to a time when M&M's littered the passenger footwell in his old car. He'd continued to find them months after that night, sticky blues and reds caught down in the mechanics of the car seats.

"I'll just wait here then," she says, eyes not leaving Harry.

It feels a little odd to have her amongst all his everyday things, a sparkle of something brilliant tucked between everything mundane and ordinary he surrounds himself with. Bo's out of place in the most wonderful way imaginable.
With her knees still to her chest, Bo tucks her hair behind her ear. Harry needs to move now or he'll never leave the room with her looking like his own personal, little goddess.

He searches for the cleanest pair of jeans he has before taking his gym shorts down and replacing them with black denim that's ripped at the knee. It's like making the transition from instructor to normalcy. Well, as normal as it can be under the circumstances.

"I'll be back in a minute," he promises.

And then he's gone, and Bo is left alone in a place she's only been familiar with for little over an hour. She's not comfortable enough to have a poke around on her own, not that Harry would mind. But instead of sitting and allowing her stomach to coil tight with nerves, Bo hotfoots it out of the room to search for her lip balm and something to keep her distracted.

When Harry returns, Bo's been true to her word and remained, only now she's under the covers messing around with something on her phone.

"I got cold."

Rather than responding, he unloads the front pocket of his hoody of sweets and a rolled up magazine. Bo sits up as he trudges over to her.

"What's wrong?"

"I left my card at home."

"Did you not get them then?"

He sits on the edge of the bed, knees practically under his chin as he fusses with the knots in his Vans. With the first one off, he retrieves the box from the same pocket as Bo's magazine. It was probably digging into his stomach. She's pretty proud of her catch as it's tossed back to her.

"I stood at the till for like five minutes emptying my pockets for change to make up the last of it. I was short 82p."

Bo peers over Harry's shoulder whilst still holding her box.

"Did you just hoof it out the shop then?"

"No," he grumbles. "I didn't steal condoms, Bo. But do you wanna know what the lady behind me in the queue said?" he pauses to kick off the other trainer, swivelling to face Bo. "She told me that she admired that my partner and I were conscious of protection."

"What's wrong with that?"

"She gave me an extra pound to make up the difference as I was "in bit of a hurry".
His face sours as he recalls the conversation. He'll never be able to step foot in that shop again, not with the way some of the staff were breaking into knowing smiles as he practically ran through the automatic doors.

"That was - very nice of her."

It's an unbecoming sort of laugh, one that has Harry glaring at her.

"Don't laugh, you're going next time."

"That's very presumptuous of you," she remarks. "Why didn't you just return the magazine?"

"Because you asked me for it," he simply replies, like the suggestion never even crossed his mind.

Bo's stomach fizzes up with warmth, a soppy kind of smile on her face.

"That's honestly the sweetest thing. Come here" she beckons, taking hold of his face and smothering his cheeks with kisses.

"Don't," he whines. "You're ruining my street cred."

"I'm so sorry," Bo apologies unconvincingly whilst rubbing at a tinted chapstick remnant high on his cheekbone.

"No you're not."

"Surely your street cred of thoughtful, kind and soft won't be ruined by a few kisses."

"Heeeeey, I'm a knockout," Harry replies to her obvious teasing with a creased brow.

"Well, that's for sure."

Bo's yelp is proof she's unprepared as he takes her down to the mattress with a smile.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

MORE COMING SOON...