He’ll Think It’s Cute

** Eli **

Eli didn't mean to laugh, and he hoped that Harper wouldn't interpret it as he was laughing at her. But he couldn't help it — she was simply too adorable like this, going between screaming "no no no no no no no" and wailing unintelligible gibberish and shrieking an ensemble of colorful expletives that he had never heard her use before.

But she was laughing too, in an adrenaline-filled and give-no-shit kind of way.

Eli turned to look at her. It was a little tricky to focus his vision, with the world going upside-down and sideways all around them, but he still managed to catch a good glimpse of her eyes squeezed tightly shut, mouth open in a wild shrill. His own grin stretched wider. Yep, that was totally Harper's terrified-but-totally-having-a-blast face, exactly the same one that he remembered from all those years ago, and he loved it.

"You should try to open your eyes!" he shouted as they shot up another high peak, rising above the seaport and the city skyline in front of them. "The view is great!"

He wondered if Harper could hear him through her screech. If she did, she was too occupied with exploding her lungs to reply. Her thrilled cries kept them company for a few more moments as they twisted and turned, before the ride finally started to slow down and the tracks smoothed out into a gentle slide at the end.

"… Wait, it's over?" Harper's shaky and hoarse voice croaked. She opened her eyes, gasping. "That was … shorter than I remembered."

"Is that a request for another round?" Eli couldn't resist the tease, even though his ears were still ringing from her high-pitched work.

To his surprise, Harper considered it seriously. "Maybe we should at least take a break?" She nodded breathlessly at the couple waiting at the platform as their car pulled back in. "Let someone else take a turn … And then we'll do it again? It was so much fun!"

An impressed smile tugged at his lips. Yup, that was the spirit.

~ ~

Seeing that Harper was warming up fast, Eli made a bold attempt to entice her further on the next lap. "You should really try keeping your eyes open," he said when she shut her eyes as the safety bars came down. "The view is gorgeous when we pull up to the top. And to see the ocean and the beaches fly into you when we go down …"

"No", she said forcefully and dug her fingernails a little deeper into his wrist. "I'm not mad! I'm not going to look at how far we've got to fall and then watch things crash into me at furious speed!"

"But that's precisely why you should do it. It's the best part of roller coasters."

"No! I would never— Ahhhhhh!"

~ ~

It turned out that Harper had a weak spot, after all, when it came to the temptation of thrill.

"Ok, y-you see that my eyes are open?" she stuttered breathily at their third climb up the high slope. "Be proud of me!"

"I'm so proud of you." Eli raised their joined hands and pointed into the distance. "It's phenomenal, isn't it? Look at how colorful everything is against the water. And it all mixes together like a rainbow whirlpool when it comes at you in a blur—"

"Don't say that! Oh my God this is going so high … Ohmygodthisiscrazyohshitahhhhhh!"

~ ~

To Harper's credit, she did the ride a whopping three times without fainting, and she genuinely tried to keep her eyes open for the last round. The price of the brave attempt might be that, by the time they finally decided to move on, Eli could barely feel his left hand or hear anything in his left ear anymore, and he had to hold her arm to steady her wobbly footing as they walked, but it was all so worth it.

"Would you like to take a look at the pictures of your rides today?" The girl at the booth beamed warmly at them as they made their way out.

"Oh … from the on-ride cameras?" Harper's steps faltered some more. "Ugh, no thanks. I'm sure I look—"

"We'd love to see that," Eli interjected. Bearing a stabbing glance from Harper, he steered them toward the overhead screen. "I don't think we bought any of these pictures from last time, and I've always regretted it. I'm not missing out on them this time."

"There's nothing to miss out on!" Harper argued indignantly. "I must look like a nightmare. It's just too embarrassing— Oh no."

Both of them burst into laughter as the picture came up. There was Harper, frozen in mid-scream, eyes clamped shut and mouth wide and fingers dug deep into Eli's wrist. And somehow, it felt even more comedic to see her like this in a picture where the car didn't appear to be moving at all, and where Eli was just turning his head to the side and … looking at her, grinning.

"I look like an idiot," Harper confessed.

"You look like you love it," Eli stated. He turned to the girl at the booth. "We'll take all the pictures from our three rides. Can you send it to our emails?"

"What? No! Eli! You're not getting those pictures so you can make fun of my terrified face for ages!"

The girl at the booth smiled amicably as she handed over a tablet for Eli to fill out his email address. "Oh, don't worry, he'll only think it's cute." She winked at Harper. "My boyfriend always gets these pictures for me too. Trust me, I'm a sight on thrill rides, but he somehow thinks I look awesome in all those silly photos."

The words distracted Harper for a split second. "Um, well, he's actually not— Hey, Eli! Give me that! You're not putting our emails down on that tablet!"

Eli laughed, swatting away Harper's hand and raised the tablet as high as he could. Harper all but climbed on him like a bristling cat. "It's not fair just because you're tall!" she chided in feigned anger. "Give it back!"

The two of them fought and laughed. As Harper hopped on tiptoes around him, a slender ray of setting sunlight fell across her face, gilding her wide eyes and wild hair and flushed cheeks. It was a picture-perfect moment, Eli thought, and he wished the coaster cams could've captured it too. He would've framed it and kept it forever.