The morning came too quickly.
I felt like the hours had sped past us last night as Harry pulled out a bunch of Christmas films. I had tried my hardest to stay awake, but I could remember dozing off, and then I was here, in Harry's bed.
I could hear the shower running and I rolled over in the vacated sheets, stretching out my body. The air was cold, and I could make out snow still gently falling outside the window, swirling down to cover the ground. I wondered how much there was now.
I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and sleepily shuffled to the door, but paused when I heard someone talking. I immediately knew that they were speaking from within the confines of the bathroom, and I turned towards it, listening intently.
"...no, fuck!" Harry sounded angry, his deep voice resonating with a vicious tone. "I can't leave her... yeah... are you sure? I swear if anyone fucking touches--alright, alright. We'll be there soon." I remained frozen in my position despite the fact that the water was now being shut off, the door clicking as it unlocked and was pulled open.
Harry stared at me for a few seconds, his mobile clutched in his hand. "What are you doing?" his voice was sharp, and I knew that he was aware of my eavesdropping.
"Looking for you," I mumbled, suddenly nervous. Last night had been happy. There had been nothing but smiles, laughs, cuddling, and soft kisses, but I knew that things had changed in the eight hours I'd slept.
He raised an eyebrow, but before I could elaborate, he was walking towards me with deliberate slowness, and the words jarred in my throat. For a moment, panic and fear ceased me. I couldn't decipher the look in his eyes or the expression on his face.
When he was stood directly in front of me, his hand suddenly pressed into my lower back, pressing our bodies against each other from the waist down. A gasp escaped my lips, my eyes wide as he smirked at me, his head dipping slightly so that our faces were close. "You found me," he whispered huskily.
"Who were you talking to?" I blurted out. My eyes squeezed shut moments later and I waited for Harry to explode at me. It had been a nervous reaction to just throw the question on the tip of my tongue at him, and I immediately hated myself for doing it.
"Why are you closing your eyes?" Harry murmured softly a few moments later.
I hesitantly blinked at him, surprised by his question, but even more startled by the expression on his face. It was gentle, his dark eyes somehow soft and almost concerned. "You're not mad?" I questioned through my uncertain curiosity.
"Why would I be mad?" he raised an eyebrow.
"I-I was listening to your conversation." I couldn't wrap my head around how Harry acted. I couldn't figure out what he would get mad at, and what he wouldn't.
"I wasn't trying to hide you from it," he said quietly, his face leaning closer towards mine so that our noses brushed. "I was going to take a shower and Louis called. We need to go down to the agency as soon as possible."
I pulled away from him. "The agency?"
Harry was grinning suddenly, an almost proud look to the smile on his lips. "I forgot that you haven't been there before," he admitted. "Did I ever tell you why Sykes even came after me in the first place, hence leading him to you?"
"No," I shook my head, attempting to recall the memory as I sat down on the edge of the mattress, gazing up at Harry. He looked a bit thoughtful, as if he were remembering something, before his attention snapped back to me.
"It was because my gang was getting too powerful," he scoffed as if this was absolutely ridiculous. "Sykes controls the biggest gang in all of England, and once in a blue moon, some other gang will start rising up, and even if they have no intentions of going after Sykes, he gets rid of them. It's rare that anyone even barely hears about their existence until months after he's already wiped them all out. That's how he deals with it: he kills them off before they can kill him off... and well, I'm apparently a threat now."
