Illicit [Harry Styles]

Chapter 17

Mckenzie left about half an hour ago because she had to visit her grandma (which she was very annoyed about, considering she is not an early riser) and I was still snuggled in bed. By the sounds of it I'm home alone on this - what appears to be, at least it looks that way through my closed curtains - sunny Sunday afternoon, since my mum just left the house and I can't hear any sign of Niall. I know I should be doing something productive like studying or doing the odd jobs around the house to help out my family but being in bed is much more appealing.

I groaned and grunted to myself as I decided to be a good human being and get up, heading towards the bathroom to shower away the groggy feeling that remained from Friday night since, like mentioned previously, I still had to work on the whole 'perfect person' thing which involved showering every single day.

I hung my towel on the rack and turned on the water, stripping off my clothes and placing them in the wash basket as I waited for the shower to heat up. Once the water was finally warm I stepped into the stream and let the heat wake me up properly. I washed my body with my favourite soap, taking as long as possible in order to stay under the warm, relaxing water for as long as I could. After washing my hair and just standing there for another five minutes, I shut off the water and wrung out my hair as I grabbed my towel.

I went to look for the hairdryer in my mum's room but much to my annoyance I couldn't find it anywhere; I practically turned her bedroom upside down in my hunt to find it but it was no good. I even brought myself to have a brief look in Niall's disgustingly messy bedroom (even messier than mine), which wasn't a pleasant experience because it was as hot as a sauna with the curtains still closed and dirty clothes everywhere. The only other place I could think of that it may be was downstairs, so I plodded down to have a look.

As I turned the corner into the living room once I made it down the stairs I almost jumped out of my skin at the sight of someone sitting on the sofa with their back facing me. I shrieked an awful, high pitched shriek and hugged my towel tighter around me to cover myself as I watched to find none other than Harry looking surprised with his head cocked over his shoulder to look at me.

He clutched his chest and slowly breathed a sigh of relief when he saw me. "Jesus Jessica, you scared me half to death!"

I still stood behind him, my heart pounding from the fright I'd just had. "I scared you? I thought I was home alone, how do you think I felt when I saw someone sitting in my lounge!" At first I too was relieved that it was just Harry and not someone waiting to murder me whilst watching reruns of Friends on my sofa, but now my eyes were widening as I was hit by the realisation that I was standing here in nothing but a towel, my hair dripping onto my bare arms and droplets finding the carpet at my feet.

I was suddenly beyond embarrassed as he ogled me, a weird look that involved an almost-smirk plastered across his face. "I uhh... I didn't know you were here." Well duh, obviously! Way to go, Jess. I mentally cursed myself for the stupid things that more often than not made it past my lips without passing through the filter that was my brain.

"Are you sure?" he looked over my towel-clad, damp body and winks at me smugly, I can't help but shudder in response. "You look to me like you knew I was coming?"

"Positive," I gulped, concentrating on steadying my breathing and ignoring his... flirting? No, I wouldn't exactly call it that. It was more like he thought too highly of himself and expected everyone to fall at his feet in a million tiny pieces. "What are you doing here? How did you get in?"

"I came over to work on the project with Niall - I didn't know he had football. Your mum said he'll be home soon so I could come in and wait, she said she had to go out but it was okay because you were upstairs," he explained. He actually had a valid excuse to be here, and there was me thinking he'd snuck in to yell at me. Or kiss me. I didn't know which option I'd prefer at this stage.