Matilda | Harry Styles

TWENTY-FIVE

"That's not true," he replied. "Did Ally give you anything to follow?"

I shook my head, tilting it back against him. "Not really - she just thought a black and white cover would work, but that doesn't really narrow anything down. I can edit anything to look like that," I paused, blowing out a defeated sigh. "I don't even know where to start."

"Don't be so negative," he told me, softly, his hand rubbing gently against my hip. "You've got loads of ideas. You have the camera you took to LA, no? Wasn't that all in black and white already?"

"Yes, but," I stopped for a moment, narrowing my eyes at the screen in contemplation, "I don't think I really want to use those. They feel private," I told him, craning my neck around in an attempt to meet his eye.

"Can I see them?" he asked, then, tilting his head to equally meet my gaze. I hadn't expected him to ask that. There was nothing I didn't want him to see - he'd been there for the entire day with me - they were our pictures - but for whatever reason, I hadn't expected him to be interested.

I clicked on the folder in which I was storing all of my current photos, which was subsequently filled with a further set of folders, each labelled by date, and city. I heard a short, amused puff of air fall from Harry's lips as my organised setup filled the screen, and I brought my elbow back to gently nudge him.

I brought up the pictures - the first of Harry filling my screen; a bright grin on his lips, and my middle finger directed at him. I clicked through, showing him the ones I'd taken of him, and the ones I'd taken from the car; from the garden; from the entire day.

"Can I have them?" he asked.

I nodded, a smile pulling on my lips. "I can send you the file."

"Please," he returned, pressing his lips lightly against my hair in a way that made my stomach flip. I exhaled deeply, closing my eyes for a second.

"Now, help me. You know so much more about how this works than I do," I told him.

"Can you use anything else you've got?" he asked, and I bit my lip, hesitating, before shaking my head. "Then do you want to shoot something?"

"Ally said that there wasn't enough time."

"We can make time if you know what you want to do," he returned, and I pursed my lips in thought. I didn't know the first thing about doing a photoshoot for a song cover.

"Hm," I hummed, "d'you know what would really help?"

"Mm?"

"If I knew just something about the song. Anything, so I could actually conceptualise..." I trailed off, feeling Harry's chest rise and fall behind me as he sighed, dramatically. I turned my body as best as I could to see his face. He peered back down at me, a playful disillusionment in his eyes.

"It's called 'Complicated Freak'," he said, after a moment, and I was sure my eyes lit up. Finally.

"Okay," I began, shooting him an excited grin, "I can work with that."

"That's good, because it's all you're getting," he replied, tucking a piece of hair behind my ear and letting his fingers linger there in the way that always prompted a shiver to travel along the length of my spine.

"'Complicated Freak'," I repeated, then, staring mindlessly ahead of me. I set my laptop down, shuffling forward a bit, reluctantly away from Harry's touch so that I could properly turn and face him. "You're the freak?"

"Watch it," he warned, with a playful narrow of his eyes at my implication. I tilted my head, waiting for him to answer my question. He pressed his lips together, as if reluctant to reveal too much. "Okay, maybe."