Stumbling (H.S. / A.U.)

Chapter 43

Saturday, September 23rd

Riley's POV

Agreeing to meet with Everett last night did not help anything. It began an argument with Harry, which turned into a cold shoulder night. I even tried to diffuse his anger with kisses dotting his shoulders and massaging his sides the moment he began to change for bed. Instead of it leading to more, he sighed at me and shuffled off to the bathroom clearly annoyed and trying to remind himself to not give in to me.

I went as far as to try a second time when he finally came back to bed almost an hour later with wet hair and a bad attitude. I pretended to ignore that he smelled like cigarettes since he has been cutting back so much.

But after waking up alone in his bed and stretching out my arms only to find myself, pillows, and a pile of blankets I am reminded of how tough today is going to be.

I scour the floor of Harry's messy room to find a deep navy crew neck to slide over my sports bra. I give it a quick sniff just to double check that it is at least somewhat clean and all I notice is the overwhelming lingering scent of Harry. The mixture of coffee, tobacco, and vanilla. I linger in the sensation and breathe it in again to catch hints of ginger and cocoa.

"Riley... Are you smelling my shirt?" Harry's gruff morning voice breaks into the room and I slowly lower the shirt from my face but keep my tight clasp on the material. "It smells like you." I tell him while noticing how tired he looks today.

Harry's normal curls were messy and unruly today. His dark hair framed his face that looked older, tired, and worn out. He had bags under his eyes, there was a light dotting of stubble coming in, and his eyes were red from the lack of a good nights rest.

He grunts while kicking a pair of jeans on the floor to the side of the room in order to pick up a hoodie that was underneath. He slid the black hoodie over the white shirt he had on, and was back to a familiar outfit I have seen him in before. The same black skinny jeans with holes in the knees that he used to wear to the parties I met him at.

Things were so similar, but so different now.

"I have a scent?" I nod to him. "Any good?" I smile. Harry seemed like he was warming up a little this morning.

"It's my favorite. You smell like... well... it's hard to describe. But I love it. And your clothes smell like it all the time." I shove the navy material towards him but he simply scrunches his nose and shakes his head at me.

I shrug and slide on the material before adjusting my leggings.

"Breakfast?" -Riley

"Already ate. There is food downstairs that one of the guys made." -Harry

I didn't want to push Harry and I could tell by the quick responses and nippy tones that he is still unhappy with my decision from last night. I take the cue and leave him. I close the door with one last look to see him slump down at the desk with his head in his hands looking just as stressed as ever.

I make my way down to the kitchen to find it absolutely empty of people but filled with dirty dishes and food. I don't bother with checking what all was on the stove yet and instead busy myself with cleaning. Normally it seems like Harry and Liam do the cleaning, but I have thrown a wrench into their current lives and it seems like it is affecting them in more ways than one. The least I could do is help out a little around the house.

I open the dishwasher to find a pleasant surprise of all clean dishes. After about ten seconds of attempting to put things away I learn I have no idea where things actually go and I start to just open cabinets at random to see their contents and figure out if I am guessing the right places for things.