BLACKHOUSE [H.S.]

Forty-Four

"He what?!" Cass screeches. Her widened blue eyes are trained on my now-flushed face, while Hailey stares at me with a look of amusement, the hand holding her glass of white wine frozen mere inches away from her lips.

Hailey invited Cass, and me over to her apartment for a girls night, and I'm finally telling them about my New Years eve with Harry. Him and I have spent every day together since that night; talking, and fucking, and falling deeper in love than I thought was possible. I feel as if I've been walking on cloud nine the past few weeks; I haven't even thought to text Cass about it.

I drag my bottom lip between my teeth before covering my face with my hands. "He told me he loves me," I say again through my fingers, my blush spreading across my cheeks, and down to my neck and chest.

I feel Cass's soft hands grip my wrists to pull them away, forcing me to look at her. "Harry? Harry Styles?" She chokes out, earning a chuckle from Hailey. "That man has... feelings?"

I roll my eyes, shaking my head as I tug my arms from her grip. "Oddly enough, yes. He does," I laugh, tucking my pink, pajama-clad legs into my chest. "It was really romantic, actually."

"How did he do it?" Hailey asks, swirling her glass of wine as she stares at me with a dreamy smile on her lips.

I'll never understand how, but Hailey has known from the beginning that Harry and I weren't just coworkers, even when we were too afraid to admit it to ourselves. Judging from the look on her face, she saw this coming from a mile away.

"He drove us to a look-out to watch the fireworks," I explain, my stomach swarming with butterflies at the memory. "He wouldn't tell me where we were going, or what we were doing. I was totally caught off guard when I saw he'd planned a picnic for us."

"A picnic?" Cass pouts, her chin resting in her hand as she lays on her stomach on the pile of blankets Hailey spread out for us. "I didn't think he had it in him. Maybe he really is a romantic at heart."

A small smile forms on my lips as I think back to the day Harry brought me to the bookstore on Melrose.

"Okay; what do you like to read, then?"

"Romance."

"Sometimes it's nice to read about love in that way, even if it doesn't happen in real life."

"Yeah, maybe," I hum, my fingers running over the cool glass hanging around my neck.

"Did you say it back?" Hailey wonders.

"Of course," I say, my gaze flicking back and forth between her and Cass, the latter looking as if she's about to cry.

"Katie, you've never been in love before," Cass states as a surprised, if not proud, smile dances on her lips.

"Never," I shake my head.

You have to be in a relationship to fall in love, and no one has ever caught my attention like Harry has. He's different from anyone I've ever met. Sometimes, I have a hard time believing he's even real, and I have to reach out and touch him to confirm that he isn't a figment of my imagination. That he is, in fact, sitting in front of me.

Loving me.

"I didn't know you two had even made it official yet," Hailey says, tucking a strand of her brown hair behind her ear.

"We hadn't," I wince. "Our relationship hasn't exactly been traditional."

A small whimper escapes me as Harry thrusts into me, slow and deep.

"Say it again," he whispers against my lips.

"I love you," I say breathlessly, touching my damp forehead to his.

I feel numb to the chilly January air when we're tangled up like this, his body covering mine atop the quilt at the look-out. All I feel is his body heat blanketing me as he moves inside me, each thrust sending a shockwave of pleasure through my core.

"I love you," he chokes out, his brows pinched together as he traces my bottom lip with his thumb.

I throw my head back when he changes his pace, pumping deeper and faster into me as his movements grow sloppy.

"Fuck, Katie," he groans, trailing his lips down my throat before sinking his teeth into the delicate skin above my collarbone. The sharp pain pulls a gasp from me before his tongue peeks out to soothe the tender area. "I want you to come with me."

I mindlessly nod my head as my eyes flutter shut, feeling that familiar knot grow in my abdomen as he fucks into me.

"Come with me, princess," he pleads, fisting his hand into my hair as his lips clash with mine.

With one last thrust, the knot in my abdomen unravels until I'm screaming his name. In return, he mumbles mine into my neck, releasing inside me as his own orgasm rips through him.

The sound of our heavy breathing drifts between us as my body slowly comes down from its high, and I lift my chin to place lazy kisses on his swollen lips. He hums contentedly in response before nudging my nose with his.

"So," I break the sated silence, my hands tracing gentle circles across his bare back. "Was this your way of asking me to be your girlfriend?"

A raspy chuckle rumbles deep in his chest before he shakes his head at me, his green eyes shining brightly in the moonlight as he stares down at me with a silhouette of a smile on his lips.

"Yes, princess. This was exactly my way of asking you to be my girlfriend."

"I'll say," Cass chuckles, poking me teasingly in my side. "You guys hated each other."

"No, they didn't," Hailey responds, my brows furrowing in confusion. She notices the questioning look on my face, and laughs softly. "I know I haven't been around very long, but I can see it in the way you act around each other. The way Harry searches for you whenever someone says something funny, like he wants to see your face light up as you laugh."

My cheeks heat up, and I shake my head in disbelief. I've never noticed that before, how did she?

"And don't act like you don't constantly have your eyes on him," she points out, narrowing her eyes at me in amusement. "You two never hated each other. You just didn't know that you loved each other."

I pull my lips to the side, suddenly feeling self conscious. I never realized how obvious we were, yet equally as clueless to our true feelings. "You're very observational, aren't you?"

She shrugs her shoulders with a knowing smirk. "I like people watching."

"Do you see a future with him?" Cass wonders, tilting her head.

I stare down at my hands wrapped around my knees, picking at the chipped, black polish on my nails as I consider her question.

Images of a small, yellow house on the beach in Coronado flash across my mind. Harry and I are laying in the sand, three dogs running past us straight into the water. Harry throws his head back, laughing at the golden retriever tumbling into the waves. The sight causes my chest to flutter, and I feel overwhelmed with love, with happiness.

It's merely a dream, but at this moment, I want nothing more.

Unfortunately, the blissful feeling falters when I remember the situation that Harry, and I are currently in. This idea of a future that seems so simple, so easy, feels almost impossible now. We're stuck, and I truly don't know if we'll ever get out.

That's the thing about dreams, though, that's all that they are. Nothing more. Hope is dangerous, and the last thing I want is to grasp onto something that can easily be ripped away from me.

"Yeah," I croak. "I do."

~~~~~

Hi friends, thank you all so so much for being patient with me while I navigate life, and my writing slump. I know this chapter was a bit short, but I hope you enjoyed it nonetheless. I love you all so much <3