baby [h.s.]

eighteen

   "You're just going to make me do the work then?" he mumbled.

   My eyes narrowed. "Am I not cooking dinner for you right now?"

   Dramatically, he sighed. But, without a word, he covered my wound with the bandage.

   "What would you do without me, Tilly?" he asked, animatedly, as he stepped towards the rubbish bin to toss the wrapper.

   I half smiled. "I really don't know," My voice was quiet and my answer was honest.

   After five minutes, the dinner was ready. I made Harry set the table and pour us some glasses of wine.

   After plating the food, we took our seats at my dining room table. We were silent as we began to eat, but it wasn't long before conversation started.

   "How was dinner with Riddle?" he asked, not looking up from his food.

   "Interesting,"

   He looked up with one eyebrow raised. "Really?"

   I nodded. "My mother stopped by yesterday as well, wanting to know why I broke up with Parker, then demanding to meet you,"

   He laughed. "And what did you say?"

   "Hell no," I replied, looking up at him. "She's extremely judgmental and I hope you never have the displeasure of meeting her,"

   And Harry didn't say anything else about that. He knew that it was a sensitive subject.

   "How was your trip?" I asked after a few minutes.

   "Exhausting," he said, his voice gruff. And I could tell that without him having to tell me. He looked scrubbed down.

   My eyebrows scrunched together in concern. "You need to actually sleep tonight,"

   He shrugged. "Don't worry about me,"

   I set my glass down. "That's not fair," I said. "You're always making sure I'm okay, and I'm not allowed to have concern for you?"

   "I don't want you worrying about me,"

   "But I do," I said, immediately. He looked up at me. "I care about you, Harry, there's nothing you can do about that,"

   "You shouldn't,"

   My eyes narrowed and I couldn't help but feel intrigued by what he said. It was perplexing.

   "I don't care," I simply stated before stabbing my fork into my bowl of salad. He didn't say anything else, but the silence was comfortable. We finished our meals and I took the dishes to the sink. It didn't take long for him to join me, and again he stood directly behind me.

   His behavior was throwing me off. He wasn't usually this affectionate. And not to say he was cold, but I could tell that he was not one for very warm and fuzzy relations with people, even if platonic, like we were.

   As I scrubbed the dishes, both his hands were laid on my waist and his chin atop my head.

   "Harry," I said. "Are you alright?"

   He sighed. "Yeah, love, I'm okay," he said. "Just saw some stuff this weekend that made me realize that I was lucky to have friends and people that care about me. Not everyone has that."

   I ignored the fact that he just told me I shouldn't care about him moments ago. I just nodded my head.

   Because whatever he saw, I'm sure it was upsetting. And I hate that he had to go through it. It's all apart of the job, I understand, but it's always difficult to not let it affect you.

   When the dishes were clean, he helped me put them away.

   "Thank you," I said, leaning my back against the counter. He was in the same stance as I was, just on the counter opposite of me.

   "Thank you for cooking dinner," he said. "It was lovely,"

   I smiled. "It's no problem, Styles,"

   He grinned. After a few seconds, he pushed himself off of the counter.

   "I ought to go home and try to sleep tonight,"

   I rolled my eyes. "You and I both know you won't sleep," Over the past few weeks, I had come to know that he had insomnia and found trouble in sleeping.

   "Yeah," he said, rubbing the back of his neck. "But I gotta try,"

   I shrugged my shoulders. "Just stay here tonight," I said. "Maybe I can help you fall asleep,"

    Immediately, his eyebrows shot up and he grinned, mischievously. "Oh, really?"

    It took me a second to realize how what I said sounded, but when I did, I reached over and hit him on the chest.

    "Not like that," I scolded, my cheeks reddening. He snickered.

    "Fine, fine, I'll stay," he said, still chuckling. I just smiled slyly and rolled my eyes, pushing myself off the counter.

    He followed me as I walked down the hall to my room. It was already nearly nine; I started dinner late. And I was exhausted.

    "Make yourself comfortable, I'm going to change," I said, heading towards my closet.

    "Am I sleeping here?" he asked, his eyebrows creased. I nodded, shrugging.

    "Unless you want to sleep on the couch," I teased. He shook his head. Without another word, I disappeared into the closet. In a few moments, I had slipped into a long t-shirt and thrown my hair into a ponytail.

   When I returned to my room, Harry was already sprawled out on my bed. I rolled my eyes.

   "What?" he asked with an amused grin. "You told me to make myself comfortable,"

    I laughed.

    In a few seconds, I had joined him in my bed. The bed itself was a king bed, so I wasn't really worried about sharing it with him. We each had enough space and then some. My main concern was making sure he would actually sleep. I knew how he got when he was tired, and it wasn't pretty. Harry might've been a tank, but even tanks need their fuel.

    When I was situated, I rolled over and turned the lamp beside my bed off, leaving the room dark.

   "I missed our all day work-out sessions, you know," he said, after a few minutes. I laughed.

    "I didn't,"

    Though it was dark, I could imagine he rolled his eyes. "Be honest, Tilly, you missed me every second I wasn't here,"

   "Whatever helps you sleep at night,"

   "Believe me, baby, it does."

--

sorry that it's also kind of short but literally i'm almost at 20 chapters. i know it's been like 9 months but i've almost never churned this much of a story out this quickly. snaps to me.

the weeknd was the inspiration for this chapter. i'm literally obsessed with the new album. agh. i listened to it the whole time i spent writing.

anyway, vote!! comment!! share with people!! love you guys so much!!

becca