Broken Misery (H.Styles Fanfic)

Chapter 34

Chapter 34

The chicken parmesan is cooked to perfection when I take out the pan from the oven and carefully set it on top of the stove to cool down. The brownies take their turn to bake and invade the room with a perfect chocolate scent, and really I almost don't hold myself back from opening that stupid oven door and swiping my finger in the brownie mixture. Licking the remainder in the bowl definitely doesn't satisfy my taste buds, but Elena would reprimand me if she was here.

Once everything is done cooking, I quickly run to the car to take the flowers out and I drop them into a vase of water. They look beautiful in the middle of the table, the pink and white lilies contrasting with the deep red of the roses, paired with a couple of small white carnations around the entire bouquet. The woman at the shop did a good job with the flowers I asked for.

It's almost four in the afternoon when I get bored of the television. Elena has yet to return and my body is exhausted from having stayed up late last night watching a movie with Grimmy and woken up early in the morning to go to the studio. I've absently crawled onto my back during an episode of Downton Abbey, and relief washes through me when I finally turn off the telly and close my eyes.

This sofa is probably one of the most comfortable sofas in the world. When I picked it at the store, my interior decorator thought it wouldn't match the rest of the house, but it was just so comfortable that I had to have it. It came in a couple of colors and I couldn't choose that, the decorator did, but at least she let me take this stupid sofa. I was laid on it in the store while the salesperson looked at me with a confused expression while I was practically moaning from the cushiony feeling and the sleep I knew I'd be able to get on that thing, and then we decorated the entire living room around it.

All my life I've had a problem with falling asleep on sofas. Whether it was at my mum's or dad's, or just at someone's house or at the studio, I would fall asleep as soon as I laid my head down on the armrest. If I was at Mum's, she'd let me put my head on her lap and she'd scratch my head until I purred in my sleep.

Today is no different. I cross my arms over my chest and bury the back of my head as deep as possible in the cushiony armrest, the pillows piled up at my feet to keep them slightly elevated. I hardly feel the hand brushing through my hair and gently scratching my scalp, but I hear myself purring and smiling at the feeling. A small giggle makes music in my ears but I'm right in between sleep and consciousness and I still can't force my eyes to open.

When the scratching stops, I scrunch my nose in my sleep and whine, the giggling instantly echoing again through the room. "Wake up, Haz," the small feminine voice softly says, her hand brushing my hair away from my face once again. "Come on, I'm bored."

This wakes me up, but I keep my eyes closed so she doesn't notice. A smile spreads on my lips and immediately gives it away. "Keep scratching," I demand like a needy boy, but it just feels so good.

"Fine," Elena says with an exaggerated sigh. "Scoot over so I can sit, and put your head on my legs." Without even opening my eyes, I rise up on my forearms and give her some space to sit, where she stretches her legs on the coffee table and pats down for me to put my head again. "Just like that."

Even Mum's cat Dusty isn't as needy. She usually rolls on her back and meows when she wants to be scratched, but once you've brushed her fur for a good minute or two, she jumps on her paws and lies down someplace else. I, on the other hand, would rather have my head scratched for hours rather than just a minute.

"How was Alfie?" I ask mind-absently, the tingles in my body being all I can focus on.

I peer up at Elena to see her expression while she answers, and she glances down at me with a satisfied smile on her lips. "Good, but I'm sure you know that alright, right?"