Rock and Roll

Chapter Seven: they did the thing

She wasn't there when he woke up. In fact he couldn't quite remember if she had been there when he had fallen asleep.

With her it was fun. They had talked a little at the party. She was studying botany at the college in town. Although it was only mentioned in passing before she became... all business. She kissed him in just the right way, softly at first but the second his hands wound around her waist she was coaxing him out the door and leading him to her car. She roughly shoved her hands in his long hair before breaking away to shove the keys into his hands. She mumbled something about her roommates telling her to stop bringing home strangers.

He remembered unlocking his apartment and making it three steps in before she pounced on him like a hungry lioness.

He hoped she didn't have a hangover.

He groaned loudly. The pounding in his head was like a drum beat. There was a loud thud from the apartment below him making him groan louder in response. He rolled over on his bed to see the girls panties staring back at him with a sticky note attached.

A parting gift.

It was signed Abigail. He felt his face heat up. Not only had he never asked her name, but she left him her underwear. Nobody had ever done that before. It felt weird and wrong having some girls blue thong sitting in his bed. He threw them in his laundry basket across the room feeling significantly more pervy than before. He covered his face with his hands. He got up to brush his teeth and shower before he could over think about last nights events.

Maybe it was a bad idea. He always felt kind of... guilty? After everything was said and done. He didn't like waking up alone, especially not unexpectedly. He also didn't like waking up with someone unexpectedly.

He finished showering quickly, and got dressed as fast as he could. Now seemed like as good a time as any to paint the angry girl from the coffee shop. He was just getting to figuring out her skin when he decided something.

He would paint her smiling. He let his brushes do the work for him in painting the shape of her lips, and coated them in a deep black color. He added some white so they would appear shiny. She seemed like the black lipstick type. He painted her brown hair sweeping across her shoulders in long straight strands. He decided there was an orange undertone to her skin, like she had the sub peeking out from inside her body. Soon he had crafted the color as close to his memory as he was able. Hours had passed before he allowed himself to step away.

He ran his stained hands through his hair. He needed a haircut. His stomach growled angrily at him distracting him from his work. He seemed to need a lot of things right now.

He walked to the kitchen to check the cupboards. Not surprisingly there wasn't much. A few cans of cat food for his cat Bellamy. She was a sweetheart, constantly rubbing against his legs and purring loudly. She had been in a mood recently though, and he hadn't seen as much of her as usual. Other than that he had a nearly empty box of cereal, half a loaf of bread and some peanut butter.

Peanut butter toast it was. It was only noon and he figured he might wander around town later. It seemed like a good time to go grocery shopping. He was also running out of band aids and painkillers.

He needed to go to the store.

He had tried his best to cover the bruise on his jaw with foundation. He still attracted a few curious eyes, which caused him to blush. The sooner he could be out of there the better. His grip on the basket handles tightened he passed a group of older women who stared very openly at him. He grabbed two bottles of extra strength Advil, and started inspecting the selection of colorful band aids when a smooth voice floated over to him.

"Valentine I know! I'm looking for them just find your chill okay?" the girl said into the phone. It was the same girl as before. She walked briskly past him, grabbed some sinus relief medicine and was just walking away when he realized he painted her smile wrong. It was smoother than he had imagined and the black lipstick seemed wrong when looking at her in person. Her clothes were lighter (and tighter) as well. He told himself that how tight her clothes were shouldn't matter to him, but when she disappeared from sight the image of her curves were burned into his brain.

It seemed he had just caught her on a bad day. He grabbed a box of band aids with cookies printed on them and made his way to the other aisles. He was going to try the painting again when he got home. He was halfway there when his phone began to ring.

He answered on the third ring, maneuvering the plastic bags around his hands to have easier access to his phone.

"Harry I don't have a whole lot of time, but I've got a good fight lined up and I need to know right now if you're in. It's about two thousand in profits, more if you want Louis to bet." Niall rambled. Harry was having a hard time keeping up while on the crowded subway. He thought about it for a few seconds before Niall impatiently said his name.

"Yeah I'll do it. When?"

"Two weeks."

~

Sweat was trickling down his neck as he struck the punching bag. His hair was tied back, but it didn't stop a few strands from getting loose. There was no one else in today, so he was blasting music from the speakers in the corners of the room. He thanked God for the invention of the AUX cord. His arms were moving from muscle memory, his mind was far off. The fight was in two weeks. If all went well, he would make enough money to finally pay off his debts. If it didn't go well he might not get another chance like this for a long time. Too long. He grunted as his fists landed on the bag again. He hated his job.

It was time for a water break. He toweled off his face and took two big gulps of water.

The guy he was up against was notorious for fighting dirty. There were people all around that claimed they saw him break legs and noses and all sorts of other limbs. This did not bode well for Harry. He knew he could handle it, but he had never fought anybody known to be so ruthless. He rubbed his hand roughly over his face, hoping it would clear his thoughts.

"You might want to slow your roll. You should eat something before you start again. Like a protein bar or a waffle." Niall said. Harry hadn't heard him come in.

"Whatever. Leave the training to me yeah?" he said. He hadn't meant to sound like a douche. It just kind of happened. He could practically feel Niall giving him the finger.

"Shut up Balboa." he said. Harry laughed to himself. The little jab wasn't uncommon.

"What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be watching your store?" he asked. He turned to face him, and Niall waved his hand passively.

"I have employees." he said simply. Harry smiled softly. Poor them, he thought. "Anyway I wanted to check up on you. After that last fight I wasn't sure you would feel up to this."

Harry had a long enough break. He wanted to keep his heart rate up, and talking with Niall about his feelings was not a way to do that. He threw a few more punches before answering. "We both know that if I was going to second guess it would've happened a long time ago." In fact it already had. He considered just leaving town for a while. Not paying back his debts, and living under a different name. He still wouldn't be able to get a real job but at least he wouldn't basically be a trophy wife. Having men constantly bearing down on him was uncomfortable to say the least. Not as uncomfortable as being punched in the jaw, but still.

Niall nodded in reply and took a seat on the floor. He watched Harry for as long as he would allow, which wasn't long. After twenty minutes of speed drills Harry had whipped around and threw a used towel at Niall face effectively telling him to go away. Niall grumbled angrily and stalked out the main doors, flipping him off one last time before he disappeared from sight.

Niall had a lot of money riding on this fight. If Harry was in anyway unprepared, Niall wanted to know. It wasn't exactly easy though, when the person you needed to check up on was temperamental and rude. He thought about it for a second and then realized. Who else did he know that was temperamental and rude? He officially had an idea.