Brutality | Harry Styles

Chapter 22

Harry's birthday approached quickly. Melody became frantic only a few times beforehand, when she realized she had no idea what to buy for a gift. Bea was absolutely no help. She had barely spoken to Melody since she had seen the bruise on her cheek and heard what happened. Eventually, though, Melody had figured something out.

By the time Melody reached Harry's flat, she was second-guessing herself. She took a moment and a deep breath before knocking on the door. There was barely a pause before Harry unlocked it and stood in the doorway.

"Wha' took yeh so long? Been waitin' for hours."

Melody grinned and stepped inside. "What do you mean, hours? I just said I was leaving fifteen minutes ago."

"Mmm, just tha' long?" Harry asked, closing the door. He grabbed for her, smoothing his lips over hers needily. His hands found their way around her waist and he paused when they met her backpack. "Wha's this for? Yeh're not doin' work tonight, are yeh?"

"No," Melody assured him, kissing at his worried jaw. "Just in case we wanted to watch a movie or something."

"Not anytime soon," Harry murmured, pressing his mouth back to hers. His fingers slipped under the straps of her bag as he pulled it from her shoulders.

"Wait, wait." Melody laughed against Harry's lips as he tried to kiss her again. She pressed her fingers over his chin to keep him away from her. "Slow your roll."

Harry hummed impatiently as Melody pulled the bag from his hands. He waited for her to unzip it and was caught unprepared when she pulled out a wrapped box.

"Wha's that?" he asked, taking a step backward. "Told yeh not t'get me anythin', love."

"I know what you said, but we both know I'm too tenacious to listen to you. So, here." She held the gift out to him, wrapped in a shiny blue with a curled bow stuck to the top. "Happy birthday."

Harry took the box hesitantly and smoothed his thumbs over the folds in the wrapping paper. He looked up at Melody. "Should we sit?"

"Sure."

Melody followed Harry to the couch, dragging her bag along behind her. They flopped down onto the cushions. Harry picked slowly at the paper and began to tear the gift open.

"Okay, before you open it," Melody said, "I only work over the summer so I was kind of low on money and I had—"

"Mel," Harry interrupted. He scoffed at her rambling and shook his head. "Yeh know I don' fuckin' care how much it cost yeh. Would yeh hush?"

Melody bit down on her lip and folded her hands together in her lap. She nodded gently. "Okay. Open it."

Harry peeled back the lid of the box and reached a hand inside. Melody shifted beside him as he pulled out a wooden frame. He turned it over and laughed when he saw the photograph it contained.

"I don' remember yeh takin' this."

The photo was of him and Melody. She had her fingers clasped tightly around his chin, her lips pressing a hard kiss to his cheek. He could tell that he had been trying to twist away from her, just from the way her fingers dug into his skin. His eyes and nose were scrunched up, but the white of his teeth was still visible. Harry thumbed the corner of the glass.

"That's because I was trying to distract you," Melody said. She leaned in to rest her lips against his shoulder.

"Did a good job then, hmm?" Harry kissed at her forehead and looked back down to the picture. It almost didn't even look like him.

"There's more," Melody whispered, slipping her fingers just under the hem of his t-shirt, curling them against his hip.

Harry set the photograph off to the side and reached back into the box. His fingers found an unfamiliar type of cloth. He pulled it out and began to unfold it. It was a painting—a familiar one.