Right Now

42. Lying next to you

A sharp stabbing pain in my abdomen woke me up. For a moment, I had no idea where I was, and then I heard soft breathing alongside me and remembered.

Harry. Amsterdam.

The room was very dark, thanks to the blackout curtains, but I could make out his shape next to me in the bed. We were no longer spooning; we'd spread out, and he was on his back, his arms flung above his head. As my eyes adjusted to the dim light, I could make out the sharp lines of his jaw and cheekbones. His hair, a riot of curls, was spread out across the pillow, apart from a couple of strands that had fallen over his face.

Even in the semi-darkness and fast asleep, Harry was so, so beautiful. And the sweet, kind and thoughtful way he'd treated me last night just went to show he was as beautiful on the inside as he was on the outside. How could one person be so lovely?

The pain struck me again, and I turned to look at the bedside clock. Thankfully, it was 7.24am, which meant I could take my next lot of painkillers. I got out of bed, grabbed my pills and water glass and headed for the bathroom. Ten minutes later, after taking the drugs, performing the necessary toileting, cleaning my teeth and removing the smudged eye makeup I hadn't taken off last night, I slid back next to Harry.

He was still out for the count, which was no surprise considering he must be jetlagged. I scooted close to him but not too close, I didn't want to wake him, and nor did I particularly want to accidentally stick my nose in his armpit. He'd had a shower before bed, but still...

I listened to the soothing rhythm of his breathing as I waited for the painkillers to kick in. I decided to savour this peaceful time, lying next to him, feeling the heat from his body and inhaling his warm, musky scent, for as long as it took for him to wake up. After a while I shut my eyes and to my surprise, found myself drifting off to sleep. When I opened them again, the clock read 9.17am and Harry was sitting up in bed next to me, his open laptop resting on his thighs and the light from the screen illuminating his gorgeous face.

"Morning sleepyhead," he smiled down at me. "Good sleep?"

"I was awake earlier," I said, stretching. "I'm surprised I fell back to sleep."

"All that pain must be exhausting," he said, closing his laptop and setting it to the side. "How is it this morning?"

"I took my painkillers at 7.30am, and they seem to be working," I said. I then sat up next to him, and felt a slight cramp.

"Ouch, not 100% pain-free but a lot better than yesterday," I reported.

"Well, that's good news," he said, turning towards me. "You look better. In fact, you look gorgeous."

"Yeah, right Harry." No doubt I had horrendous bed hair but at least I no longer had panda eyes.

"You do," he said, leaning over and pressing his lips to mine.  We kissed for a good couple of minutes, his stubble prickly against my skin. What a wonderful way to wake up.

"So, we have a whole day together," he said. "And I had kind of planned a few touristy things we could do in Amsterdam, hopefully without being spotted, but that was before I knew you were going to be dealing with this pain. So if you want, we can just stay here in the hotel, and hang out together. We don't even have to get out of bed."

The thought of spending the day in bed – or at least until the show tonight – with Harry appealed.  But I felt guilty; this was my first time in Amsterdam, I should be making the most of it.

"What touristy things did you have in mind?" I asked.

"Well, one of the things that sounded quite good was a bike riding tour of the city."