Fine Line // H.S.

67

"I prefer strawberries," Harry teases, biting down on the scarred tip of his tongue as he smiles forwardly at me, green eyes gleaming a vibrant shade as the afternoon sunlight adds to the sea green color of them.

I stupidly blush at his words, a small scoff leaving my lips as I think about our trip to the hospital on New Year's Day shortly after Harry decided to try shrooms with his band for the first time and ended up biting the tip of his tongue off. A drunk Caroline was laughing her ass off while a squeamish Jeff Azoff and I had to hold him down in the backseat, blood gushing everywhere while he just giggled and said he was 'totally fine.'

An experience like that bonds two people together, so ever since that night, Harry and I have been talking way more, life almost returning to how it used to be the summer after we met. He's off in his corner of the world doing whatever it is that he does when he works, and I'm off in mine, talking rarely whenever time allows.

It's been wonderful, but his persistence hasn't helped my conquest to make my heart forget him now that I've realized it hasn't after so much time apart.

"And here I was thinking you like cherries better," I finally find it in myself to quip, hiking the sides of my white bikini over my hip bones a little more to reveal a small portion of the red cherries inked into my skin that are still just as vibrant as the day I got them.

His eyes fall to the ink for a split second, moving so fast that I almost miss their movement, but I manage to catch it, a glimmer of a dimpled smirk appearing on his lips when the green irises move to the practically empty watermelon tray. Casually reaching forward to grab one now, he takes a piece, dwarfing it in his large hand and munches down on it as he relaxes in his seat.

"They go hand in hand really," Harry jests while eating the juicy red fruit, putting the pad of his thumb in his mouth to suck the sweet liquid from his skin. A wondering raise of Taylor's brows forces me to look away, praying that she didn't pick up on the meaning of the words Harry and I passed between each other.

A low hum of voices quiets when everyone turns to me, realizing I'm finally going to drop the big news, each face worriedly watching in angst of whether it's going to be good or bad. Gigi Hadid, Zayn absent to spend a much needed day in the studio, bites down on her pinky nail while her other hand is clenched around her sister, Bella's, arm.

Kendall Jenner and Caroline Sawyer stand in the back with their arms crossed over their bony chests, the two sharing such a striking resemblance that I almost do a double take. Olivia goes sprinting into the house when Taylor whacks Harry upside his curly head from where they continue to sit at the umbrella covered table, Joe chuckling and shaking his blonde mop at the sight of his girlfriend whisper shouting at Harry. I can only assume she's reprimanding him for his previous comments toward me, and the thought alone causes a light giggle to leave my lips and escape into the blooming spring air.

Finally, my smile lands on the final guest who is leaving a trail of water behind as he walks from the pool with a towel around his shoulders that he uses to dry out his wavy brunette mop. The most caring man I know and now father to a two year old, Liam Payne, saunters forward and wraps one wet, tattooed arm around my shoulders, water dripping from the chevron ink in his skin and onto the purple fabric of the massive button up I wear undone over my white bathing suit.

"Now that the most important person is here, you can spill the beans," Payno beams from his position next to me, dark chocolate eyes crinkling, now a more milky brown from the sunlight. A dazzling smile spreads across his lips, pink tinge from the warmth in the air hitting the apples of his cheeks.

I open my mouth to speak and relieve Taylor from her impatient agony, but Kendall speaks suddenly, hand high in the air as she points at herself. "Try again, grizzly," she mocks Liam, insinuating that she is actually the prime guest.