salute [h.s]

chapter 3 - dinner dates & omnipotent offers

Harry took one of her hands gently, lifting it so he could press a kiss on her knuckles. It should have been cheesy but it was insanely hot instead.

"Those buzzers have cameras for a reason," Harry continued on his safety tired, letting his hand drop to his side but keeping hers in its grasp so she had to stumble forward a little to stay upright. She nearly crashed right into his chest but kept her balance by some miracle.

"It's broken," Piper muttered breathlessly as her eyes drifted down to his lips which were a little moist, glistening in her terrible bathroom lighting.

"I noticed."

"But the door was locked," Piper tried to defend so she didn't seem quite so inept and pathetic.

"Not even a deadbolt," Harry scolded gently, the smile on his face widening so it was almost as if he was laughing at her. "I didn't even have to pick it. Just jimmied the handle a bit and it popped right open."

That wasn't good. She hadn't been aware it was that easy to break into her apartment. That actually made her a little bit nervous.

She wasn't going to give Harry the satisfaction though so she just shrugged. "I knew it was you anyways."

"You have to be more careful Piper," Harry told her as his thumb began to rub small circles into the back of her hand. She had a feeling a lecture was coming so the thumb thing was sort of stupid on his part because her brain had shut off almost the second he had started up with it. "I know it doesn't seem like it, but there are people out there who are really not nice and the more time you spend with me, the easier it will be for you to pop up on their radar. Deadbolts only cost a tenner. I could even install it for you – s'not too hard. It will make you feel a lot safer."

"That was very patronizing," Piper informed Harry once he had said his piece.

"I protect this country from terrorists and spies every day," Harry said, "I'm allowed to be patronizing. I know what's out there."

"In the big scary world?" Piper prompted, putting on an innocent face and letting her lip wobble for effect.

Harry chuckled, poking her in the side, making her bark out a laugh when he hit a ticklish spot. "Don't be cheeky, Miss. Stone."

"I'll get a deadbolt," Piper acquiesced which made Harry smile wider in victory. She rolled her eyes at how dramatic he could be. "Just so I don't have to hear that lecture again."

"And fix your security camera outside," Harry added.

Piper sighed heavily, putting her hands on her hips. "You, Mr. Styles, are asking a lot on a first date. Plus, getting the security camera fixed means speaking with my landlord which I try to avoid at all costs."

That was the truth. Her landlord, Mr. Curtis, was even more unpleasant than Clive (a truly shocking feat) and he always looked at her inappropriately when she tried to ask him to do things. He would give her greasy grins when she asked for the electrical to be fixed, or the heating, and then would ask what she was going to do in return. She usually had to remind him that she had a lease that allowed her to sue him if he didn't which never pleased him much. She kept as far away from him as she could most days.

"Surely your upstairs neighbour would want it fixed as well," Harry suggested with a shrug. Piper snorted at the mental image of Clive and Curtis going at it, Clive in his bathrobe and Curtis in his ripped jeans. It would surely be a sight.

"I'm sure Clive has already tried to get Curtis to fix it." Piper was pretty sure Clive brought it up every time Curtis came around for rent. He sure liked to complain about it to Piper, despite that fact that Piper could do absolutely nothing about the problem. Clive just liked to complain.