salute [h.s]

piper and harry felt a little bit jealous

"I know what you did there, Harry Styles." So she'd caught his trick. She didn't seem mad, just rolled her eyes. "You don't need to be jealous."

"I wasn't jealous."

"Of course, you weren't. But if you were, you should just remember — I'm all yours. And you are all mine."

2.

Piper felt like a million bucks walking into the JIC gala, dressed to the nines with her hand resting gently in the crook of Harry's elbow. Usually events like this where everyone was richer or older or more important than her made her sweat. She had years of not fitting in and attempting to cope with deep-seated insecurity so it was hard not to feel wary around the MI6 types, even if she was just as qualified if not more qualified than the majority of them.

Tonight, though — tonight she was on fire.

She'd bought a gown with the exorbitant amount of money MI6 had deposited in her bank account because she'd gotten injured on her last mission (guilt money, as Harry had termed it; Niall called it blood money). Her dress was blush pink, embellished beautifully with a modest v-neck that was appropriate for the JIC gala but was still sexy. She'd swept her curls into a loose updo but the red offset the light colour of the dress. She noticed eyes following her as her and Harry stepped into the large ballroom and instead of worrying that she'd had a wardrobe malfunction or that there was lipstick on her teeth, she turned her head toward Harry instead, delighting in the way his eyes were focused on her.

"Have I mentioned how gorgeous you look tonight?" he asked her quietly as the two of them walked in the direction of the bar.

"You have," Piper told him as her cheeks got hot despite the fact that she was still smiling madly. Something about the way Harry looked at her sometimes just set her on fire.

"Well, let me tell you again. You look gorgeous."

They ended up at the bar, Harry ordering a scotch and Piper attempting to be somewhat classy and ordering a vodka martini. Eleanor and Louis found them there and the four of them chatted for a while, talking about this and that. Zayn tracked them down by the time that the Chairman of the JIC got up to give his long-winded and essentially vague and meaningless speech, and Liam and Niall rounded out the group by the end, Marlow clinging onto Niall as she nervously surveyed the room. Piper sympathized with Marlow — that had been her last year.

"When are they going to feed us?" Niall asked as he looked around at the passing waiters carrying trays of champagne but no appetizers. "I'm bloody starving."

"Niall, there isn't any food," Eleanor told him with a sigh, rolling her eyes when he began to complain.

Piper had a smile on her face, laughing at the antics and group dynamics, right up until the point that she showed up. She being the tall gorgeous woman wearing possibly the sexiest dress that she could get away with at a company event. She was leggy, judging by the slit up her thigh, and she had a slim body, absolutely perfect teeth and the most beautiful skin Piper had ever seen, smooth and blemish free in the loveliest mocha shade. Immediately, all that confidence Piper had been feeling was pushed away and she was sucking in her tummy and pushing her tongue against the gap in her teeth on the left side of her smile. She held onto Harry's hand in hers possessively as the beautiful woman stepped right into their circle, approaching Harry.

"Why if it isn't, Mr. Styles?" she purred at him. Piper felt hit particularly hard when Harry grinned back at her.

"Hello Corinne," he greeted, accepting a kiss from her on each cheek as his free hand landed gently on her waist.

It was clear from the way that they interacted that Corinne and Harry shared a history. Piper guessed that it was a history that took place largely in a bedroom. And from the way Corinne licked her lips like an animal circling her prey, Piper could tell that she wanted to start rewriting that history.