"Shit," Niall murmured, "Does it hurt?"
"Looks like it's bloody killer." Louis added in.
"It's literally bloody." Liam grimaced.
"Leave you two alone for less than three hours and somehow you both manage to hurt yourselves." Thalia shook her head, "I'd say I'm surprised, but honestly I'm impressed you guys lasted that long."
"Give 'em some space guys." Jade said from next to Thalia as Harry made his way into the kitchen holding a few different medical supplies.
Millie and I were sat on the counter in the kitchen next to each other, each of us holding different ice packs to various parts of our bodies.
"I'm so sorry." Millie grimaced as she watched Harry pull a few more things he needed from a bag.
"It's okay." I smiled, instantly regretting it since the skin pulled on the gash above my eyebrow. "It wasn't your fault."
"It totally was!" Millie dropped her head into her hands, one of her wrists bandaged, "This was suppose to be fun."
"Mills, you said you knew how to skate." Niall shook his head, "From the looks of it I'd say that isn't true. I mean shit, you guys look like you went through a fuckin' war."
"That's enough," Harry said, still digging through his bags. "Get out of the kitchen. All of you. This is going to be painful enough for Rori, don't need all of you shitheads watching as well."
Niall pouted from beside Harry, "Thought you said we needed to learn for when you aren't here. Isn't this the perfect opportunity to learn how to stitch someone up?"
Harry continued to rummage through the things laid out on the counter, "I'll teach you next time you slice yourself up. Shouldn't be too long from now seeing how you still think you're good a throwing knives."
"Low blow." Niall scoffed, "Not like you're much better."
"Not by much, but still better." Harry shrugged.
Liam laughed from where he leaned against the counter next to me, his eyes on Niall. "Doesn't take much to be better than you if we're being honest, mate. Damn near cut your ear off last time."
"Which is why none of you should even be thinking about throwing knives." Thalia scolded, "Now get out of the kitchen."
Everyone nodded without saying much else, everyone pretty much listens to everything Thalia says. She's definitely an authoritative figure in the house.
"Take it easy on that wrist, Millie." Harry looked up to her from where she still sat on the counter. "You're lucky you didn't break it."
"I be careful." She nodded as Niall wrapped his arm around her waist to help lower her down to the ground. "Again, I'm so sorry Rori."
I shook my head dismissively, "Seriously, it's fine. It looks worse than it feels."
That was a lie.
The gash right above my eyebrow was in searing pain. Every time I made even a fraction of a movement it would throb and I had to hold back from making a pained face. The bleeding had slowed way down and wasn't pouring down the side of my face anymore, but it definitely was still in pain.
"So you wanna explain how this happened?" Harry asked as he looked up to me.
"My face hit Millies skate..." I murmured averting my eyes from his.
"Hm..." He hummed as he moved himself between my knees.
Harry reached up and began to clean around the area of my cut, each small touch sending a shooting pain through my body.
"Lucky for you, I have a bit of numbing medication. It'll hurt like a bitch when I give you the shot but you won't feel much else while I'm stitching you up." He leaned over and grabbed a bottle of whiskey that was sitting on the counter and pulled it towards me. "This should help too."
I nodded and reached down towards the bottle. I unscrewed the cap and took a few big gulps of it before setting it back down next to me.
"We were only there for like ten minutes." I laughed. "We got out on the floor and within the first lap Millie went down. We were skating next to each other so she grabbed onto my wrist, I guess out of reflex, and I ended up going down with her." I pursed my lips. "I'm pretty sure my head bounced off of the edge of the wheel on her skate and that's how this happened." I motioned up towards my head.
"You're lucky you didn't lose an eye." He murmured as he continued to clean off the area.
I stifled a laugh, "That would have been a crazy story."
Harrys brows furrowed, his eyes meeting mine. "It's not funny, Rori." His hands dropped down to the counter on either side of my legs. "I tell you to be careful and not even two hours later you gash open your head."
I rolled my eyes, "Come on, Harry, that's not fair. It's not like this was my fault."
"You've just got to be fuckin' careful." He gritted as he reached for a serenge. "You need to stay still, okay? This is going to hurt."
I nodded taking a deep breath, closing my eyes. "Okay."
Harry placed one hand on my head and pinched the skin of my wound together causing my to suck in a harsh breath. But then I felt the real pain. He stuck the needle into the wound and applied the anesthetic.
"Fuck..." I cursed, my face contouring in discomfort.
"Relax your face." Harry murmured, "I know it hurts but it'll be numb soon."
I tried to listen and relax my face the best I could. but it was hard. I felt as he stuck the needle into a another spot and wanted to cry out in pain, but instead I bit down on my bottom lip and held it there tightly.
He wasn't lying when he said this was going to hurt. The area around my eyebrow was already in pain, now adding onto that by him sticking a needles into different areas around the room? I feel like I actually might cry.
I felt Harry knuckles drag down across my cheek, my eyes fluttering open at the soft contact. He own eyes were looking down at my lip stuck between my teeth so I instantly let go of it. "Sorry, did I mess you up?"
He shook his head, his thumb dragging across my bottom lip softly, "I finished." He pulled his hand away from me and flashed his eyes back up to my eyebrow, "Can you feel this?"
"Feel what?" I asked, my eyes still attached to his.
"I was touching your cut." He said pulling his other hand away and laying the serenge on the counter. He grabbed a few more things from the counter next to my leg and then turned back to face me. "This won't take long."
"Okay..." I murmured.
————
"Spin the fucking bottle!"
It's been a few hours since Harry finished with my stitches and the party he said that wasn't going to be too big, was huge.
As always sweaty bodies filled every inch of the house down stairs and even expanded out into their backyard. I have been slightly drunk since Harry finished with my stitches so in all honesty I was feeling pretty good at this point.
"So what happens if you land on Niall?" I leaned over to ask Millie who was cheering from beside me as we both watched Louis grabbed some random girl by the back of the neck, pulling her in to start their kiss.
Millie leaned back towards me, "It's happened before so we made a rule, if we land on each other whoever spun the bottle has to strip down to their underwear, chug the nearest bottle of alcohol and run through the house."
I threw my head back in a cackle, "How often does that happen?"
I watched a guy I didn't know spin the bottle landing on a girl across from him. "Happens more often to Niall thankfully." Millie laughed before motioning with her head towards the bottle, "You should spin it."
"Me?!" I nearly screeched in shock.
I've only kissed a handful of people, literally three people. My ex, the boy who was my first kiss and Chloe. Chloe and I use to kiss all the time at parties to keep away guys that neither of us were interested in. Sometimes it worked and sometimes they were fucking weirdos who asked us to do it again.
"Just spin it and if it lands on someone you don't want to kiss you can always walk away." Millie gave me an encouraging smile.
"Lands on me you better kiss me," Niall said from my other side. "I'd be offended, especially after you told me that you think Harry's more attractive."
"Shut up, Niall!" Millie leaned around the back of me to smack her brothers head.
"I'm just saying!" Niall acted offended by his sisters actions. "Hurt my feelings when you said that. Was a real confidence destroyer."
"Oh, I'm sure." I rolled my eyes.
It was two people away from being my turn to spin and luckily no one has landed on me yet. I watched as the girl next to Niall spun and landed on the girl next to Liam, both of them moving to start their kiss.
"Better get ready, darlin'..." Niall smirked, "I got a good feeling about this one."
I watched as he reached out and spun the bottle in the middle of the table. Everyone standing around it watching the blur of the bottle as it spun. As it began to slow down I became a little jittery— not because I wouldn't kiss Niall, truthfully I would. But him and Chloe talk so I wouldn't want to do that to her even if it was just for a game.
I held my breath as the empty beer bottle slowly started finishing it's final turns, my heart hammering against my chest.
I watched it pass, Liam, two girls, Louis, a girl, a guy, another girl, Niall, then slowly me. My face broke out into a smile and I started laughing as the bottle stopped, pointing directly at Millie.
"Mother fucker!" Niall cussed as he threw his head back. "Who's got a bottle?"
"Here." Liam held a whiskey bottle across the table towards Niall.
Niall grabbed the bottle, tossing his head back and gulping down the liquid. All of us screaming, "Ten, nine, eight...!" To count him down as he chugged.
After he finished he smacked the bottle down onto the table and grabbed the neck of his tank top to pull it over his head, his backwards hat flying off with it as well. He kicked off his shoes, yanked down his shorts and threw his arms into the air, "Let's go, baby!" He screamed before taking off in the direction of the kitchen.
Everyone in the party had stopped what they were doing to watch as Niall took off running, everyone at the table unable to contain their laughter from what they had just seen.
I watched as Niall passed the couch, sticking his hand out and flipping off Harry on his way towards the foyer. Harrys arm, that wasn't wrapped around the girl attached to his hip, raised and he flipped his middle finger up towards the back of Niall before flashing his eyes towards the table I was standing at.
I adverting my eyes and looked down towards the bottle refusing to let him see that I had noticed him. I chewed on my bottom lip, my eyes squinting as the mental debate flickered through my mind on if I wanted to play or not.
"I'm gonna do it." I said quickly, and before I could change my mind I reached to the middle of the table and spun the bottle.
"Let's go, Rori!" Millie cheered as we all watched the bottle spin in the middle of the table.
It was a pretty good spin considering I've never played before. I've watched Chloe play and seen it in movies, but I've never actually played myself so it was actually kind of exciting.
"Well... that was unexpected."
I watched the the bottle stop and followed it up to the person it had landed on. I started laughing as I reached Millies eyes, her brows raised in amusement and shock much like mine were. "We don't have to if you—"
I was cut off by Millie reaching out and grabbing my face to pull me closer to her. Her lips smushed against mine, my eyes widening even more in shock as she kissed me.
My shock however was quickly wiped away as I began to kiss her back. My hands gripped onto her hips, our bodies pulling together as our lips started moving in sync. I could hear the people around the table start cheering, among those voices Liam and Louis being very noticeable.
After a few seconds Millie and I both started laughing causing us to pull away from each other, her blue eyes meeting mine as she said, "You're a fantastic kisser."
To that I tossed my head back and let out a laugh, my drunken state making this whole experience all the better for me. "You are too."
Millie turned back towards the table and quickly reached with the hand not currently in a brace to spin the bottle for her turn.
I watched as each person took their turns again, more people joining us now so that the table was nearly full. Only one other person had spun and landed on me, a girl named Sydney. She was sweet and only did a peck for the kiss, which I was fine with. Other than her no one else had landed on me though so I decided I would spin one more time, then go get a drink.
Just as it was about to be his turn Niall joined us again after making his round throughout the house. He squeezed his way back in next to me while putting on his shoes, pants and hat again, though he didn't bother putting his shirt back on.
"Alright, who's the lucky person this time?" Niall quirked an eyebrow as he reached out to spin the bottle.
The bottle sprung to life, being a blur on the table for a few moments until it finally began to slow down, then stopped completely.
My eyes widened in shock and I couldn't suppress my laughter as I looked up to see the look on Liams face.
"Get over here, Payno."
Within seconds Niall was bounding past me and Millie towards Liam. Liams eyes shot wide as he realized Niall's intentions, his mouth falling open though he didn't try to say anything. Instead, dropped his cup, his drink splashing everywhere as he turned and shoved through the people dancing near the table.
Liam bolted towards the couch that Harry was sitting on, the girl now moved to sit in his lap. In a swift motion Liam bounded over the couch and through more people towards the backyard. The girl on Harrys lap head snapped to look behind her just in time to see Niall following shortly behind him.
Harry pushed the girl to the side, her body now moved off of him to sit on the couch as he twisted around to watch Niall and Liam as they ran through the back door. I could see Harry's mouth moving and even though I couldn't hear what he was saying, I'm sure he was cursing at Niall and Liam.
I actually can't believe that Liam was able to move around that well given he was shot less than a week ago. It's actually quite impressive how well he's healing.
"You're brother is insane." I laughed to Millie as I reached forward to spin the bottle on the table. "I'm gonna go get a drink after this." I added as I watched the bottle spin.
I think kissing three people is definitely my limit for today. It's doubling the amount I have kissed prior to tonight so I feel like that's a big milestone for me.
I watched as the bottle stopped, the top pointing directly opposite of me.
I lifted my eyes to see the guy standing across the table from me. His eyes lifted up to meet mine as a smirk lifted onto his lips. Shrugging I moved to walk around the table towards the guy.
"Hi." I smiled as I approached him. "I'm, Rori."
"Aiden." He smiled down at me. "And you're... gorgeous." His eyes trailed down me before flicking back up to my eyes.
He was hot to say the least. He had dark eyes and hair to match. It was ruffed lazy looking, though the style suited him well. Upon further inspection I realized he had tattoos covering each of his arms and hands and he also had one dangly cross earring and one black stud.
He kind of reminded me of Harry.
My mind mentally slapped myself because of that thought. I shouldn't be thinking of him right now.
I sucked in a deep breath and before I could change my mind or second guess myself, I wrapped my fingers around the back of Aiden's neck and pulled him towards me. This is the first guy I kissed tonight— the first guy I've kissed in years.
I felt Aiden's hand loop around my waist to pull me closer as I stood on my toes to level out our height difference deepening the kiss. It wasn't too heated, nothing crazy, just a normal make out but it left me feeling flustered nonetheless.
Both of us started laughing within the next few seconds and we pulled away from the kiss. Aiden rested his forehead against mine as he said, "Wow, Millie was right. You really are a great kisser."
This only made me laugh harder as I pulled away from him, "You are too."
"Get a room!" Millie yelled across the table at us, my cheeks instantly flushing a bright red.
I shook my head with a subtle smile, giving Aiden one last look before I walked back over to stand next to Millie. "I'm gonna go get a drink." I said to her as I grabbed my dab pen from off of the table.
"Okay!" Millie flashed a huge smile to me before walking towards the guy the bottle had landed on.
I walked around the table choosing to take the long way to avoid walking near the couch and headed towards the kitchen.
I pushed my way through the sea of sweaty bodies keeping my hands up towards my chest so that I didn't accidentally touch someone. Side stepping my way through the crowd of people I finally made it to the hallway leading into the kitchen and I let out a sigh of relief now that I was finally able to walk normally.
My head wasn't hurting so much anymore but I'm sure that also had something to do with my drunken state and the dab pen Millie had given me. I'm sure that the stitch will feel murderous in the morning.
Harry actually didn't take too long to stitch me up earlier, but I'm sure it also had something to do with how many times he's had to stitch up Niall and Liam. They definitely seem like the two that would cause the most damage to themselves on a regular basis.
I skimmed my fingers along a few different bottles sitting out on the counter, my eyes flashing over the labels. Vodkas, tequilas and whiskeys all scattered along the island for me to choose from but I couldn't quite pinpoint what I was wanting at the moment.
"Hey."
I looked up to see a familiar blonde in front of me, her hair falling down her shoulders in loose curls as she leaned against the counter on the opposite side of the kitchen.
You've got to be kidding me.
"Hi, Skylar." I murmured with my eyes moving back down towards the bottles of alcohol. "What are you doing here?"
"My friend asked me to come with her..." Skylar paused momentarily, "But then she ditched me to hook up with Harry. So now I'm just sitting here alone."
I grabbed a hold of the whiskey bottle and brought it closer to me. I'm definitely going to be needing this.
I raised my eyebrows at her response, "Sounds like a shitty friend if you ask me."
There was a few moments of silence as I pulled the lid off of the whiskey and threw back a drink of it. I grimaced at the warm taste, but welcomed the burn that flowed down to my chest.
I think living here might turn me into an alcoholic.
"What uh— What happened?" I raised my eyes up to Skylar to see her pointing up towards my stitches, clearly avoiding what I had said.
"I fell skating. My head hit my friends wheel." I said placing the cap back on the whiskey, though I didn't twist it into place.
"Like skate boarding?" She questioned tilting her head to the side in a bit of confusion.
"No," I shook my head with a bit of a laugh. "We went roller skating. She fell and pulled me down with her. I got this, a busted knee and she fractured her wrist."
"Damn... I didn't realize roller skating could be so hardcore." She laughed, flashing a row of perfectly straight white teeth.
Skylar is gorgeous, don't get me wrong. Beauty definitely isn't a flaw of hers. She has blonde hair with no dark roots, big blue eyes, a button nose, perfectly shaped lips, and an hourglass body.
Just to look at her once you can see why anyone would want her. She's what everyone wants to be.
I smiled at Skylar, my defensive manners falling a bit. "Honestly I didn't know it was that dangerous either— it was my first time skating... Most likely my last time too."
Skylar sipped her drink, her eyes dancing over my stitches. "That's probably going to scar, isn't it?"
"Yeah." I nodded, "Har— The doctor said the cut went down into my eyebrow so after it heals I'm going to have a slash through my eyebrow I think." I laughed again, "Going to have to fill it in for the rest of my life."
"I don't know..." Skylar shrugged, "It might look cool after it heals up. It might make you look mysterious or something."
I laughed at her words, "I'm not so sure about that. I'm just annoyed that I had to cut my face of all places."
"At least you'll still be pretty." Skylar gave me a small smile.
Her compliment took my by surprise. I definitely wasn't expecting to hear her say that, let alone her even talk me again.
"Thank you." I excepted.
"And I'm also sorry..." She flicked her eyes down to the cup she held in her hands, her light pink manicured nails gripping it tightly. "I've said a lot of things to you that I shouldn't have— A lot of things that I regret." Her eyes moved up to meet mine again. "It's not an excuse, but I've been shitface drunk whenever I have seen you. And at the time I was sleeping with Harry so I guess in my mind I saw you, someone really pretty— I just..." She sighed heavily before continuing. "I got self conscious that he wouldn't want me anymore. Which, that ended up happening anyway but it wasn't even because of you trying to get his attention. You just kind of got it and then he wouldn't even look at me anymore."
"Skylar I— No, I don't catch anyones attention. But you're—"
"Not you." She cut me off. "I'm not you." She gave me a soft smile as she exhaled a breathy laugh. "God, I sound so stupid right now but it's true. I mean, I've been coming to parties here for a really long time. I've hooked up with all of the guys, not my proudest confession, but it's true... My point of all this is that I've been coming to this house for a long time so I know that you've only started coming here— or living here recently. I've been trying for years for these people to notice me, but you managed it in just a few weeks and I guess I just got jealous."
I watched her stunned, speechless. The things she was saying were spinning around in my head catching my completely off guard.
Admittedly, I might be a little too drunk for this conversation.
Maybe we can try again next time I see her. I'll except her apology, smile at her and tell her that he can talk more next time. That's not rude is it? It's just being honest and I feel like she won't be too upset about that.
"Skylar I—"
"What the fuck was that?"
I turned my head to see an angry looking Harry stalking into the kitchen. His hair pushed back out of his face with his usual black on black outfit. And of course, those stupid fucking boots.
His face was flush like he had just ran a marathon. His skin was glossy, sweat coating him which was weird because usually he was always cold to the touch. His brows were kneaded together, his nostrils flared, lips parted as he huffed out angry breaths with each step he took towards me.
"What was—"
"Were you trying to piss me off?" He stopped in front of me, his brows still creased. "Was that suppose to be you getting back at me for earlier?"
I cocked my head back at him, "I seriously have no what you're talking about, Harry."
"Don't play dumb Rori, it's not a good look on you." He sneered mockingly.
"Dude, seriously back the hell off." I pushed at his chest to force him to take a step away from me. "You're drunk, I'm drunk, and I don't actually want to talk to you right now so... go away." I shooed him off with my hands.
"Did you really think that was going to make me jealous?" Harry sneered again, "A fucking game? You think I actually care about what you do or who it's with?"
I grabbed the whiskey bottle from off the counter sliding it closer to me as I looked over at Skylar, realizing that she was standing stunned across the table from us listening to every word. "I'm sorry, Skylar. Can we finished this conversation next time? I have a feeling this might take a while."
"Oh— uh, yeah. Yeah, no problem." She shuffled quickly around the table. "Bye, Rori."
"Bye." I gave her a pinched smile as she fled through the open doorway.
"Since when do you talk to her? I thought you hated her?" Harrys face was full of confusion as he turned back to me.
I rolled my eyes ignoring him, gulping back the whiskey again. Harry makes my head hurt.
"You're going to black out if you don't stop." Harry reached up to grab the bottle from me.
"Fuck off!" I pushed myself away from his reach. "I don't need you of all people to tell me when I've had enough. You can't even tell when to cut yourself off." I fired at him before raising the bottle to my lips again.
"Jesus, Rori just li—"
"I thought I told you to stop telling me what to do." I muttered as I pushed past him.
I walked out of the kitchen and started down the hall, my balance now something in a bit of question. It's been a while since I was this drunk, but as of right now I didn't care.
I felt a hand wrap around my arm, a weight pulling me back. "Don't fucking walk away from me." Harry barked towards me.
"Stop acting like such a fucking brute!" I shoved against him again, "You're pissing me off."
"Welcome to the club, baby." Harry sneered down at me.
Okay, now he's really actually starting to piss me off.
"Look, I don't know what your problem is but I haven't done anything wrong. I've literally been with Millie all night." I stepped away from him again, "So calm the fuck down."
Harry was quick to step towards me again, his body backing me against the wall. He tilted his head at me as he placed a hand on the wall next to my head. I swallowed hard, my eyes flicking up to stare into his as he smirked down at me.
"Is this what you wanted?" He leaned in, lips brushing against my cheek, "Wanted my attention?"
My chest started to rise and fall quickly, "I don't know what you're talking about."
"That why you made sure I was watching when you spun that fuckin' bottle?" He pulled his head back to look at me, his eyes hooded as they danced over my face.
"Wha— No. I wasn't—" Jesus Rori, form a proper fucking sentence. "Niall caused a scene and that's what got your attention." I tried to speak clearly, though the alcohol in my system and Harrys intoxicating presence this close to me was causing me to fumble over my words. "I was already planning on playing one round before that happened. I didn't know you'd be watching."
"Mm..." He hummed, his eyes tracing down the length of my neck until he reach my shoulder.
I can't pinpoint the exact reason why, but seeing to do with seeing him stand this close in front of me with that smug look on his face, I felt a burst on anger rise in me and I once again shoved at his shoulders, "You have no reason to act like this!" Harry hardly budged this time causing me to grow even more angry. "You literally had a girl sitting on your lap! Who knows what you guys were doing or what you already did. You can't get mad—"
"I'm not mad."
"Stop cutting me off!" Harrys eyes widened, a smirk growing on his lips as he cocked his head to the side.
I was halfway expecting him to have an outburst like me. I know he doesn't respond well to having people stand up to him, so I think it's safe to say that I nearly fainted on the spot when he continued watching me, raising his brows in a silent way of telling me to continue.
"We're friends, Harry." I squinted my eyes at him, but he only continues to stare at me with the same smirk etched across his face. I felt a fire burning inside of me as he stood cockily in front of me, so without much thought I leaned forward, my hands resting on his chest as my head turned to the side to whisper into his ear. "In case it's not already clear to you, that means if I want to fuck every guy in the room, then that's exactly what I'll do..." My lips brushed against the shell of his ear. "And you don't get to have an opinion on it."
Satisfied with myself I pushed off the wall, dropping my hands back down to my side and turned away from him. However, I didn't get very far since Harry latched onto me again and backed me up against the wall once more.
His eyes roamed over my face, his lips parted in heavy breaths as his exhales came out in labored puffs against my chest.
"You're fuckin' infuriating." He gritted, still searching over my face.
"Yeah?" I prodded, "And what are you gonna do about it?"
"Is that an open invitation?" A sadistic smirk grew on his lips, his eyes finally resting on mine.
I gave a bit of a shrug. "Either you can do something or I'll go find someone else—"
Before I could even finish speaking I felt his lips on my neck, his hand slipping up my chest towards the base of my throat. My hand that wasn't holding the bottle of whiskey clutched tightly onto the smooth material of his button down as my lips parted in a heavy pant. He nipped at the skin of my bare shoulder, smirking against my skin as I shuddered against him.
He tilted his head up to look at my hair. His hand that was next to my head on the wall moving to smooth over my ponytail. "I like your hair like this." He murmured. "It's not in my way." His fingers tightened around my hair giving it a small tug, my head hitting the wall behind me.
I gasped out a rushed breath, my eyes closing as his lips found my exposed neck again. Harrys hand slipped down from my throat tracing the front of my body down to my stomach, slowly moving it behind me and flattening it against the small of my back to press me into him. I gasped at the feeling— his cool body heavily against mine in this dimly lit hallway.
"Someone's going to see." I mumbled, feeling a bit worried that anyone would walk through this hallway to get to the kitchen at any second.
"Let them see." His lips brushed against the underside of my jaw.
I gasped as his hand lowered to my ass, his large hand groping at it earning a soft moan from me. "Your—" I lulled my head to the side as his lips traced down my neck again. "Your family could see."
Harry pulled away from me, my eyes snapping open to meet his green one looking black in the dim lighting. "And what would you say if they saw?" He asked without a trace of worry in his voice.
"I'd say..." I paused to catch my breath, his body moving back from mine a bit. "I'd say that we're just friends." I smirked at him.
"Your—"
Harry was cut off by the sound of shouting coming from down the hall, both of our heads snapping towards the chanting as I softly pushed him away from me and started to move down the hall, curiosity getting the best of me.
"Fight! Fight! Fight!"
Reaching the end I poked my head out of the hall to see multiple bodies crowded around in a circle. I walked a bit closer and stood on my tip toes to see over the two people standing in front of me.
The first thing I noticed was a shirtless blonde, tattoos covering every inch of exposed skin.
The next was straight brown hair drifted across blue eyes, a black tank top covering some of the tattoos on his skin.
Niall and Louis.
What the hell is going on?
"Niall! Louis!" I called, trying to get their attention, but it was no use. The flashing lights and booming music in the foyer just drowned my voice out.
Their eyes never moved from one another as they continued their assault on one another. Louis' lip was busted, a drop of blood falling down to his chest. His hair ruffled and flopping around with every skilled move that he made.
Niall had a stream of blood coming from him nose, a smile forming on his face as he wiped under his nose with the back of his hand to see the blood on it. His eyes squinting before he flashed his eyes back up and charged towards Louis.
Niall wrapped his arms around Louis' stomach driving him backwards until they reached the edge of the crowd. The people in front of me moving to the side to let them through, resulting in me being the only one in their way.
I felt the breath knock out of me as Louis' back crashed into me, my body crumbling to the ground nearly instantly. The whiskey bottle I was holding slipped from my fingers and crashed to the ground shattering completely upon the impact. I tried to turn and catch myself on the ground but when my hand hit the marbled flooring, the whiskey on the floor made it slippery and my hand slid out from underneath me causing my head to crash down to the hard ground below me.
I cried out in pain, rolling onto to my side as the pain erupted over my head. Two hands were already gripping my arms tightly to pull me up into a seated position.
"Hey— Rori, open your eyes." Harrys voice was rushed, "Can you see? Are you okay?"
I slowly opened my eyes, a searing pain coming from my head causing me to feel as though I couldn't even speak. I lifted my hand to feel the spot I had hit, a warm sticky substance coating my fingers when I pulled them back down into my line of blurred vision.
"Ripped open your stitches..." Harry murmured, "Are you okay?"
I nodded slowly, "I'm okay."
After my words Harrys eyes flashed behind me, "What the fuck?!" He snarled.
I lifted my head and watched as he rose to his feet and lunged towards Niall and Louis who were pulling themselves from the ground. Harrys fist connected with Nialls jaw before Niall was even complete standing straight, Nialls head snapping to the side before coming back to face Harry with a new devilish smirk.
I gasped in fear as both Louis and Niall leaped towards Harry, now ganging up on him instead of fighting each other.
"Been waiting on this for a while." Niall sneered as he landed a blow to Harrys ribs. "How 'bout you, Lou?"
Louis chucked a bit under his breath, "Been waiting far too long."
"Oh my god, are you okay?" I looked up beside me to see none other than Skylar crashing down to her knees beside me. "Oh— Oh shit, your stitches!"
"I'm sure it looks worse than it is." I tried to smile even though the pain coming from my head was causing me to feel nauseous.
I turned back to look towards the boys as Niall landed a blow to the side of Harry's mouth, Harrys head snapping to the side. My eyes widened as Harry stayed frozen for a second, my stomach turning at the thought of any of them actually getting hurt.
However, when Harry finally turned back to look towards Niall and Louis again, it wasn't a pained expression on his face.
He was smiling.
His lips curled up into a sinister smile, blood coating over his usually perfectly white teeth. The sight made my stomach flip as he launched himself back towards the boys. I couldn't watch anymore. I turned away and found Skylars soft blue eyes, "I need to get out of here." I murmured trying to stand up.
"Okay. Yeah, okay. I'll help you." She quickly stood before looping her hands under my arms to help raise me up to me feet.
I grunted in effort, my body aching all over as I stood to my feet. I'm a bit dizzy so standing was kind of an effort.
"Hey, are you okay?"
I looked up to see Aiden, the guy I had kissed earlier, moving up to stand next to me and Skylar.
"I... hit my head." I muttered, the pain in my head growing more intense.
"We should take her to the hospital." Aiden looked at Skylar, "She probably has a concussion."
"She is right here." I grumbled, "I'm fine. I just need to go to my room. It's too loud down here. I feel like my head is going to explode."
"Okay, which room is yours?" Skylar asked, "I'll help you get there."
I gave her a grateful smile at her gesture. "It's up stairs."
"Wait— You live here?" Aiden asked in shock.
"Mhm..." I mumbled as I started to shuffle towards the stairs.
"Here," Aiden quickly wiped the shock off his face, "Put your arm around me."
I nodded and put my arm around him to let both him and Skylar help me to my room. The pounding in my head was dizzying at this point and truthfully, though I don't want to admit it, I don't actually think I would be able to make it to my room without help.
They helped me move towards the stairs while Harry, Niall and Louis all continued to maim each other. I tried not to look, but the sounds coming from them was causing my stomach to turn.
As we reached the bottom of the stairs the flashing lights stopped, the music cut off and the normal house lights immediately snapped on. I groaned, dropping my head down towards the floor, the instant white light too much to handle.
"Fuuuck..." I groaned.
Okay... Maybe I do have a concussion.
"Hey!" I heard a familiar female voice yell, "What the fuck is going on?!"
I titled my head up to see Thalia pushing through the crowd, Millie, Jade and Liam not far behind. Thalia grabbed Harrys shoulders pushing him backwards while Liam restrained Louis.
Millie went straight for her brother and pointed a finger towards his face, "If you move, I'll kick your ass myself." She gritted.
Harry was fighting against Thalia, both of them struggling against each other. I watched as Thalia continued to yell at him trying her best to get his attention but nothing was working. He was set on Louis and Niall.
"I said," She wound her arm back before bringing it up to his jaw, Harrys head snapping to the side. "Stop. I said to fuckin' stop." She spat, Jade moving beside her to reassuringly rub Thalias back.
"You see what they did?" Harry bared his teeth looking down at his sister, "You fuckin' see what they did to Roris head?"
Thalias eyes turned to the crowd, her eyes dancing over everyone as she turned in a half circle before finally landing on me standing near the stairs with Aiden and Skylar. Thalias eyes instantly softened as she saw me.
Niall and Louis' heads followed hers, the blood draining from their faces as soon as they saw me.
"Darlin' I—"
"Rori, we—"
"Shut it." Thalia snapped at Niall and Louis. "Both of you." She adverted her eyes from me and turned back towards everyone in the house, "The rest of you need to get the fuck out."
There was groans of disapproval but Thalia held her ground as she started pushing people towards the front door.
"You guys should probably go." I said to Skylar and Aiden, "I'll be okay."
"Can I at least get your number so I know you're not dead or something?" Skylar asked me with furrowed brows.
I laughed lightly, "Yeah of course. My phones in my back pocket. My passcode is four zeros, you can put it in and I'll text you after this is all over."
"Okay..." Skylar muttered as her and Aiden moved to set me down on the stairs, Skylar pulling my phone from my back pocket.
I hung my head down towards the ground as Skylar typed her number into my phone, the sound of people talking scattering through the house as they left.
As I was staring down to the ground a familiar pair of boots stepped into my line of vision. I looked up, my eyes squinting against the light to see Harry looking down at me. There was still blood on his face, his features tight in a heavy frown.
"Hi." I gave him a weak smile.
"Hi." He said back, even though his tone was anything but friendly.
Skylar handed me my phone, Harry gaze slipping to her as she did so. "Bye, Rori." She tried to give me a smile before quickly turning towards the front door.
"I still think you should go to a hospital." Aiden said, his brows furrowed as he look down to me.
I opened my mouth to reply, but Harry was faster. He turned to look at Aiden over his shoulder, "Thanks for the input, Aiden."
"Don't be a dick." I muttered, my head lulling forward, the pounding in my head making it hard to keep looking up into the light.
"I'll see you, Rori." Aiden said softly before he too turned to leave.
I felt cool fingers grip under my chin forcing my head up. I groaned, pinching my eyes shut as the light once again was too much for me.
"You have a concussion." Harry said, his free hand moving my stray hairs off of my face.
"I'm fine—"
"You were unconscious when I got to you, Aurora. So don't try to tell me you're fine when you clearly can't even look at me because of light sensitivity." Harry fought back.
I squinted my eyes open, "I was not unconscious."
"I didn't come out of the hallway when you did." Harry said, his voice still cold, though his face was softer now that it was just the two of us. "I was on my way out when you hit the ground. You weren't moving until I got to you and grabbed you."
Oh shit. Really?
"How long was that?" I asked closing my eyes again.
"I didn't realize it was you at first, but then after I saw whoever it was wasn't moving I looked harder and realized it was you." He admitted, "It only took a couple of seconds but then by the time I actually got to you it had been about ten seconds maybe?"
"Thanks for recognizing me." I stifled out a laugh, which only cause me to wince in pain from the pounding headache. "Fine." I grumbled, "I might have a concussion."
I hate admitting that he's right. The words tasted like poison as I told him, but nonetheless it was true. It was the second time I hit my head today and this time was hurting way worse and the reaction I was having to it wasn't like earlier.
"Yeah, I know you do." Harrys hand slipped from under my chin, my head falling forward again.
"Ow." I groaned.
"Oops." He laughed a bit, "Didn't think your head would go fuckin' limp like that."
"Shut up." I smiled, trying to force my head to look up at him. "My head hurts."
"I know." He pursed his lips as he stared down at me. He took in a deep breath, bending down to my level of vision. "Here, hold onto me." He grabbed my arm and wrapped it around his shoulder. "Let's go see how bad this concussion is."
Harry moved to the side of me, one arm wrapping around my back and the other scooping underneath my legs. I felt my body leave the stairs, a gush of air catching me as Harry stood up straight with me in his arms.
"You okay?" He asked before moving.
I nodded, "Yeah, I'm okay."
Harry took a few careful steps up the stairs, each one he took I was scared he'd trip or drop me but somehow he kept a hold of me and continued up about halfway before he was interrupted.
"Hey!" I heard Thalia call, "You okay, Rori?"
Harry stopped, turning to look towards his sister. As he turned it allowed me to see everyone rose as well. The house was empty now beside Thalia, Jade, Millie and the boys who all crowded down in the foyer looking up at Harry and I on the stairs.
"Fantastic." I stuck my hand up to give her a thumbs up.
Thalia laughed at me, everyone else having a smile as well besides Niall and Louis. "You're one tough bitch." Thalia pointed at me with a smile. "I knew I liked you."
"That's suppose to be a compliment." Harry muttered as he turned to face forward again.
I smiled as I rested my head down on his shoulder, my head feeling too heavy to keep upright. Thankfully this side of my head wasn't currently covered in blood so I wasn't worried about getting any on him.
Though I doubt he'd even realize it was mine after the fight he had with Niall and Louis.
"How's your face?" I questioned as he reached the top of the stairs.
Harrys laughed, his chest shaking against me as he did so. "You have a concussion and you're worried about me?"
Okay, I'll admit it. I was worried when I first saw them fighting and felt even worse after looking at him when he came over to the stairs.
"It wasn't fair that they both ganged up on you like that." I mumbled. "I'm just making sure your nose isn't broken or something."
"Let's make sure nothing on you is broken first." Harry said as we made it to his bedroom door. "Open that, would you?"
I reached down and twisted the handle, Harry kicking it open as soon as I did so. He walked us in, kicking the door shut as he flipped on the light with his elbow. He walked us through his room and into the bathroom that was already illuminated with light since it was left on by one of us.
"Stay here." He said as he moved me to sit on the edge on the counter.
I didn't say anything as he turned and walked back out of the bathroom. I could hear him open his balcony door and call for Jake to go outside, then silence. I waited in total about thirty seconds before he was walking into the bathroom again.
He walked up to me and squatted down to open a cabinet below me. He moved one of my legs away from the other and opened the door, quirking an eyebrow up at me.
"Shut up." I rolled my eyes at him, trying not to smile.
"Didn't say anything." Harry played innocent as he reached into the cabinet to grab out a few things.
He laid some stuff out on the counter next to me, my eyes recognizing some of the materials he used to stitch me up earlier. I groaned in disapproval causing Harrys eyes to flick up to meet mine.
"I know." He moved his eyes back down to the materials in front of him. "But you ripped your stitches so I'm going to have to redo them."
I groaned again, scooting back so that I could rest the back of my head against the mirror. I know he's right but it doesn't mean I'm looking forward to it. Sure, the numbing medicine takes away the pain while he's stitching me up, but once that's gone it was pretty fucking painful. And I'm assuming since this is the second time he's had to do them today it'll feel even worse.
"I'm just going to clean it first, okay?" His eyes moved up to mine.
"Okay." I took in a deep breath as I leaned forward, "That's still going to hurt though."
I might be a little bitch, but someone patting on a spot that is a literally gash to try and get the blood off of your skin doesn't exactly feel nice.
"Yeah, probably." He nodded in agreement, clearly not trying to sugar coat anything.
I scooted forward again so that I was closer to the edge of the counter, Harry coming to stand between my knees so that he could clean the blood off of me. He pushed my stray hairs back out of my face and brought his hand back down to rest on my thigh before starting to clean my face off with his other hand.
"I'm going to ask some questions." He said as he started wiping at the blood on my face. "What's the date today?"
"June 2, 2020." I mumbled a bit, my eyes closing at the pain of him cleaning off the wound. "It's Tuesday."
"Mm... Good." He hummed out, "Are you dizzy?"
"No. I was when it first happened but not anymore." I answered honestly.
"Are you nauseous?"
"No."
"Is your vision blurred?"
"Nope."
"Are you tired?"
"Are you tired?" I countered.
Harrys eyes flicked to mine before looking back up to my gash, "Seriously, Rori. Are you tired?"
"Yeah, but it's probably after midnight. Of course I'm tired." I answered.
"So you're not more tired than usual? You don't feel fatigued?"
"No, I feel fine. I just have a headache." I said in hopes that would stop the questions.
I moved my eyes down to where he hand was still resting in my thigh. His knuckles had blood on them and I could tell that they were bruised underneath. But the way his thumb was gently circling against my skin was enough to make my mind completely blank on anything else he might be saying to me.
How delicately he was touching me nearly caused me to forget the damage that hand had just caused a few minutes ago.
If he was trying to distract me from the pain it was working because in this moment the only thing I could think of was his hand on my thigh, how softly he was touching me and how dangerously close it was to the hemline of my shorts.
"Rori? You in there?" I heard a soft voice from the other side of my bedroom door.
"Yeah, I am." I kept my eyes down on Harrys fingers, his thumb still rubbing circles on my skin as he continued to clean off my face.
I heard to door open and expected Harry to pull away from me, to move his hand to the counter, but he didn't. He stayed where he was and continued with what he was doing.
"Hey." I heard Millie say, "Just came to check on you."
"Hey." I smiled back at her even though I couldn't see her due to Harrys arm being in the way.
"How are you?" Millie moved beside Harry so that I could see her face now.
"She ripped her stitches and got knocked unconscious, Mills. How do you think she's feeling?" Harry bit as he threw the blood soaked cloth down onto the counter before grabbing a new one.
"Rori, darlin', it was a fuckin' accident. I'm so sorry—"
"Get the fuck out, Niall." Harrys head snapped towards my door as Niall pushed through.
"I told you to wait." Millie grumbled at her brother.
"Lou and I were just having a bit of fun. We didn't know we hurt you." Niall said, his blue eyes meeting mine. "We didn't mean to hurt you, I swear."
"It's okay Niall, really. I'm fine."
"Elle a une commotion et c'est de ta faute." Harry grumbled as he began to wipe the blood from my face again.
I rolled my eyes at whatever it was Harry said. He knows I don't speak whatever language it is that he's speaking in and he knows it bugs me.
"Je sais que c'est de ma faute, arrête d'être un con à ce sujet. Je me sens déjà assez mal."
My eyes widened as I heard Niall answer him, my eyes flicking over to him as Harry stopped moving.
"Bien tu devrais te sentir mal. Si elle a des saignements au cerveau, souvenez-vous que c'est de votre faute." Harry raised his brows up to Niall before moving the cloth against my bloodied face again.
"Vous avez un bâton dans le cul depuis que Rori a commencé à vivre ici." Niall crossed his arms over his chest as he leaned against the counter next to me.
Okay, I clearly heard my name in that. Are they talking about me? Is that why they're speaking in a different langue? So they can say whatever they want and I won't understand?
"Va te faire foutre, ça n'a rien à voir avec Rori." Harry bared his teeth in aggression towards Niall, blood still chipped onto a few of them.
"Oh my fucking god!" Millie threw her hands into the air in exasperation. "Vous êtes tous les deux dramatiques. Niall, tu t'es excusé et elle n'est pas fâchée. Harry, tu agis juste stupidement maintenant."
Whatever Millie had said clearly shocked Harry because he pulled his hand away from my face with his eyebrows furrowed again. "Comment suis-je—"
"English!" The said a bit too loudly, my head pounding at the volume of my own voice. "Ow." I held a hand up to my head, "English, please. You guys are about to drive me insane."
"All I said that they're both acting like fucking idiots." Millie fired, her eyes flicking between Niall and Harry before looking back towards me. "I'm really glad you're okay."
"Thank you." I smiled to her before she turned to walk out of the bathroom.
"I'm glad you're okay, too." Niall added ashe uncrossed his arms and brought his warm hand down to rest on my vacant thigh down closer to my knee. "Honest, Louis and I were just fuckin' around. If we'd of known you got hurt we would have stopped."
I moved my hand to rest on Nialls, "I'm fine. Really. My heads sore but other than that I'll be okay."
Niall nodded, "Just let me know if there's anything I can do, okay?"
I nodded giving him a smile, "Okay."
Niall gave my leg a small squeeze before pushing off of the counter and walking towards the door. But before he fully walked out he turned and called over his shoulder, "Oh et Harry, n'agis pas comme si nous n'avions pas vu où était ta main." Niall raised his brows at Harry, "Don't make this a problem."
"Only one causing a problem is you." Harry seethed, his eyes never looking towards Niall.
With that Niall nodded and turned towards the door again, this time walking through it. I waited to speak for a bit, at least until I heard my bedroom door shut. I flicked my eyes back up to Harry who was wiping at my face again.
"What did he say?" I asked, Harrys eyes never moving from the spot he was working on.
"Nothing important."
"Tell me." I pouted.
Harry sighed, dropping the cloth down to the counter. "Seriously, he's just being an ass about our fight. It's nothing important."
I pursed my lips, "Okay."
"You ready for the stitches?" He asked as he started grabbing things next to me, his hand finally lifting from my thigh.
"If I say no will that mean we don't have to do it?" I gave a fake smile to a very unimpressed Harry.
He rolled his eyes as he held the serenge up between us. "Sorry baby, but this is one thing that has to be done with your consent or not. So, either I do it or I take you to a hospital where they'll do it themselves."
"And what if I threaten to tell the doctors everything I know?" I quirked my good brow at him.
"That's okay." He shrugged with a faint smile, "I'll blame it on the fact that you hit your head. You're clearly delusional, pretty girl."
I sighed in defeat, "Fine. Whatever, just get it over with."
//
an:
hm... aiden & skylar... you might want to remember them.
***
this chapter is for you, L. i know you've been waiting for it, so i hope it was worth it.
if there are any mistakes, i'm sorry. i've had some family complications come up the last few days & i didn't have the time, or quite literally, the energy to edit. i really do apologize, but thank you for the understanding. <3
but still, i hope you enjoyed the chapter & i'll see you friday with a chapter that i'm excited for!