"You're sleeping together yet you still don't know what's happening between you both?" Lauren laughs, shaking her head.
"It's complicated." I sigh, cupping my mug with both hands.
"How? Do you still love each other?"
"Yes."
"And there's obviously still sexual attraction."
"Yes, Laur."
"So, what's the problem?" she laughs in bewilderment. "Why can't you both just put the past behind you and get back together?"
"It's early days." I tell her. "I think we need to reconnect properly before hopping into anything."
"You've 'reconnected' just fine by hopping into bed with him, twice." Lauren scoffs, shaking her head. She was folding laundry, I was watching.
"Just focus on folding your t-shirts. You're doing a crap job," I joke.
"Are you nervous for Harry to meet with Isaac this week?" Lauren asks me. Harry was spending the day with his sister again. I'd left late last night to come back home.
"No," I half-lie. "He knows what happened, so it shouldn't be awkward. Besides, it'll be professional. Isaac won't mention it."
"No, but Harry will." Lauren chuckles, shaking her head.
"He won't," I say, though I knew that she was right. "I hope not, anyway."
"He will." she says.
"Yeah," I sigh, placing my empty coffee mug down onto the coffee table. "Ah, well. It's only the consequences of my own actions," I chuckle.
"I forgot how familiar you are with those," Lauren jokes, giving me a wink.
"Morning, ladies." Luke says, entering the living room with a big smile on his face.
"Why are you so happy?" Lauren chuckles, raising her brows at him.
"Well, my gorgeous, gorgeous girlfriend and her gorgeous, gorgeous girl friend. I'll tell you why," Luke says, walking over peppily and placing a kiss to her cheek. He slumped down beside me on the sofa. Lauren and I both exchanged a look of confusion dressed with amusement.
"Is it going to be something really deflating, like that you've just taken a massive shit, or something?" Lauren sighs, folding up the last of their washing. I laugh.
"Nope." Luke says, popping his 'P'. "Zar, any guesses from you?" he asks me, turning to look at me.
"Hm," I hum. "You've grown another inch in height?"
"Now, now, Zahara. If I grew another inch you'd have to install new doors." Luke tells me.
"You don't deserve your height." I say, rolling my eyes at the annoying blonde.
"Are you going to tell us what it is, Lu, or are you just going to keep being an arse?" Lauren giggles.
"Fine, fine. If I must tell," he says smirking smugly. "Guess who's just managed to score tickets to see 'Red Hot Chilli Peppers'?"
"You didn't!" Lauren gasps, covering her mouth with her hands.
"I did," he beams. "Four tickets, tonight." Luke tells us. "I did ask Gemma, but she's leaving tonight 'cos work need her back. So, what do you say?"
"So, like, you, Lauren, me and Harry?" I ask, just to clarify quickly.
"Yep." he nods. "That okay?" he asks.
"Yeah," I nod, smiling. Though I felt a little funny about it; nervous, maybe. "Like a double-date."
"Kinda." Luke says. "If you wanna look at it that way, anyway."
"I'll send you the money over," I tell him, smiling. "Can't believe you managed it!"
"Don't, Harry's covered you." Luke tells me. Lauren and I looked at one another.
"Has he?" I ask.
"He has." Luke nods.
"That's very interesting," Lauren smirks.
"Shut up, Laur." I groan.
"You excited, baby?" Luke asks Lauren, standing up to wrap his arms around her waist.
"I am," she beams. "I knew I kept you around for a reason," she teases.
The four of us used to speak of going to see 'Red Hot Chilli Peppers' all the time. But they were never touring. When we found out that they were, Harry was in rehab and everything was different.
"Harry's gonna come over at 4pm, Zar. So make yourself look sexy for him." Luke tells me. Lauren swats his arm. "Ouch!" he pouts.
"A woman doesn't have to look 'sexy' for any man." she says.
"She does if she wants him to shag her after the concert," Luke scoffs. "'Cos we all know that's what they'll do and then whine about how 'complicated' it is," he smirks.
"Jesus Christ," I groan. "I'm not going." I huff, crossing my arms over my chest.
"You ruin everything," Lauren says, rolling her eyes at Luke.
We were all only playing with one another, but a part of me did feel a little bit cornered regarding my sexual relations with Harry, which was only mine and Harry's business, really. The two of them kept joking about it- but deep down, or not even so deep, I knew their jokes to not be jokes at all; I knew they thought we were being ridiculous. And maybe we were. But we needed time to reconnect; to figure out if this would even work anymore.
-
He always looked nice. Even in a coma, he still looked nice. But this wasn't 'nice'. He didn't look 'nice' right now. This was different; trimmed mop of curls styled loosely back, with a few stray hairs falling in his face, soft and lusciously pink lips, eyes more vibrant green than they had been before he left for twelve weeks, skin sun kissed despite the sun no longer being at its peak time of year, body outlined perfectly with the black slacks he wore with a plain white tee and his typical vans. Red vans this time. He should've looked so simple, so plain; yet he didn't. This was all just visual and not even scratching the surface of how he smelt, too. Warm, smoky cologne and minty breath even without being too close. He was truly a work of art.
"You're staring." Harry tells me, pulling me out from my gawking.
"Oh-"
"Do continue." he winks cheekily. Blushing, I looked away.
We were sat on opposite sides of a table outside of the arena, waiting to go in. Luke and Lauren were off buying some water before doors opened. The queues were immense.
"They're taking forever," I say, completely diverting the attention away from my staring.
"And I'll bet they're not even halfway through the queue yet," Harry says.
"Most likely." I agree.
"You look nice, Zahara." Harry tells me, giving me a small smile. "And, I'm assuming that I do, too, or else you wouldn't be staring." he smirks.
"Wow," I scoff. "You think highly of yourself, don't you?"
"Am I wrong?"
"I could be staring because you have spinach in your teeth, or because you have dirt on your face, for all you know." I say. He didn't.
"But I don't." he shrugs. "So, it must be the former."
"Must be." I say sarcastically, rolling my eyes.
"Stop blowing so cold, Zar." Harry chuckles, leaning across the table and resting his forearms against it. "Why you moody?"
"I'm not moody!" I say defensively.
"Come on, Zahara. As much as you'd like to pretend that I don't right now, I still know you like the back of my hand. I can read you like a book."
"Whatever," I sigh, tucking a strand of hair behind my hair and pulling out my phone from my bag to distract me.
Truthfully, I'd felt irritated all day since Luke and Lauren being annoying this morning. Not sure why. I just hadn't been able to shake out of the mood. And seeing Harry only made it worse.
"Put that away." Harry tells me, reaching across the table to grab my phone from my hands.
"Give it back!" I say, attempting once to take it back. He held it above his head.
"No." he says. "Talk to me."
"No," I say.
"Alright, don't. We can sit here silently then until Luke and Lauren come back."
"Fine by me."
"Not by me." Harry says. I could feel his intense gaze on me.
"Why can't you just drop it?" I sigh, looking up to look at him.
"Because I don't want to." he says.
"Well, I do."
Before Harry could respond again, Luke and Lauren returned holding multiple bottles of water.
"That queue was absolutely insane." Lauren exhales, dropping the waters down onto the table.
"Hope you didn't have too much fun without us," Luke jokes, taking a seat beside Harry. Lauren sat beside me.
"No chance of that happening," Harry mumbles, rolling his eyes at me.
"Did we miss something?" Lauren asks, looking between us both.
Clouds began rolling in; filling the once clear sky with thick sheets of dark grey.
"Oh, great." Lauren sighs. "We're gonna get rained on."
"Who cares?" Luke chuckles. "We'll be sweaty in an hour anyway."
"Yes, but sweat wouldn't ruin my hair." Lauren says.
"Oh no, not your hair!" Luke teases, reaching over to ruffle her loose waves. Lauren groaned, rolling her eyes. "So, what's going on?" Luke asks, slumping back down and looking at both Harry and I.
"Nothing." Harry says. "Zahara's in a mood."
"So mature." I huff, giving him a look.
"I'm not," I say. "I'm gonna go to the bathroom before it starts,"
"Good idea. I'll go with you." Lauren hums. We both stood, and began the journey to the toilets. It was sure to take a while.
As we walked through masses of people, I could tell that Lauren was dying to talk to me to find out why I was, supposedly, in a mood.
After around fifteen minutes, we finally made it to the, surprisingly not that long, bathroom queue.
"Everyone's just getting on my nerves." I say bluntly, before Lauren could even ask.
"Why?"
"Because," I sigh. "The constant questioning and judgement about Harry and I, when I'm already confused about things myself. And I hate seeing him look like he does tonight. Have you seen him? He looks like he belongs on a runway. It just annoys me." I huff, crossing my arms over my chest. "I just wish everyone would drop it and leave us alone. Yeah, maybe we are being stupid and annoying. But Harry's just got home and I doubt he knows what he wants right now. He needs time to settle and fall into a routine again before he can fit me into it. If I ever even do fit into it again. See; things are just complicated right now. There's too much going on. He's not who he was and I'm not who I was. We're not who we were but yet we're still 'us'. It's harder to navigate than any of you realise." I say, my words falling like the rain that had began hammering against the arena.
"Okay." Lauren nods. "I'm sorry for interfering." she says.
"Thank you,"
"Whatever happens will be for the best." Lauren tells me, giving me a reassuring smile.
"I know,"
"Just try to have a good time tonight, yeah? Cut Harry some slack. He can't help being pretty."
"Fine." I chuckle, shaking my head. Why did thoughts always sound so stupid aloud? But Lauren was right. I did need to cut him some slack. Even if the entire situation was grating on me.
The queue moved fast and we were in and out within only a few minutes. Lauren rang Luke to tell him to come in to join the queue for the actual concert, since it was starting so soon by now.
Once our tickets had been approved and stamped, we were allowed to enter the arena. We had standing tickets, so just stood amongst the sea of people piling in.
"I'm sorry," I say quietly to Harry, whilst Luke and Lauren chatted amongst themselves. My voice blended in with the thousands of others talking in that moment, but Harry heard me.
"It's okay," he says, giving me a sweet smile. "Your guard is up. You're just protecting yourself." Harry says understandingly. I both liked and disliked how... therapist he was now.
"Okay, doctor." I joke.
"That's a new one," he smirks.
"If you want my guard to come down, stop flirting with me constantly," I groan.
"I know," he says. "It's so hard not to, though."
"Well, try harder." I chuckle, shaking my head.
And then, the lights went down, cheers went up, and the support act came to play their set.
The support act had been done and dusted. They were great, we'd all enjoyed them thoroughly. But now, the band were on the stage and a few songs deep. We had all been singing and dancing the whole time so far.
Lauren was stood with Luke; both swaying, laughing and dancing as he occasionally peppered sweet kisses along her neck. They looked, and were, so carefree.
Harry and I had kept our distance for a while, but now, midway through the show, his arm was around my waist as we danced casually. But as casual as it appeared, I felt anything but; my insides were burning and every instinct in my body wanted to turn around and kiss his face.
"I need the toilet," Harry murmurs in my ear.
"Oh, okay." I nod, turning to look at him. "Me too." I say.
I quickly tapped Lauren on the shoulder to inform her of our temporary leaving. She barely took any notice but gave me a quick thumbs up.
We made our way out through the roaring crowd, finally in the empty, more quiet, hallway.
"You enjoying the show so far?" Harry asks me as he walked by my side.
"It's very good." I say. "Are you?"
"It's great." he nods.
The toilets weren't far and were opposite each other.
Harry was finished before me, so when I left the ladies bathroom, I found him stood in the hall; his back leaning against the wall and right leg bent as his foot rested on the wall, too. The way his eyes trailed down me, as though checking me out in a way so far from subtle, made my cheeks heat up.
As I walked across to Harry, I decided to just not give a fuck, again. Just as we hadn't done the past two days.
It was as though he was expecting it; the moment I made my way to him, his head leant down and mine reached up in such an unspoken and natural way that our lips connected so soon; so easily.
Harry's hands cupped my face, whilst mine bunched into his t-shirt. He deepened the kiss by pressing his tongue into my mouth and allowing for his teeth to grace my lip. His hands fell from my face to my waist, pulling me in closer as we made out in the hallway of the arena.
The area between my thighs was waking up even more so with every second that went by, meaning not a single part of me wanted to go back inside of that concert. This was far better than anything going on inside of there.
"We should," Harry says in between kisses, "Go back insides before they notice," he finishes. He pulled me in even closer to him; our lips so hungrily chasing the others. I felt his erection press against my leg.
"Doesn't seem like you want to go back in there," I murmur against his mouth.
"Fuck," he hisses. "I want you."
I pulled away from the kiss momentarily, to check that nobody was around. And then, whilst still ensuring nobody was a witness, I dragged him into the ladies bathroom and inside of a cubicle.
"This isn't very sanitary." Harry smirks, lust clouding his features as he towered over me and pressed my back against the wall of the cubicle.
"It's not." I say.
We wasted no time from then; our lips once again starved by moments lost, and the black midi dress I had been wearing hiked up to my waist as Harry lifted me and fucked me against the wall.
"Mm, fuck," I moan. Harry took a hand to my mouth, covering it.
"Shut the fuck up, Zahara." he growls, fucking me harder. I sunk my teeth into the flesh of his hand as we both moved at a frantic and messy pace. "You look so fucking pretty." Harry says in a low voice before moving his hand away from my mouth.
"Yeah? You look even prettier when you fuck me like this," I moan, unable to stop the short few gasps that followed. Harry began to fuck me harder for a few moments which only made me more of a mess.
"Shh," he hushes, bringing his hand to my mouth again. "Noisy girls don't get to finish." he says sadistically, but his words alone, which were met with a smirk, caused my orgasm to begin creeping up on me.
I could tell Harry was close, too, from the way that his motions became sloppier and his breath became so uncontrolled and jagged that I could tell he was trying his best to not moan out loudly in the public bathroom.
Seconds later, and we were both coming together, trying our best to stay quiet.
The very moment we had both finished, we heard the door open followed by the chatter of a few girls. We looked at one another with wide eyes. There was only two toilets in this particular block, and we were occupying one of them.
The girls were all laughing and chatting and sounded so drunk.
"Why's there mens shoes in there?" one of the girls drunkenly says, before banging repeatedly on the door of our cubicle. Harry winced, closing his eyes as if that'd erase him from this moment.
"I-I just have massive feet!" I call out, trying to stop the girl from hammering on the door repeatedly.
"That is so sad," the drunk girl laughs. "I'd hate big feet,"
"Yeah. It's annoying," I respond, rolling my eyes. Harry was trying his best to not snicker and laugh.
After a few minutes of waiting, the drunken chatter eventually faded out and we realised the girls had finally left.
"Jesus," Harry laughs. "That was close."
"At least we finished," I joke, Harry lowering me back to the ground again. I rearranged my dress back to how it was.
"Nice feet. Bit big, though." Harry says. "I'm afraid that's a turn-off."
"Really? 'Cos I love big feet," I say smirking as I opened the door of the cubicle.
"Why's that?"
"Big dick, obviously." I say, looking at him with that same smirk. Harry shook his head and laughed.
"You look like you've just had sex." he whispers as we reentered the hallway.
"And you look like you've just had sex with me." I tell him.
"Think Lauren and Luke will notice?"
"It'll be dark." I say.
"Shall we go back in?"
"We shall."