When something holds its way around long enough it becomes a normal thing to the point that seeing Liam everyday didn't seem like a necessity anymore.
Of course I still visit him more than my time could handle, but after the conversation with Gen and talking about Uni got me thinking of other decent thugs I could be doing. Because right now is right now, and it'll affect what I have in the future.
"I think you should do it" Harry said as he reached down to let Pepper lick his fingers from where we sat at the kitchen island, "I mean continuing school has been your plan"
I sighed, dropping my sliced pickle in a bowl I had set out for myself.
"I don't know" I began, "With everything going on with Liam..."
"Well it doesn't have to be now" he said, "I think it's a good idea"
I bit my bottom lip, watching Harry pick Pepper off the floor and bring him to his lap.
How Harry and I managed to become friends after all that's happened is beyond me. Ever since his birthday and I'd given him my dad's ring it's sort of been a good friends thing between us. Like how our relationship was just without the actual relationship.
"What would you study?" he asked me whilst trying to keep Pepper's energy still.
I shrugged, "I don't know, I've been thinking of psychology or maybe journalism"
"I always saw you as a writer, or a poet" Harry told me making me knit my eyebrows, "You're just a very passionate person, a lot of the things you have to say is what you'd hear in a novel or haiku"
"Haiku?" I laughed.
"Well I couldn't say poem because then it would sound repetitive" he snickered.
"Listen to yourself" I giggled, "What made you have a sudden change in speech"
Harry shrugged, stealing one of my pickles from my bowl, "I'm prick, but I'm a prick with a bloody good vocabulary" he said making me stifle a snicker, "I don't know, I stopped acting stupid"
"You never were stupid" I told him, having his gaze stop on me for a mere few seconds before shooting his stare down at Pepper who was nibbling at his fingers.
"I should go" Harry said, setting the pup to the floor and lifting his weight off the bar stool, "It's getting late"
I was going to offer that he could stay over what with all the guest bedrooms we had but mainly for the reason that I just wanted to continue to talk. Harry's one of the people that you just admire having a simple conversation with, especially with how every word he produced came out like a sort of symphony with his deep slow voice.
But I decided against it, letting him continue down to the front door.
"I can pick you up tomorrow to go to the hospital" he suggested, having me bite my bottom lip.
"Um, actually I call tomorrow a day off" I told him, "Do what you want"
"Are you sure?" he asked with a nod as an answer.
He shrugged, letting himself out and leaving Pepper and I in a completely lonely house.
~ Harry's _ POV +
"I'm surprised you're here" Zayn said as he watched the television and I closed the flat door, "I figured you'd find a way to sleepover"
I rolled my eyes, walking passed the couch and catching Zayn's eye, "I was joking Haz" he assured having me ignore the comment and go to my room.
I was tired of both Niall and Zayn continuously poking fun at me as if I were someone to play with a girl like that. Especially one they knew I cared about.
I grabbed my bag from inside the sliding doors closet, beginning to collect my clothes and stuff them in the duffel bag.
"What are you doing?" Zayn asked, leaning against the door frame and watching me pull shirts off their hangers.
"Packing" I simply answered, "Your constant comments about Vanessa and I are beginning to piss me off"
I heard him snicker, as he entered the room and sat himself on the bed.
"And where exactly do you plan on going?"
"I'll go to Gen's, she might have an extra bedroom for me or I'll sleep on the sofa"
"Harry" Zayn said, pulling the duffel bag away from my grasp, "You're not seriously taking all these small pokes of fun personally are you?"
"Yes, I am. I don't like you pursuing me as someone who'd use a weakness to make me satisfied" I began to say, "You were on my side with this Zee"
"Okay, I'm sorry I didn't know you thought so seriously about this" he explained, "But Haz, since when do you listen to Niall and I?"
I shrugged, opening the drawers and pulling out more of my clothes, "I'm just trying hard to prove to her we could be good friends, and your comments about sleeping with her isn't helping my self-esteem"
"Harry the last time I saw you so sensitive was before Ally" Zayn said making me stop my action and look to him.
"I'm not sensitive"
"You're being kind of sensitive" Zayn told me making me roll my eyes once again.
"Being offended and being sensitive are two different things" I muttered, snatching my bag from him and packing more of my clothes.
"Listen, I'm sorry" he began to say, "You're my best friend Haz, I'm just trying to bring a bright side to all of the bad that's happening. If the playful banter offended you I truly am sorry"
I zipped my bag, slinging it over my shoulder and looking to him.
"You're not seriously going to stay at Gen's?" he snickered, "The place holds five people Haz, five. Whilst here at Casa de Malik it's just you and I"
I narrowed my eyes at him, and shot a playful smirk tossing the bag to the floor and lying on the bed next to where he sat.
~ | _ | +
"She wasn't anything special" I explained to Zayn whilst we sat on the couch watching old cartoons and devouring a bag of crisps, "She was just an excuse to be reckless"
"You obviously found something in her to sleep with her" Zayn cornered me, "What was she like?"
I sat up, brushing any remainder crumbs from my fingers and shrugged, "She had brown hair, brown eyes, she had a brother-"
"Are you describing Vanessa or Stella?" Zayn cut me off, making me knit my eyebrows and shake my head, "Well then they sound very alike"
"Stella was American" I explained.
"Well I know why you found her appealing" he said shoving a handful of crisps into his mouth, "She looks like Vanessa"
I leaned back into the cushions, not finding a reason to argue because even I knew that was the reason I'd picked Stella out of the series of girls there were in Holmes Chapel.
"You're not wrong" I finally answered.
We fell asleep on the couch that night, surrounded by piles of junk food and barely hanging off the edge of the small couch.
The sun shining through the opened kitchen window is what woke me up and kick Zayn awake as well.
"It's Saturday" he groaned and whined, piling his face between a couple pillows before snoring himself back into slumber.
Rubbing my eyes from the sleep and shaking my hair away from my eyes and stood from the very uncomfortable couch and padded to the kitchen to start the coffee maker.
I snatched Zayn's keys from the kitchen table, picking his mailbox key out of the bunch and silently exiting the flat and make way down the hallway and to the lift to collect the mail.
Since Vanessa had found out I'd been staying with Zayn, she's been forwarding all mail for me to his address. It was a simple routine we had compiled until it was confirmed exactly where I would be staying.
"Anything important?" Zayn asked in a sleepy tone, his voice muffled from where it was being stuffed behind cushions.
"Not really" I replied, shuffling through the letters and envelopes picking out the ones with my name on them, "I prepared coffee if you want some" I said setting Zayn's mail on the kitchen counter before escorting myself to my room.
"Thank you husband!" Zayn called making me roll my eyes and lock myself in the bedroom.
I tore open a letter of a job offer at some appliance company which I was more than glad to deny although it made me realise how careless I was to the fact that I was living off my best friend.
I crumpled the paper anyway, telling myself there had to be more offers than that.
I scanned the only other envelope for me, seeing it was from my family's address but didn't have a sender's name which made me knit my eyebrows.
I ripped it open, having the edge of the paper slit a small cut over the top of the knuckle of my thumb making me flinch and bring the skin to my lips.
Wiping it on my shirt, I continued to open the envelope and unfolded the sheet of paper and examined the messy writing that made my eyes widened.
I know for a fact that I'm the last person you want to hear from, but you were the only person to ever listen to me so I'm not even going to start off with a hello.
My brother was bailed out of jail, he wants to go back to the states and forget everything here but I have this really bad feeling about leaving Cheshire alone. He wants the shortest route back the the U.S. so he's dragging me downward England and planning on taking off in Plymouth.
I guess I'm terrified that prison hasn't changed him and that he'll still try to...you know. And I guess I'm also terrified that I won't be able to stand up for myself like last time.
I'm guessing you left town since I haven't seen you around at all for the last couple months so I seriously have no idea why I'm writing this.
I just needed to vent out, and I needed to make myself think someone would listen.
I'll give this to that bartender, I think you two know each other so she'll know your address or something. By the time you'll get this I'll probably be on the road, if you get it at all.
I miss you Harry.
Stella
I drew a shaky breath, bringing my two fingers to the bridge of my nose and closing my eyes as tight wishing that when I opened them the letter would magically disappear.
But that didn't happen.
I paced around the room for a few minutes, wondering what I was going to do with this letter from the girl I never wanted to hear from again. But then in my mind would be the fact that she wrote to me because she had no one else to talk too, which then would have me feel guilty for throwing out the sheet of paper.
Pacing back to where it lay on my sheets, I picked up the letter and shoved it under the mattress.
I had to find a way to erase Stella from my life, and I thought I did but this letter certainly proved me wrong.
She was toxic, and if I even went near her my entire self as well as the people around me would become toxic as well. And I wasn't looking for that.
I quickly got myself into the shower and made myself forget about the letter when I got dressed and went back into the living room where Zayn was still fighting his way through his cup of coffee.
"You look stressed" he pointed out.
"Really?" I asked nonchalantly although I truly was stressed, "Do I look stressed?"
"Little bit yeah" Zayn dragged himself off the couch, "Get a love letter or something?" he joked.
"My life isn't that interesting" I played along, pouring myself my own cup of coffee
"Shut up Haz" Zayn snickered making me look back at him in confusion, "You can practically write a book about your life"
I jokingly rolled my eyes, bringing the warm liquid to my lips whilst I set the pot back into its place on the coffeemaker.
"Are you going to the hospital?" Zayn asked me, setting his mug in the sink.
I shook my head, swallowing an amount of coffee speaking, "No, not today"
"Okay let me rephrase my question. Are you going out today?"
I shook my head again, "I don't plan too"
"Okay let me rephrase that again. Perrie is coming over and we need to be solo" he motioned his hands making me raise and eyebrow.
I cringed, nodding and drinking the last of the coffee in my hand.
Whilst Zayn was in the shower, I spent that time figuring out what I was going to do for that day. Gen had a concert to attend, Beth and Niall were doing God knows what and Mel was out of town to visit her family.
I groaned, having my last hope be the one who told me to spend time away from her. No, she told me to do what I want. That's the excuse I'm using.
"We can go to the cinema, maybe for lunch" I explained through the phone and I can just feel Vanessa's eyes roll.
"The whole reason I called a day away from the hospital is so you can spend time with your friends Harry" she told me.
"You're my friend, spend time with me" I whined, "Please, Beth and Niall are busy, Gen's at a concert, and Mel's out of time Vanessa my friends actually have social lives"
"What about Zayn?"
"He's doing something with Perrie today, he's practically kicking me out of the flat for the day" I said to her, "It really pays being single in a group of couples" I said with sarcasm seeping between my words.
"Then have time alone Haz, go to the cinema, maybe lunch" she giggled, but I ignored only paying mind that this was the first time she's ever called me Haz. She told me she didn't like it.
"Have some quality Harry time" she brought my focus back, making my knit my eyebrows.
"Okay Harry time doesn't have the definition you think it does" I snickered having her scoff and threaten to hang up.
"I can take you to London" I told her.
"Harry that's a two hour drive"
"Then I'll take you to Manchester, simple" I begged.
"Now I prefer London" she giggled.
"Is that a yes?" I asked in excitement.
"Let me get my coat on" she said with a laugh before saying our goodbyes and hanging up to get ready.
~ Vanessa's _ POV +
"Why are we taking a taxi?" I asked as Harry opened the door to the black vehicle.
"Because it's a two hour drive and I'd rather spend that on a taxi driver than gallons of gas" he explained, hoping in after me and fastening his seatbelt.
I tilted my head from one side, understanding his reasoning and putting on my own seatbelt and waiting whilst Harry told the driver where we were going.
Because the drive was two hours; we spent it on our phones, holding small conversation, and playing simple road games like we used too.
"You're such a cheat" he would say.
To which I would respond with, "I do not, I describe the road differently every time"
"But you still use the same thing to describe, the point is to look for something you spy with your little eye"
"Well I spy the road!"
And we'd continue to bicker until we saw the driver chuckle to our arguments, then we'd laugh ourselves and continue to play another on the road game.
By the time we actually made it to London, I had already been listing things for us to do.
"We can go on the London eye, and then go for London lunch, then we can walk around the London streets" I began to say in excitement.
"And we can watch London people, and touch London buildings, and-" he breathed in sharply, "breath in that London air" he snickered receiving a playful swat from me.
"Why do you always insist on poking fun at me?" I asked without serious tone.
"Because you're oh so easy to poke fun at" he shot me a cheeky smile as well as a playful pinch to my arms.
I rolled my eyes, laughing at his playful banter.
"I love taking you places" Harry told me, "You always get so excited"
"I've never really been anywhere since last year" I told him, "But you know that already"
"That I do" he nodded, "Now let's go find that London eye"
~ | _ | +
After riding the ferris wheel as many times as I can count; because Harry wanted to get the perfect photo; we walked around London taking quite indie photos of ourselves with the London view in the background, which I am sure we will be posting on some type of social media. Which we did.
"People in the comments think we're still a couple" Harry would chuckle, and I'd laugh along but have a microscopic part of me sting. Too small to even acknowledge.
After we were done with our photo spree, which massively reminded me of that time we took hundreds of pictures, we had made a mission to find somewhere to eat. Nowhere fancy though, we weren't fancy.
Once we'd found a small place with an outside table, we sat ourselves down and watched as the people walked down the pavement.
I noticed Harry's eyes following down every person that walked beside us, moving within his head with his fingers over his lips where he had his head placed on his hand.
"See a fit girl?" I asked trying to start conversation, taking a sip from my water.
Harry hook his head, bringing his eyes to me, "I just like watching people" he told me, "I like to wonder what their personal lives are like"
I raised an eyebrow, "And what do you come up with?"
He shrugged and pointed his nose to a woman stood on the pavement across the street from us with a dog's lead in one hand and a cellphone in the other, "The pup is probably her sister's, and she's messaging her, not husband but might as well be one"
"That's a little specific" I laughed, looking back to the woman, "But seems accurate"
Harry chuckled, picking up the menu and beginning to look for what he'd be having this afternoon.
"Did you do that for me?" I asked, looking at my own menu as well, "I mean I did catch you staring when I first saw you"
"That was exactly what I was doing actually" he told me.
"And how close did you get?"
"I already knew you had a brother so that was right, I knew your dad had to have been problematic, and I knew there was something about you that other's wouldn't believe to be true" he explained, "Everything else I got wrong"
"Which was?"
"That you had a younger sister, and that your mum was away at some trip"
I looked up from my menu, watching him scan through his and furrow his eyebrows to the small print.
"I've always wanted a sister" I said, putting down the menu.
"They're not that special" Harry snickered, putting away his menu as well.
"Wouldn't you want a younger brother or something?" I asked him.
"I guess" he answered, "If he's anything like my other sibling I'd drive myself mad"
"Gemma isn't that bad" I laughed having him widen his eyes and laugh along.
We ate our lunch, and Harry managed to teach me how he watched people.
We continued around London, going into small shops and buying new clothing and souvenirs from everyone we entered.
When the some was going down, we went back to the London eye to get a new photo of the nighttime view.
I brought my fingers around the cold railing, looking out of the capsule I felt Harry's presence standing next to me.
"Quite the view" he said, "Did you enjoy the trip?"
I nodded, bringing my palm to the cold glass window, "We kind of take advantage of the places we've been too, don't you think?" I said, looking to Harry and seeing him nod.
"All the time" he told me.
The capsule descended back to the ground, where Harry grabbed my hand and led us out back into the busy London streets and looked up to check the time on Big Ben which was viewable from where we stood.
"Shit" he muttered from underneath his breath, gripping onto my fingertips and rushing down the pavement.
"What?" I asked confused by his actions.
"The cabs end their shift at midnight" he told me, struggling to find one of the black vehicles.
I looked at the small watch I had around me wrist, seeing it was two minutes to midnight I began to pace as fast as Harry was.
"I don't think we're going to make it Harry" I told him through the breaths I was taking.
He began to slow down, pushing the strand of hair that fell from his ever so perfectly made quiff out of his face, "I don't think so either" he sighed, checking his surroundings for any support.
"Now what?" I asked him, feeling his fingers twitch within my own.
His eyes set on a specific building, a twinkle from the night lights flashed across his pupils and a cheeky smile creeped on his cheeks.
"We spend a night in London"
I looked to him in shock, as well as interrogating his features to see if he were joking or not. But it was when he began pulling me to that specific building that I realised he was being serious.
"Harry I have no pajamas, or extra clothes, or-"
"It's fine Ness, it's not like we're spending our entirety here. We'll leave first thing in the morning" he assured, pushing me through the hotel door and towards the check-in desk.
"The worst that can happen is that the people here think that we're just here to shag for a night" he whispered in my ear, making me roll my eyes and greet the woman at the front desk with a smile.
Once we were checked in, Harry and I watched lousy hotel television, jumped from one bed to the other, looked out the balcony window, sat in between the two beds to do absolutely nothing.
"I should have brought my phone charger or something" Harry muttered standing up from the floor with a groan, "Come on" he held out his hand for me to follow.
"Come on where?"
"There's got to be something fun to do here, maybe they have a bar" he said excitingly.
I sighed, with a small shake of my head but got up anyway following him out the door and into the corridor.
And to Harry's excitement, there was a bar that he practically dragged me into.
"You're just like Gen" I groaned, hoisting myself on the stool next to him.
"I learn from the best"
"The very best" I mocked with a cheeky grin.
"I've got an idea" Harry announced, "Let's play a drinking game" he smirked.
"Oh God"
"You have to take a shot every time scrunch your nose at something" he told me making me do the exact thing and insisting that it didn't count, "And whenever you push your hair out of your face"
"You do that too!"
"Fine, I'll take a shot if I do it too then"
"And when you fumble with your rings" I remarked, pointing out that he was doing it now.
He narrowed his eyes to me, and agreed. Ordering two shot glasses from the bartender.
Adding other countless things to drink from, we should have just said to drink whenever we breathed and we'd be just as tipsy.
"This isn't fair! My nose itched!" Harry complained.
"You made the game up now drink!" I forced the shot glass to his liquor stained lips.
"God since when are you such a heavy drinker?" Harry winced when he swallowed, "I thought we'd be three shots into this and back up to our room"
"I warmed up" I attempted to crack my fingers, although my lips stung with alcohol I'd admit I have grown more of a tolerance for it.
But we were both drunk.
"Give up?" I asked when I saw his eyes begin to slowly blink.
"Hell no" he snickered with a smirk.
"You smirked! Drink!" I giggled.
"You giggled, drink" he pushed the shot glass to me as he waited for his own to be refilled.
A couple drinks later, the bartender refusing to give us anything else to ingest, we stumbled out of the bar with nothing to do.
We stumbled down the corridors, trampled into walls, and tripped over our own feet. We managed to find ourselves near the entrance of the hotel pool which we saw to be empty due to it being so late.
"Late night swim?" Harry asked, stepping towards to pool of water.
"Again, I only brought these clothes" I motioned to the outfit I was wearing.
"Then take them off" he slurred and shot me a smirk as he began to pull his shirt over his head.
Raising my eyebrows, I tilted my head to watch him begin to unbutton his jeans and tug them off his hips.
He dove into the surface of the water, having ripples crease throughout the pool and he head poked up and shook the water out of his hair.
"Are you coming?" he asked.
Biting the inside of my cheek, I took my jacket and shirt off and tossed them next to Harry's clothes as well as my trousers.
I jumped in next to him, having the water cascade over my body before swimming back up to gasp for air. I felt splashes of water hit my face as I rubbed the access water away from my eyes, I saw Harry making his way to swim over to me under the water.
His arms gripped around my legs, hoisting me up on his shoulders as he rose from under the water. I brought my hands to the top of his head for support, and squealed as he dropped me back into the water.
Swimming back to him, I held my hands to his shoulder playfully pushing him down into the water but having him force himself back up and bring his hands to my bare waist.
We both breathed heavily from being underwater, he looked to me with his hands still on my waist and his lips slowly twitching as his breaths swiftly escaped from them.
I felt drops of water fall from my eyelashes to my cheeks, I looked back into his dark green eyes. I watched the drops of water and how they sat on the top of his skin.
"You look good" Harry muttered to me.
"So do you" I breathed out, biting my bottom lip.
Harry watched as I did that, his eyes focusing on my lips and I was begging for him to do something else.
"I'm sorry" he said, stilling breathing quite quickly.
I furrowed my eyebrows, "For wha-" I begin to say before he clashed his lips to mine, bringing instant nerves throughout my entire body.
I kissed him back, bringing my hands to the back of his damped neck and my legs around his torso that was underneath the water.
He walked us in the water, having my back touch the pool's edge. One of his hands rest on the pool wall whilst the other was set firmly on my bum. Our kiss becoming deeper, I could feel his breath tingle the tip of my nose.
His lips moved against mine, his tongue slowly yet surely making its way between my lips. He hummed in my touch as I slid my hand down his chest.
Harry gripped harder onto my bum, his fingernail digging through the fabric of my knickers and onto my skin.
The sound of the water splashing from our movements echoed throughout the room as well as the soft sounds our voices produced. I tightened my legs around his torso, bringing my body closer to his.
"Let's go back to our room" Harry muttered against my lips, having me nod and he lifted us out of the pool.
Grabbing our clothes we didn't care to put them back on but rather ran as fast as we could to the room, risking the scenario of someone catching us in nothing but our undergarments.
Once we had made it back, harry slammed the door shut and pinned me against it, returning to our small doings from a few minutes ago.
His hands rested on my waist, his touch making chills extend from that area to the rest of my body.
He brought his grip to the bottom of my bum, pinching a small price of skin before lifting me up and having me bring my legs around his torso once again.
We walked us to his twin bed, setting me on the mattress and keeping our lips locked.
His fingers slipped themselves underneath the strap of my bra, rubbing circles in my back and my breathing began to quicken.
Harry brought himself onto the bed, still keeping his lips on mine. I sat in his lap, my legs still around his waist and my hands on the back of his neck.
Harry's lips sloppily retracted from mine, sliding down my chin and onto my neck leaving a wet trail in its path. He began to gently suck onto my skin, making me tilt my head back.
He brought his hand to the end of my jaw, bringing his thumb into the corner of my mouth.
Through the night, the room echoed with the soft sound of the television and the soft noises our voiced projected.
__________________
TO MAKE CLEAR: harry and Vanessa did not do the dirty in this chapter. It was just very steamy...
Song on le side >>>>
Trouble by Halsey