"Come on." Yvette had giggled as she pulled Harry to the house. "The quicker we can get in the house, the faster we can get started."
They'd just gone out to dinner because today was the 14th of April. This marked exactly 5 months to the date that Yvette and Harry first got together and he couldn't believe they lasted that long. When they made it up to the door, he took out his key and unlocked it. They could barely get in the house before she was slamming the door closed and connecting her lips onto his, catching him by surprise. When she stopped kissing him, he laughed.
"Can we get upstairs first?"
"Just hurry up."
She took off her shoes right there in the hallway and he bent down, loosening his shoe strings. She waited patiently for him to finish, then she kissed him once again, while loosening the buttons on his button down. After it was undone completely, she was able to throw his shirt on the floor. Then she felt all over his bare chest and kissed his neck.
"Babe, I really think we should get upstairs first." He said.
"Fine." She mumbled. And she took his hand, pulling him along. They jogged up the stairs and into his bedroom and as soon as he was at the foot of the bed, she pushed him back on it. But something underneath his butt was making him uncomfortable. He knew it was his wallet, so he lifted his hips, took it out, and tossed it onto the dresser.
He could tell that Yvette wanted control tonight and though this wasn't something he liked for anyone other than himself to have control over, he decided to accept it.
In a matter of seconds, the short blue dress she was wearing was off and on the floor and she was walking over to him in her underwear. "Its going to be a wild night. Are you ready?" She asked.
He nodded and the next thing he knew, she was over top of him, gripping his pants at the waist. She pulled them down along with his underwear so he was fully naked and quickly, she was back hovering over him again. He pulled her down into a gentle, sweet kiss, just to savor the moment, because he wanted a kiss that symbolized more than just lust. And then like she had done downstairs, she felt over him while she kissed him.
Harry couldn't explain how much he wanted something like this right now. Over the last few days, he had been feeling lonely and he couldn't figure out why for the life of him. So he figured having her spend the night after dinner with him would ease his mind. Sex was just something that had come up in the truck on the way home. It wasn't planned.
She stopped momentarily to remove her bra, but she was back at it again and he closed his eyes and turned his head to give her a better access point on his neck. That only went on a few more seconds when he finally decided to open his eyes. But when he opened them, he saw Zayn staring back at him.
No, it wasn't literal Zayn, but it sure as hell felt like it because those eyes from the picture in his open wallet... they seemed to be studying him hard. And right now, everything he was doing with Yvette felt so... Wrong.
"Yve." He whispered. But she didn't stop. So he said it again a little louder. "Yve, stop. I can't."
He wasn't sure whether she thought he was only saying that out of pure pleasure or not. But he couldn't take the fact that she wasn't listening to him, so he nudged her off of him, not roughly, but enough to make her fall sideways on the bed. "Yve, get off."
She looked at him as if he had lost his mind. "What is your problem?!"
"I can't." He sat up on the bed and turned his back to her, then turned the wallet upside down so that Zayn's picture could no longer be seen. "I'm sorry but we can't do this right now."
"Why not?"
"Because I'm not as ready to do this as I thought I was."
She laughed but it was really more out of confusion. "But we've done it twice already." She reached forward and touched his shoulder but when he felt her touch, he got up and put his underwear back on.
"I'm serious. I can't do it."
She sat in the bed topless and in panties, while she watched him go to the bathroom and shut the door. She noticed that he wouldn't even look at her.
When Harry got to the bathroom, he leaned over the counter and looked at himself in the mirror. He couldn't believe what just happened. He'd just refused sex with his girlfriend just because he saw a photo of his best friend in flower crown. Even though he knew no one else had known but him, it was still embarrassing.
He flushed the toilet and turned on the water, hoping that she would think he only went in there because he had to use the bathroom. But now Zayn was officially back on his brain. It had been five days since they went out for ice cream together and since then, Harry had been confused. After their walk on the boardwalk, nobody said anything about it. There was also complete silence when Harry dropped him off at home and all Zayn said when he was getting out of the car, was goodbye. Since then, he had not seen or heard from him. It worried him.
By then, it was pretty obvious that what they had done together was a more than friends kind of thing. Letting his best friend hold his hand was one thing, but letting him intertwine their fingers was another. And Zayn let him intertwine their fingers. They held hands like couples did. Something was there. But Zayn wasn't helping him understand what that something was.
Was he even still okay with it? Was the reason he hadn't spoken to Harry because he realized he made a mistake? Was he embarrassed or too shy to say anything to Harry? Did he think it was wrong? He wanted to know.
After turning off the water, he looked down at himself and couldn't believe what he was seeing. He wasn't even... hard. There was no erection or even a partial erection poking at the fabric. Why wasn't he as excited as his girlfriend for what they were so close to doing? He usually was. He sighed to himself, then put his hand on the doorknob. He wondered what he was doing. His mind must not have been heading in the same direction as hers, like he originally thought it was. He felt so bad for his girlfriend now.
When he opened the door and came out of the bathroom, he saw she was underneath the covers and lying down. He smiled, glad that she hadn't left him alone tonight. Because really, this was all he had wanted. He only wanted someone lying next to him.
"Harry." Her soft voice called. So he walked over to the bed where she was. She was still topless.
He sat on the bed. "What."
"Was it me?"
He was confused. "Huh?"
She sat up on her elbow. "Was it me that made you not want to... you know?"
He shook his head. "No, it wasn't you. I just have a lot on my mind."
"Are you telling the truth?"
"Yes. Why would you think it's you?"
She shrugged. "Tonight at dinner, you just seemed a bit... disinterested. I wasn't going to say anything but I'm too worried not to anymore. I need to know what you're feeling."
He huffed. "I'm feeling fine."
"But I don't want to know how you're feeling. I want to know what you're feeling. What are you thinking about? Cause I won't know what you're thinking if you don't talk to me."
He looked off to the floor and didn't say anything because he didn't really want to tell her what he was feeling. But something she said did give him an idea about Zayn.
"Harry."
"Yvette, I really don't want to talk about that. Not right now. Just know that it's not you, okay? It's not you."
This time she only stared at him. He could see the concern building in her face so he leaned down and kissed her lips softly a few times. "Stop thinking about it. You should be trying to get some sleep anyway. You have to work tomorrow."
"Yeah, alright." She mumbled and he got up again. She saw him bend down and take his phone from his pants pocket on the floor, then he started to peck at the screen. She was attempting to lie down and try to go to sleep until he went out of the room with his phone up to his ear and closed the door behind him.
Now she was curious and couldn't help but wonder why he felt the need to close the door when it was only two of them in the house. Who in the world was he about to call on that phone? But more importantly, why didn't he want her to hear it?
*
*
*
Zayn had just gotten in his bed when he heard his phone ring. He reached over toward his nightstand and saw who the call was from. It was Harry. So he answered it without any delay. "Hello?"
"Hey, it's me, Harry... Oh, wait. you already know that. Never mind. I'm stupid. Were you sleep?" Harry asked.
"No, but I'm just getting in bed."
"Oh, good. I didn't want to wake you."
Zayn pulled the covers up over his legs. "What are you doing?"
"I'm actually stretched out on the couch and talking to you. Yvette's trying to sleep upstairs. I thought about you earlier and I figured I could call."
Zayn smiled but he was still disappointed that Yvette was there and in Harry's bed. "Yvette is there?"
"Yeah. We went out to dinner earlier because today represents five months that we've been together. Crazy huh?"
Zayn instantly felt this pang of jealously. It was horrible knowing he was the reason they were even together in the first place. "Yeah, I guess so. Congratulations, Harry." But he noticed Harry didn't say thank you.
"Um... the reason I'm calling is because I haven't heard from you since Saturday. I was sort of waiting for you to call first. But you didn't. So I figured I should do it, you know. Is um... is everything alright, Z?"
He frowned. "What?"
"Are we... me and you... are we okay?"
Right away, Zayn picked up why he was asking that question. So his grin was as wide as ever as he scooted down, then lay back in his bed so that the back of his head met his pillow. "I think we are. Why wouldn't we be?"
"I don't know. That's why I was calling. You didn't say much after the walk and you haven't said anything until now. I just need to know that you aren't upset or anything."
"Not at all. Nothing happened to make me upset. I've just been busy with the new job and all. I'm sorry. I had a really great time with you on Saturday, Hazza. We should do that again."
He heard him snort into the phone. "Are you talking about going for ice cream or the walk?"
"How about both?"
"Sure."
"So how was dinner then?"
Harry sighed. "It was awful. And boring."
Thank goodness. He thought. "Why was it awful?"
"My mind was in other places. I wasn't much on celebrating tonight."
"Oh. I'm sorry. You like it better when you two are settled in, don't you?"
"Yeah, I like having her here. But truthfully, I don't think she comes enough. A lot of times I feel like I'm single and I don't like feeling like I'm single when I'm with someone because that's dangerous. Can you believe that I had to ask her to stay with me tonight because I've been feeling lonely the past few days. That's terrible, Zayn."
Zayn felt sorry for him. He remembered how many times Veronica came and stayed with him and how long she stayed. Harry was never lonely with Veronica and he would never be lonely with him. "You could have asked me." He volunteered quietly.
"Yeah right." Harry said.
"No, really. I would've stayed."
"I'm afraid you would've had to share the bed with me then."
He paused. "You know, now that you've said that, I'm wondering something. For a man who claims he's lonely, why are you not in bed with her now?"
"You want me to be?"
Definitely not. "I'm saying talking to me won't change how lonely you are."
"Well, I think you're wrong."
"How?"
"Because it already has."
Zayn probably giggled like a little girl to Harry, but he didn't care. He felt so special right now. "You'd better stop talking like that, Harry. You're asking for trouble."
"What kind of trouble?" He questioned mischievously.
"Trouble."
"Somehow, it feels like the good kind of trouble."
"There's no such thing."
"To each his own."
Zayn rolled over on his side. "I'm going to see Perrie tomorrow when I leave work." The line became very quiet and he wondered if it was a good idea to bring that up when Harry was clearly in a flirting mood tonight.
"Oh."
"But it's just to apologize." He found himself correcting. "If she still lives there, of course. Hopefully so."
"Yeah. You know what you're going to say?"
"Not really. I haven't put enough thought into it, though I really should prepare myself. I'm terrible with apologies."
"I'm sure you'll think of something."
"See, if I were there, you could have helped me." Zayn added smoothly.
"Or if I were there with you."
"Yep..." He answered, though it had surprised him he would even say that.
"Well, good luck Zayn."
"Thanks."
The line became awkwardly silent and Harry wasn't saying anything again. "I feel like we just ran out of things to talk about tonight. Does that mean it's time to say goodnight?" Zayn asked as he played with the end of his pillowcase.
"I think so."
"On the bright side, you're not lonely anymore."
"Yeah." He said. But he didn't sound very happy about it.
"I'll call and tell you how it went with Perrie tomorrow night. How's that?"
"Okay. I'll be waiting on it. But just know that if you forget, I'm coming over on Saturday. I won't hesitate to use the key you gave me either and you know, I really never use it."
Zayn laughed lightly. "I'll try to remember. I promise."
"Alright, talk to you later, Zayn."
"Goodnight Hazza."
"Goodnight."
Zayn hung up the phone and smiled to himself. At first, he had been worried that waiting on Harry to call him first, would result in messing everything up. But it hadn't. Five long days later, Harry had finally called him. Zayn wasn't sure what to feel, knowing that Harry had been thinking about that evening just as he had. But he was so excited. He also had a pretty good idea about why Harry felt lonely.
Last Thursday when he and Harry had pizza together, he'd found out that Harry had only been over Yvette's home a couple times out of the five months. Apparently she was always so busy and it was just easier for him to work around her schedule and wait until she came to see him. They talked on the phone sometimes, but that was it. He also remembered the Saturday when he came over to play video games and Harry told him she didn't have a drawer because she didn't stay over very often. He could clearly see why he sometimes felt like he was single.
From what Zayn observed with Yvette during the two times he'd seen her and from what Harry had said, she did give Harry certain things. She gave him kisses and hugs and a little bit of company from time. But she didn't give him enough.
When Zayn was Veronica, she learned that Harry wanted more than just someone to call his girlfriend. He wanted someone he could protect and build a life with. He wanted someone he could bring lunch to and come over and cuddle with. But he couldn't do that with her. How could he protect someone that was hardly there with him. How could he build a life with someone who was too busy even for him? He couldn't. Poor Harry. He probably felt like he was stuck.
Zayn lay out on his back and groaned. Harry was probably climbing in the bed next to Yvette at that very moment. Why couldn't that be him? He wanted it to be him. But he knew if he was patient it would soon be. He was just about to fall asleep when his phone rang on the night stand again.
He didn't recognize the number but it was very unusual for someone he didn't know to call this time of night. His first thought was that it was an emergency. So he picked up the phone and braced for the worse.
"Hello?"
"You need to back off."
That caught him off guard and he sat up in the bed. "Who is this?"
"Who do you think it is? Harry is mine. I am so sick of you trying to get in between us."
That's when Zayn knew who it was. "How did you get my number?"
"Don't worry about it. I am the one who should be asking the questions. Why does he feel the need to close the door when he talks to you? So that I can't hear your conversation?!"
Zayn was confused but then he wasn't. "Wait... if he closed the door, how do you know he was even talking to me?"
She scoffed. "I'll have you know, I have the right to listen to whatever I want to when it comes to Harry. He is my boyfriend."
"So basically, you were listening to Harry when he was talking to me, then."
"Like I said. I have a right to do that and you don't. So I'm not going to tell you again, to go away. Its a fucking shame that I had to put on clothes and come outside just to tell you that. I am the one who is with Harry, Zayn. Not you! So you need to stay away from us! He doesn't like you and he never will!"
Zayn was calm. "I think you're confused, sweetheart."
"I am not confused! If Harry wants me around more, I'll come around more. I'll be everything he needs me to be and however he needs me to be it. You really think you're going to get him, but you're not. He doesn't have a future with you. Its with me. Harry and I are going to get married and have kids whether you like it or not. And I will make sure that happens because I'm about to tell him something that'll knock his socks off. And then each year on our wedding anniversary and on our kids' birthdays, you'll be the one alone. And I'll be sure to invite you to every party, so that I can remind you why it is that you can't have him. He'll be mine forever and there is nothing you can, or will do about it."
At the mention of children and marriage, Zayn's eyes began to water. Those were things he'd already planned with Harry. But by the looks of things, he won't get it.
She went on shouting some other stuff at him, about how he could never give Harry kids and that even if he could, they'd turn out to be just as ugly as him and wouldn't take any of Harry's perfect genes. That really hurt him and he couldn't believe that she would even have the heart to say such a thing to him.
She hung the phone up before he could say anything and Zayn just sat there, staring into space. For the first time since he'd been Zayn again, he let this girl get to him. He let her be the cause of his tears. He wasn't sure what Yvette had up her sleeve or why she would figuratively "knock his socks off". But it scared him. What if it ruined everything?
The thought of never getting to have Harry for himself clouded his mind and he couldn't take it anymore. The tears fell heavier and harder. He wasn't sure what was going to change between Harry and Yvette when he woke up tomorrow. But he knew something would. And so all he could do was lie back, turnover on his stomach and cry into his pillow.
*****
(N/A)
How do you feel about Yvette and what do you think is going to "knock Harry socks off"?