Forty eight missed calls and ninety three unread texts from Harry.
"Okay so maybe in hindsight it wasn't such a good idea to grab Kathy and throw her at Harry before running away but really, the first thing I could think of was to get the hell out of there you know. Like I had to just blast out of that joint you feel." I rambled out to the cashier who gave me a bored expression in return as she scanned my items.
"That will be thirty three-"
"Oh and you should have just seen his face!" I exclaimed, slamming my palms down on the counter as the cashier popped the bubble of gum in her mouth, sending me a blank look as I widened my eyes for emphasis.
"I mean he had this 'Is this bitch really serious' face. You know, it's that kinda face you would make when you realize how bad your pull out game is and you end up getting a baby mama, I mean not like either of us really know if our pull out games are bad cause we got nothing to pull out but-"
"Ma'm, I'm a cashier here at Bed Bath and Beyond... not your therapist." The worker said with a tired sigh as she obnoxiously chewed on her hubba bubba gum.
"Right, uh, sorry... how much were the chocolates again?" I swallowed, my body tense as I looked through my small backpack.
"Thirty three-"
"Oh my, all those chocolates for Valentines day, you're significant other must be very lucky." The elderly woman behind me in line waiting to pay for a circle of cheese commented as she eyed all the heart shaped boxes of chocolates I had purchased.
"Oh no... these are for me... I have no significant other and I plan on eating all of these." I informed her in a serious tone, making the smile on the woman's face drop as I handed the cashier my money before grabbing the seven boxes of chocolates stacked into my arms.
"But um, Happy Valentines day." I smiled, taking one of the boxes and handing it to the old lady as she gawked at me with surprised eyes.
"You too, Happy Valentines day." I said in a friendly tone, handing another box to the cashier who actually raised her brows at me, finally expressing an emotion on her face as she took the box out of my hand.
"Really?" She said, looking at me like I was crazy.
"Yeah," I nodded, now holding five boxes of chocolates all for me as I quickly opened one of them, shoving the sweets into my mouth before walking off.
It was Valentines day and I was currently hiding in Bed Bath and Beyond, knowing fully well Harry would check my place looking for me since I've been hiding from him ever since yesterday.
On the bright side I always got discounts on the chocolates here on Valentines day so it's a win win.
"Natalie where-"
I paused the voicemail from Harry, letting out a groan with my mouth full of chocolates as I let my head fall back on the pillows of the bed that was out on display in the store, candy wrappers littered all over my body and the sheets as I turned my phone off.
"God his voice is so raspy and deep." I whined to myself, popping another milk chocolate bon bon into my mouth before licking my thumb as I stared up at the illuminated ceiling.
"So this is where you've been hiding." A familiar husky voice suddenly rasps, causing me to quickly sit up from the bed as my gaze connected with those pair of mesmerizing green eyes that seemed to haunt my every waking moment.
Harry eyed me from across the bed, resting his hands on the mattress making the muscles in his arms strain against his black shirt as he smirked.
"What the- boy how'd you even find me?" I asked through a mouthful of chocolate, quickly trying to swallow them down my throat genuinely shocked at his presense.
"I know you like me, I know exactly how you feel about me." Harry purred, suddenly peeling the shirt away from his tanned chest, leaving him shirtless as he began to slowly crawl on the bed towards me making me jerk back with wide eyes as I made a double chin.
"Woah! Jesus woah! Dude! Mah dude calm down!" I panicked, frantically fumbling back on the bed until my back pressed against the headboard as I put out a pillow between the two of us.
"Don't you want me Nat." Harry said with a small pout, giving my cheek a peck before he yanked the pillow out of my grasp and caged me in placing both his hands on each side of my head against the headboard behind me.
"Yes! Yes I do but first of all Lisa, second we're in Bed Bath and Beyond this ain't no time for you to be all kinky, I bet you five bucks some middle aged man is trying to buy some scented candles a few isles down and you are just ruining his shopping experience-"
"Take my virginity Nat." Harry breathed into my ear, his soft lips grazing against my prickeling skin as I let out a dying whale noise, pressing my back further against the wood.
Shit, he just had to go there.
I opened my mouth to protest until Harry gripped my hips, flipping me so I was straddled against his waist on top of him as he lay back against the headboard with flushed cheeks.
"Take me now Natalie." He practically begged and I had to straight up tilt my head and look up at the ceiling, silently mumbling a prayer.
Lord give me strength.
"Let's get it on..." A smooth baritone voice sang melodically from besides the bed, causing me to jump as I snapped my head towards the band that was playing right next to us with a full on drumset, microphones, everything.
"Marvin Gaye?"
"Ohhh... baby... let's get it on..." Marvin continued to sing, giving me a knowing wink before I felt Harry's large hands grip my waist possesively from beneath me.
Harry lifted his head up, his lips brushing against mine before he retracted back, one hand placed beneath my chin and the other on my waist as he looked into my eyes.
"I need you to wake up Nat." He said, running the pad of his thumb tenderly over my chin making my eyes almost flutter close at the warming sensation.
"Vanilla boy say what now..." I muttered, obviously distracted as I let out a sigh of content before letting myself lean further into his touch.
"Wake up. Miss, wake up." A monotone female voice suddenly left Harry's lips, making my eyes widen as my surroundings started to slowly drain away from me.
"Wake up!"
I felt my body jerk on the bed, immediatly sitting up with my arms out in front of me as I looked around in a daze.
"I'm sorry but we're closing in five minutes." A familiar voice stated from above me, the same cashier who had rung my items towered over me with a raised eyebrow as I looked down at all the empty heart shaped boxes and chocolate wrappers littered on the mattress with distain.
"Oh... it's eight already?" I sighed with a frown as I began to collect all the small trash on the bed.
"Yes, don't worry about cleaning up just go home miss, you've been here all day. Besides, it's the least I can do for you giving me that box of chocolates." The worker employed, a look of genuine concern on her face as she looked at me and offered the smallest smile.
I sluggishly got off the bed, nodding with my head hung low in shame from leaving such a mess on the display bed as I trudged off.
I should've known it was just a dream.
If anything Lionel Richie would perform in Bed Bath and Beyond not Marvin...
++
"Lisa is a friend..." I sang under my breath to the song of Jessie's girl while fumbling with my keys as I rubbed at my eyes.
"Yeah I know she's been a good friend of mine, but lately something's changed it ain't hard to define, Lisa's got herself a guy and I want to make him mine." I sang out, my voice becoming a bit louder as I brought the key into the lock of my apartment door before turning to look at the ficus tree in the hallway.
"And he's watching her with those eyes..." I continued, gazing towards the ficus before taking the plant in my arms and spinning it around in the hallway using it as my dance partner.
"And he's lovin' her with that body I just know it!" I belted out, tipping the ficus down before putting it back in its place with a small laugh and finally opening my door, stepping into my flat.
"Oh I wish that I had Lisa's boy-"
I froze at the entrance, my singing coming to a halt when I found Harry sitting on the floor of my living room, reading over a thick packet with earbuds plugged into his ears before he finally looked up and his green eyes widened in disbelief at the sight of me.
"Oh wow, would you look at that, ha, wrong apartment mah bad!" I exclaimed with a nervous laugh before taking a step back out into the hallway and slamming the door close before Harry could so much as get up.
Why the hell was he still in my flat!?
Sure I knew he would check out my place to look for me but I didn't think he'd stay there, especially today.
Today was Valentines day.
The day he would get his virginity taken by Lisa.
"I'm moving." I concluded in a confident tone, taking a step towards the elevator across the hallway before I felt a strong large hand grab the back of my collar, yanking me back inside my flat before the door closed behind me.
I stumbled inside, preparing myself to get yelled at by Harry or have him bring up what happened yesterday until I felt his arms wrap around me in a tight embrace causing me to tense in surprise.
"God don't ever fucking do that again. You had me worried." Harry said, leaning down to bury his face in my neck as his arms held me close against his warm chest while I felt him let out a soft sigh of relief, his breath fanning over the skin of my neck as my eyes widened.
"At least have the fucking decency to let me know where you are, you just fucking disappeared, no one knew where you even went I didn't know if you were safe." Harry snapped, drawing back to look down at me with intense green eyes as he cupped my face, tilting my head from side to side as he tried to examine
me.
I blinked up at him in shock before he squished my cheeks together causing my lips to pucker like a fish as his eyes scanned my body.
"Please tell me you didn't do anything stupid, you didn't go popping any pills right, or suck someone's dick for concert tickets to Beyoncé." Harry rambled on, one of his hands still rested on the back of my waist keeping me against him as the other cupped my face.
"I mean... it's Beyoncé we're talking about..." I snorted, finally speaking as Harry narrowed his eyes obviously finding no humor in my joke.
"Don't ever do that again." He growled out, pinching my cheeks roughly causing me to squirm and wince as I pried his hands away from my face.
"What are you even doing here? It's Valentines day, where's Lisa?" I interrogated, furrowing my brows in confusion as Harry rubbed his face in frustration.
"You don't think I know that?" Harry snapped, his eyes connecting with mine as he ran a hand through his waves of brown hair, making them stick up in a perfectly messy and attractive way.
"Did you really expect that I could go out and enjoy the rest of my day not knowing if you were okay? I went to Georgia, Carlos, Bernie, no one! No one knew where you were! I used your spare key and stayed here in your apartment all day waiting for you to come home, I told Lisa I couldn't enjoy any of the plans today without worrying about you and she understood." Harry scolded, making me frown up at him with guilt gnawing at me for what I had done to both Harry and Lisa on their special day.
"Fuck, dude, I'm sorry. I was trying to get out of the way, I was trying to avoid ruining today for the both of you, especially after what happened yesterday and-" I began, tugging at the roots of my hair before Harry advanced towards me, pressing me against the wall, our bodies not touching but his body still towering over mine as he looked down at me.
"Yesterday. What exactly did happen yesterday." Harry said, his voice a deep rasp as he studied my face.
"Well we went to the mall and you secretly really like this minnie mouse shirt-"
He grabbed the front collar of my shirt, bringing my face up until our noses were touching as I clutched at his wrist and glared at him.
"Did you mean it..."
"I don't understand-"
"When you said you liked me." Harry cut in, his tone impatient and his face on edge as he tried to read my expression.
"Is it true?" He asked, his voice soft and gentle, our eyes never breaking contact as I swallowed and tightened my hold on his wrist.
Harry's phone suddenly lit up on the coffee table in the room, Lisa's contact name appearing on the screen with an unread text asking if he had found me yet.
Lisa.
"No." I breathed out, my voice stern and my gaze unfaltering as I furrowed my brows, mentally amazed by my incredible acting skills.
I bit my lip, astonished when I found a look of disappointment wash over Harry's green eyes before he blinked and loosened his grip on my shirt, letting me go as he took a few steps back with flushed cheeks.
"Oh." He murmured, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly as he avoided my gaze.
"Yeah, Kathy told me if I said I liked you she would leave you to alone so, you know, I just lied so she'd keep her end of the deal." I said, giving a small shrug as my chest began to feel that constricting ache once again.
"Why did you run afterwards then?" Harry asked, now making eye contact with me as my palms began to sweat.
"Okay you see, I had this like really big chilly cheese dog, you know," I started, bringing my arms out wide to show the length as Harry raised his brow, a small smile forming over his face at how ridiculous I was being.
"Like huge, and it wasn't really agreeing with me. I got some bowel problems man." I added on, nudging him playfully as he shook his head and chuckled before pinching my nose.
"Don't ever try pulling that shit again." Harry said, his tone threatening but he a had a playful look in his eyes as he sent me a dimpled smile.
"Ha, get it, shit... cause of your little bowel problems." He began, snorting as he poked my stomach.
"My hanging pun was better."
"Not even."
"Yes even." I defended before walking over to the packet Harry had been reading from the floor, picking it up as Harry texted Lisa back on his phone.
"Is this for that stupid office place you're working in?" I asked, knowing fully well that Harry hated the job he was currently working in yet he still took it due to Lisa's wishes as I flipped through the pages, reading what seemed to be some sort of speech.
"Yeah, I'm holding a meeting and I had to write down what I was gonna say but then-"
"Oh wow, I like the last part when you started writing 'Fuck this, fuck it, fuck me' all over your paper." I said with a nod, turning to give Harry a thumbs up of approval as he let out a groan before he began to gently bang his forehead head repeatedly against my wall.
He then closed his eyes, slumping his body against my furniture making me realize just how tired he and stressed he really looked.
"When's your birthday?" I asked, suddenly remembering what I has brought home yesterday as I placed his writing on my coffee table.
"February first." Harry muttered under his breath, still not opening his eyes as he crossed his arms over his chest hugging himself looking about ready to fall asleep standing up and leaning against my wall.
"What the- dude it's Valentines day, your birthday already passed and you didn't tell anyone let alone celebrate it?" I quirked, turning to gape at him as I opened my closet and retrieved the box in my hand.
"Not much to celebrate..." Harry mumbled with a shrug, nodding off before I screamed "Miss me with that bullshit son!" And threw the box at his face causing his eyes to fly open in irritation.
"Nat what the fuck was-" He snapped, his posture straightening before his angered eyes looked down at the badly wrapped present at his feet.
"Oh. What's this?" He asked, his eyes wide with curiousity as if it was the most amazing thing he had ever seen before he bent down and picked up the gift, running his fingers along the crumpled ribbon on top.
"It's for you. Call it your belated birthday gift." I smiled, bringing my arms up and making jazz hands for effect as Harry's jaw dropped.
"It's for me?" He asked, a childish smile forming over his face as he pointed at himself and gawked at me in surprise.
"I jus' said dat homie j'u gotta leesehn more, opehn yo ears." I said, mimicking Carlos' accent as I closed the closet.
Harry wouldn't stop smiling, admiring the torn jutted out pieces of wrapping paper and tape on the badly wrapped present as if it was the best thing in the world.
"Wow you're really shit at wrapping." He commented with a laugh, still staring down at the gift and running his fingers over it as I rolled my eyes.
"Okay well actually, I can rap straight up fire, like I got bars man, but gift wrapping yes, I do suck at that. I actually used more tape than gift wrap-"
"Thank you." Harry said, interrupting my rambling as he looked up at me with a genuine joyful look on his face.
"I never really celebrated my birthdays because I never really had anyone to celebrate it with since everyone was always scared of me. This is actually my first gift from a friend..." He trailed off, his cheeks flushing as he looked down at his gift, smiling to himself.
I couldn't help but beam and admire him, how much he was glowing and how much this meant to him.
"Well at least I can be your first for something." I commented under my breath with a happy sigh.
"What?" Harry asked, looking up to furrow his brows at me.
"I said you should go and head home to Lisa, you know, spend some time with your girl." I stated, placing my hands on Harry's shoulders before pushing him towards the door.
"Wait, wait my paper, and I wanna open my gift-" He protested, turning his head to pout at me.
"Nah man, I got your paper. I can help edit the last few pages of your speech tonight and I'll be done by tomorrow. And no, do not open the gift until you get home, I don't need you to be all up in my place whining about how you don't want it when I know you do." I said, making Harry halt to a stop only a few feet away from the door as I crashed into his back.
"Before I leave I forgot to show you," He said, turning around with a smile and grabbing the back of my collar before dragging me into the kitchen.
"Wait right there." Harry said, placing my gift on the counter and positioning me on the left side of the fridge before bringing his large hands out signalling me to stay.
He opened my fridge, the door covering my view of him as I heard a few plates clatter.
Harry then peeked his head to the side, a mischevious dimpled smile on his face as he sent me a wink.
"Drum roll please." He requested as I shook my head, rolling my eyes at him before drumming the palms of my hand onto the kitchen counter top before beatboxing to give it a hip hop remix.
"Ta-da!" Harry said, bringing out a glass dish of lasagna from the fridge making my whole body light up with excitement at the sight.
"Oh my god! Bless your soul!" I screamed, taking the cold dish in my hands as I sniffed at it eagerly.
"I know how much you liked lasagna so..."
"I thought you said you didn't know how to cook it?" I questioned, running to one of the kitchen drawers to retrieve a clean fork.
"I didn't, but I taught myself how to... that's like the fourth lasagna I made, I had to keep retrying cause I couldn't get the taste right and I wanted to give you the best one." Harry explained, a shy smile on his face as he rubbed the back of his neck.
"Oh my gawd this is better than sex!" I said through a mouthful of lasagna, not even bothering to heat it up as I dug in while raising my fork in the air and praising the lord.
I have been blessed.
"You like it?" Harry asked, still looking uncertain as he rested his elbows on the kitchen counter and leaned forward, watching me practically bury my face in the dish intently.
"Hell yes!" I said, wiping at my mouth making him laugh.
Harry's phone suddenly buzzed and he looked down, taking it out of his pocket before his eyes scanned over the screen.
"That's Lisa, I should... probably get going." Harry sighed, tucking his phone back into his pocket before straightening his posture.
"Okay, I'll see you." I said, slowing down on my eating as I stared down at my mauled lasagna.
This was probably the last time I was going to see Harry as a virgin.
I guess I could mope, be sad, be depressed about all this but the truth is.... so what.
He's happy, Lisa's happy, I'm happy.
Sure my love life didn't work out but when did it ever, I'm healthy, Harry is healthy, I have a roof over my head, and I got bomb ass lasagna.
"Everything will be okay." I said to myself, causing Harry to eye me from across the kitchen.
"Come on, I'll walk you out." I told him, nodding my head towards the door as I cradled the food in my arms and lead him to the exit.
"Harry, are you happy?" I asked, licking my fork as he walked out to the hallway, turning to give me a small look as he blinked at me in surprise.
I just needed to hear him say it, then I will be okay for the rest of the night.
"Yes, I'm happy." Harry said after a few moments, a thoughtful look on his face as I smiled.
"Good." I nodded to myself, closing the door until Harry stuck his foot in the doorway stopping the action before he leaned forward.
"Are you happy Nat?"
Harry's question caught me off gaurd as his eyes searched my face before I kicked his foot from the doorway and slammed the door in his face with a small laugh.
"Yes."
AN: Just wanna let you guys know there will be a double update today and I don't really know what my updating schedule is, I just update whenever I get the chance to write but I usually seem to update a lot on the weekends. :))