69.
●•Harry•●
F–ck! It was freezing, at the very least. I could barely wrap my mind around anything as I rolled over on the bed, groping the mattress to try and find the blanket I was sure I’d left there the night before. Well, that and also the warm body of someone I was sure I had slept with, but seemed to be nowhere near.
I growled.
And she was the one who didn’t want to wake up alone. I might actually kill her.
Suddenly, I felt the bed shifting; dared to snap one eye open and then I saw her sitting cross-legged at the very edge of the mattress, a mug placed between her fingers as she stared at it with a frown placed between her brows, her eyes so focused and amused and something else I quite couldn’t put a finger on.
Without looking at me, she said “Quite a girly mug you’ve got here, curly,” and then I fully opened my eyes, not having to bother about much luminosity because the weather was completely pleasant, and by pleasant I mean without the sunlight creeping through my windows and freaking blinding me early in the morning, so, yeah.
And, well, I had to hold my breath for a moment. Okay. That girly mug. I simply snorted, and Scarlett seemed to take that.
“Anyway. I made you tea as well,” she walked over to me on her knees, still being careful with the mug she was holding, then stretching towards my nightstand. Before I could fully sit, she was handing me a steamy one, smelling like home and I smiled half-heartedly, still sleepy as hell “Did you sleep well?”
“Pretty good, yeah,” I managed to choke out, feeling that scratch on my throat due to the lack of talking for a while and maybe due to forcing it a bit the night before, but. (Scarlett seemed to follow the steam of my thoughts, showing off a half warm and endeared and half smug grin, shaking her head at her own amusement.) “Thought you didn’t want to wake up alone?” I blurted out then, sipping my tea and pulling away as soon as I felt the burning sting of my tongue.
“I didn’t,” she shrugged, settling down next to me, pulling the blanket over our legs.
“So why did I? S’not fair,” I tried to pout a bit, surely looking ridiculous, but not bringing myself to care.
“You didn’t, either. I was right at the end of the bed, Styles.”
Shaking my head stubbornly, I turned to the side, grabby hands reaching towards the hem of her shirt, pulling her the closest I could without spilling tea all over her skin. “You know what I mean.” She laughed not-so-loudly, apparently choosing to comfort me with a slight pet to my head.
“Don’t be such an arse. I made you tea!” she whined, pushing me away from her lap (yeah, basically I was cheesy but whatever), but smiling sweetly nonetheless, her features a bit softer and her fingers still playing with the back of my wrist, though I couldn’t remember when she even started touching me there. It felt more natural than I thought it would.
And then, it was silent. I did manage to sit after all, just drinking the tea silently but also watching her carefully. Somehow, our fingers ended up tangled beneath the blanket, tracing small patterns on one another’s skin, keeping our eyes locked and it was more comfortable than I would care to admit; being with someone like this, so naturally, as if it’d been like this since forever.
Like it should be like this forever.
“Scar?” I prompted, tousling her hair with my fingers, trying and failing at separating it in three strands like she’d told me to. That was not humanly possible. Just- no. “How do I braid it, again?” she loudly sighed, looking up at me and grinning as if the scene was amusing.
Then she shook my hands off, resting her head against my thigh, and I threw my back against the couch, kicking her sides on the floor and chuckling when she flinched, trying to dodge away from my touch, but failing, since she was between both my legs. And just maybe I was taking a bit of advantage of her since I realized her belly was quite ticklish.
“Okay. I’m done with it. It’s official now,” she declared, tucking a loose thread of my sweater pants between her fingers. “I seriously thought your brain was bigger, Hazzy, babe.”
I actually chortled at that. “Hazzy, babe? What the actual f–ck was that, Scarlett? Now, really, you’re a whole lot impatient. I was not made for braiding and it’s not that easy, okay? C’mon give me just one more chance. I’ll do it now, swear.”
Scarlett sat straight again, lifting her hands towards mine and putting her fingers over where I was holding her hair. “Okay,” she sighed once more “Okay. So, you bring the strand on the left to the middle, and then you switch hands; the one that was holding the left strand will hold the middle one, and you’ll let the left strand loose. Now you bring the right strand to the middle, and do the same thing. That’s basically it.”
I’d got stuck at the switching hand thing. Again.
She stilled for a moment, allowing me to do it properly, but soon enough her shoulders were trembling slightly with laughter, and I just lost it. It involved too much thought and God! They made it look so damn easy. It isn’t, though. Women are either extremely talented or really good liars.
“Fine. I give up.”
“I’m gonna braid your hair so you can feel how it’s made. Deal?” she turned around, kneeling in front of me and placing her arms on my legs, resting her chin over her clasped hands.
“S’not long enough, is it?” I questioned, not even bothering that she was prompting to braid my curls, because after all, it was good having her messing with my hair in any way possible, and I kind of felt a bit like a puppy or something. Her touch was soothing, anyway, so.
“I think I can make small ones, but, yeah.”
I nodded at that, picturing the scene and smiling. She did just the same, scratching her nails on the tissue beneath her hands, not digging it enough so I could feel something hurting my skin. The scratch was quite comforting, actually.
“Fine. I’ll let you. But, what about Scar, though?” she noticeably wrinkled her noise at the suggestion, burying her face deep in her hands and staying there for a while, in what I supposed was a way of thinking about it. Maybe she was actually considering it, after oh-so-many other suggestions. I was running out of those. “It quite fits, you know? Considering everything you’ve been through, and whom you are now, the reasons why you are the way you are and everything. Like, you have many scars and stuff, plus, I like it.”
When she looked up at me, she looked like almost in sheer awe, glancing carefully at me before nodding. Yes! There we go.
“You sure it’s settled? Because we really don’t have many more options.”
“Time will tell if it’s okay, but I think I can get used to it. Unless you add that child-like pleading tone you have whenever you call me by it,” I allowed myself to shoot her a dimpled grin, which she poked with one finger before standing up and patting my thigh. “Now go, move. I’m gonna make your hair look beautiful.”
I rolled my eyes at her words. “Scarlett, my hair already does look beautiful. Ladies drool over my curls, okay?”
“Oh, sweetie, you really think that’s why? How naïve of you,” when I looked at her with a questioning expression plastered to my face, she just winked, clearly giving me an once-over and smirking. What was that supposed to mean? “Seriously, do you check yourself in the mirror?” oh, okay. So I had voiced my thoughts. “Your hair is certainly not what makes ladies drool.”
“So basically you’re complimenting me? I’m actually flattered.”
“Don’t burst your ego. But, yeah. You’re hot, and even though you’re annoying as sh–t, that is undeniable.” Somehow I could feel my cheeks warming up, but I just ignored it (and also the fact that she’d called me annoying – whilst smiling, by the way) and managed to sit down between her legs.
Instead of going for my hair straight away, she hovered her hand over my shoulders, pressing her fingers down and starting to massage the muscles there. I hadn’t even noticed they were sore until that very moment. I was maybe getting too stressed out; and I could blame Joe. He was still the biggest arse alive.
“Scar?” I called, and she mumbled a mhm as a sign she was listening before I kept going. I was not a hundred per cent sure I should approach the subject right now, but I needed to make sure. “You’re going to spend these two weeks here, right?”
She stiffened a bit, but it didn’t take long before her fingers were moving again, tracing up my neck and shoulders a couple of times until they settled back on the sore muscles. “Harry, I-”
“C’mon. You gave me the good news, therefore you must help me enjoy it. Every moment of it,” I assured, craning my neck back and staring into her blue eyes. They were so, so freaking beautiful. Jesus.
“You must work, you know that, right?” I nodded, releasing an untamable whimper once she pressed harder on a spot between both my shoulder and neck, probably getting to relax my whole body after that. Her hands were most likely a piece of heaven. “Does it hurt here?” she asked, sounding rather worried.
“A bit, yeah. But keep going, it’s good.”
She chuckled, doing just as told, and I closed my eyes. In the meanwhile, she abandoned the massage, going for my hair. If there was someone who used to do something alike for me before, it had to be my mom, with all her caresses and wet kisses and praises, always petting my hair and telling me bed stories; or even Gemma, who sometimes just messed up my curls for teasing, but ended up tangling her fingers sloppily and affectionately between them if I asked properly. Younger brother perk, I suppose.
But anyway, it’d never felt as good as this. Maybe because it held a whole different meaning, involved a whole other bunch of feelings instead of familiar ones, and it was just really intimate.
Scarlett must’ve thought I’d fallen asleep, because she pulled my hair a bit, getting nothing if not another whimper from me. That was quite cruel, honestly. A tug in the hair could hurt quite a lot.
“Not allowed to sleep, you moron. I don’t want dry saliva on my jeans,” she scolded, pulling my hair a bit here and there, but just lightly this time, separating the three strands and apparently quickly braiding them; she was in advantage, though. My hair was nowhere as long as hers. It had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that I couldn’t braid.
“Wasn’t sleeping. Just thinking.”
She scowled “Yeah. Try to fool me, Styles. I’ll cook no dinner tonight if you try.”
Against my own will, a smile spread across my lips, and I pressed my fingers to her calf, squeezing it gently. “Does that mean you’re staying, then?” and I opened my eyes to see her reaction, still having my head on her lap.
She was obviously holding back a smile, biting on her cheek to keep it from showing, and shrugged, stretching her arm with her palm facing up, before “Give me the elastics to tie up your hair.”
And I did so, picking one from the little box she’d put them into (she made me drive to her house to get them, because apparently, I was a really hairy guy with nothing proper enough to tie her hair up, so she needed something), and placed it on her open hand, holding it for a brief moment so I could brag.
“You’re staying. I knew you would. Can’t resist me.”
“Your bed is more comfortable and your TV is bigger, that’s why I’m staying.”
“You’re a liar,” I accused.
“And you also have popcorn, so.”
“Bullocks.”
“The shower is warmer?”
“Rubbish.”
“Your lips look quite perfect when you say that.”
My heart nearly stopped beating. “Oh, yeah?”
“Pretty much.”
“Should take advantage of them, then, shouldn’t you?”
“I should.”
●•Author's Note•●
dedication goes to: @YessMalik First off, thanks for sharing with your friends. I'm so glad you like it this much, babe! I can't tell much about her conversation with Ty, but it'll happen. Don't worry. And you'll soon find out about Harry's past. Send my love to Germany readers :)
note: 1. Okay so basically the gif on the sidebar is just because I want to make you feel the need to bite Harry's lips whilst he says rubbish. Damn those lips. Why can't we all be Scarlett? 2. Okay, I'm really enjoying all the Harlett moments. And I hope you are, too. It's quite cheesy and stuff, but trust me, enjoy those moments. Nothing lasts forever. And oh, on Harry's next POV his past will be explained. Therefore, the faster you vote, the faster you find out ;D
next update: Friday (November 15th)
900 votes for early update. Best comment gets a dedication :) Love you lots, really. - Dani xx