Thankfully the get together at Chris' seems fairly laid back and there aren't any too famous faces to be intimidated by. Although I get the impression some of the guys there are probably musicians in other bands, I don't recognise any of them except for Olly Murs, who I know a little bit about and he is so charming and easy to talk to that I soon find myself at ease with him.
We spend the early part of the evening chatting to various people whilst music plays in the background. As the night wears on, I remind Harry that I need to work in tomorrow.
"I'll get you back in plenty of time don't worry." He says, he is slightly flushed from several beers but seems to be enjoying himself and, tired as I am, I don't want to drag him away, so I settle myself into the sofa next to him. Ed appears guitar in hand and perches on the arm next to me.
"Gonna play something?" Harry asks
My eyes light up, and I look to Ed. "Oooh yes, please play!" I plead a little too eagerly.
It seems he doesn't require any more encouragement than that as he launches into an acoustic version of his recent hit Shape of you and a few people start to dance in the large living room.
The club isn't the best place to find a lover
So the bar is where I go
Me and my friends at the table doing shots
Drinking fast and then we talk slow
Come over and start up a conversation with just me
And trust me I'll give it a chance now
Take my hand, stop, put Van the Man on the jukebox
And then we start to dance, and now I'm singing like..
As Ed reaches the chorus, Mel grabs my hand and pulls me up out of my chair.
"Dance with me!!" She says a bit too loudly and starts shaking her hips.
Reluctantly I join her, she's had more than a few drinks at this point, and I know arguing will be futile.
I can feel Harry's eyes on me as I move to the music and shake my arse in his direction a little more forcefully than I probably should when we're in company, but I'm reasonably sure no one here is going to care.
I feel his long arms snake around my waist from behind, and our hips start to move slowly in time with each other and the music, finding a natural rhythm.
As the song comes to an end, Ed doesn't miss a beat as he launches in to Give me love, the very song that was playing in my room the first time I took Harry into it.
I see the cheeky wink Ed gives Harry and realise he's put him up to this.
"Did you..?"
"Maybe. This is my new favourite of his songs." Harry answers.
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah, reminds me of an amazing woman I met recently."
"Shit, is she here? " I tease him stepping out of his hold on me and pretending to look around the room for his mystery woman.
"Shut up and dance with me, I promise to avoid your toes." He orders, taking my hand and twirling me around until we are facing one and other.
I wrap my arms around his neck. We move slowly, swaying to Ed's beautiful rendition.
Give a little time to me or burn this out
We'll play hide and seek to turn this around
All I want is the taste that your lips allow
My, my, my, my, oh give me love
Give a little time to me, or burn this out
We'll play hide and seek to turn this around
All I want is the taste that your lips allow
My, my, my, my, oh give me love
My, my, my, my, oh give me love
My, my, my, my, oh give me love
My, my, my, my, oh give me love
My, my, my, my, oh give me love
As the song comes to an end I reach up on my tiptoes and lean my face in towards Harry's inviting him to kiss me, but not wanting to push, we are in his world right now, after all, surrounded by his friends and colleagues. He closes the small space between us instantly and presses his lips against mine.
"See? I told you it doesn't always have to be hard. " He murmurs into my ear.
"Sorry to interrupt Hazza. But I think it's your turn mate. No one wants to listen to me all night."
"Argh really?" Harry asks in mock annoyance as Ed pushes the guitar into his hands.
"Really. " Ed replies, he takes my hand and sits me down on a nearby chair. "Show us what you got!"
Most of the people in the room had crowded around to listen to Ed and a chorus of "Come on Harry!" picks up around us.
I make room for Mel to snuggle up with me in an oversized armchair and lay my head on her shoulder as Harry sighs and starts to play
Same lips red, same eyes blue
Same white shirt, couple more tattoos
But it's not you, and it's not me
Tastes so sweet looks so real
Sounds like something that I used to feel
But I can't touch what I see
We're not who we used to be
We're not who we used to be
We're just two ghosts standing in the place of you and me
Trying to remember how it feels to have a heartbeat
It's the song I watched the video of him singing on YouTube, the one I let play on a loop to lull me to sleep, the night he was in Amsterdam, but its a million times better live, in this intimate setting.
There's maybe twenty of us sitting in Chris' living room, and everyone is silent as Harry plays. When he finishes, he smiles shyly and hands the guitar straight over to Chris, who is stood nearby, spontaneous applause has broken out amongst the guests, and Harry takes a mock bow.
"More More! " I hear someone shout behind me.
"One's enough, for now, mate, let me see to my girl," Harry says, nodding his head in my direction.
It's only at that moment I feel the warm wet tears on my cheeks. I hadn't realised I was crying.
He walks towards me slowly as Mel softly strokes my hair, and crouches on the floor in front of us, just like he did the night we met.
"You ok darling?" He asks, placing one hand on my thigh and reaching out to wipe away a tear from my eye with the other.
I stretch out of the chair away from Mel and fling myself into Harry's arms, managing to push him straight down on to the floor in the process, he lands on his arse with a dull thud.
Mel and a few others around us start cracking up, but I don't care. I cuddle into Harry's chest as he struggles to sit up underneath me.
"Erm, OK, Ow." He says, wrapping his arms around me. "What's wrong?" He asks quietly a few moments later.
I notice that Olly and a few others have launched into another song, Riptide I think absent-mindedly, Ed is accompanying him on the guitar.
Everyone has turned to watch them, and even Mel has moved away to join in as Olly dances and struts around the living room. Giving Harry and I a moment of privacy.
"Nothing, it's just when I was trying to figure out what to do about, well... us, I had an acoustic version of that song play me to sleep one night, and I just... I just realised how pleased I am that I didn't stay away from you, that's all."
Harry kisses me softly. "Adorable girl. You have no idea how pleased I am too."
"Katie baby, we're home. " Harry's voice rouses me from my slumber.
We're in the back of what I assume is a cab, and I am curled up on his lap. I attempt to stretch a little, but it's tricky in the small space, after a quick glance around the cab I look at Harry questioningly.
"What have you done with my flatmate?" I ask
"Ha! Whys everything always my fault with you, eh? She wanted to hang out at Chris' more, and he was happy to have her, so she stayed. But I figured seeing as you'd been sleeping on the bean bag for a good half hour already, that it was time to bring you home."
He helps me out of the cab as we talk, I shiver when the cold air hits my face and wraps his arm around me and leads me into the flat.
"And, you've got work tomorrow, or actually, later today technically." He glances at the clock in the hallway, three-forty-five. No wonder I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer, I think.
"Still tired? " He asks
"Hmm... I am..but.. I reach up and push his jacket from his shoulders. Seeing as we have the whole house to ourselves, it seems such a shame to waste it."
I watch in fascination as his pupils dilate with arousal, amazed I can have this effect on him. I unbutton his shirt and push that off him too so that it lands in a heap on the floor with his jacket and work my hands down his firm chest, savouring the feel of his smooth skin beneath my fingers.
As my hands reach his hips, I start to lower myself on to my knees in front of him.
"You do realise we're in your hallway, right?" He asks incredulously, looking down at me.
"And? " I say as I rip open his jeans and pull them and his boxers to the floor in one swift moment.
I don't know what has come over me, maybe it was just getting to spend some time with him relaxing with other people and realising it doesn't always have to be fans and paparazzi and drama, or maybe it was his beautiful performance earlier. Still, I know that I need to touch him. Now.
I wrap my hand around his hard erection, and lower my head as my lips move down his length I hear him groan out my name, spurred on I take him deep into my mouth and suck hard.
I didn't get around to getting the condoms earlier, so this is going to have to do for tonight I think, and the thought is quite a welcoming one. I move my hand up and down him and twirl my tongue around his tip, looking up into his eyes.
"Fuck. " He whispers, staring back down at me.
He places a hand on the back of my head and gently encourages my movements, thrusting slightly to meet my eager mouth. I feel his muscles tensing and slide my hand round to grab his arse, grazing the tender skin with my nails.
"Ahh, Katie!" He exclaims, he slams a hand against the wall to steady himself.
I feel him expel his orgasm into my mouth as he shakes slightly from the force of his climax. I start to stand, pulling up his boxers and jeans as I do so, once I am upright, I button his jeans and kiss his cheek.
"Well, I had a lovely evening," I chirp, and brushing imaginary dust from my knees.
I start to walk towards my bedroom. Leaving Harry standing open-mouthed in my hallway, looking utterly perplexed as to what has just happened.