Chapter 36 - Late Night Talks
The rest of the night isn't much of a prom. It's more like a really perfect date in extremely formal wear. Throughout the night, we'd danced at four different points. Once to the song he'd first showed me, which I later learned was called "Broken" by a band called Lifehouse, once to "Wanted" by Hunter Hayes, once to "A Thousand Years" by Christina Perri, and then Harry had surprised me by even doing one swing dance.
Looking at Harry Styles with his thin, built arms, dark clothes, scars, tattoos, and the one red dot on his lip from where he used to have a lip stud, you wouldn't exactly pin him as one to learn swing dance. But he'd definitely surprised me, catching me off guard with this information.
We spent nearly a half hour of him just teaching me some moves, and then we'd only danced once. Yet it was another fun upside of Harry that surprised me. At some point in the night, he'd let me borrow one of his tshirts and a pair of his sweats which I'd gratefully accepted.
So tonight went from a romantic night of slow dancing in gowns and tuxes, to both of us swing-dancing, cuddling, and watching Netflix in Harry's pajamas as we ate PB&J's and juice boxes.
That's better than prom, anyways.
I've managed to get Harry entranced into Doctor Who.
Of course, he's still confused.
"Wait, who's this guy?"
"That's the doctor."
"I thought the guy with the peacock hair is the doctor!"
"He is, that's David Tennant."
"Then who's this guy?"
"That's the doctor."
"I hate this show!"
So far, our marathon has consisted of confused questions, odd stares from Harry whenever I react, and grumbles of it being a "dumb" show, although I can see the interest sparked in his eyes. At some point in the night, our episode is interrupted when Harry's iPod reaches 10% battery. And of course, that allows me to see the time.
I'm shocked.
It's past 3 in the morning.
"Harry, I've gotta get home." I say, frowning as I look over at him. He juts his bottom lip out, brows furrowing.
"Why? It's only-"
"3:23 in the morning." I point out.
He blanches.
"Has it really been that long?" He asks incredulously. I nod, sighing as I get up off his bed. My legs immediately protest, pins and needles pricking from my toes to my knees.
He groans, rolling onto his back and whining quietly. "Tomorrow's the last day of school anyways, can't you just stay home?"
I laugh, shaking my head. "Just one more half day, then we can stay up and watch Doctor Who all we want since you obviously like it." I assure him, smirking.
He sits straight up.
"I don't like it, I just watched it to make you happy because you like it." He quickly defends himself.
"Oh, alright then.." I nod, smiling.
"I did!"
"I never said you didn't."
His brows furrow in frustration. He looks down, kicking at the carpet absently and his voice light, as if he doesn't really care. "Does Rose die...?"
I snort, shaking my head to myself as I walk towards his bedroom door, trying to keep my footsteps light so I don't wake his aunt downstairs.
"Well does she?" He asks from behind me, frowning as he catches up with me.
"I thought you didn't care." I murmur quietly, tiptoeing down the stairs and picking up my heels and my dress thats folded on top of it. He follows behind me, whispering as he grabs the keys.
"I don't."
"Then why do you ask?" I whisper over my shoulder as I carefully open the door, padding out into the cool summer night.
"I just was curious." He says as nonchalantly as he can, following me.
I roll my eyes to myself, shaking my head as he opens my car door for me.
I slide in, closing it and watching Harry walk around the car to get in on his side. He starts the car, pulling away from the house. I put my head back against the seat, already feeling exhaustion drill into my mind.
After a few moments of silence, Harry's warm fingers tangle through mine. I smile slightly to myself at the feeling, squeezing his hand lightly.
"Thank you for everything tonight, Harry..." I murmur quietly. I feel his hand tighten around mine, the car humming quietly below us.
"You're welcome... I'm sorry neither prom turned out quite the way we wanted..." He replies softly and I open my eyes, looking over at him.
"Not gonna lie, the first one was...not the best..." I whisper, feeling a lump grow in my throat at the thought of it. He glances over at me, face barely illuminated by the street lights that seem to fly by. He barely frowns, brows furrowing in worry.
"But tonight was better than any dumb prom." I quickly reassure, smiling. He grins in response, looking forward to the road again.
"Just so you know, you don't have to go to all that effort for me to have a good time. I'm perfectly satisfied just doing something like this. Just messing around and watching Netflix.. That's good enough for me." I murmur, rubbing my thumb lightly against the back of his hand.
The corner of his pink lips twitch upwards for a moment as he says back, just as quietly. "And you don't have to go out and buy an expensive dress and pile on makeup to look pretty. The way you are right now, just in a tshirt and sweats is plenty good enough for me."
Heat rises to my cheeks at his words and I grin, looking to the side to watch the city go by.
"You couldn't have told me that before I bought this dress?" I chuckle.
He laughs quietly.
"Sorry... Didn't really think about it..."
I smile a little, resting my forehead against the cool glass as we drive.
"Only one more day of school..." I say, more to myself.
Harry takes a deep breath and I hear him shift against the leather seat.
"It flew by so fast... Once you got here, at least.." He laughs a little at the end.
I nod again in reply, feeling the blood once again rush to my cheeks. I feel his hand leave mine and half a moment later, the back of his knuckles lightly brush against my cheek. My heart flutters at his touch and I look over at him.
He's still looking forwards, smiling to myself.
"You blush so easily..." He points out quietly, one corner of his lips lifting into a slight smile.
"You complement me a lot." I reply, smiling.
His green eyes flit over to me and a cheeky grin spreads across his lips.
"How can I help myself when you have a face like that?"
I roll my eyes, swatting at his arm. I look back towards the window, sitting in a comfortable silence. But every few seconds, I can feel Harry's gaze flicker towards me.
"You're still wearing my pajamas." He points out and I can hear the stupid grin in his voice.
"Thank you, Captain Obvious." I say dryly.
"Any time, Lieutenant Sarcastic." He replies cooly.
I pause, looking over at his smug grin.
"You got that off the internet, didn't you?"
He remains silent.
I snicker to myself, looking back out the window. I frown instantly when I realize, I'm back home.
"Alright.." He sighs, pulling up into the winding driveway.
I frown up at the big mansion ahead of us, suddenly wishing for the first time that I lived further away from Harry.
"I'll give you these back tomorrow after school, you can come over for them." I whisper with a slight smile, tugging at his loose tshirt I'm wearing. He nods, smiling.
"Should I walk you to the door?" He asks.
I nod eagerly.
He and I both know he has no reason to.
We're just both finding excuses to draw this out longer.
I hang my folded dress over my arm, picking up my heels off of the car floor. Half a second later, my car door opens for me. I hadn't even noticed Harry get out, but here he is, opening my door.
I give him a small smile, stepping out of the car and onto the driveway. He shuts the door quietly behind me, taking my free hand as we walk towards the porch, much, much slower than necessary.
"The second we get out of school tomorrow, I'm taking you to the beach." He murmurs, his green eyes twinkling with a childish excitement. I laugh a little, rolling my eyes.
"We were there last Monday. That was what, like.. ten days ago?"
He purses his lips.
"Well technically, it's already Friday. So it was actually eleven days-" He starts to say and I bump my shoulder against his.
"Don't be one of those people." I grumble, fighting back a smile.
"What people?" He asks curiously, nudging me back.
"The people who say 'it's been a second' when you say one sec, or the people who point out the teacher forgot to give us homework." I giggle, looking back up to his face.
He rolls his eyes.
"You know I'm not one to protest no homework." He chuckles, looking around the cool night.
Barely any light leaks across the yard from our porch lights, but while I can see him better, I wish we still had a while to walk. Both of us slow down as we walk up onto the porch. Harry sighs, looking to the side at the door longingly, as I know he also wishes we had more time.
"Sorry I kept you up late.." He murmurs, stepping a little closer to press his lips to my forehead.
I barely smile to myself, closing my eyes and shrugging carelessly. "I had a great time. We're just both going to be exhausted on our last day of school." I whisper quietly, wrapping my one free arm around him.
Both of his arms quickly envelop me, his chin resting in my hair.
"Julia?"
"Mhm?"
"Your high heels are stabbing me in the stomach." He points out quietly.
I laugh, starting to step away from his embrace. He quickly tugs me back into his chest, burrowing his face into my hair. "Worth it.." He mumbles, more to himself.
I giggle quietly into his shirt, wrapping my free arm around him tighter.
"I love you.." I murmur, tilting my head back to look at him. He gives me a crooked smile, the porch light shining above him and leaving a heavenly looking edge of white around him.
"I love you too, pips.. Go get some rest.." He says gently, pulling back and lightly nudging me towards the door.
I jut my bottom lip out, trying my best to give him puppy dog-eyes.
"What about my goodnight kiss?" I pout, cheeks burning against a smile.
He grins widely, one hand placing on the side of my waist as he leans down, pressing his smooth lips to mine. But too soon for my liking, he pulls back with the slightest of his stunning smiles.
"Night, pips.." He whispers, stepping back off the porch and onto the walkway.
"G'night, Harry..." I call back as quietly as I can, reaching behind me to fumble with the doorknob, opening it. And of course, my grace can only last so long.
When I try to step back, my shoulder smacks into the doorframe with a soft thump. I can't see Harry, but I can hear the ghost of his laugh and his quiet footsteps as he walks down the driveway.
My face flushes red in embarrassment and without a moment's hesitation, I retreat into the house.