"A lack of transparency results in distrust and a deep sense of insecurity."
- Dalai Lama
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"Zoey! Wake up, sleepy head!" Harry screamed into my ear at the crack of dawn.
The bed dipped up and down, nearly throwing my body in the air.
It felt like an earthquake and I would be scared to death if it wasn't for the fact that I could see Harry jumping on my bed like a little kid.
"Harry, what the hell? The bed's gonna break." I meant to say it fiercely, but my voice came out muffled due to my face being hidden in the pillow.
"I think your bed is fine, it has survived much worse." Harry plopped down on top of me, his raspy voice close to my ear.
"Go away, I'm still on my period," I warned.
"But Zoooeeeeyyyyy," Harry whined, stretching my name like bubble gum.
"No," I stopped him curtly.
"Why you gotta be so rude?" He half-sang, half-shouted, a laugh following his words.
"You're the rude one. Waking me up at 5am," I complained, still not opening my eyes.
He nuzzled closer on top of me, his chest firmly pressed to my beck. "It's 6:52am, to be exact. My alarm clock goes off in 8 minutes, which means we still have some time to cuddle."
"You woke me up at basically midnight to cuddle?" I asked doubtfully, praying this was all just a dream.
"Are you aware that you have to practice getting up early now?" Harry suddenly asked.
I lifted my head to finally look at him, the position uncomfortable for my neck. "What? Why?"
"Well, if you get that job at the hospital, there's a 50% chance that you will get early shifts and I think they start at 6am."
I sat up straighter, pushing Harry off me. He fell back down on the mattress next to me. "Seriously? I'm taking my application back."
"Most jobs start early in the morning. School starts early in the morning as well," he pointed out.
"Yeah, at 8am," I groaned, emphasizing the time.
"You're so grumpy in the morning," Harry pouted, pushing my hair out of my face.
"You're far too cheerful, what's wrong with you?" I shot back. My head fell on my pillow again and I sighed in relief, releasing the tautness in my neck.
"You need to surround yourself with positive things," Harry wisely said.
"Now you basically said I'm positive," I laughed, grinning smugly at him.
"Eh, whatever. Are you going to take a shower with me?" He asked.
"I don't know. Am I?"
Harry made the decision for me. "Yes."
"But it's 7 in the morning, I don't need to take a shower now. I can sleep in, you know."
"If you take a shower with me now, we'll go to the cinema once I'm home from work. And I'll take you out for dinner before the movie starts. You even get to choose."
That sounded like a fair compromise. "I'm in."
Harry clapped his hand triumphantly. "I knew it. Any suggestions yet?"
"Nope, I'm gonna take a look into the program once you're gone," I told him, throwing my warm blanket aside.
My feet hit the cold laminate when I padded over to my closet, retrieving some comfy clothes to wear.
"The things I'd do for you," I mumbled under my breath, making sure he heard me.
The kisses he placed on my neck told me he did. "You're the bestest."
"I know," I said, exiting my room and walking across the hallway to my bathroom, waiting for Harry to join me.
"We're gonna have a hot shower now. It's like a normal shower, just with me in it," Harry announced, entering the bathroom in only his boxers. He was carrying a pile of clothes in his hands, putting it on the toilet lid.
"You got that one off from tumblr," I said, accusingly raising a finger.
"You caught me."
Harry helped me to get rid of the shirt I was wearing and slowly slid my underwear down my legs, running his hands all over them.
"You need to stop that," I half-moaned, enjoying his touch too much to strongly tell him to let it go.
He knew the effect he had on me. "I know." His eyes flickered to the blue thread hanging between my legs and he sighed. "Soon."
I shook my head. "You're too horny."
"Says the right one." He was still grinning widely, his hands on my hips now. "Now c'mon, or I'll be late for work."
"Your fault, you wanted me to take a shower with you," I reminded him.
I had to give Harry credit for trying to be subtle. It was more than obvious that he had trouble keeping certain body parts away from me, but all in all I could come to the conclusion that we both cleaned up in a good amount of time.
"It's a torture," I heard Harry whisper when I was drying myself with a towel.
"Did you water the flowers?"
He paused drying off his hair. "What?"
"The flowers. Did you water them?" I asked again.
"Why do you... Yes, I did."
"Good." I smiled up at him and pulled a t-shirt over my head, finishing getting dressed.
I prepared breakfast for Harry, enjoying the way his eyes lit up and his dimples showed when he saw all the food on the table.
"Are you not eating anything?" He asked, looking at my empty plate.
"Later," I answered, completely pushing the plate aside.
Harry put down his toast, looking worried. "Are you okay?"
"Gosh, yes, I'm just not hungry right now." I gave him a small smile, indicating that everything really was fine.
He nodded and picked up his toast again.
Exactly 23 minutes later, I watched him pull out of the driveway, the window at the driver's side rolled down. "Don't forget to choose a movie!"
"I won't!" I promised him, waving until his car disappeared on the horizon.
Although it had only been a week so far, we were running out of groceries. Now I fully understood why my mom ran to the supermarket at least every two days.
Speaking of my mom, I made a mental note to check on my parents, telling them that everything was alright and I hadn't burned down the house so far.
My excitement got the best of me. I got my laptop out of my room and sat down in the kitchen, finally having breakfast.
Scrolling through the movies that were currently playing, I randomly chose one that sounded good enough. I checked the length of the movie: luckily not three hours.
Next I texted Harry, leaving him to pick a restaurant. A message was also quickly sent to my mother and within no time, I was dressed to do some grocery shopping.
I went through the aisles, picking up food just to put it back, knowing I would buy too much junk food, no matter what I did.
Whining kids tugged at their mothers' sleeves, begging them to buy chocolate or other unhealthy stuff they wanted to consume.
One kid was threatening his mother to cause a scene if she didn't put his favorite cornflakes in the basket, which made me laugh.
I was on my way to the cashier when some frozen cake caught my eye. Standing in front of the freezer for at least five minutes, I finally chose a chocolate one.
With everything I needed in my basket, I made a beeline for the cashpoint. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a figure ducking behind a shelf of soups.
I shrugged it off. It was still early and I was probably only imagining things.
"Here you go," the man at the cashpoint said, handing me my change.
I wished him a nice day and walked back to the bus stop, genuinely sick of the fetid smell. But until my parents were back with their car, I had no other option but to take the bus.
Sighing melodramatically, I made a big show of looking at my watch when the bus finally arrived, about 8 minutes too late.
The rest of the afternoon was drowned in domestic tasks (which meant that I lazily lay on the couch most of the time) and before I knew it, I had to get ready.
Staring at my watch, I found it kind of odd that Harry wasn't home yet. I shook every worry off, thinking there was too much traffic or maybe he had to stay a little longer.
When the doorbell rang at exactly 6pm, I was expecting a delivery for my neighbor that I had to accept, but surprisingly, I found Harry standing in front of me.
He wore dark skinny jeans without holes, black leather boots and a nice light blue dress shirt. His brown hair was sexily pushed back, a few unruly strands falling into his eyes.
I admired the silver cross necklace he wore, the pendant falling softly on his chest in his neckline, the upper buttons undone.
I mentally thanked whatever force made me dress nicely, too.
"Miss Clark, may I have this evening?" Harry sweetly smiled at me, outstretching his hand to offer me a red rose.
I gratefully accepted it, my cheeks were probably as red as the petals.
"Definitely."
Before we left, however, I put the rose into a vase, admiring its beauty for a moment.
Now it made sense why Harry was home this late. He went to his apartment before he came over, getting ready himself.
"You're so thoughtful," I remarked, when I was sitting in his car, covering my arms with a black cardigan to keep the cool air away from brushing my skin.
"And you're beautiful." Harry took his eyes off the road, flashing me an award-winning smile.
I was melting, but some people were worth melting for.
I was dying to know where we would be going, but I didn't want to ask. Instead, I waited until Harry parked in front of an expensive looking restaurant.
Upon seeing the building, my mouth plopped open.
But before I could protest, Harry spoke up. "Don't even say anything. Let's just enjoy this evening, okay?"
I knew fighting would be useless, so I agreed.
Dinner was fancy, and I was constantly worried I'd embarrass myself.
Grateful that my parents had taught me how to use which fork and knife, I ordered a steak with potatoes, gravy and vegetables.
I smiled briefly when Harry got the same.
"Do you want some wine?" He asked, once the waiter was out of earshot.
Since Harry was driving, I knew he wouldn't drink any, so I shook my head.
An old memory shot through my head and a content smile engraved on my face.
Even though the memory wasn't all too joyful for me.
"What are you thinking about?" Harry asked, bringing me back to reality.
"Remember when we went to that funfair and you scared the hell out of me on that Ferris wheel?"
Harry laughed, an amused twinkle in his eyes. "Yes, I remember that. Wasn't that a fun night?"
I shook my head. "Makes my top three of the most horrible nights I've ever had."
Harry pouted. "Not true, you loved it."
I bit my lip. "Maybe."
"For sure."
"I still have that little monkey," I told him, hoping he would remember.
And he did. "Yeah, I know, I see it, like, every day."
"Way to ruin the atmosphere, Styles," I mock scowled.
Harry was at a loss for words, but only for a moment. "You're in so much trouble, Z."
He probably wanted to sound intimidating, but he miserably failed.
We couldn't stay too long at that amazing restaurant, but I enjoyed every minute of it. The food was delicious and the atmosphere great.
All in all, I had an amazing time and thanked Harry as soon as the right time came.
On our way to the cinema, I made Harry stop at a gas station and bought us some Ben and Jerry's.
"We're not allowed to bring food with us," Harry pointed out when I shut the door behind me.
I fastened my seatbelt and grinned at him. "I'm gonna bootleg it in with me."
"You're a bad girl."
"Good girls are bad girls that haven't been caught," I said with an awful melody in my voice.
Harry sighed and mumbled something along the line "That's how I know you."
The drive to the cinema was spent talking about our favorite childhood memories.
"When I was around four, my dad went fishing with me. Normally I would have worn a life vest but that day my dad said he forgot it at home and I would be fine. We were a few miles away from the shore, fishing rod down and all, when he suddenly pushed me into the water."
I couldn't help myself, I began laughing. "He must love you a lot."
"Oh, be quiet. I was basically drowning but of course he 'rescued' me," Harry put air quotes around that word, "and that was the day I learned how to swim."
"That's awful. My dad did something similar. We were waiting for a swimming class to start and when the instructor told us to go inside the water, I refused to. My dad lifted me up and threw me in the water, but I couldn't reach the bottom with my feet. He 'rescued' me as well, but I didn't talk to him for a week."
This time, Harry laughed. "I don't think our dads understood how to use the right methods."
"Well, I have to admit, it worked. I learned how to swim," I pointed out, frowning slightly at the memory. "Wasn't all too much fun, though."
After a few more stories, we arrived in the parking lot of the cinema. Harry found a spot after driving around for two minutes.
"Stop cursing them out," I laughed, shaking my head playfully at his foul language.
"Why do they all have to go to the cinema today?"
"I don't know, maybe the tickets are for free?" I questioned.
"Speaking of tickets, we probably should have booked some."
I took Harry's hand, guiding him up the stairs and inside. "Nah, we'll be fine."
And we were. The cashier gave us the tickets and we sat down half an hour before the film started, watching the hall slowly fill up.
"There are so many people," Harry whispered in my ear.
"Maybe that means the movie is good," I whispered back.
The two seats next to me were unoccupied the whole time, but five minutes before the lights were supposed to go off, a woman walked down our aisle and sat down next to me.
I mumbled a polite "Good evening," barely acknowledging her.
I was about to go back to my conversation with Harry, when the woman spoke up. "Zoey?"
Turning around to fully look at her, I bit my tongue to keep from swearing. "Amelie?"
And sure enough, it was her. Her signature long, brown and wavy hair was styled perfectly again, her eyes were put in black mascara and her lips had a cherry red color.
"What a coincidence," she exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"
"Baking a cake," I answered dryly. Why would you ask someone what they were doing in a cinema? Wasn't it kind of obvious?
"Hello Amelie," Harry spoke up beside me, leaning forward to look at her. "Nice to see you again."
Amelie's eyes lit up. "Harry! Hi! Didn't see you."
"Are you here on your own or are we finally getting to know your fiancé?" I asked politely. I had no idea why, but something about her presence bothered me at the moment.
Amelie scowled. "That dick."
"Excuse me?"
"I booked us tickets two days ago, we made plans to go to the cinema all week. I got the tickets 15 minutes ago and he just texted me 'Sorry, babe, work's keeping me up' and now here I am, on my own."
"Oh, that sucks, I'm sorry," I said.
"I can't even call any of my friends because they wouldn't make it in time. I was about to just leave but now I'm glad I didn't."
"Yeah, you got us," Harry told her.
"Exactly." Amelie shot him a grateful smile, but the scowl was still engraved on her face.
Any further conversation died down when the lights went down and the screen came to life.
I took out the ice, praying it wasn't completely melted yet. Luckily, it wasn't.
"You even packed in some spoons?" Harry questioned, eyeing the silverware in my hands.
I chuckled. "A girl gotta be prepared."
I ate the ice before the film even started, loudly munching on it during some boring advertisement about a shampoo.
The movie was really good, I had to give it some credit.
Amelie made some side comments every now and then, causing some laughter to escape from my lips. I had to admit, she had a good sense of humor.
"That guy is hot," she said a bit too loudly during one scene, staring dreamingly at the actor with too many muscles.
"Ugh, no."
We pointed out different actors that we liked and didn't like until Harry snapped at me to shut up and appreciate the 'beauty that was sitting beside me.'
My reply was a short "yeah, Amelie is gorgeous but I'm not into girls" which got me a deep glare that I tried to avoid looking at.
Mad Harry was scary.
During one scene, there was not a single sound coming from the speakers and all you could hear was people munching on their popcorn which annoyed me to no end.
I knew there was something scary coming up, so I already bit my lip to keep from screaming.
Amelie wasn't that precautious, but her scream made me laugh, which ended in a few hateful glares from the people around me.
Harry mumbled something under his breath that I didn't catch, but I ignored him.
After the movie ended, Amelie, Harry and I got out of the theater. Standing in the parking lot, I picked up the conversation again. "So, what are you going to do now?"
"Curse out the hell of my lovely fiancé," Amelie scowled, her eyes fixed on a VW close to us.
"Try not to kill him," I joked.
Amelie's eyes flickered to mine. "Can't promise anything. Thank you for keeping me company."
"No problem," I smiled at her, wrapping my arms shortly around her when she made the attempt to hug me.
"It was nice seeing you again," she laughed, stepping back and looking at Harry.
He nodded. "You too."
The two of them hugged as well.
Now, I wasn't the jealous type or anything, but the hug was a little too long, and a little too intimidate. She practically inhaled his scent and hid her face in his neck.
You didn't hug strangers like that. Well, we met a few times already, but if I were her, I wouldn't be brave enough to hug the boyfriend of another girl I had accidentally kissed in her presence while the girlfriend was standing next to me.
It was just uncalled for.
Trying to hide any emotion on my face, I gave her a thin-lipped smile and waved goodbye, dragging Harry away from her.
He gave me a weird look, but didn't say anything.
Once safely in the car, Harry started the engine and pulled out of the parking lot.
Staring back at where we had been just moments ago, I could still see Amelie in the dark, her eyes fixed on Harry's car as we quickly sped away and out of her reach.
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