A.N. my gif game? 10/10 wbk
ROCHELLE
When I wake up the next morning, the first thing I see after opening my eyes is Harry still peacefully fast asleep beside me. The white sheets are pooled around the bottom of his spine as he lays shirtless on his stomach, one arm lazily thrown over my waist, the other buried beneath the pillow his head is resting on. His face is turned towards me, his red lips in a slight pout and parted to let out soft puffs of air, his eyelashes fluttering against his cheekbones. He looks so cute and peaceful that I can't help but smile softly to myself at the sight.
Last night, after a rather impromptu make-out session in the pool, Harry eventually coaxed me out of the water and brought me back to his apartment. We individually showered and he made me eat something when I told him I hadn't had dinner yet, and then he pulled me into his bed, tightly wrapping his arms around me and softly murmuring jokes into my ear to cheer me up. Aside from some pretty bad ones, his attempts to make me feel better were successful and I soon fell asleep with the help of his fingers gently trailing through my hair.
My heart swells as I recall it, because he didn't even know what was really wrong with me last night, but he still did everything he could to make me happy again.
After realising I've probably been watching Harry sleep for a little too long now, I let out a small yawn before climbing out of bed. I grab the blanket from the bottom of the bed and wrap it around my shoulders before venturing out into the kitchen, trying to be as quiet as possible while filling up the kettle and grabbing two mugs from the cupboard to make us both some tea. I begin to hum quietly to myself, enjoying the silence of the morning as I toss teabags into the mugs and then fill them with boiling water, adding milk and spoonfuls of sugar, one for Harry, two for me.
When I return to Harry's bedroom with the two mugs, I find that he's beginning to stir, but clearly fighting waking up due to his eyes still being closed and his body in the same position. I set the mugs down on the bedside table before climbing back onto the mattress, leaning over to tap his shoulder. "Harry," I call softly. "Wake up."
I call his name and nudge him a few more times, although when he still doesn't respond, I decide I'll have to take matters into my own hands. I let out a small sigh before clambering onto him, my thighs straddling his back as I gently drum my fists against him. "Harry..." I call softly, leaning over him and lowering my mouth to his ear. "Did you not hear me?"
Despite clearly trying his best to hide it, I notice Harry's lips curve into a faint smile, and then a few seconds later he lowly rasps, "What are you doing?"
"Waking you up," I whisper, running my lips along the shell of his ear.
He hums under his breath, his smirk widening. "I don't think it's working," he murmurs. "Maybe I need more convincing...."
I smile, biting down on my lip as I think of all the possible ways I could do that. But due to our pact of taking things slow, I decide I have to keep things PG for now. At least, a little. After brushing my lips along his ear once more, I take his lobe between my teeth and gently nibble on it, grinning when I hear his breathing start to pick up in response. His reactions only encourage me further, my hands beginning to smoothly trail down his bare back while my lips pepper kisses along his neck, dragging my lips over his shoulder and then down the top of his spine, my fingertips skimming his sides.
"Wake upppp," I coo, returning my mouth to his neck as my hands slide up the expanse of his back. I gently massage his shoulders as my lips latch back onto his neck, sucking on his skin and gently sinking my teeth into the flesh, using my tongue to soothe the sting afterwards. "Have I convinced you enough yet?" I softly purr into his ear, but once again, I get no response. I let out a small huff of annoyance, sitting up on his back again. "Ok, seriously, wake up. I made you a cup of tea and it's getting cold."
This seems to be surprising enough to wake him up. He suddenly throws me off him and easily pushes me into the mattress, knocking the air from my lungs as I lay breathlessly beneath him. "You brought me tea in bed?" he lowly rasps, blinking down at me sleepily. When I just nod in reply, still too breathless to speak, he chuckles quietly, shaking his head in slight disbelief as he eyes me with a look of playful suspicion. "Who are you and what have you done with my Rochelle?"
"Maybe I was just feeling nice," I tell him once I regain my breath, raising one of my fingers to press against his pursed lips. "But shhh, don't tell anyone. It could ruin my street cred."
He just laughs, lips curved into a grin. "Can I tell you something?" he murmurs, and when I nod again, he says, "I don't think there's any better view than seeing you in my bed like this."
I arch an eyebrow suggestively. "Are you sure this is the best view of me?"
His smirk widens even more, green eyes flashing with amusement. "Ok, well, this is the second best view."
"But we're taking things slow," I remind him, trailing my finger down his chest. "So you won't be seeing the best view of me for a while. Maybe not for months...."
"I don't think it'll be that long."
"And why not?"
"Because one of us will crumble soon enough," he grins, playfully tapping me on the nose to indicate that he thinks I'll be the first to give in.
I let out a small gasp, acting offended. "Why do you think it'll be me?"
"Because I know you."
"You don't know me that well."
Harry just smiles, seeming amused at my attempts to argue with him about this. "I think I do."
"Ok, so tell me something about me that not many other people know?"
"Easy," he replies, seeming confident in his ability. "You have a freckle on the inside of your thigh right next to your pussy."
My mouth drops open in slight shock, not expecting him to say something like that, but admittedly still amused by it. I let out a small laugh, shaking my head in disbelief while Harry grins proudly above me. "Wow, that's such a meaningful fact."
"What? I like it," he admits. "It's one of my favourite parts of your body, actually."
I arch an eyebrow. "What, the freckle or my pussy?"
He just smirks, poking his tongue out and sexily running it along his bottom lip. "I don't think I should answer that."
I just shake my head again, playfully shoving him off me with a laugh before pulling myself up, grabbing the mugs from the beside table. "Ok, you need to drink your tea now because I was kind enough to make it for you, and that probably won't happen again," I tell him, handing him his mug.
He accepts it with a smile, taking a sip of his drink and then humming softly in appreciation. "Thank you," he says in reference to the tea, our playfulness from a few seconds ago now drifting away as a more natural, conversational tone settles between us.
I smile at his gratitude, my eyes flickering down to my hands that are wrapped around the warm mug. "I wanted to make a gesture to thank you for being so understanding yesterday," I admit quietly. "I know my weird mood probably seemed a bit out of the blue."
Harry swallows his mouthful of tea before replying, "I was being understanding because I do understand," he replies. "Like I said, I know being down here 24/7 can become overwhelming. Everyone finds themselves feeling a bit stir-crazy. You're probably feeling it even more because you haven't been out on a mission in a while. It'll pass."
I just hum softly behind the rim of my mug, because deep down I know that my weird behaviour over the past day is not down to cabin fever, but more due to immense feelings of guilt from spilling his secret to Milos. The promise of a good nights sleep in Harry's bed was stolen from me last night, as I spent the majority of it tossing and turning, wishing that all the troubling thoughts racing through my mind would stop, while also hoping that I wouldn't wake Harry up with my restlessness as I'm sure he'd have some questions. And one thing that's become quite evident to me over the past few days is that I'm finding it increasingly difficult to lie to him.
Thankfully, I manage to divert the rest of the conversation and we spend the next thirty minutes or so drinking tea amidst our usual playful banter. When we finally decide to get out of bed, we realise it's much later than we thought so I have to quickly rush back to change into my training clothes before heading into the gym. As soon as I walk in, I sense some kind of excited buzz drifting through the air, but everyone is talking over each other so fast that I can barely get a word in edgeways in order to figure out what's going on.
After about ten minutes of confusion, I manage to pull Zayn away from the group conversation to ask him, "What the hell is going on? Why is everyone so hyped up?"
"Apparently Anton's coming to watch us in training today," he tells me, causing my eyebrows to shoot up in surprise. I remember hearing something about how Anton only observers and meets the trainees once they're a few months into training, which we now are, but seeing as I'm not a real trainee here, I never really gave it much thought. "And then he's going to pick the trainee he's most impressed with to accompany one of the trainers on some important mission."
Just as I'm about to reply, the doors of the gym swing open and Louis and Harry walk in, instructing everyone to get started with training. The group is split into two, the first heading into the shooting range to practice while the rest of us stay in the gym, mostly doing cardio, weights or boxing. I lift some weights and then run on the treadmill to waste the hour before the groups switch over and I finally get my hands on a gun again, feeling in my element as I fire off a succession of bullets which all perfectly land in the centre of the target. It's pretty relieving to know that I'm still a good shot even though I haven't practiced in a while.
I'm so caught up in what I'm doing that it takes me a few minutes to notice the shift of atmosphere in the room, which I soon realise is due to Anton strolling through the door. The limited conversation falls to silence due to his presence, the intimidation of the director of the institute observing training clearly taking a toll on everyone. Not that I really blame them; I'm sure if I was actually a trainee here and was the type to get intimidated, I'd probably be feeling the same. But of course, I met Anton months ago and have had multiple conversations with him since, so I'm the only one who seems relatively unbothered by his dark eyes scanning over the group.
However, after receiving a stern look from Harry from across the room, I realise that I should probably act like I'm just as anxious as everyone else in order to blend in. With a small sigh, I turn back to my target and shoot a few more successful shots before deliberately shifting my aim, sending a bullet flying into the wall behind the target. I shake my head to myself in fake disappointment, plastering an anxious expression onto my face to match some of the trainees who are struggling due to their nerves, pretending that I'm equally as affected by Anton's presence. When I glance over at Harry leant against the wall, I find that his lips are curved into a faint smirk of amusement, chuckling quietly to himself in response to my acting.
After about ten more minutes, Anton finally leaves the room and you can practically hear the tension in the room diffuse. Much to the relief of everyone, the training session ends shortly afterwards and we all head to the canteen for some food. I have to continue my acting as the majority of my friend group discuss how scared they were with Anton watching them and complain about how it badly it affected their performance, apart from Niall who seems pretty confident that he's going to get picked by Anton for this so-called 'important' mission.
However, when we're all gathered together on the poolside for the evening training session a few hours later, Zayn strolls out of the changing rooms with an excited look on his face, and after a few of us ask him what's up, he announces, "I got selected to go on the mission!", and Niall's optimism pretty much dies there.
"Wow, that's great, Zayn!" I congratulate him, smiling at him kindly. "You must've really impressed Anton in training today."
"Yeah, good job, mate," Niall says, although his rather monotonous tone is an indication that he isn't too happy about it. "You deserve it."
Zayn just smirks, reaching over to playfully ruffle Niall's blonde hair. "Don't worry, Ni, your time will come."
He just huffs, whacking Zayn's hand away from his head. "I fucking doubt it," he mutters.
Even during training in the pool, Zayn continues to excitedly talk about being selected, and I begin to think that Niall may attempt to drown him if he continues. But nevertheless, our whole friend group is supportive, asking him questions about the mission, although he doesn't really know much about it other than that Louis will be the trainer accompanying him. I'm quite relieved by this news, because although I kind of hate myself for sounding like a needy little bitch, the idea of Harry going away again for an extended period of time isn't very appealing to me.
Speaking of Harry, when I'm walking back through the quiet halls about two hours later once we're done with training, I suddenly feel someone grab my arm and pull me around the corner, and I'm just about to throw a punch before realising it's just him. I let out a small huff, shoving my hand against his chest. "What the fuck are you doing? I almost knocked you out."
"Hmm, sounds fun," he quips back with a playful smirk.
I arch an eyebrow at him doubtfully. "I don't think it would be fun for you. I think you'd be unconscious."
He just hums lowly, lips stretching into a faint grin. "Anyway, I was coming to find you because Anton wants to talk to us in his office," he tells me.
"Why?" I ask curiously. "Hasn't he just picked Zayn for the mission? What does he need to talk to us about?"
"I don't know," Harry shrugs. "You should know by now that Anton doesn't really explain the reasons behind his decisions."
I just nod in agreement, following after Harry as he leads me to the elevators. Once again, I have to act like I can't quite remember where Anton's office is or which floor it's on as it's such a rarity to go visit him, despite the fact that I had already memorised the blueprint of the whole institute days before I came here. I'm starting to think that I'll be an Oscar-worthy actress by the time I leave this place.
When we reach Anton's office, Harry knocks on the door and we wait for his response before heading in, Harry holding open the door for me to walk in first. Just as every other time I've been in this office, Anton is leant back in the chair at his desk with a cigarette dangling between his fingers, the ashtray on his desk already full with stubs from his previous cigarettes of the day. My nose wrinkles at the pungent smell of tobacco and I have to refrain from coughing at the smoke, discreetly and quickly clearing my throat as Anton gestures for Harry and I to take a seat in the two chairs in front of us desk.
"Good evening, you two," he greets us after pulling the cigarette away from his lips. "Thank you for coming. We have rather important matters to discuss." When Anton ducks down to open a drawer in his desk, Harry and I quickly exchange a worried look, both of us growing anxious for what he's about to say next. However, much to our relief, Anton slaps a folder down onto his desk and then says, "I have a very important job for you both."
Harry reaches out for the folder after a gesture from Anton to take it, angling it so I'm also able to see as he flicks open the first page. A small picture is clipped to the top, featuring a middle-aged man in a suit who looks exactly like the stock photos you'd find if you googled the word 'businessman' or 'politician'. Seeming just as confused about the picture as I am, Harry glances up and asks, "Who's this?"
"That," Anton replies, pausing his response to take another drag of his cigarette. "Is Julian Alexander. He's a politician from the Netherlands, but most importantly, he happens to be one of my oldest friends."
While I'm surprised at the fact that Anton has anyone in his life who he'd consider a friend, Harry arches an eyebrow and asks, "You have politicians as friends?"
"Of course I do," Anton replies, practically scoffing at Harry's comment. "If you want any kind of power in this world, you need to have some politicians in your pocket. I'm sure I don't have to tell you that, Harry."
"But what's the important job all about?" I cut in, my eyebrows furrowed. "I thought you picked Zayn for the important mission?"
"Oh, no, that mission isn't anything important," Anton tells me with a small laugh. "I just call it that to give the trainees a kick up the ass to work hard and impress me. The actual mission is pretty basic stuff, collecting some intel, stuff like that. They might have to tail a car, but that's about it. What I'm asking you two to do is not a mission, but a favour."
"A favour?" Harry echoes, and from the tone of his voice I get the impression that Anton has never asked him for a favour before.
"Julian is currently running to be prime minister in the upcoming elections, and he's scheduled to make a speech at one of the final political rallies in Amsterdam," Anton tells us. "The political climate in the country is rather toxic at the moment, and he's received many threats from the opposing parties. He's shared with me that he's particularly fearful for the safety of his teenage daughter who'll be attending the rally." He gestures for Harry to flick to the next page, which features a picture of the daughter, a young, fresh-faced brunette wearing a school uniform and a plaid headband. "Her name is Sofia Alexander, and she's fourteen years old. Obviously, Julian would much prefer her to avoid the rally, but due to the importance of candidates having family values, each candidate needs to have their family present. Julian's campaign doesn't have the expenses for much security other than for himself, so I offered to send two of my most talented and experienced agents out to keep Sofia safe for a few days."
Harry's expression seems to match mine, both unimpressed and unhappy. "A few days? Won't the rally only be a couple hours, at most?"
"Well, yes," Anton nods. "But Julian has expressed that for the safety of his daughter, he'd prefer her to travel separately from the usual procession. So, you two will be collecting Sofia from school on Tuesday and then taking her back to a hotel where you'll stay until the rally on the following Wednesday afternoon. During the rally, Sofia will have to join the crowd along with everything else, but you two will be in position to protect her from any potential threats. However, you won't be disclosed as official security, so no one there will actually know that Sofia has security or that you two are even there at all, which will give you a rather strong advantage."
If anything, Anton's elaboration just makes Harry look even more unimpressed, and I certainly don't blame him. "So you want us to babysit your friend's daughter?" he asks.
"Essentially, yes. But like I said, Julian is one of my dearest and oldest friends. I've promised him that I'm sending out the institute's best, most hardworking and loyal trainer," he shoots Harry a firm look, before turning to face me, "along with one of the most skilled and promising trainees." His dark eyes flit between the both of us, his expression serious and stern. "I've assured him that his daughter will be completely safe in your hands. No matter what it takes."
A.N. Apologies for the delayed update, I struggled finishing this chapter. Not sure why, because I don't have much else to other than write, but anyways. I'm relieved that it's done now. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, even though I don't like it and will probably come back to edit it later.
Any predictions?? Do you think this upcoming mission will go well, or not? Let me know, and remember to vote & comment. Also go check out my new story 'Isabella' if you haven't already, I'd really appreciate it! Hope you're all doing well, speak to you next update x