A/N: Comment as you read, yeah? You guys are making a stellar job at helping this story to succed. Please don't stop <3
CAMI:
I wanted to remember the look on Harry’s face for the rest of my life. It was a mixture of horror and embarrassment. The top of his ears were beetroot red, and his mouth and eyes were wide open as he stared around at the nude art. Personally, I’d seen my fair share of nude statues over the past three months, so I didn’t mind being here.
Actually, the only thing that bothered me right now was the fact that I didn’t have my camera to make this moment last forever. Harry’s expression was art in itself—I’d never seen such a perfect mixture of conflicting emotions before.
But most importantly, it was just plain funny. I coughed lightly, trying to hide my laugh.
A waiter came by with a tray filled with champagne flutes, and I saw Harry grab two before he turned back to me. He chugged one glass of champagne instantly.
“I figure this isn’t what you’d expected?” I asked, trying to keep my amusement out of my voice.
“Nope,” he said. “Not at all.” He stared around the room once, his eyes scanning quickly over the surface of most of the art. Then he chugged the second glass of champagne.
“Maybe we should just go,” he said and wiped his mouth. He glanced back, looking longingly at the door.
“Why?” I frowned.
“Do you want to be here?” His eyes widened as he looked back at me.
I shrugged. “It’s just bodies. You have seen them before, right?”
Harry scoffed. “Of course, I have. It’s just so…” He paused as a waitress in a black miniskirt walked by us. “So naked.”
Looking around, I saw a stand filled with little folders about the exhibition. I walked over to grab one, and then returned to Harry. Opening the folder, I read out loud.
“Celebrating the human body in both erotic and non-erotic ways, the artist Julio D’Angelo has created masterpieces using several materials to show off his admiration of the most advanced species on earth.”
“Admiration, huh?” Harry said and averted his eyes from a very curvy statue to his right. “I can see that.”
“Come on,” I said. “At least let’s look around. Maybe I can get some inspiration for my next shoot.”
Upon hearing that, he looked horrified, but finally nodded with a sigh. “Okay then. But don’t you dare leave me alone in here. You’re staying right next to me this entire time.”
This time, I couldn’t hold it in; I laughed heartily. “Okay, Harry. I’ll hold your hand while we look at the big scary breasts.”
He stuck his tongue out at me but scooted closer just a moment later. I simply shook my head at him and began to walk around.
There was an open area with people scattered around. Most of them were dressed in formal clothes, and I realized that they were all older than Harry and me. As we walked around, I overheard little snippets of conversations.
“… In India the Hindu God, Shiva was worshiped much more in the form of his phallus or lingam…”
“… Hermes, the Greek messenger god, was depicted on herms with a phallus…”
“… In Hinduism, the yoni is the counterpart to Shiva’s lingam…”
It was all quite interesting, but I wasn’t here to listen to debates about Hinduism or any other religion. I glanced at Harry, who was struggling to find somewhere safe to look. It was kind of adorable. I smirked lightly and led him over to a large painting on the far wall.
“What do you think about this?” I asked and gestured to a massive pink piece. I’d read about this one before and wanted to have some fun with it.
He looked up quickly. “Uhm.. It’s a lot of pink. Kinda looks like a fluffy pillow. Why?” He glanced at me. “What?”
I was struggling to contain myself, covering my mouth with my hand, I said, “Take a closer look.”
He did and frowned. “It’s really just different shades of pink mixed together.”
“Look at the title.” I held my stomach, fighting against the laughter cramps.
He bowed down and read. “The inside of—no way.” He looked up at the painting, then back at the title until he finally settled on me. “That is not what the insides of a vagina look like, is it?” he asked with wide eyes.
That’s when I lost it. I burst out laughing, heaving for air to avoid making too much noise. I reached for Harry and leaned my head on his chest. Clutching his shirt tight, I tried to hide the fact that I was literally crying with laughter. He was just so darn adorable.
“I’ve heard that breathing is a neat thing,” he whispered near my ear.
His breath sent chills down my spine, and I was abruptly shaken from my own amusement. It helped me calm myself down, and finally, I pulled away. With one finger, I wiped beneath my eyes, trying to remove any excess mascara.
“Is my make-up ruined now?” I asked.
“Let me see.” Harry reached out and made me look up. Gently, he wiped beneath my right eye, and then smiled. “You’re all good.”
“Sorry for that,” I said. “I just couldn’t resist it.”
“It’s fine,” he muttered. “I probably would have done the same if the roles were reversed.” He waved at the waiter, who came over with a full tray of champagne. Once again, he took two glasses.
“Are you trying to get drunk or something?” I asked.
He nodded. “Yup. I’m going to need it if I’m going to be surrounded by naked boobs all night.” Then he chugged one glass, placing the empty one back on the tray.
I watched, curious if he was that uncomfortable in reality. I felt somewhat sorry for teasing him now. On a whim, I grabbed two glasses too, chugging one of them quickly while saving the second for later.
Harry looked with surprise, cocking an eyebrow.
“I’m going to join you,” I said and smiled. “Can’t have you suffering alone.”
He placed a hand on his heart. “My heroine. Thank you.”
I raised my glass and cheered with him. “Let’s walk around some more, yeah?”
He nodded reluctantly, eying the tray of champagne with longing. “I’ll be back,” he whispered to it and then followed me.
I stopped in front of glass sculpture. “What do you think of that?”
Harry looked once. “They look nice.”
“They…?” I snickered. “I meant the statue, Harry. Not just that part of her.”
“Oh…” His cheeks flared red, and he averted his eyes. “I was talking about the statue.”
“Right…” I grinned. “So, what’s your deal with this place anyway?”
“What do you mean?”
“Why are you being so awkward?” I asked. “Before, you used to be the one to tease me about anything naughty.”
He looked at his shoes and muttered something I couldn’t hear.
“Sorry, what?” I leaned in closer.
“It’s just that…” He looked around and then sighed. “There are so many boobs. It’s throwing me completely off my game.”
“There’s penis here too,” I said and pointed to a statue not too far from us.
He rolled his eyes. “That doesn’t help at all.”
I sipped my drink. “Who would have thought you were so innocent?”
“Please…” He scoffed. “I can be badass.”
“Uh-huh.” I wasn’t convinced.
“You don’t believe me?” He chugged the rest of his glass and grabbed a new one from a passing waiter. “I’ll show you.”
Intrigued, I waited for what he was going to do. He looked around, and settled on a young couple who was admiring a marble sculpture of what resembled a big dildo-shaped rock. He walked over to them and stood beside them while studying the art.
I tiptoed closer, excited for what came next. And then Harry said, “I heard somewhere, that this is the perceived actual size of Zeus’ junk.”
Gasping, the married couple sent Harry an odd look before they walked away in haste. Harry turned to me with a big grin on his face.
“See?” he said. “I can be blunt.”
“Okay, okay.” I laughed. “I believe you. Poor couple, though.”
“I’m sure they’ll get over it,” he said.
After that, a lot of the awkwardness was dissolved. We spent the rest of the night, grabbing champagne flutes while walking around, pretending to be a couple of art enthusiasts. Whenever we walked to a new piece, we took turns making up a story about it.
We came across a statue of a man and a woman in a very compromising situation. It was appropriately named ‘Kama Sutra’. I tilted my head, trying to figure out how it was even possible, and then looked at Harry as it was his turn to make up a story.
He studied it while stroking an imaginary beard. “Ah yes,” he said in a solemn voice. “I’ve heard that this particular piece is said to depict the exact same position that brought Freya—the Norse Goddess of Love—to life. It’s said to bring beautiful females if you conceive while using this.”
I snickered lightly. He was so adorable. He winked at me while I laughed. I took another sip of my drink and fanned myself. It had gotten hot in here.
“Are you okay?” Harry asked.
My whole world was starting to feel like I was on a carousel, and I felt somewhat queasy. Taking another sip of my glass, I tried to settle my dizziness by leaning against the wall.
“Whoa there,” Harry caught me before I fell over. Apparently, the wall hadn’t been as close as I thought.
“How much did you get to eat today?” he asked.
I shrugged and began to giggle. Why was he so serious? Looking up at him, I decided to poke his cheek. It felt just as soft as it looked.
“I think you’re pretty,” I said.
He chuckled, making his chest vibrate next to me. “I think you’re drunk.”
Frowning, I nodded. “I think you’re right.”
“Come on, princess. Let’s get you home.” He took my arm, half-carrying my weight as we walked towards the wardrobe to get his jacket.
As he talked to the girl, I leaned on the counter. She looked at me, and I leaned closer to her. “Did you know,” I whispered. “That you’re standing in front of Harry Styles?” I pointed to Harry.
She smiled at me. “I’ve noticed, yes.”
“You can’t tell anyone,” I whispered. “But he’s totally adorable.” I giggled and almost tumbled over.
Harry pulled me to his side. “Have a lovely evening,” he said to the girl, and then half-carried me outside. We stood on top of the stairs, and I looked down at it with a frown on my face.
“What is it?” he asked as he put the jacket on my shoulders.
“I don’t think my heels will agree with those,” I said and pointed to the steps in front of me.
“Oh…” Harry paused. “Uhm. I can carry you?”
Shaking my head, I placed a hand on his shoulder and took off my shoes. “No need.”
The concrete was cold beneath my feet, and I stepped carefully down the stairs. One step at a time. Harry, who was looking more and more concerned, had his arms ready to catch me in case I tripped.
If I hadn’t been concentrating so hard on trying to walk, I would have scowled at him. He apparently didn’t know how art students partied. But then again, how could he? I hadn’t exactly mentioned our usual Friday Bar at the school. Actually, there were still a lot of things I hadn’t said.
Like, for example, that I was still completely head over heels for him.
The car was already waiting for us, and I tried to remember when Harry had called for it. I realized it must have been while I was focusing on the stairs, shrugging it off and got into the backseat. Harry went around and got in from the other side.
“How are you feeling?” he asked. “Are you going to be sick? I can get you a bag or something—”
“I’ll be fine,” I said, interrupting him. “I’m just tired.”
“We’ll be at Gillian’s soon.” He placed his hand on the middle seat, right next to mine.
Grabbing my phone in my purse, I texted Annie to let her know that I was on my way home. As we drove, I looked out of the window. My hand scooted just an inch closer to Harry’s to see what his reaction would be. When he didn’t say react at all, I didn’t know how to interpret it.
In all honesty, I didn’t want this evening to end. For most of the evening, we’d put away everything else and just had fun together. I liked the way he made me feel, even when we were just fooling around.
I contemplated telling him what I felt, but when I glanced over at him, he was staring at his phone. Like so many times in the past, I was curious about who he was texting. It was quite useless, though. I knew that it wasn’t any of my business.
The car turned around the corner, and I began to recognize the buildings. We weren’t so far from the school now. A sad feeling came over me, and I tried to think of something—anything—that could make this moment last longer. I didn’t want to say goodbye to him yet.
And we stopped. Harry was the first person out of the car, running around to offer me a hand. I took it, gratefully, smiling at him as I stepped out. My shoes were still in my hand, and a fleeting thought reminded me to wash my feet the moment I came into my dorm.
“So…” Harry said.
“So…” I repeated, looking up at him through my eyelashes. What was I supposed to say?
“I had fun tonight.” Harry smiled innocently and averted his eyes. “Would you… Maybe we could go out again another time?”
A swarm of butterflies erupted in my stomach for the first time in months. “I would love that,” I said with a smile.
He met my eyes again, smiling brightly. “Great.”
We stood there, simply staring at each other for a while. Surprised, I realized that it wasn’t awkward at all. I just couldn’t believe he was standing in front of me. Our eyes met, and I tried to guess what he was thinking. I was just about to lean in when he averted his eyes and cleared his throat.
Torn from my mental haze, I looked to the ground. “Right,” I said. “Well… I should probably go inside.”
“Do you want me to walk you?” he asked.
I shook my head. “Annie should be on her way out here to get me, I’ll be okay.”
“Okay then.”
He sounded disappointed, but that could have been a figment of my own wishful thinking. I turned on my heels and took a few steps.
“Cami, wait…” he called.
I jerked around in time to see him close the distance between us. His right arm snaked around my waist, pulling me closer while his left hand went behind me neck. I dropped my shoes and looked up at him: he was leaning down. Closing my eyes, I felt him press his lips to mine.
A tingling feeling in my stomach made me gasp, but then I relaxed in his arms. Succumbing to all the want, need, and lust, I gave into the kiss. Everything felt so right.
When he finally pulled away, he leaned his forehead to mine and whispered, “Just in case… Sweet dreams, love.”
I didn’t understand what he was saying, but he didn’t give me a chance to ask. Once my mind had cleared enough for me to form a coherent thought, he was already at his car, looking back at me with a loving smile and a wink.
Confused, I turned around and saw a group of paparazzi’s in the bushes. Annie was staring from the sidewalk with an open mouth. Hastily, I bent down to grab my shoes and then almost ran over to her.
“What was all that about?” she asked, nudging me gently.
I just shook my head—I didn’t want to talk about it. The kiss had felt so real and fantastic, but a nagging feeling in the back of my mind, made me think he only kissed me to please the paparazzi.
A headache was starting to form, and as I walked back to my dorm, I had only two thoughts on my mind:
Did he actually want to kiss me? Or had it been all for show?
A/N: Give this a vote, maybe? If you guys keep at it, I might even get this story into the top 50 on the fanfic list. I'm crossing my fingers at least.