extra long chapter ahead because I love you guys <3 don't forget to vote and comment.
Ariana's POV.
Sunlight peaked through small cracks in the curtains as I awoke from my deep slumber. I felt someones toned body tightly pressed against mine and their chest softly raise and fall back down as he slowly breathes. The warmth of his body radiates to mine and I feel like sleeping in all day but I know I have to get up soon. Waking up beside Harry is definitely something that I will never get used to.
Without noticing, my arms tightened around his waist, adding more pressure than we had simply lying there. My heart seemed to skip a beat when he rested his arm around my waist. It was strange that everything that this man did seemed to have an effect on me, but I couldn't deny he had held a certain power over me. Now that I was certain that I could not fall back asleep, my arms loosen around Harry. My eyes flutter open and vision is a bit blurry at first until I rub my eyes with the back of my hands, my vision clearing almost instantly.
My eyes met blue ones and I felt a shock through my body, my face twist in confusion and my instincts bring me to my feet within seconds and a horrifying shriek escapes my lips as I see Niall laying in between where Harry and I slept. Within seconds Harry jolts awake and is sitting up before he can even open his eyes.
"What's wrong, baby?" Harry's voice is raspy, laced with sleep and concern. Harry rubs his eyes with the back of his hands and blinks multiple of times before jolting to his feet as soon as he sees Niall sitting up beside him. "What the fuck, Niall?!"
"How the hell did you end up between us?!" I shout, completely surprised.
"Well you fuckers should try sleeping on the couch for a day and see how uncomfortable you are!!" Niall says, his voice raspier than usual.
"You can't just sleep beside Ariana like that!" Harry's voice booms throughout the room. "I don't give a fuck if you slept beside me but you can't just sleep in a bed with her, that's fucked up in so many ways!"
I hold in laughter as Harry shouts. Almost immediately, Harry looks up at me with his nostrils flared and his jaw locked. "Do you think this is a fucking joke?" Harry takes intimidating steps towards me and suddenly I am pushed back up against the wall. "You slept in a bed beside a man you barely even know and you still think this is funny?" Harry whispers, his lips just mere inches below my ear.
I break into fits of laughter and I feel Harry smile against the skin of my neck. "You're lucky we have company." Harry says somewhat seductively and chuckles rumble deep within his chest.
"Merry Christmas, baby." Harry says as he trails his lips back up to mine as he quickly pecks my lips before pressing our foreheads together.
"Merry Christmas, Harry." I wrap my arms around his bare waist and feel the smooth skin of his back as I pull him into an embrace.
Niall clears his throat behind us and I can tell Harry is flipping him off behind me by the way Niall begins to laugh like an idiot. I pull away from Harry and walk over to Niall who is laying on Harry's bed. "Merry Christmas, Niall." I crawl over to him and wrap my arms around his neck as he wraps his arms around my waist briefly before I crawl off the bed and head into the restroom to freshen up.
After I redo my hair, brush my teeth, and use the restroom, I walk out of the restroom and meet Harry and Niall in the living room surrounded around the miniature Christmas tree. Presents wrapped in adorable wrapping paper with bows set on top of them are set around the tree. I take a seat on the floor beside Harry and cross my legs beneath me, Niall sits across from us, beside the presents.
"Merry Christmas, guys, I love you all so much." Niall says once we settle down beside one another.
"We love you too, Niall." Harry gives Niall a small pat on the back and flashes him a knowing smile before swinging his arm around my shoulders. "Let's see what Santa Clause bought us tonight." Harry playfully sticks his tongue out of his lips as he grabs the first box.
"To Niall, from Ariana." Harry announces with a playful, deep voice.
Harry passes the wrapped box to Niall and he quickly rips the paper off. A wide smile spreads across Niall's face when he hold a black case in his hands. He slowly opens it and his smile grows even wider when he pulls out a silver watch. "This is fucking amazing, Ariana." Niall holds the watch in his hand, obviously amused by the thing. He pulls out a small card from the inside of the box and holds it out in front of him, reading my writing.
"Niall, you are one crazy son of a bitch and you are annoying as hell but I am thankful to have such an amazing friend like you in my life. You might think I am a bitch, annoying, crazy, wild, stupid and rude, but regardless of those things I do enjoy your company and I am glad we met. This might be a horrible Christmas card but I hope you enjoyed your presents and I hope you have a great Christmas. Happy Holidays x
- Sincerely, Ariana."
Niall laughs to himself as he finishes reading the card and Harry is already clutching onto his stomach for air as he laughs. "Geez, thanks Ariana that was so sweet." Niall says in a monotone voice.
"No problem." I laugh and mess up his hair a bit until he backs away. "What's next?"
Harry grabs another present set under the lit up tree and reads the tag out loud. "To Edward, from Niall." Harry laughs in regret and flips Niall off.
"Edward? Who's Edward?" I ask.
"That's his middle name!" Niall points to Harry, laughing.
"Harold Edward Styles. That is not so bad actually." I say and Harry rolls his eyes.
"Anyway... To Harry, From Niall." Harry repeats the label before ripping apart the wrapping paper. Harry smiles as he pulls out a pair light brown boots from the box. They are exactly like the ones he has right now but a lot lighter and in better condition.
"I thought you needed new ones. I left the receipt in there in case they were the wrong size." Niall says.
"They're nice, man. Thank you!" Harry praises him with a smile. Niall nods and I reach over a grab a random present.
It is very light in weight and it is wrapped beautifully, this is not from Harry; it is from Niall. "Its for you." Niall says pointing to the box in my hands.
"Really?" I shake the box but there is no sound. "What's in it?"
"Well that's why you open it." Niall laughs and I roll my eyes. I tear open the box and a shocked gasp escaped my lips as a pair of black cat ears are revealed in the box.
"They are adorable!" I squeal, slipping the cat ears on and giving Niall a quick hug. I have plenty of these cat ears but ever since I moved into my apartment, most of them got lost in the boxes or left at my old dorm room. "I love them so much."
"I knew you'd like it, I know you like weird headband shit like that." Niall says and I smile at him.
After a few minutes of laughing at what we got each other, there is one last present set under the tree and I have a feeling it is to Harry from myself.
"To Harold Styles, From Ari."
Harry reads the label out loud before placing the box in his lap. He playfully curls his bottom lip over his top one as he rubs his hands together before wiggling around his fingers to prepare himself for unwrap the present. "I want you to open it with me." Harry says, placing the box between us and resting his hands on top of mine.
"But it's your present." I say.
"So? It will be a lot more special if we open it together." He presses a light kiss on the back of my hand before intertwining our fingers.
"But I already know what you got-"
"Just open the damn present!" Niall interrupts, annoyed with our bickering.
"Fine." I sighed, looking Harry in the eyes for approval to open the present together. He nods and he begins to rip the wrapping paper at one side, my nails clawing the wrapping paper before completely ripping it off. After the paper is thrown on the other side of the room, Harry opens the box's folds and a full smile spreads across his face when he peeks inside. "I'm terrible at giving gifts, I'm sorry." I apologize and Harry quickly looks up at me with clear joy in his eyes.
"Ariana, I- I fucking love it." Harry pulls out the glass mug from the box and examines it as if it is an experiment. He smiles as he reads the cursive writing engraved into the center of the mug. "Always in my heart. Your's truly, Ariana x"
"It's so stupid, I'm sorry." I fiddle with my fingers and suddenly, Harry presses two fingers beneath my chin and forces me to look into his eyes. "I only got it because Niall broke your favorite mug a long time ago when I spent the night here."
"This is not stupid, this is the best gift I have ever gotten in my whole fucking life." Harry says with such emotion in his voice I feel my heart swell. He takes my hand in his and pulls me onto his lap, his arms snake around my waist as mine wrap around his shoulders. He pulls me tightly to his chest as he nuzzles his face into the crook of my neck as he plants a warm, long kiss on the curve of my neck before mumbling, "Thank you."
"It's nothing really." I say as I feel my stomach flutter multiple of times as he peppers short kisses up the length of my neck but before he can crash his lips onto mine, Niall interrupts once again.
"I've seen you guys make out enough times, save it for later when I am not here!"
"Then don't look at us." Harry says as he tries to peck at my lips but I turn my head aside, his lips landing on my jaw.
"You are literally right in front of me, it's hard not to!" Niall runs his hands over his face, annoyed with us already.
"Or I can just kick you out." Harry says and Niall flips us both off as he lays his back against the cool floor, his arms above his head as he stretches and lets out a loud groan.
"It's been one hell of a day." Niall sighs.
"The day just started!" I laugh as Harry tightens the pressure he has around my waist.
I turn around and rest my elbows on Harry's shoulders and lace my fingers through his hair as he lays back against the floor, he props himself on his elbows and takes his bottom lip between blunt teeth as I press our foreheads together. I keep most of my body weight off him by keeping my thighs parted on either side of him.
"I have another surprise for you later on." Harry says, he licks his lips and makes direct eye contact with me.
"So do I." I say. I almost forgot, I have another present for Harry I need to give to him once Niall leaves. I know I will be a puddle of tears once I give it to him.
"Really?"
"Yea, I was saving the best for last of course."
"Is that so?" He inches his face closer to mine and releases his lip from between his teeth.
"Yes, I know you're going to love it though." I smile and give into leaning closer to him.
"I love everything you give me, you should know that by now." He says and I lean down to swipe my lips past his to get a reaction out of him. "Kiss me." His voice is raspy, completely filled with need.
I feverishly nod and press our lips together. He lets himself fall back onto the floor as all my body weights falls on top of him as he deepens the kiss. I feel the familiar feeling in the pit of my stomach and the warmth spread throughout my whole body as he lets his lips linger on mine for a few more seconds before we break apart.
"You mean everything to me, Harry. I mean it, you mean so much to me." I remind him and plant a short kiss on the bridge of his nose. It is true, Harry means so much to me and I want him to know that he means a lot to more people than he thinks.
"You're so cute." He pecks my lips one more time before flipping us over, my back hitting the floor as he hovers over me with his arms separated on either side of my head to support most of his weight from falling back on me.
"Shut up." I feel every emotion and my heart ache as I look up at this beautiful man on top of me. I stare at the gloss in his eyes, the wide smile spread across his face, the deep dimples carved into his cheeks, the perfect tan glow of his skin, the dark ink on his muscular arms. Everything about Harry is so damn beautiful. He is so caring and childish all at once, I do not care if he switches moods in an instant, I do not care if he drives me insane, I do not care if he says cruel things to me when he does not mean it, I don't care about any of those things. I like Harry for who he really is, and I'd be damned if I didn't have him in my life. I feel the familiar knot in my throat as I stare at him, but I swallow it back, refusing to cry in front of him. I don't know what has gotten into me lately. I have been so emotional lately. "Harry?"
"Yeah?" Harry says, his hot breath fanning against my face.
"I..." I bite on my lip to hold back the words that I feel, every damn word that is meant to say but too afraid to say them. "I love-"
"Still here, guys." Niall interrupts for about the third time in these past two nights. I almost forget Niall was still here, I was too consumed by Harry and what I feel for him even to take notice that Niall was still in the room with us. Harry climbs off me and lays beside me. "I literally saw you making out with her." Niall says, pointing in my direction. "That was fucking disgusting, please save it for later before I hurl all over your carpet."
"And how do you think I felt when I walked in on you getting it on with your one night stand?" Harry cocks his eyebrow up and smirks. I burst into laughter and watch as Niall flips Harry off.
Niall smiles as at the memories of him and the mystery girl together as if it were yesterday. "We should eat something now." Niall says, changing the subject.
"You're right, I'm starving." I haven't noticed that I am hungry until right now that I actually said it.
"You guys can make yourselves something, I got a whole ton of food." Harry says, yawning as he lays back against the carpet and tucks his arms behind his head, the inked skin on his rib cage expanding as he stretches.
"Are you going to eat?" I ask Harry as I stand to my feet.
"I'm not hungry." He shrugs.
"You're never hungry, Harry." I whisper, rolling my eyes.
"Yes I am, I just don't happen to be hungry right now." Harry stands to his feet and towers over me just by a few inches, nearly a foot.
"Okay... But you are going to eat something right now, you have to." I take my hand in his and drag him into the kitchen and we see Niall pull out chocolate chips from the pantry.
"Cookies?" Harry asks Niall.
"What is Christmas without cookies?! But first, how the hell do you make cookies?" Niall asks, scratching the back of his neck as he takes out all of the ingredients we need.
"I'll make them." Harry offers, releasing my hand and pushing Niall aside to help prepare the cookies.
"Good. Less work for me then." Niall smiles as he disappears into the living room, leaving Harry and I alone.
Harry knits his eyebrows together as he finishes mixing the ingredients in the bowl.
"Babe- I mean Ari, will you finish mixing this while I turn on the oven." Harry asks as he sets the bowl aside.
I nod and walk over to the bowl, I grab the wooden spoon and finish mixing it. I swipe a glob of dough off the spoon and lick it off my finger.
"I don't think that's healthy." Harry says as he watches me over his shoulder.
I swipe another glob of dough off the rim of the bowl and walk over to Harry, offering it to him. "It's real good." I try to transfer it to his fingers but he takes my wrist in his hand and bring my finger into his mouth and wraps his lips around it. He flicks his warm tongue relentlessly over my finger and I feel the room temperature rise as he lowers his eyes at me. I pull my finger out of his mouth and he smiles widely as my cheeks splash a bright color of pink.
"That's enough." I pat his chest and lean against him to press my lips to the corners of his mouth and tangling our fingers together as I rest my head on his chest.
-
"Thank you so much for everything." Niall says as he slips on his thick coat and pulls me into an embrace.
"Wait!!" Harry dashes into the kitchen to get something for Niall.
I smile at Niall and he takes my hand in his and pulls me closer to him, "Ariana?"
"Mhmm?" I hum, keeping my voice low like his.
"Don't let go of, Harry. He needs you." Niall sighs.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean that Harry really does need you to keep himself sane. I've known him for years and I am pretty sure you already know the condition he is in but you are like his backbone, he needs you to keep himself from falling." Niall's words are rushed, possible afraid that Harry might catch us.
"What?"
"Just listen to me. Harry needs you a lot more than you need him. I know he can switch moods really fast," Niall knows about Harrys mood swings too? "And I know he is an asshole at times but regardless of all of that, something is really wrong with him and I believe that you are helping him overcome whatever he is in right now." Niall breaks eye contact from me to check behind us.
"Got it?" Niall says.
Right as I am about to nod, Harry walks into the room with a jar of leftover cookies and a bow set on top of it.
"Here." Harry passes the jar to Niall. Niall gives him a silent "thank you" as he carries all of his presents in a bag.
"Thank you guys again, I had a great time." Niall hugs Harry one last time before exchanging an awkward embrace with me. "See you later?" Niall asks us both and Harry and I nod in unison.
"Drive safely." Harry calls out as Niall walks out of Harry's apartment. He shuts the door behind him and flashes me a wicked smile as he locks it. He takes long strides over to me and presses his hands to either side of my face. I think he is going to kiss me again but instead he wraps his arms around my body and pulls me into an embrace. I wrap my arms around his waist and press his chest tighter to mine.
"Let's go give you your last present." Harry mumbles into my hair before lacing our fingers together and taking me to his bedroom to give me the best present of all.
I sit on the edge of Harry's bed and he walks into his closet. Seconds later he is back to my side with a small box wrapped up in cute wrapping paper. I feel the mattress sink beside me as Harry sits, his pupils dilated as he stares at me with wide eyes. I smile down at the poorly wrapped gift and slowly begin to rip it apart, the scraps left abounded on the floor. Once it is fully unwrapped, a small black box with my name engraved into it is shown. I slowly open it and a gasp escapes my lips as a beautiful necklace comes to view. I pull out the silver necklace out of its box and run my thumb over the small "H" charm dangling from the middle of it. The charm has small shiny diamond beads inside of it and has a shiny silver rim around it.
I look up at Harry and swallow the tears threatening to form. Harry's cheeks are flushed and he holds a nervous smile on his face.
"Harry, it's so beautiful." I sob and close the space between us, pulling him into the tightest most emotional embrace we have ever shared. "Thank you it's just so beautiful and thoughtful. I love it." I hold the necklace tightly to my chest and wipe the tears streaming down my face.
"It's so you can always remember me. To always have a piece of me in your heart even if I'm not there with you." Harry says. He places his warm hand over my heart and plants a small kiss on my forehead. Although it is beautiful, Harry didn't need to get me this, I will always have a piece of him in my heart through whatever happens.
Harry's POV.
"It's so beautiful, Harry. Thank you." She praises me again and I just continue to smile at her in awe. Even while crying she is beautiful. What shocked my the most was that she even cried at my gift, I did not think she would love it that much. "Now I have your present." Ariana says, planting a small kiss on my cheek before walking over to the side of my bed that she usually sleeps on and pulls out her purse from under the bed. She zips it open and pulls out a paper card with my name written in the front of the envelope.
"This is for you." She crawls onto the bed and I lean my back against the headboard as she sits crisscross beside me. I take the envelope from her hands and take the time to adore the little heart shaped doodles on the corners of the envelope. She watches me as I open the envelope and pull out a paper with her handwriting written all over the paper. I sit up straight and clear my throat. Then, I begin to read the sweet words this woman wrote all for me.
"Harold Styles,
I am not the best writer, but as you can tell I am trying my best to impress you with my somewhat sweet letter. I write with no intention on paining you, humbling myself, I only write this letter to give you happiness.
Harry Styles, you are annoying, you are an asshole, you are stupid, you are crazy, you are wild, you are lovable, you are caring, you are humble, you are sweet, you are thoughtful, you are just an overall amazing person. You make me smile when I am not happy, you make me feel terrible when you say something cruel to me, you make me upset when you're upset, you drive me wild with your mood swings, you scare me when I do not speak to you in a few days; you make me feel so many things Harry but regardless of everything, you make me happy. You bring me so much happiness when I see you smile and I am glad I am sometimes the reason for that beautiful smile of yours. You are lame, Harold. Real damn lame and you are not funny most of the time but every time you crack a joke on me or even try to make me smile just by hugging me or annoying me, I add another reason to the list why I have fallen for you. I love the way you are playful, I love the way you act like a child most of the time and I love the way you can be so playful but serious in an instant, I love how I can trust you with anything and I know you will not tell anyone because you are someone who is very trustworthy and most of the time I do not deserve your trust but I am so glad I have it. You have a million reasons to hate me, Harry; I am annoying, I am a bitch to you, I say cruel things to you, I take advantage of your trust and everything you give me, I put you through so many things and I do not blame you if you hate me but I just wanted you to know that whatever it is, I am here for you. Do not think I feel pity for you because I do not, I care for you, Harry. I care for you a lot more than you think and so do other people. I know sometimes you may feel upset and I understand, but I still want you to know that you can call me whenever you need to. It does not matter if we are arguing at the moment, (because we seem argue a lot more than regular people do) you can always come to me if you need me. I hope that what ever advice I give you will make you feel better even if it is not that good. Whatever you need I will be here because I take great responsibility into this and I hope you know that I am rooting for you every step of the way into recovery. I am willing to spend the rest of my life letting you know that you are worth a lot more than you think, Harry. Thank you for being simply, you. This letter was not supposed to be this long but I guess I just care about you more than I thought, which is a whole ton.
Merry Christmas, Harold Edward Styles. I wish you the best and many more.
- Your's Truly, Ariana Grande x"
I sit and stare at the paper for a few more minutes, rereading it a few more times until I realize that I am swallowing back the vile rising in my throat and blinking away the upcoming tears. This is not that I expected. I expected something totally different from this, the opposite actually, but this is truly beautiful. This is the best gift I have ever got in my life, even better than the mug she gave me. Although it was beautiful, this letter has so much more value and truth. I love every paragraph, every sentence, every sweet word that comes straight from her heart. This woman has never meant more to me in my whole life as I stare at her, her eyes glossy and so are mine. I do not know what to say, I am speechless at her beautiful letter. I feel like silence is the best option right now and set the letter aside before taking my hands in hers and pulling her towards me to sit on my lap like she was earlier.
"I loved it." I break the silence.
"You did?" She says, her expression shocked as if she didn't know.
"Every single damn word. I love everything about it really." I press a gentle kiss to her neck and she shudders at the contact of my warm lips against the exposed skin of her neck.
"I meant it though, I meant every words on that letter, Harry." Her voice is soft and I feel the vile rise in my throat again.
"Alright. I think that's enough before I begin to cry like a bitch on Christmas Day." I wipe the corners of my eyes with my thumbs and I feel Ariana's hands press against my cheeks as she pulls me closer to her.
She plants small kisses all over my face except my lips, my nose, my cheeks, my eyelids, my chin, my forehead, but not the place I ache for her the most. I wrap my arms around her and she lays her head against my chest. Her eyes flutter shut and her breathing slows as she lays in my arms. "You mean everything to me." I whisper into her ear before planting one last small kiss on her forehead. And in this moment, I realize that I have fallen a lot harder for this woman than I would usually allow. As I close my eyes shut and I hope that one day we can lay like this forever, with no problems, no worries, but with simply love.
-
MERRY CHRISTMAS MY LOVES 🎅🎄🌟 OH MY GOSH I HOPE YOU ALL GOT EVERYTHING YOU EVER ASKED AND WISHED FOR BECAUSE YOU REALLY DO DESERVE THE BEST. I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH AND I HOPE YOURE SUPER GRATEFUL AND HAPPY FOR EVERYTHING YOU HAVE AND THANK GOD FOR ALL THAT HE GIVES YOU BECAUSE EVEN THOUGH THINGS GET ROUGH SOMETIMES, REGARDLESS OF EVERYTHING LIFE IS REALLY BEAUTIFUL AND WE SHOULD ALL BE GRATEFUL FOR EVERY DAY OF LIFE BECAUSE IT IS A GOOD LIFE.
I am updating so late at night because I literally had to write more than half of this today because I wanted to post the Christmas chapter on Christmas Day so at least I updated on Christmas Day 💖
also this chapter is so long because these past few chapters have been quite boring and shorter than I usually allow so yeah and also because we reached 5k reads so fast and I am so so so so so happy for that you guys make me so happy and you just made my day I love you all so much I am so grateful for everything you guys do for me.
please do not forget to vote and comment on this chapter because I had so much fun writing it so please vote and comment it would mean the world to me!!
and if you want please let me know what you got for Christmas, I wanna interact with you guys and see if we got the same things lol!
all the love x thank you for everything and I hope you had an amazing Christmas 💘✨