the song for this chapter is "Itchin' On A Photograph," by Grouplove :)
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I'm itchin' on a photograph
Yeah I'm scratching on a thermostat
Yeah I'm giving up on looking back
Yeah I'm letting go of what I had
Yeah I'm itchin' on a photograph
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Tate
In life, there are very few reminders that you are human stronger than the pounding feeling of a hangover.
I sat up in the bed, one of Harry's large t-shirts draped over my body, and immediately threw my head back down onto the pillow.
There was also an ache between my legs, a wonderful ache at that and I smiled up at the ceiling and blushed as I recalled the events of last night, but I stopped myself before I got all horned up all over again.
I felt Harry stirring in the bed next to me, one of his arms draping over my waist and pulling me in closer.
"Can we just stay in bed all day?" He mumbled with his face halfway burrowed into the pillow.
I rolled over onto my side to face him, sighing and tugging the covers that I kicked down in my sleep back up to my chin.
"I wish, but probably not," I chuckled, smiling when Harry pouted his bottom lip out, his eyes still scrunched shut.
Suddenly, Harry's eyes snapped open, filled with panic.
"Please tell me you remember last night," he practically begged, and my heart lurched as his worry.
I reached a hand out towards him and cupped his cheek. "Yes, baby. I remember everything. I consented to it one hundred percent," I reassured him, and he sighed in relief.
"Okay, good. I just, I would feel so awful if I did something that you regretted in the morning," he admitted, and I stroked my thumb across his cheek.
"I know, but you don't need to worry. I would have done it all over again sober too," I replied, my tone being a little cheeky and believe it or not, causing Harry Styles, infamous assassin, to blush.
"I love you," he whispered, placing his hand on top of my own, giving it a light squeeze.
"I love you more," I giggled back at him, "what do you say we take a shower really quick before assessing the damage downstairs?" I suggested, and Harry groaned.
"I don't even want to think about what the downstairs looks like. Or, better yet, who is downstairs," He chuckled pulling the covers completely over his head, trying to hide from the reality that was just a mere staircase away.
I smirked to myself and stood up, ignoring the shaky feeling in my legs caused by a mixture of the hangover and some of the best, most rough sex I had had in my life, and faced the bed, still wearing nothing but Harry's t-shirt.
"Okay, if you want to stay in bed all day, that's fine, but I think I'll go ahead and hop in the shower," I shrugged, reaching for the ends of the shirt.
Harry pulled down the covers so that just his eyes were visible, looking like a cheeky little teenager.
I sighed and lifted the shirt over my head, leaving me completely naked, before holding the shirt out at arm's length, and letting it fall to the floor.
"I'll see you later I gue-" I began, but I was cut off as Harry threw the covers off of his body, and practically flew right in front of me, wasting no time in scooping me up in his arms, and walking with me into the bathroom.
And that, ladies, is how you get your man out of bed.
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In a fresh set of clothes, and with my damp hair hanging down my back, Harry and I walked hand in hand downstairs, bracing ourselves more and more with each hesitant step we took down the staircase.
When we finally rounded the corner and into the living room, Harry slapped his hand on his forehead in agony.
There were cups everywhere, crumpled up cans, and the batteries in the party lights we had bought were already almost burned out, pathetically flicking on and off in the well-lit room.
I glanced over on the couch to see Will and a girl whose name I could not remember snuggled up under a blanket, clothed from at least the waist up, thankfully.
Niall and Izzy were sat at the bar, and she was running her fingers through his hair while he rested his forehead against the messy countertop, a glass of water wrapped loosely in his hand.
I wasn't sure where Abel was, but I imagined he was still asleep.
Izzy perked up at the sound of our footsteps, blushing as though she had just been caught for something.
"Goodmorning guys, sorry, I know you said everyone out by three, I'll leave in a few minutes," she babbled, looking mainly at Harry, wincing a bit like he was going to snap.
But Harry simply waved her off, going over to one of the bags on the counter and pulling out a new bottle of aspirin, cracking the seal open and dumping a bunch of them on the counter, free for grabs.
"Don't worry about it, Iz, take your time, it's a slow morning for everyone," he laughed, and her eyes widened in surprise.
"Oh, well...thank you," she replied, looking phased at Harry's nonchalant response.
"Could you guys please talk a little quieter?" Niall whined, lifting his head up slowly and revealing that he was wearing black sunglasses, trying to block out the sunlight as well as his hangover.
Harry rolled his eyes and slid a handful of aspirins over towards Niall and Izzy, who were quick to take them.
I grabbed two and popped them into my mouth, taking a swig of water from Harry's glass to wash them down.
"Is it just you two who decided to stay the night?" Harry asked, jerking his thumb towards Will and the mystery girl on the couch.
"Actually, it was me, Lillian, and-" she began, but was cut off by a new set of footsteps entering the room.
Abel appeared, stretching his arms high above his head, his hair tousled in all different directions, and his glasses perched crookedly on his nose.
I was about to say hello, when instead, my jaw dropped as Adelaide trailed not far behind him, her body covered in a pair of Abel's sweatpants and an old flannel shirt.
If I had considered my jaw to be dropped, then Harry's was on the fucking floor as he took in the sight of them.
He raised a finger towards the pair, an amused smile growing on his face, causing his dimples to make a guest appearance.
"Did...did you-"
Abel's face grew bright red and he quickly cut Harry off.
"Oh my fuck, Styles. Shut it, we all know you and Tate were knocking the headboard last night too," he countered, and now it was my turn to become a human tomato.
Adelaide lifted a small hand over her mouth to stifle her embarrassed giggles, and Harry just chuckled in amazement.
"The fuck are you lot so loud for?" Will groaned from his place on the couch, Lillian sitting up and rubbing her tired eyes.
Soon, he and Lillian were coming to join Abel and Adelaide in gulping down aspirins, and Harry pulled out a pan to make some breakfast for everyone. I helped him by taking on the grueling task of putting bread in the toaster.
We all ate and chatted softly, no one wanting to have to make the effort to speak at a normal volume, so we were essentially just whispering.
I felt much better after I got some food into my system, although the remnants of my hangover were still holding on, making sure to remind me not to take that many shots again any time soon.
I had to admit, as much as I loved being around the guys, it was nice to have some other girls around, especially ones who weren't trying to kill me or my boyfriend.
After a slow and lazy start to the morning, we all said our goodbyes to the girls, promising to keep in touch, all three of the boys pecked their ladies on the lips before walking them to the door, and I think it was safe to say they all had crushes, especially Niall.
"We should visit them more, and vice versa," I suggested, and Niall's eyes lit up a bit.
"Yeah, I agree," Harry added, leaning on the counter with his elbows and propping his head up in his hands.
"I'd like that a lot," Niall smiled, pulling out his phone and opening up his camera roll, his eyes widening.
"Oh my...that's...interesting," Abel laughed, pointing at a picture of Niall laying across the counter with an empty beer case on his head.
We flicked through a few more of the embarrassing photographs, one of them being Harry with me on his shoulders, a beer in each of his hands, and a shot in each of mine, another one of Abel and Niall, a selfie, and one of Will striking a hilarious pose.
We went through the camera roll until we reached the picture we took yesterday at the castle.
"Ah, there it is, the Christmas card picture," Niall smiled, and we all craned our necks to get a view of the photo on the tiny screen.
"You know Harry carved both of your initials on that wall, right?" Will asked, and I tilted my head back to find a bashful Harry, looking sheepish at the exposure of his sweet gesture.
"You did?" I asked softly, and Harry smiled and nodded.
"I carved a poorly drawn penis," Niall announced, ruining the sweet moment between Harry and me.
"Of course you did," Abel scoffed, pulling his laptop open, "here, send it to me and I'll pull it up on my laptop so we can try and find your beautiful artwork."
It took a minute before Abel got the picture to load on his screen, and he began zooming in until, sure enough, a doodle of a penis was found near Niall's head.
We all laughed until tears were forming our eyes, Abel lifting up his glasses and wiping the corner of his eyes.
"Okay, and I think Harry carved your initials somewhere around...oh! Right here!" he exclaimed, pointing out the H.S. and T.B. carved side by side and my heart fluttered again.
I reached for Harry's hand and gave it a squeeze, silently showing him my appreciation, while we continued to look at the wall and see what other things had been inscribed on it throughout the years.
There were more initials, more funny messages, and little doodles that had been scribbled onto the old brick, and I squinted and leaned forward trying to make out one of the carvings.
It looked like a heart, but there was a message in the center of it.
"Abel, zoom in right here," I instructed, pointing towards the heart. He zoomed in and waited for all of the pixels to adjust and clear up, and I read it.
"It's just a date," Abel spoke, looking at me in confusion.
I was about to dismiss the whole thing, but then I read the date again.
April 23, 2020.
"What's today's date?" I asked, as I truly had no concept of what month we were even in.
Abel glanced down at the calendar app at the bottom of his screen.
"April 9," he replied, still looking just as perplexed, and I lifted my head to see the rest of the boys looking at me like I had two heads as well.
"Guys, that's two weeks from today. Why would someone carve a date that hasn't even happened yet?" I asked, not sure why the matter was nagging at me so much.
"Maybe it's a wedding date or something," Will shrugged, and I nodded at the possibility.
I leaned closer and peered down at the heart, noticing something else below the date, near the bottom of the heart.
"Can you zoom in any more?" I asked, shifting my eyes over to Abel.
"Yeah, sure," he nodded, making the image on the screen even larger.
Will leaned forward and squinted, reading out the initial's that were causing a cold sweat to form on my skin.
"It says...C.B. why?" he asked, looking up at me.
I was silent, but Abel was now looking at me in complete clarity, his eyes wide. I felt Harry's hand clamp down on my shoulder, making sure that I was steady.
"What does C.B. stand for, Tate?" Niall asked hesitantly.
I gulped and closed my eyes for a moment, trying to gather myself, before opening them again.
"C.B. stands for Christopher Bridges...and Christopher Bridges...is my father."
AN: WOAH! I BET YOU WEREN'T EXPECTING THAT?!?!? WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS? WHAT DO YOU THINK THE DATE MEANS?!?!? AND ABEL AND ADELAIDE! AHHHHHH! ILY ALL SO MUCH! PLEASE DON'T FORGET TO VOTE AND COMMENT! I WILL HAVE THE NEXT UPDATE UP AS SOON AS POSSIBLE! xx g