oh, anna- h.s

6. sleep deprivation

Liliana

We spent the whole night at Harry's. After dinner we moved to the living room, drinking and talking until the sun came up. I loved Mitch, he seemed like one of those once in a life time people you meet that are so unbelievable mundane but make you think that's the coolest thing someone could be.

He got out his guitar at one point, when the room had split into groups and Harry was taking up all my attention as we talked about almost everything. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Mitch return without having realised he had left. He didn't look to anyone, just sat down and started fiddling with the strings.

"I love Mitch." Harry suddenly said to me, catching me out of my stare I hadn't realised I had imposed on the poor man.

"He seems very cool." I smiled as we both watched him. Once it seemed he was comfortable with what he was playing, he looked up and caught us. A small but embarrassed smile arose on his face and he looked back down.

"The coolest person ever. You know, he was working in a pizzeria only a few weeks ago." I raised my eyebrows, turning my attention back to Harry so he could tell me the story.

The words seemed to flow out of his mouth so perfectly. I leant my elbow on the back of the sofa, resting my head against my hand so I could watch him contently. Some of the words escaped my ears whenever I found myself admiring a different part of him. There was no doubt I was drunk otherwise I wouldn't be so obvious about my attraction to him.

Suddenly his mouth stopped moving and a wide smile broke out into it. I blinked myself back into the room and looked up at his eyes, they were cheeky.

"You're staring at me, Liliana." He smirked. My mouth fell open in embarrassment and I removed my elbow from the back of the sofa. My hands raised to my cheeks to feel myself blushing.

"Sorry, I think I've had a bit too much to drink and slipped into some sort of other world." I stumbled on my words but he only held his grin. His hands were suddenly placed over mine and he led them to my lap to tell me it's okay.

"That's alright. I could tell I lost you half way through. You can just tell me I'm boring no need to fall asleep in front of me." He teased, not letting go of my hands. I laughed, rolling my eyes as a response.

I became aware of the room again and looked around for Jonny, he was talking to Ryan, Tom and Tyler about god knows what but he looked far from tired.

"Oh, by the way" I turned to Harry, who looked almost surprised that I was talking to him. It was a random thought but I had been meaning to tell him since I had arrived. "Please call me Ana. Only strangers call me Liliana." His eyebrows raised.

"I have so many questions." He breathed, his eyes falling to my lips but only for a split second.

"What?" I asked, a smile forming in confusion.

"Well for one, why Ana and not Lili? Would you hate me if I called you Lili and finally what was the defining moment in which we became not strangers?" He asked all at once. I stared at him, who thinking like that? Most people just say okay and then call me Ana.

"Okay..." I thought about his questions. "I hated that everyone in my family was named after a flower and as an act of rebellion as a teen I demanded everyone called me Ana and now I can't imagine being called anything else. I wouldn't hate you if you called me Lili, that would be unreasonable but I probably wouldn't answer you and I think the minute you walked into the flower shop we became not strangers, not friends yet but definitely acquaintances" I rambled, the alcohol still flowing at full throttle.

"Not friends yet?" He raised his eyebrows. I was baffled that that's all he got from that but accepted it.

"Not friends yet." I just repeated myself because I wasn't sure what else to say. There was a moments silence before he nodded, accepting that I had nothing more to say.