Honey Rain

Chapter Six

"Louis! What happened to you?" Lottie ran up to me as soon as I walked inside. I had gotten home nearly an hour later than I usually did due to my putting-off of anyone seeing me.

"Just had a little run-in with Zayn Malik."

"You look terrible." Her eyes flit the across the entirety of my bruised face.

I rolled my eyes, or attempted to, and walked up the stairs. "I know."

I began working on my part of our project, but had to stop after less than an hour; the pain was a bit too much to take. I figured I might as well take a nap so that I could have a break.

I woke up to voices coming from the hallway.

"Just be gentle with him, yeah?" The sounds were muffled through the door, but I could tell it was Lottie.

My door opened about a minute later.

"Oh my god." Harry's eyes went wide as he looked me over. I barely looked up at him as he walked over to the bed and sat down next to me. "Zayn looks kinda fucked up too, did he do this to you?"

"Yeah."

"Wait, I'll be right back!" Harry ran out into the hallway, leaving me quite confused. I was still lying on my back and looking up at the ceiling; I didn't feel like getting up. The sun was already beginning to set, and I glanced over at my clock. It was nearly seven.

Harry came back into the room holding the same ice pack that I used for him yesterday. He grinned at me and sat down on the bed. I sat up and reached my hand out but he pushed it away.

"Let me do it."

He leaned against the wall and stretched his legs out, glancing down at them and back up at me. I knew what he meant, so I adjusted myself to lay my head in his lap. He tipped my chin back with one finger and pressed the ice over my black eye.

"Ah! That's fucking freezing!" I instinctively tried to push his hand away, but he took my hand in his own to stop me.

He pulled the ice away and sighed. "I know." He rested his hand on my chest as he returned the ice pack to my face. I closed my eyes and began to relax a bit.

"Your hand looks bruised."

I hadn't noticed that, but it made sense, giving the dull soreness in my knuckles. "Yeah, m'not completely helpless when it comes to fighting."

He defensively put one hand up. "I didn't say you were. You just don't look like the type to fight, is all."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I was genuinely curious.

Much to my delight, he put his hand back on my chest. "Just saying you're not like... you know... very threatening. Like lions are threatening, you know? You're more like one of those cute little penguins at the zoo that you just want to cuddle. Not that thats a bad thing. Good. It's a good thing. I mean, not that- um- not that you're not strong or anything-"

I put my index finger to his lips to stop his mindless rambling, quite liking the softness of them. He smiled, looking up at the ceiling like he was trying to see the heavens through it. I was almost too distracted by his undeniable beauty to acknowledge that Harry had called me cute.

After a few minutes, Harry took the ice off and set it on the floor. I opened my eyes to find him looking at me with his brow furrowed, and his eyes darkened with sadness. He ran his hand gently over my chest.

"I used to do this to you." Used to. He spoke softly and thumbed at the fabric of my shirt; I liked the way his hands felt.

"I know."