On Top [H.S.]

Chapter 17

Harry's POV

I can't stop thinking about Lia.

It's been about a week now and the only contact I've had with her is some short texts here and there and the one time that I called her asking if I could come over.

She said no.

She told me that she's been really busy with work because some fucking co-worker by the name of Elijah called in sick all week, leaving her to cover all of his shifts as well as working her regularly scheduled ones too.

Fuck that guy for fucking up my week.

She also claims that she hasn't had enough 'girl time' with Jenna ever since she's met me, and she wants to try and balance that out a bit better.

I make no fucking apologies for that.

I obviously don't want to act like some clingy fucking boyfriend given the fact that we're merely just friends, but I really can't get her out of my head and it's fucking with me.

The yellow nail polish coated on my fingernails is just a reminder of how much I enjoy being around her.

I wasn't surprised that she had 4 different shades of yellow nail polish in her bathroom.

She told me to really think about which one I wanted, saying that I had to choose the one closest to Ava's favourite shade.

The one I ended up choosing was pretty much identical to the shade that Ava usually wore, and it made me feel a bit closer to her in some way, even though we were hundreds of miles apart.

The name of the colour was really fucking weird though, I don't know who in their right fucking mind would think that "Exotic Birds Do Not Tweet" was a solid name for a yellow nail polish.

Or any for that matter.

It was cute to watch her be so focused as she painted them. She made me sit on the toilet and place my hand onto the counter as she hovered over, brush in hand.

It was quiet as she painted them. I had once used my free hand to be a menace and pinch her waist as she was painting my pinky nail. My abrupt action made her jump and smear the yellow liquid onto my skin.

It earned me a glare and a swat to the shoulder, but it was worth it. She cleaned up the tiny mess she had made and when she looked back up at me, I teasingly stuck my tongue out at her.

My gaze never lingered from her face as she painted my nails, she was so effortlessly pretty, and the dark marks on her neck only added to it.

Her brows were furrowed and her lips were in a pout, making it very fucking hard to resist kissing them.

So fucking pretty.

Watching her also kept my mind off of my little episode that night, with the tequila.

I never thought that I would ever fucking see that tequila bottle again. It was one of the more expensive bottles and it was rare that people our age would buy it, usually the cheaper stuff was just fine.

That triggered a memory I've been trying so fucking hard to repress, and terribly so, for the last two years. I was so fucking caught off guard, that was the first time I had seen the bottle since.

How lucky am I.

I'm so grateful Niall was there to calm me down, I probably would have just left if he wasn't. I wouldn't have been able to face them all again with how fucking jittery I was.

Lia's subtle touches were calming too, she's a really good friend.

I was thankful for this little distraction though, it meant a lot to me that she was willing to do this to cheer me up and keep my spirits high after Ava's response.