Before you go... //h.s

Kiss me in the pouring rain

This chapter is dedicated to @Pepper_L123 because I really appreciate all their votes and comments <3

HARRY'S POV:
Iris is drunk.

Completely drunk.

But I like drunk Iris, she's cute when she doesn't have a furrow in her brow from worry and is relaxed enough that anything spills out her mouth whether it's insulting, funny or just plain nonsense.

My phone had ticked past 1am a short while ago and although neither of us were tired, and Iris most certainly wasn't going to bed for a while, I wanted to get out of here. Just wander the streets with her and talk, like I'd told her before, all my favourite conversations were always made in the a.m when people's barriers were lowered. Almost like the darkness would whisp away their secrets so no-one else would ever hear them.

Maybe that's why people were afraid of the dark – they were afraid of all the secrets they'd whispered into it coming back to get them. Afraid of the darkness spilling their secrets to others.

Right now, Iris was being as cheerful and open as I'd ever seen her with no nerves to speak of. I relocated her where she was leaning against the bar for support happily chatting with Gabrielle Aplin, a girl whose music I'd heard and admired. I loved the warm tone of her voice and the heartfelt lyrics.

But that was besides the point, Iris was talking to a stranger with ease and confidence. Who the hell was this girl and what had she done with Iris Burrows?

I walked towards them, a small smile flitting across my face as I saw Iris laughing openly. Approaching them from behind Iris, Gabrielle saw me first and I nodded politely at her,

'Gabrielle, nice to see you.'

'Harry Styles...great to meet you too,' she looked at me cordially smiling but I could tell that she was surprised I knew her name; I'd just got good at reading people and although she was hiding her surprise well, it was still obvious to me.

Iris' drunken late reactions meant she only spun around then and when she focused on me, she launched herself at me, wrapping her arms around my shoulders in a tight hug.

'Hi Bub,' she murmurs almost imperceptibly into my ear and I smile, then look at Gabrielle again, making sure to meet her eye as I nod politely in farewell before grinning at Iris,

'Ready to leave?' I speak and she nods enthusiastically.

'Whatever you want...I just...I...' she trails off, not finishing her sentence before grabs my hand, dragging me towards the exit.

The door is flung open and she steps outside, stumbling slightly but straightening as I wrap an arm around her shoulders to support her. In her drunken mind, the anxiety over paparazzi and photos being taken has gone and she is free as wind as she skips, dragging me along by my hand.

There is a flash of a camera from some poor soul who has been forced to stand outside a club all night and take pictures. I felt bad for paparazzi sometimes, their lives revolved around following other's who were usually nothing but rude to them. Unlike when we entered, she doesn't duck her head looking apprehensive. Instead, she turns to the source of the flash, a smile on her face as she waves happily with just a movement of the tips of her fingers.

Then she turns her head, looking over her shoulder at me with a mischievous glint in her eye and a wide grin on her face. Just from the look, I can tell she has an idea, but what it is I have no bloody clue.

I don't even care though, whatever she wants to do, I'll do it with her. Whether it be just going back to watch a film or going to get a tattoo. Whatever extreme she wants, I'll go with her, to the ends of the earth if that's what she wants to do.