Songbird [H.S]

SEVEN

For as long as he could remember, Harry had always loved parties. He loved socialising, making friends and anything that remotely resembled any kind of party.

Every year since he was five, his Mum had reluctantly thrown him a birthday party where the entirety of his class was invited no matter how close they were to the boy. At first, Anne had always been very against throwing her little boy a birthday party every year. Money was always a concern for their family and Harry's birthday came a little too close to Christmas for her to save much to give him what he wanted. It wasn't that she wanted to disappoint her son, she had to worry about buying decorations, getting some sort of entertainment, getting Harry's birthday presents - not to mention the fact she not only had to worry about feeding her own kids but thirty others as well.

Seeing her son all miserable when she'd previously said no broke her heart, she hated the fact he was missing out on certain things because she couldn't afford it. That's why she made a point of putting extra money aside every month so she could give Harry and Niall parties for their birthdays.

It was probably this that had contributed to Harry's love for everything party related.

However, for the first time since he was five, the boy was not in the mood to party. He was at Zayn's house, having been dragged there by Marley who had insisted it would be fun once they got there. But as much as he tried to get in the party spirit, something just felt off. The blonde girl had practically begged Harry to come with her the day before, annoying him to the point he gave in just to shut her up.

Bored out of his mind, Harry had flopped on the couch next to Zayn and Niall where he spent his time drinking and taking hits from the blunt Zayn had been passing between the three of them. While he felt a little more relaxed now he wasn't sober, the boy still couldn't be bothered to get up and socialise like he usually did - instead choosing to watch Marley as she danced with a group of girls she'd met when they arrived.

His eyes never left her as her hips swayed to the rhythm of the music blasting from the speakers, unable to stop himself from admiring how pretty she looked that night. Her hair was curled and styled in a half-up, half-down kind of way, secured with a baby pink scrunchie. Her makeup was subtle but complimented by the small amounts of glitter carefully applied under her eyes where the light caught it and brightened her beautiful blue eyes. But what really caught his attention (as much as he refused to admit it) was the way her dress hugged her in all the right places, the soft fabric clinging to her round hips and showing just the right amount of cleavage to be considered sexy, not slutty. Marley was too busy laughing and having fun to notice Harry watching her but Zayn definitely had.

"Harry! You're staring! It's a little creepy, mate." His voice was a little slurred but was loud enough to startle Harry from his drunken daze.

"Am not!" He protested, his tine far too forceful for it to be believable. Niall snorted beside him, knowing he was full of shit.

"H, you were practically drooling."

"I wasn't staring at her and I definitely wasn't drooling!" Harry snapped, keeping his voice quiet enough so that nobody could overhear them. The last thing he wanted was for Marley to hear them talking about her and get the wrong end of the stick, they only just became friends after the last time.

"Sure, tell your dick that." Zayn smirked.

"What!" Harry yelped, glancing down at his lap in alarm only to realise Zayn was joking. False alarm... Both the boys erupted into a fit of boisterous laughter, only embarrassing Harry to the point his cheeks flushed pink and he shifted in his seat awkwardly. To distract himself, he grabbed the vodka bottle by his feet and took a big swing, flinching slightly at the burn in his throat.