red herring [h.s.]

15.

Harry.

I realized I had never asked Stella if she was a cuddler.

And it led to this moment, where I was on my back in her bed, staring at her cracked ceiling with her half on top of me and fast asleep.

And I had no idea what to fucking do.

We had fallen asleep immediately after sex, her riding me to a perfect blissful orgasm and taking me so deep was the perfect way to end the day. I woke up about half an hour after that though to find her breathing steadily into my neck with her arms wrapped around me and her leg hooked over mine.

Basically I was her pillow.

My arms were flat next to me and I was stiff as a statue, uncomfortable to the core as I had no clue how to behave. I had never cuddled with a girl. Stella seemed perfectly at ease though, curled up into my side and touching me in every way possible.

I let out a shaky breath, wondering how on earth I was ever going to fall asleep again. It was like I was wide awake after that quick power nap and now I was just counting down the minutes for her to wake up. Or contemplating what to do. If I moved, she'd wake up. Maybe if she woke up, she'd roll back to her own side of the bed and I could sleep.

But she seemed so peaceful. I stared down at her head resting against my shoulder, nose nuzzled in the crook of my neck. Her soft lips were parted and small puffs of air were let out every few seconds. Her eyelashes rested on her cheekbones and her hair was still in the messy bun with the checkered black and white scrunchie holding it together.

I exhaled deeply as I hesitated but eventually chose to move. I rolled to my side carefully, facing the door and away from Stella. She stirred for a second as I got comfortable beneath the sheet, but my eyes widened when she spooned me.

Her arm slid around my torso, palm pressing to my chest as her nose was against my back. She was folded around me completely and my breath hitched into my throat when she bent her leg, thigh pressing snugly against my crotch.

It felt comfortable though, it was a relieving position for my back and she felt nice and warm against me. Her breath steadied once more as she continued the deep sleep and I felt my eyelids growing heavy finally as well.

A few hours later I woke up, coated in a thin layer of sweat as I blinked my eyes open. I felt terrible. I had no idea what time it was but it was pitch black inside with just the faint street lights coming through the sliver of space between her curtains.

We were in the same position, melted into the sheets and Stella melted into me. Her grip around me was soft yet firm, palm still over my heart to feel the thumping against her hand as she breathed against the skin of my back and was flush against me.

I couldn't imagine it being comfortable for her since I was quite a bit taller and bigger, but it seemed comforting for her if she slept so well like this.

I exhaled shakily when I tried to find out why I was feeling so shitty. My stomach was in knots as I swallowed a couple of times, and a sudden wave of nausea hit me.

Oh fuck.

My eyes widened as my stomach turned, bile rising up. I jumped up, yanking Stella's arm away from me as I stumbled out of the bed and fell into the wall a bit as I hurried into the bathroom. I made it just in time as I hunched over the toilet, dropped to my knees and emptied my stomach.

My eyes screwed shut tight as vomit came out of my mouth and splashed down the toilet, full chunks of my dinner that didn't seem digested at all.

"Harry?" I heard Stella's sleepy voice from the bed as I continued throwing up, the muscles in my body contracting and my hands tightly gripping the toilet. My knees were on the little fluffy green rug that Stella had put down here, and when I finally calmed down a little I reached for some toilet paper to clean my mouth and then flushed the toilet.