Paper Birds

Chapter Ten ; Flooding Memories

Daylight poured in through the window on my left, which was what caused me to wake up.

Ugh, I thought in dismal, another day of pain.

Louis shifted and grunted quietly next to me. Just the reminder that I was with him made me smile. His hair was flopped to the side, mouth propped open just a bit. I hoisted myself up onto my elbow, careful not to wake him. For a while I just watching his chest rise and fall. He was so incredibly peaceful and adorable when he slept, and he looked about ten years younger than he was.

"Claire."

My smile grew wider. Hearing him say my name was music to my ears. I lowered myself down so that we were level with each other. He turned over to his side, a small smirk finding itself to his lips. His eyes fluttered open at the sound of my voice, "Did I wake you?"

He shook his head 'no' and reached for my face. I moved in closer, letting him nudge is nose into my neck. 

"You smell nice."

I find that hard to believe, but I giggled anyway [ which is rare, I am not usually one to giggle ]. Sure, I had perfume, but I spent the whole night at a sweaty man-cave trying to scramble up some money while a huge monster of a human tried to murder me. 

Louis' lips ran along my skin and eventually up to my mouth. He planted his hands at the bottom of my back, thankfully right under my bruises, and pulled me even closer, hip to hip. I was disappointed when he pulled away. It felt so good just to have someone there for me.

"If I could wake up every morning like this.."

"I'd be in heaven," I finished, pulling him into another kiss.

----

Harry's P.O.V.

The ceiling is white with about forty or some cracks in it. I know this because I had spent the past half hour staring up at it, sprawled out on my bed that I would only sleep one more night in. 

"I am so stupid," I yelled, slamming my fists down into the mattress. I rolled over and put my hands over my face. Why did I even have to talk to her? She doesn't like me. Right now, I don't even like me. Someone knocked on the door. I fixed the bed and shoved my hands into my pockets, saying, "Come in."

Liam entered the room and shut the door softly behind him. 

"Harry, what is going on?"

Brilliant. Even Liam knew, now. 

I hung my head. "Do you think I know? God, why is this so hard?"

"What is it about her?"

I looked up at him and shook my head. "I don't know. She's tough, I guess. All of the other girls I've seen are.. soft. I don't know the word for it. She's different."

I really didn't know why I liked her so much. I mean, yes, she's beautiful and bold, and she's a really like-able person, but I hardly knew anything about her. Maybe it was how she stands up for people, takes risks, and isn't a afraid of anything, no matter what the consequences. I'm sure she's afraid of something, but she does a hell of a job hiding it. What I really wanted to know was who that guy was in the picture. Probably one of her ex's, but I couldn't imagine Clarissa being the lovey-dovey type. Where was she, anyway? 

Liam's eyes traveled to the floor then back up to mine. "Why don't we talk it over coffee?" 

I nodded. "Meet you down there in a couple of minutes."

Liam left, leaving me by myself in the room. Again, I was all alone. I sat there on the bed once again, staring at the plain white ceiling until I heard yelling next door.