You Were a House on Fire | Harry Styles

fourteen*

Harry's body ached after laying on the ground for so long. His spine surely needed to pop in several places, and if he didn't sit up soon, his right leg might just stay asleep forever. He didn't worry, though. He simply curled into Roe further, committing her raspberry musk scent to memory.

Harry had asked her to go on a picnic for the day. Judging from her surprised bark of a laugh, he guessed this was her first. Even though they decided to hold the date in the privacy of his living room, he wanted to make it special for her. They snacked on cubed fruit and cheeses they could hardly pronounce, easily splitting a bottle of white wine. One bottle became two, and before he knew it, she straddled his waist, connecting them from head to toe.

Even as the minutes ticked by with the slowing of their breaths, Harry's chest fluttered, bubbling into soft giggles that he buried in Roe's tangled hair. He wrapped an arm across her chest, trailing a finger along the lines of the flowers inked into her bicep. Goosebumps rose in his wake.

"Why flowers?" he whispered, careful not to startle her.

"Was the only thing she knew how to do."

Harry continued walking his fingers up her shoulder and across her collarbone, scratching lightly down the side of her breast. Her eyes fell closed for a deep inhale, and Harry felt her ribs arch into the palm of his hand.

"Is this a tattoo of the letter 'E'?"

"Look at that, the superstar knows his alphabet," she teased. Harry pinched her nipple. "Yes, okay, what more do you want from me?" giggles fell from her lips as she tried scooting out from Harry's embrace.

"Why not 'K' or 'H'?" Harry traced the letters on her skin and watched the white lines disappear almost instantly.

Roe sighed dramatically, rolling back to her spot against his side and looking up at him with slightly shuttered eyes. Harry felt as if the curve of his waist was meant to hold her shape perfectly. "Who knows, I might be hiding every letter somewhere on my body."

"Not a chance. I would've found them all by now."

Roe bit her bottom lip, but it failed to conceal the wide smile there. Harry wished he could capture the image and keep it forever. He'd put it in his wallet or something cheesy like that.

"His name is Ethan- E. He's my best friend. But don't tell Sara that."

"Must be a special mate  to have his initial in such a place."

"It was never anything like that, trust me. I think you'd like him, to be honest."

Harry perked up at this. "Can I meet him?" he asked. A glaze hardened the look in her eyes as silence crept over them. Roe tucked her head down against Harry's shoulder making Harry second guess his enthusiasm. 

"He's a bit preoccupied at the moment, but maybe eventually. Hopefully soon," she breathed.

Harry desperately wanted to ask more about the elusive Ethan, but he enjoyed it- comfortable silence. Especially (damn him for being so stereotypical) after sex. They shared it so well. Something about two people in a room, with only their personal space- no need to fill it with unnecessary talking, and no pressure to perform allowed all of his muscles to relax. It felt private. Safe. He relished in her warmth, and he felt glad she allowed him to.

Roe hummed sleepily. The noise floated around them like loose flower petals, and Harry let his body melt into the ground, pretending they could actually be in a field of sunflowers instead of his cold apartment. He began to notice touches of Roe here as of late, though, which kept the frostbite away.

"What are you doing tomorrow?" Harry wondered aloud.

"Sara's giving me a haircut before I have to go into the shop for a bit. Working on a '68 'stang, can you fuckin believe it?"