Syndicates //

xl

My vision opened with the sight of his back, the defined muscles across the smoothness of his back that was nearly perfect, aside from a few little speckles that just made him all the more adorable. He was leaned forward, legs over the edge of the bed and his elbows resting on his knees. His hunched position wasn't necessarily bad in posture, but rather brought out every muscle in his arms and torso.

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't totally into that. However, I wouldn't dare try a thing with him considering the events of last night.

"Hey," I whisper to let him know I'm awake.

His face slowly turned, followed by his body. In the morning light peeking through the blinds, I'd never seen him in such a state. It looks as if he was crying again or just about to. "Mia," he practically whined.

"Harry," I rose up and reached my arms out to him. He met me halfway and brought me in. His cry was silent, but I felt the shakiness of his lungs against my chest. I comfortingly combed the back of his head until his breath steadied.

"Did you sleep?" I ask.

"I don't know," he said, muffled into my shoulder.

There was a knock on the door, definitely not gentle. jarring.

"Harry! Wake up." It sounds like Niall.

"Can you tell him?" Harry asks. "I don't want to say it."

I break out of his hold and move to the door, quickly shaking my hand in my hair to look like I hadn't just rolled out of bed.

I unlocked the door and opened it to see Niall, at first his expression was neutral and he about to speak, but then as he saw it was me, his eyes widened and his hand covered his gaping mouth. I snuck out the crack of the door and closed it so Harry couldn't hear us. I figured that hearing those words would trigger him.

"Harry found his dad in those folders last night," I slowly break the news to Niall. "He's taking it really hard and he just asked me to stay and comfort him, but he needs to be alone."

"Oh no," Niall shook his head. "I- When I saw you I thought ... something totally different was... I'm sorry."

I hadn't even realized that me stepping out of his room could've sent a different message. Thank goodness I was in there for the right reasons. "Don't worry about it. He's just processing it, y'know?"

"Yeah. That's... really rough," Niall sighed. "Does Cobalt know?"

I nod, "Harry gave the file to him."

"Ok. He's coming over soon to go over some files. Do you think Harry would be up for it?" He asks, concerned.

"I really doubt it, but I'll talk to him," I say.

"Thanks for taking care of him," Niall tells me. "I wouldn't trust anyone else more than you."

That compliment draws a smile on my face. "I should get back to it."

Back in the silent stillness of Harry's room, he had fallen back onto his pillow, curled up in a ball on his bed, and bundled in the blanket.

"Cobalt is coming over," I tell him. His eyes fall out of their trance and look at me. "I don't know if you want to deal with all of this, but it's your call."

He shakes his head, silent.

I crawl back onto the bed and lay beside him. I'm still tired and I'd really love to just nap with him. I snuggled back into him. My hand cupped his cheek- his smooth skin with just the faintest abrasions and sparse stubble.

I notice his puckering lips reaching for mine and I shorten the distance. I moved my leg on top of him, taking weight off of my hips, but also bringing him just that little bit closer to me. I kiss him again. These kisses are long, slow, and delicate.

It was almost too easy to get comfortable, and it wasn't long before I'd fallen asleep in my favorite place: someone's arms- specifically, his.

•••

"Mia! Mia!" Harry is shaking me awake, "Get up." I jolt up. My returning consciousness immediately fears for Harry. Did he have a nightmare? What's happening? "Cobalt is downstairs."

"Shit," I exclaim, throwing the blanket off of me. "I'm in my pajamas."

"You look fine," he says. I'm in a black tank top and brown sweatpants. I guess it's better than an obvious pair of pajama pants.

"Are you going to be okay?" I ask, not wanting to leave him.

"I'm gonna go down there too," he says. "They just woke me up." I appreciate that he's wanting to be up and about, it's better than him laying in bed as his emotions eat him alive. However, I just hope that talking about all of this isn't too much for him. I don't know exactly what's going through his head.

He looked very tired, eyes puffy, but not like he'd been crying. It's been hours since the last time he was crying really hard. I haven't seen tears all morning. I'm sure Cobalt knows. I just hope Cobalt doesn't shame him for crying.

He goes to his drawers and takes out a folded piece of black clothing, unfolding a tshirt and throwing it over his head. I can't help it: my eyes draw to his back as he faces the mirror and away from me, muscles contorting as he stretches his spine until the fabric falls and hides his skin.

He makes eye contact with me through the mirror, a gentle smile growing on his face, he teases "something catch your eye?"

I'm immediately embarrassed. I was hoping he wouldn't have noticed. He's caught me, I should just be honest. "Uh, yeah."

"Well we're both late for our meeting and Cobalt is gonna be pissed if he knows we're together right now. We've gotta stagger our entrances."

"I'll go first," I head towards the door, first stopping by him.

He waits for me to say something, shifting his eyes between mine. I just lean him, arms unfolding as they let him in. My eyes naturally fall to divert some power to my other senses. I capture his smell, his warmth. "Please step away if you need to," I plead.

"I'll be okay," he insists, taking my hands and placing them off of him. "I need time to process things but I still have to keep going."

I kiss him, a quick peck on the cheek before I sneak back into the house.