No Control • hs

nineteen

     The toast pops out of the toaster as I make my way to get some almond butter to top it. Making almond butter toast is an essential part of my morning ritual. I'll be driving Harry and I to work today, so I have to be ready before him. I take my toast to-go and walk out the door with my keys in hand. I knock on Harry and Louis' apartment door, reaching for my phone in my bag.

     The door opens but I'm still digging through my purse for my phone. "I think I might have left my sunglasses in my apartment because I can't find them-" I look up to see Harry's hair in a bun. "Harry." I say.

    "Yeah?"

     "Can I have your hair?"

     "No, it's mine." Harry's tone was dry, like he didn't think I was joking.

     "I was kidding, soften up." I punch his bicep and it was really tough.

     "Please stop, I've had a hell of a morning already." He reached towards me and took the sunglasses off the top of my head and handed them to me. We make our way down the hallway.

     "Thanks." I mumble under my breath. He clicks the elevator's button and we go down to the parking garage. We get in my car and I start the engine. My August playlist comes on and I turn the volume up.

     Harry sighs. "Would you turn it down?"

     "Would I? No. Could I? Yes." Harry rests his forehead in his palm. "Shut up." Harry whispers under his breath.

     "Harry, what's wrong."

     "I don't feel well."

     "Should I turn around?"

     "Stop the car." Harry says. I look over at him, looking for a solid answer. "Stop the car!" I swerve over on the side of the road and Harry swings open the door. He stands there for a minute, then leans down. Then Harry empties his stomach contents onto the pavement.

***

     "Harry Styles." The doctor announces into the waiting room.

     "I'll be okay, you don't have to wait." Harry says, grabbing his jacket and standing up.

     "I'm staying, whether you like it or not." He disappears into the back room with the doctor as I sit on an uncomfortable chair in the waiting room. I don't really care if I miss work, Harry is my number one priority right now. So I might get in a little trouble...well, a lot of trouble for skipping. But right now, I don't really care. I start thinking of possible situations like...'What if Niall had something to do with this?' 'What if it was all Niall's fault that Harry is sick right now?' That can't be possible, I haven't seen Niall since the night of the vending machine. I start to worry about Harry, even thought he had a bit of an attitude with me this morning.

     I pick up a magazine on the table next to me, the cover seemed familiar. It then hit me that it was the very issue Harry had read in the bathroom at the lake. I continue flipping through the magazine until the door opens in the waiting room. Harry comes out with a paper in his hand. "What'd they say?" I ask, walking up to him.

     "I have the flu." I walk a few steps back.

     "How did you manage to get the flu?"

     "I don't know." he says, opening up the door to go outside. We get in my car and I drive Harry back to the apartment complex. We take the elevator up to our level and Harry unlocks his apartment door. "Peyton, you've already missed an hour of work, you don't need to miss the whole day." he says, getting a blanket and pillow out and sprawling it across the couch.

     "Did the doctor even get you any medicine?" I ask.

     "Yeah. It's in this bag." He held up a white paper bag with the doctor's office logo on it.

     "Harry, I don't think you can take care of yourself when you have the flu."

     "Yes I can, you just go to work."

     "And what if I want to stay here with you and make sure you are okay?"

     "Peyton, you need to go to work."

     "Do you really think I'm going to work?"

     "No, but you really need to." I put my hands on my hips. "There you go again with that sarcastic stance." Harry says.

     "You need a dog."

     "What?"

     "You need a dog, so when Louis isn't here, you have someone to look out for you."

     "What are you saying? You were just talking about helping me with the flu, do you think this dog will spoon feed me medicine or something? Besides, I'm not going to invest in a dog, I can look out for myself."

     "Can you?"

     "Probably."

     "That's not very assuring."

     "Go to work Peyton." He says. I sigh, knowing Harry isn't going to rest knowing I'm not at work.

     "Get some rest, babe." I say, opening the door.

     "I love you." He murmurs from the couch, all snuggled up and cute.

     "I love you too." I close the door and drive to work, knowing Harry is still utterly sick at home.

***

I get home after a short day at work. I had to explain myself to my boss, she almost didn't let me stay and just had me come in another day to make it up but they needed some extra hands. After I have had a couple minutes of down-time at home, I decide to check up on Harry. He was pretty sick when I left and I can't image how it is now. I knock and Harry opens the door. "How are you getting along?" I say, walking in with bags of groceries.

     "What is all this?"

     "I just picked up a few things to hold you over until you are feeling one hundred percent again."

     "You're so sweet." He sat up on the couch. I could tell he has just napped because his voice was raspy and his hair was a beautiful mess.

     "Are you hungry?"

     "Yeah, I'm just going to throw in some pizza rolls. Do you want some?"

     "No, I'm making you actual food. What do you want?" I started unpacking groceries.

     "You would do that for me?"

     "Sure, just tell me what you want."

     "Chicken pot pie sounds nice." I give Harry a look.

     "Ok, I like to think of myself as a good cook, but I'm not that talented. How about some soup?"