The Fight of Ambivalence ~ Harry Styles

16 - Cheers

It's interesting how quickly a relationship can change. Even one experience or moment shared together can make a world of difference, can bring people closer. Sometimes it's a slow burn, a languid movement that seems to crawl until all the sudden all the waiting pays off.

Though Harry and Sheila just met for breakfast on Wednesday, not even two full days later Sheila ends up going over to Harry's. For once her mostly empty social calendar is coming in handy and the fact that he lives a short walk from her only makes having frequent visits even easier.

"Hi," Harry says, greeting her with a dimpled smile as he opens the front door for her.

"Hi babe," she says, placing her bag on the floor and going up on her tiptoes to wrap her arms around his shoulders. "Is it okay that I call you that?" She asks shyly, slightly muffled by the way he's pulled her flush to him.

"Yeah, I like it," Harry says, accentuating his point by giving her hips a small squeeze. "Thanks for coming over," he says when they pull back.

She smiles at him and says, "Thank you for having me."

"Of course. Are you hungry? I have sandwiches," he replies.

"Yeah, that would be great," she replies as he leads her by the hand into the kitchen. "Can I help?"

"Yeah, thanks love. Can you grab two plates from over there?" He asks, pointing to the cabinet to the left of the sink. "And then maybe just keep me company?"

"Nah, I was gonna go watch tv. Kick my feet up," she teases.

Harry laughs and turns around to look at her. "What am I, your housewife?" He asks.

"Wouldn't be the worst thing," she says and shrugs.

He blushes and finishes making their lunch. He suggests they eat in his home office so they can sit by the reading nook. She couldn't be more on board with that idea. She grabs a couple pillows off the couch in the living room and meets him there.

"It's always so nice over here this time of day," he comments, placing her food down in front of her.

"Thank you," she smiles and sits down on the bench, folding her legs underneath her. "The sun feels so nice."

"Thought you might like it," he says, sitting down beside her. His long legs are hanging over the bench. He puts a pillow behind his back and lays down so his torso stretches out. He looks strong and muscular even through his shirt. She looks at him long enough that it should be considered leering so she makes herself turn away and look at his gorgeous backyard instead.

They talk while they eat and once they're done Harry clears their plates and sits down again and facing her, sitting quite a bit closer than he was before.

"I know we were both unsure of how this was going to go, but I don't know. When it's just the two of us here I think it feels natural despite it all," he says, placing a hand on her knee.

"Yeah, it does," she says with a smile, pushing her knee closer to him.

He looks at her with a dimpled smile of his own. "I wanted to bring this up and it's totally fine to say no, of course, but I was wondering if it would be okay if I kissed you?" He asks softly.

She's noticed that Harry has this really wonderful way of asking for things. He never makes her feel pressured or wrong if she wants to say no. He always reassures her and approaches things with such gentleness and it makes her feel so good and safe.

"Yeah, sure," she says on a breath, not even taking a second to think about it. She knows she wants this but when he leans in, but for some reason she can't help but lean back. She's actually a lot more nervous than she thought she'd be and now she's freezing. "I'm sorry I-"