Harry’s Point of View:
Maybe I ate something that made my stomach feel this way. It was churning and tingling from the inside out. I knew it wasn’t nerves. I did not get nervous. Not for things like this; not for a typical party with the boys. But, this wasn’t a typical party. It had another guest that whenever I thought about her walking through the door of mine and Louis’ flat my abdomen clenched and I felt like I needed to make a run for the toilet.
But it wasn’t nerves, no. It was definitely something I ate.
I grabbed the pressed, maroon blazer out of my closet and slipped it over my shoulders. I rolled up the sleeves to about my elbows and glanced in the mirror. Unsatisfied with the way my hair fell, I ruffled the sides and swiped my hand across my forehead, pushing the curly fringe in place. I shrugged and walked out of my room and toward the kitchen where the rest of the lads had congregated.
“There he is.” Louis made his way to me and pinched my cheek between his fingers, my nose wrinkling at the amount of pressure he used to do so. I rubbed my sore skin when he finally let go and waved him away as he laughed much louder than necessary.
Louis passed around the first drinks of the night, handing each of the boys their favorite drink of choice and I was surprised when Liam accepted his rum and Coke. He must be ready to party. As Lou came around to hand me my beverage, my stomach did another twist and I declined. Not wanting to make this sick feeling any worse than it already was. I caught Zayn’s eye as I made my way over to the arm chair, sitting down on the edge of the seat.
“You alright, mate?” He pressed a hand on my shoulder. I winced, but then forced a laugh and looked up at him.
“Yeah, just a little preoccupied.” I pointed to my temple while I made my excuse that my mind was elsewhere. And I guess it was, but I wasn’t exactly sure where that elsewhere was located.
But I seemed to had found it when she walked in.
Scarlett’s hair looked darker than usual. It was straighter as well. Falling just above the small of her back and cascading in waves of dark chocolate when she shook her head from side to side. Her dress - her damn dress - was black and clung to her in all the right ways. My eyes drifted from her lips, painted a deep shade of red, to her bum. She could not have been wearing any type of undergarments in a dress like that and the thought of it made my palms flood with sweat. I wasn’t nervous though, it was the food.
She leaned on her right leg, the height of her heels extenuating how long and toned her legs were. I bit down on my bottom lip; hoping that it would stop my jaw from unhinging and falling to the floor. I plucked myself up from the chair, determined to make a suave greeting. But as I walked over there, Louis rushed to her side and I watched him kiss both of her porcelain cheeks sloppily.
“Scarlett, my long lost twin, how are you?” He shouted. I smiled in defeat and made a mental note to punch Lou in the arm for that. She laughed at his comment.
“I’m great.” She smiled, her smoky eyes darting past Louis and toward me. I swallowed hard before waving my hand back and forth at her. She giggled and returned her gaze to Louis, who was now handing her some kind of mixed drink.
Seriously, a wave? I thought. You awkward bastard. I squeezed my eyes shut and lingered back to the chair I was sitting in, but this time slumped deep in the cushions. Wanting to stay there all night instead of have to endure what was yet to come. After a few minutes of self loathing and rubbing the bridge of my nose roughly, Niall’s voice broke my trance.
“Oi, Styles. You coming or what?” I sat up straight in my chair, noticing that the rest of the guests were filing out of the flat. I sighed and pushed myself off the black leather and made my way toward Niall, who agreed to ride with me to the club we were attending this evening. I patted his shoulder as I walked past him and out in the bitter December wind.
Reaching for the keys in my back pocket, I unlocked my Audi and made it inside to finally warm myself up. It was getting freezing here, I was surprised there wasn’t snow up to my knees yet. And if I was cold, I couldn’t imagine how Scarlett felt in her get up for the night.
Niall quickly followed and slammed the door shut as he plopped in the passenger seat. I revved up the engine, proud of how well my new car ran, and pulled out of our complex. Niall tapped his fingers along with the beat of the song that played on the radio as we rode, stopping to hum a few bars of the melody ever now and then.
“You saw Scar?” He blurted out. I looked over at him for a moment, nodded and returned my eyes back to the road. My eyebrows furrowed in confusion until he finished. “That dress of hers is doing all the right things.” He laughed, bobbing his head as he continued to snicker louder. I laughed with him, mostly at how ridiculous he sounded and not at the completely true comment he had just made.
All the right things and more that dress of hers does.
As expected, after we had settled on where to park and gathered as a group once again, cameras flashed widely as we made our way into the crowded night club. I smiled at most of the cameras, waving and wrapping my arm around Niall’s shoulders as we both laughed at the comments made by the paparazzi. I looked over toward Scarlett, who was a couple steps ahead of me, and immediately frowned.
Zayn’s arm was wrapped tightly around her small waist, guiding her like she was some kind of sheep past the bouncer and out of the view of the cameras. My eyes rolled before I gave a final wave of my hand to the camera’s and made it inside the humid air of club Pulse. I ignored Zayn herding Scarlett toward the bar and trekked over to a booth in the back with Niall, Danielle, and Liam on my tail.
I smiled at a few girls as I walked past them, gaining a new confidence as they squealed and ran toward their friends. I thought about going for one of those girls and forgetting about Scarlett for the night. But I shook off the thought as we entered the secluded booth and ordered our first round of drinks.
Within the first forty-five minutes we were there, Niall was already drunk and telling me a story about when he was in school that I had already heard about seven times. I laughed at it anyway as he added new plot points I had never heard before and stopped to clench his stomach when he laughed too hard. Liam and Danielle were busy stroking each other’s cheeks and kissing on the lips, whispering things in the other’s ear while the other giggled. It was disgusting.
I leaned my elbows against the table in front of me and scanned the mass of people around the bar and lit up dance floor. My eyes falling on a few attractive females and spotting Louis and Eleanor at the bar taking a shot of something. That was a relationship I could deal with, they weren’t on top of each other all the time. And when they were... they did it in private.
Moving my eyes from Lou and El, I found Zayn’s hair poking from the crowd and noticed two thin arms wrapped around his neck as people began to move and give me a better view of him and Scarlett dancing. She was facing him, quite close actually, throwing back her head to laugh at something Zayn had just said. I wondered what Zayn had just said to make her laugh that hard. I felt a weird feeling of envy surge through my veins because for some reason, I wanted to be the one to make her produce her beautiful giggle.
I shook my head and excused myself from the table, not wanting to bare the sight of Zayn and Scarlett compressed together, I made my way to the toilets. I groaned silently at the length of the queue of men waiting to piss and leaned against a wall that was adjacent to the loo. The cool cement wall felt good on my clammy skin. I took a deep breath, but regretted it when the foul smell of the toilets flooded my nostrils. I made a face of disgust when I heard the sound of high heeled shoes clicking on the floor. I turned my head toward the source of the noise and saw Scarlett’s long legs marching toward me. My expression softened at the sight of her.
“There you are!” She threw her arms in the air, the hem of her dress rising just a bit as she did so, I tried not to stare. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you.” She sighed, placing her arms back on her sides. I coughed sarcastically.
“I bet you were.” I snuck a glance of her whole body before looking back in her hazel eyes, the smirk on her apple red lips made me aware that I was busted checking her out.
“Come get a drink with me.” She smiled and reached her hand to grasp the maroon lapel of my blazer. She rubbed the material between her thumb and index finger, looking completely engrossed in the fabric. I laughed as I looked down at her. Her concentration was cute.
“Why don’t you ask Zayn to go with you?” I nodded toward the dance floor, she didn’t look up from toying with my jacket. She shook her head and dropped her hand, placing it delicately on her hip.
“Because I don’t want to go with him, I want you to come with me.” She pleaded by pouting her bottom lip out. I bit the inside of my cheek and ruffled my fingers through my hair. “C’mon, it’s my birthday!” She stomped her right foot, I laughed as I pushed myself off the wall I stood against.
“Not technically, but fine.” I watched her eyes light up even more as I agreed to come along with her. She scurried out in front of me and I hovered my hand over her exposed back protectively while she pushed out a path toward the bar. When we arrived she leaned her elbows against the glass counter, the perfect curve of her bum looking painfully good in the skin tight material she wore.
Definitely not wearing knickers. I thought as she began to speak.
“So why have you been avoiding me all night?” She asked turning her body toward me and hopping up on the stool across from the one I sat in. She began to fiddle with the ends of her hair.
“It was kind of hard to come between you and Zayn.” I crossed my arms over my chest, her eyes looked at them for a moment before snapping back up to meet mine. She furrowed her full eyebrows together and smiled when she replied.
“He’s just being nice.” She hollered. “Unlike someone I know.” She nodded her head toward me and humphed, copying my position of crossing her arms across her body.
“I’m being perfectly nice.” I said, fighting back a smile. Scarlett unfolded her arms and turned her stool back toward the bar, resting her arms against the glass once again.
“You know, if you didn’t look so damn attractive tonight... I would tackle you or something.” She looked over her left shoulder at me. I blinked slowly, leaning in closer to her, my lips almost grazing her ear lobe as I whispered:
“Is that a threat, Scarlett?” I heard her suck in a sharp breath as I spoke. “Or a promise?” I sat back in my chair, watching her turn doe-eyed at me comment. Her chest huffed as she tried her best to swallow. Screw making her laugh, watching her squirm with frustration was much better. And I’d like to see Zayn do that.
She opened her mouth to respond, but almost on cue, Louis shouted from across the bar as he bounded toward us. His hair was a mess and he had an unnatural shade of pink on his lips. I’m guessing Eleanor was the one who caused this. I chuckled lightly at his appearance.
“Is the birthday girl having fun?” Louis slurred as he tossed an arm around Scarlett’s shoulders bringing her into a tight embrace. She laughed and smacked his chest, he loosened his grip on her.
“I’m having a blast!” She told him, glancing over at me. “And is the birthday boy enjoying himself?” Louis nodded his head, letting Scarlett out of his grasp completely and placing a hand on my shoulder.
“He is enjoying himself.” He said. “But he would be enjoying himself more if he could by his best mate and twin sister a drink.” Scarlett clapped her hands in giddy agreement as Louis motioned over to the bartender, asking for three shots of tequila while holding up four fingers. I shook my head at him and laughed at the bartenders confused face.
Soon the all too muscular man returned with three small glasses of clear liquid with tiny slices of lime hanging off the rim of the crystal glass. He smiled toward Scarlett as she took her pick of the alcohol and Lou did the same. I kept mine untouched, not in the mood for such a hard liquor on a night like this.
Louis and Scarlett tipped their had back at the same time, Louis quickly taking the lime between his lips while Scarlett stuck out her tongue in disgust. I smirked at her facial expression. When she finally opened her eyes, she shifted her attention to the DJ booth across the dance floor. The upbeat tempo to a song I didn’t recognize being played, but apparently Scarlett recognized the tune and grasped Louis’ wrist.
“I love this song!” She squealed, jumping off her stool and landing wobbly on her heels. The amount of alcohol she consumed tonight starting to have an effect on her. She giggled when she recovered from her slight stumble. “Let’s dance, birthday boy!” But before she ran off with Louis, she glanced at me and the full glass of tequila close to my folded hands. She grasped the shot glass and tossed it back without hesitation. She panted once again and patted my hair, causing my curls to fall in front of my eyes. She winked and turned on the balls of her feet and scurried away with Louis.
I watched to two of them make fools out of themselves, hopping around and twirling each other to the tempo of the music. They looked like they were having a good time, I scoffed and turned away from them. I looked up at Muscles the Bartender and ordered a Corona. The second drink I’ve had all night.
I drank the beer slowly and lazily. Wiping my mouth with the back of my hand after each sip I took. My mind was clouded and it only seemed to clear up when Scarlett was next to me. But when she was off on her own, that is when I felt the food poisoning feeling back in my stomach. But when she was here, playing with my blazer or making sarcastic comments... I felt better.
The feeling of a hand on my shoulder caused me to jump a bit, I was still tense when I noticed it was Zayn next to me at the bar. He smiled at me and I returned his gesture as he leaned next to me.
“You feeling better, Harry?” He shouted over the music. I recalled our small conversation earlier and nodded my head.
“Yeah, never better.” I replied as I took the last small swig of my beer.
“Enjoying yourself?” He asked.
“Uh huh.” I shrugged. “You?” He shook his head and smiled. I knew what he was thinking. It made my jaw clench.
“More than ever.” He said looking back up to me. I twisted my mouth into an artificial smile and stepped down from the stool I’d been sitting at for quite sometime.
“Good to hear, mate.” I patted his shoulder and quickly pushed past him, making my way back to the booth where I started the night, hoping to end it soon and get home to sleep everything off. I saw Niall whispering in the ear of a brunette that I didn’t recognize. She was cute, but Niall could do better. She giggled at something he had just said. I noticed Liam sitting at the edge of the booth with his phone in his hands, nothing new, and shouted toward him. He looked up after a delayed moment.
“Where’s Danielle?” I asked sitting down across from him. Liam shrugged.
“She went to go look for Scarlett.” I huffed as Liam returned his attention to his phone. I took out my own mobile and began shuffling through various apps, trying to keep myself preoccupied before I found it the right time to tell Niall it was time to head home. As I scrolled through my Twitter timeline, I heard Danielle call out my name. I quickly looked up while locking my phone and pushing it back in my front pocket.
Her face looked distressed and worn out. Like she hasn’t had a wink of sleep in days. I raised my eyebrows at her expression, I waited for her to continue before I asked if she was feeling alright.
“Scarlett is piss drunk.” She shook her head. I sighed, knowing for some reason this would happen. “Can you take her back to your flat? You’re the only one sober enough to drive her.” I sighed looking over at a completely sober Liam.
“Well, what about Liam? Can’t he take her?” Danielle shook her head.
“Liam is staying with me, Harry.” She rested her hand on the table, pleading me with her brown eyes. “Please just take her. She’s got a bag with clothes and everything, she needs to get out of here.” I inhaled deeply, closing my eyes in annoyance. But opened them slowly, Danielle’s face of begging never wiping away.
“Where is she?” I whispered. Danielle sighed, her shoulders rolling in relief.
“I got her to wait by the door.” She pointed toward the entrance of Pulse. “Thank you so much, Harry. Make sure she gets to bed!” She called after me as I made my way toward the door. I waved a hand at her, signaling to her that I got the message. I pushed through a few people and smiled at the several flashes of cell phone cameras. But stopped in my tracks when I saw Scarlett.
She was rocking back and forth on her heels to the rhythm of the current song playing. Her legs looking extenuated and limber as she did so, her messy hair still fell perfectly on either side of her face, tucked behind her ear revealing an earring with the face of a cat. I smiled when I came closer to her.
“Hello Mr. Styles.” She nodded toward me, her words sounding like they had no spaces in between them. I nodded back to her.
“Ready to go?” I asked, motioning her to walk in front of me closer to the door as she did so. She giggled as we walked out of the club and into the frozen air. The coldness seemed to have no affect on Scarlett and her tequila-warmed body. I, on the other hand, shoved my hands in my pockets and tried to keep my fingers from breaking off as each gust of cold air blew from every direction. I was surprised, but relieved when I saw no cameras following us out of the club. Probably because it was quite an unreasonable hour for someone to be out.
I guided Scarlett to my car and saw her eyes widen. She smiled at me as she ran a nimble finger over the black paint of the car.
“Nice car.” She chuckled. “I’m very impressed.” I shook my head as I reached down to open the car door for her, she slipped inside with ease. “Such a gentleman.” She said while laughing to herself. I shut the door behind her and made my way into the drivers seat, quickly getting the engine going and pulling out onto the deserted streets.
I listen to her babble on about the night. The fruity drink Zayn bought her, and the other fruity drink Eleanor made her try, and the sour drink that she and Niall shared. She told me about dancing with Louis and how he almost let her fall down when I noticed her words becoming more spread out and less frequent. I looked over my shoulder and saw her forehead resting on the frosted window. Her red lips pouted as she breathed steadily out of her nose. I smiled at her fatigued figure and continued the rest of the trip in a sleepy silence.
I pulled into the normal parking space I used and turned off the car, hoping that would rouse Scarlett from her sleep, but she laid still. I sighed, exiting the car and slowly opening up the passenger side door. She stirred a bit.
“Scarlett,” I whispered, poking her shoulder. She mumbled something and brought her legs up to her chest, turning away from me, the bones in her spine visible from the back of her dress. I huffed in defeat and resorted to shoving my hands under her small frame and scooping her up close to my chest. Her arms quickly wrapped around my neck while I kicked the car door closed with my foot. She clung to me as I carried her up the steps and struggled to push the door open without dropping her and shattering her fragile body into a million pieces of Scarlett on the cement.
Feeling successful, I made it into the flat and pushed the door closed with my backside. Scarlett sighed against my chest and I led her into my room. Delicately placing her on the sheets, her arms freeing from around my neck as they fell over her head. She contorted her body as she grumbled and her eyes slowly began to open. She smiled at me looking down on her.
“Oh, hello.” She whispered. I laughed, her voice like a soft purr as she spoke. It warmed every inch of me. “I’m not comfortable in this dress anymore.” She began to pull on the soft fabric by her wrists. I quickly remembered Danielle mentioning her bag with a change of clothes inside. Scarlett slowly sat up on the edge of the bed across from where I was standing.
“Where did you put your bag? I’ll get you your clothes.” Her expression changed to one of compete confusion. She looked past me and around the room, as if the bag would magically appear out of thin air.
“I-I don’t know where it is.” She shrugged, looking quite sad at first, then laughing at the fact she couldn’t find it. I sighed and spun around looking at the messy floor of my room and picking up a fallen jumper that I had worn earlier that week. I handed her the wooly material.
“Here, put this on instead.” She took the creme colored jumper in her hands and rubbed the fabric between her fingers, much like she did with my blazer, before setting it aside and raising both of her arms over head. She sat patiently on the bed, rocking her crossed legs back and forth against the white duvet.
“What are you doing?” I asked after she sat like that for quite sometime.
“I need help out of this dress.” She wiggled her arms in the air and giggling at her action. I caught my breath in my throat before turning my head to the right feeling bemused.
“You want me to take the dress off for you?” I asked, trying to clarify what she was saying. Scarlett took her bottom lip between her teeth and nodded slowly. I exhaled quickly and blinked multiple times. I walked up to her slowly, kneeling down in front of her, our faces at the same level. She smiled at me, but I looked away and swallowed hard.
My shaking hands reached for the hem of her dress. My finger tips sneaking under neath it as she moved her hips for it to slid off of her easier. My knuckles dragged across her smooth thighs, pulling the black cotton up to her waist and became surprised at the fact that she was wearing a tiny, black thong. My lips quivered as I felt her eyes watch my every move. I couldn’t bare going this slow, so with one swift motion I pulled the rest of the dress from her body, my eyes widening at the sight of her exposed breasts. She cupped her hands over them quickly.
“Whoops.” She shrugged her shoulders and grinned. I felt my pants tighten.
“I’m...” I trailed off trying to find the words I needed to say. “I’m going to go change.” I quickly backed away into the bathroom attached to my bedroom. I gasped loudly as I shut the door behind me, trying to keep myself calm after what had just happened. My mind was racing and there was no way of slowing it down. I tore off my blazer and left the white t-shirt I wore on, I discarded my black jeans and grabbed a pair of sweats that laid on the floor next to the shower. I splashed cold water on my face, in hopes it would help me from taking advantage of the opportunity Scarlett has presented me with.
I was not that kind of boy. I didn’t do that with girls that had had way to much to drink. I pushed open the door and saw Scarlett, dressed in my jumper, and buried underneath the heavy sheets of my bed. I smiled, liking this picture all too much. I quickly shook my head, making my way out of the room when I Scarlett spoke up.
“Where are you going?” She asked, her head popping up from the pillow it rested on.
“To sleep. On the couch.” I replied. Scarlett pursed her lips, tearing down the blankets next to her.
“Why would you do that when you have such a big bed?” She giggled. “And me.” I would be a fool to resist this request. I walked toward the bed, watching her smile grow as I lied down next to her. Her arm wrapping around my waist and pulling herself close to me. I sighed at the feeling of her frame next to mine, and snaked my arm around her shoulder, clutching her closer to me as well.
She buried her face in the crook of my neck and I could feel her take in deep breaths and her hot breath fanning across my skin as she exhaled. I closed my eyes, basking in the feeling.
“You smell good.” She murmured. I laughed lightly, thanking her.
There was a short moment of silence, and I assumed she had fallen asleep quickly. But my assumption was proved wrong when I felt her lips trace along my neck. Her kisses were delicate as she made her way up. They were soft and airy and felt like velvet each time she dragged her pouted lips across my jaw line. I exhaled loudly, her lips twitch upward as she planted a small kiss right behind my ear. A series of chills following after she did so.
“Scarlett...” I huffed.
“Harry,” She replied. I turned toward her. Her eyes looking more innocent than ever. The flecks of green in the hazel color shining from the light of the moon that streamed in from the window. Her thick eyelashes framing them perfectly and the small freckles on her nose and cheeks looking more noticeable and adorable than ever. Her lips parted before she spoke words that I have been wanting to hear since she entered the flat this evening: “Kiss me.”
I swallowed. My hand reaching up and sweeping a stray piece of hair away from her face as her eyes fluttered shut. I ran my thumb along her cheek before closing my own eyes and bringing her lips to mine. The moment they connected her hand that laid on my chest clenched my t-shirt. I ran my hand through her hair and down to her shoulders, resting it on her back as her hand made it’s way up to my neck.
She broke her tongue through my lips and immediately put it to work. I breathed heavily into the kiss while her fingers clawed at my curls. As our kiss grew more passionate, my hand traveled lower on her back, slipping underneath the wool jumper and against the warm, smooth skin of her bare back.
She tangled out legs as her inner thigh became excruciatingly close to where I wanted her most. She ground her hips against me and I groaned into our kiss. I felt her smile as her tongue lapped against my jaw.
“You need to go to sleep, baby lips.” I spoke. Her giggle rang in my ears as she pushed her lips against mine once more, without hesitation I kissed back, but was left unsatisfied when she broke our innocent kiss and turned her back to me. I smiled, and ran my tongue across my lips. I could taste her peppermint lip balm. I turned toward her and wrapped my arm around her waist bringing her close to me and taking in the honey like scent of her hair as she wiggled her body next to me.
Our breathing became in sync as time lapsed by. I could feel her fingers playing with the bracelets on my wrists. I felt calm and the sick feeling was gone for good.
“Harry,” I heard her speak as I was dozing off. I replied with a small hum. “you know I don’t normally like those pet names. But I like when you call me baby lips.” She whispered. I smiled lazily into the nape of her neck.
“Goodnight, Scarlett.” I mumbled.
“Goodnight, who?”
I pushed back her hair, placing a small kiss on the hot skin of her neck.
“Goodnight, baby lips.”
