Never Gonna Give You Up
Harry’s hand on mine felt like my stronghold as we walked back to his car with a wave back to his family. That wasn’t nearly as bad as I’d expected. I’d even enjoyed myself, I realized with a quick squeeze to Harry’s hand.
Walking up to that front stoop was the hardest part. I’ve always considered myself to be pretty great with parents. I’m a charmer, what else can I say? However, this time it felt different. More important, I guess. It was nerve-racking and the very last thing I wanted to mess up. Names were easy other than all the different last names… kind of hard to keep up when I don’t come from a mixed family.
Anne opened the door and introduced herself, along with her husband Robin (not Harry’s dad.. different name) and her daughter Gemma (Harry’s sister). Gemma was a little over a year older than me, at almost twenty-two. She had most of Harry’s features but resembled her Mom hair and fashion-wise. I took a liking to her right away. I felt we would have been friends if we’d met elsewhere. Anne had a friendly face and she hugged me right away saying it was good to meet Harry’s “lady friend.” I kind of shot Harry a questioning look but he shrugged it off like he didn’t know what I was thinking about. Right. Robin was a heavier-set man with the personality of Santa Claus. Harry seriously had the nicest family I’d ever met. They all seemed to genuinely like each other, which doesn’t happen very often. I made a mental note to ask Harry about his Dad when I got the chance.
For dinner Anne prepared a roasted chicken with vegetables and a salad. We ate slowly, talking about Harry’s upcoming tour, how work was going for everyone and my and Gemma’s college education. I had a year to go and she was finishing her last one. Harry leaned in and squeezed my thigh when he thought no one was looking. I’m pretty sure Gemma noticed but she didn’t give it away. Anne wanted to know how we met and that story ended up sounding absolutely ridiculous, even to us. I told her a little about how hard it was to be away from home and that my best friend had come for a little visit to relieve me of my homesickness. She thought that was the sweetest thing and said she hoped Harry was treating me nicely. I laughed and assured her he was.
After dinner Anne told us to take a tour of the house while she set out dessert, so Harry showed me around the basics of the two story house, where his cat was hiding and then showed me his bedroom. It still looked like a sixteen year old lived there- posters of bands, pictures sticky-tacked to the wall and plain decorating along with what looked like a Playboy Bunny on the back of his door which he promptly ripped down with an embarrassed smile. “You don’t have to do that. I have two brothers- I understand how boys are.” I laughed as I said it. A strange look came over Harry’s face as he stepped toward me. He lifted a hand to brush a stray hair behind my ear, with his hand resting against my jaw, cupping my face. I felt sure he was about to kiss me or say something important when his Mom called, “Okay kids, dessert’s out!” The moment was gone and he grabbed my hand to usher me downstairs. Growing boy, schmowing boy. Food was all it took to get him in a fired up hurry.
We ate chocolate cake on the Twist’s back porch. The sky was full of stars and it was warm with a little breeze. What a perfect night, I thought. When it was time to go I received a hug from everyone with the hopes that they’d see me again soon. Gemma and I exchanged well-wishing for exams and we walked out to the car with a wave goodbye.
I nearly fell asleep in the car but Harry gently nudged me awake. “What’d you think?”
“That was beyond lovely. I love them even if we’ve just met. Guess I can see where you learned to cook.” I said half-yawning. He just smiled and turned his attention back to the road.
“Is it okay to go back to my place?” Harry asked tentatively.
I felt my eyes widen but I just answered evenly that it’d be fine if I texted Zak real quick. I got my phone out and sent: “Hey babe, what did you end up doing for today/tonight? Harry wants me to stay over but I won’t if you need me. We really need to catch up at some point.”
A few minutes later I got a reply: “That’s cool. I had a great day! Some in, some out but a lot of getting to know Louis. Well, you already know how I feel so this could be good or bad.. oh, well! Have fun and we’ll talk tomorrow. I have a key so I’m good.”
I stole a glance over at Harry. His profile evoked some emotion I couldn’t quite place. Not exactly love, but not just lust. He seemed to be concentrating on something as I was concentrating on him. “Do you have class tomorrow?” He asked, interrupting the silence.
“Technically? Yes. It’s my film class but we’re just finishing up something I’ve already seen so I could skip it if I send in an e-mail.” I straightened my hair with my fingers and wiped at my eyes.
Harry reached over and grabbed my hand with a little smile and said, “That’s what I was hoping.”
I was stuffed so I curled up on the couch with Tessa while Harry locked the house up and set the alarm. He joined us on the couch and joked that we were a little family. I blushed and immediately felt embarrassed for some reason. Things were escalating way too quickly. Was I really okay with that? I set that thought aside and snuggled up against his chest realizing this was was a similar scene to the night when we… oh, shit. A fire ran through my face as a chill simultaneously followed up my spine.
Harry began absentmindedly rubbing circles into my back and hummed a little as we sat. Before too long though he breathed in a little of my hair when he pulled me closer and I felt his heart beat as fast as mine. I felt him gulp against my head. He gently picked Tessa up and put her to the side of me, looking into my eyes the whole time. Okay, that was a little hot. I hoped I didn’t look as stupid and awkward as I felt, silently praying I looked somehow sexy or something close to it as I bit my lip. It must have worked because Harry leaned in and with simply the force of his lips pushed me down flat onto the couch and straddled me. I didn’t notice but I assumed Tessa had jumped off because we were one big hot mess and took up quite a bit of space. His lips traveled down my chin to my jawline and up to my ear before circuiting down the side of my neck. He only stopped to pull my dress and bra straps off. With his teeth. He quickly tore off his tee shirt and I ran my fingers down his torso, beginning with his neck and shoulders and following the lines downward to his belt buckle. If I felt a fire before I was surely an inferno by now. Within a matter of seconds his jeans fell off and my dress was on the floor. He set me back down on the couch and once more looked straight into my eyes, causing me to stiffen up. He chuckled a little and shook his head, “That won’t do, Rose.”
The back of his hands trailed down my neck to my panties, caressing the skin that met its path. There was something oddly intimate about it and I felt a shiver run through me before I relaxed. Grabbing his hands in my own I directed them around to my back and set them on my bra clasp, trying out his trick by looking him dead in the eyes. Harry closed his eyes and twisted his face up with a small, low groan as he did what I’d encouraged. I seriously thought I was going to die at that moment and we hadn’t even started.
My bra came loose and soon joined my dress on the floor. Something about the foreign aspect of staying in the living room as well as how mundane that room was in the daylight willed me not to go upstairs to his bedroom. I slipped off his boxer briefs-plain grey this time- and was once more amazed at what I saw. He nudged me back with his head and began kissing me roughly, first on the mouth and then traveling Southward until he reached my bottoms and those too were removed. By his teeth. I had to look away with a gasped intake of air. Somehow I had the decency to hope Tessa wasn’t around to view this as Harry’s mouth traveled North again and re-met my mouth. I gave in with a sigh, pulling down on his back with my nails as we met and became a single blur.
Forty-five minutes later Harry and I collapsed in a heap on the large couch. Well, that was a first. He pulled my face up to his and kissed me deeply before sighing and situating me back on his chest. “I’ve never been so happy.” Harry breathed, wrapping his arms around my waist. “The feeling is mutual,” I answered as I reached for a throw and dropped it over us.
