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31 Slates

there's something so wrong about this.

Harry woke up and pressed a kiss against the shoulder beside him. His head was hurting and his throat was sore but Joey was sleeping next to him and she loved him. He was thankful that that had stuck with him while he slept. Thankful she stuck with him while he slept.

She stirred in her sleep and he licked his lips, keeping his eyes closed while trying to focus on anything other than his hangover. She loved him. He wondered if she'd repeat it if he asked her to.

"Harry?" Her voice was slow and raspy, pads of her fingers coming up to tap his chest.

He turned at the sound of her voice, eyes still closed but lips now parted. "Yes," he whispered.

Her hands came up behind his neck to pull him down to her. Just as he was about to protest against a kiss to her mouth since neither of them had brushed their teeth yet, she pressed her lips to his cheek with a smile. Gently, and in the same whisper as he had spoken to her, she said, "I like you a lot."

And Harry smiled, pulling away. "None of that."

Joey laughed, sitting up. "I do. I really, really like you."

He felt her slip from the covers, but his hand was quick to pull her back onto the mattress. His fingers worked through the small knot in her hair after a moment, eyebrows lifted in expectancy. "Say it," he pushed, dropping his head in the crook of her neck. She still smelled of perfume. It was a sweet scent that he thought she'd have run out by now.

Jo said nothing, keeping him where he was by splaying her hand out against the back of his head. She hummed, her own fingers combing through his thicker hair.

He fought back a groan when she pulled too hard, figuring it was no moment to start something so early in the morning. "Go on." He kissed her neck with an open mouth, teeth grinding against the skin there to urge her to say what he couldn't get out of his head. "Jo, say it."

With her breathing picking up, Joey shook her head. "I like you, Harry. A little more than friends, I guess."

"Like...like, like?"

She laughed and pulled his hair harder, making him groan out loudly against her. Harry lifted a hand to swat hers away. "Yeah," she answered. "I like, like you."

He nibbled at her neck again, this time in a new spot and harder. When she sucked in a breath at the pain, he licked over the sore spot and then smiled against it. "Tell me how you really feel."

"Don't you have a hangover?" She asked. "You're being real bold for someone with a hangover."

He shrugged. The pressure in his head was nothing he couldn't handle. His head had been hurting for the past week anyway. "I'll live."

"I love you."

At this, Harry sat up, wide smile taking place on his lips. "Me too." He paused. Thought the declaration didn't hold much depth. "I mean I love you."

She removed herself from the bed and he frowned a little. Thought he sounded all over the place.

"I'm sorry about last night. I was going to go visit Niall today and apologize to him too."