Duplicity

Undici

I planned over the next couple of days.  I wandered the house as discreetly as I could, looking at windows and doors that could serve as possible escape routes, digging through drawers trying to find keys when I was alone in a room.  I wasn't very successful on that end, but I would keep searching.  I didn't want to rush the escape attempt and mess up, because god knows it would almost be impossible for Harry to trust me again and I would lose my only chance.  I wanted–no, needed to do it right the first time. 

Things weren't bad enough for me to want to leave right away, anyway.  The boys must've been working really hard on something, because I hadn't seen most of them all week.  Only Louis, who forgot something at the house, and he just ruffled my hair before he was out the door again.  It was like I was just living with Sophia and Eleanor for the most part because Harry was already at work by the time I woke up, and I was in bed hours before he came home, on the nights he did come home.  Eleanor told me the boys spent two nights in a row sleeping in the office.

But it was Friday afternoon now, and the boys finally have some time off.  Zayn and Niall have already left for their flats, while the other three were on their way back to the house.  Louis and Liam were picking up the only friends I had in the house, and then it would just be Harry and I.  Great.

I was hoping that he would be so exhausted, that he would just sleep for two days, but if I had learned anything during my time in captivity, it was that Harry Styles was unpredictable.  So I didn't get my hopes up for a peaceful weekend.  And on top of that, there was a blizzard due that evening, so I would most likely have to be stuck in the house with him the whole weekend.  At least he brought me out to eat last time, though that night didn't end very well.

I tried to refocus on the food in front of me, wondering how long I stood there with an open peanut butter jar and some bread, when a pair of arms wrapped around my waist, making me jump in surprise.

"Hello, kitten."

I slowly breathed out through my nose, wondering how I didn't hear him coming, before turning around to face him.  And, god, I had never seen anyone look so tired in my life.  Harry's pretty green eyes were rimmed with red and he had the darkest under eye circles I had ever seen.  His usual golden complexion was a sickly paper-white, and I couldn't help but bring my hand to his cheek, rubbing my thumb along his jaw.  

"Oh, Harry, come on."  My food was forgotten as I tugged him towards the stairs, wanting to tuck him under the covers so he could sleep for hours, if not days.  And it didn't have anything to do with me not wanting to have to be around him, that was just an added bonus, it was just that he looked practically dead. I could say many things about Harry Styles, but I couldn't deny that he was a hard worker.  He practically dedicated his entire life to his job, which wasn't necessarily a good thing.

"Already want me in bed?" He chuckled softly with a small smirk, but I caught his slow blinks, and knew he wanted nothing more than to just pass out.  

Once we made it to his bedroom, he tugged off his sweater, leaving him in a thin white t-shirt and jeans, while I pulled back that duvet that had been untouched in nearly a week.  He had just begun to unbutton his pants when his phone began to ring.  He reached into his pocket with a mumbled curse, and angrily slid his finger across the screen to answer the call.

"Styles," he barked, his eyes closing while he leaned against a poster of the bed.  The muffled voice on the other end only spoke for a few seconds, and then his eyes flew open.  "You've got to be fucking kidding me! I–" He ran his hand over his face.  "I'll be there in forty minutes.  Have everything ready, or someone is going to lose an appendage." He hung up, and then tugged his previously discarded sweater back on with way more force than necessary.