Always

Chapter 76

As usual, I was having difficulty finding an outfit I deemed worthy for the party in a few hours. Harry had arrived a half hour ago and was sitting on my bed, watching me with exasperation as I shuffled around my room, changing details about my clothes randomly.

"Joey, love, you look perfect," he said, his voice muffled into his hands as he rested his chin on his palm. He didn't seem to understand my struggle with getting ready, constantly telling me what I had on was beautiful, great, perfect, whatever. He was too easy to please. I frowned at my reflection in the mirror, struggling to decide whether or not to wear a jacket with my top.

"You always say that, Harry."

"That's because I always mean it. You look beautiful in everything," he said sweetly. While I knew he really did mean that, I couldn't help but think he was saying it to hurry me along, as well. I sighed, deciding to drop the jacket and crossing the room to stand in front of him, winding my arms around his neck as he looked up at me from my bed. His chin lifted off his hands so they could slide up the backs of my legs, gripping my thighs.

"You're too nice to me," I told him, my fingers twisting into the hair at the base of his neck.

"Not uh," he said, shaking his head slowly. I smiled as his hands slid down to my knees, putting pressure there so they'd buckle and allow him to pull me onto his lap. His arms wrapped around my waist as my legs swung off to the side of his.

"You ready finally?" he asked quietly, pressing his lips to my shoulder, clear green eyes flashing up at me. I didn't know how it was possible for him to look so good from every angle in existence, but he did.

"Mmhmm, I think so." My face nuzzled into his neck and I suddenly felt the urge to stay home alone with him all night, cuddling together on the couch and relishing the warmth of his skin on mine. The more I thought about it, the more I wanted to just blow off the party entirely.

"Let's just stay in tonight, Harry," I said, pressing my lips to his jaw and squeezing him tighter. He let out a quiet hum, and my hopes that he'd agree soared. His soft hair slipped through my fingers as the pads of them tickled against his scalp.

"We said we'd go, love," he reminded me, his dedication to keeping his word getting in my way.

"They won't even notice," I persuaded, kissing my lips to his neck now.

"You just spent all that time getting ready," he countered, a light smile tugging at his lips as I cuddled further into him.

"It's all for you, anyway," I said truthfully. He was the one I wanted to look good for, after all; I couldn't care less what everyone else thought. As long as he thought I looked good, I was happy.

"Joeyyy," he whined, squirming lightly as I shifted in his lap. He ducked his head down to kiss my lips, pulling them away from his neck. "Let's just go for a bit, yeah? Your friends were so excited."

I let out a sigh of defeat. "Fineee."

He grinned and pressed another kiss to my lips. "Shall we?"

I nodded reluctantly, unable to suppress the grin that pulled at my mouth. His smile was so contagious. "We shall."

I climbed off his lap and grabbed his hands, leaning back to pull him off my bed to his full height, letting him tower over me. His hand cupped the back of my head and pulled me forward so he could press a kiss to my forehead. After grabbing his brown jacket and throwing it over his dark gray henley and navy blue zip up hoodie, he gripped my hand and pulled me out of the room.

After driving to Lydia's house and finding a place to park all the way down the street, we had arrived at the party. I let myself out of his car and met him on the other side where he captured my hand and led me up to the house. Just as last time, music could be heard clearly as it poured through the walls, and already people had migrated to the yard to get some fresh air. We had arrived late, once again, because of my difficulty with getting dressed and my lack of motivation to go.