Crazy Little Thing Called Love

Rings Or How Harry Had The Best Shower Of His Life

Hi everyone, thank you so much for the amazing feedback I have received for the last few chapters and the understanding and support for my decision to finish this story some time in the near future. Please understand that this wasn't an easy decision as I love the characters just as much as you do. For all those who might be interested, I have recently started a second story called Great Things Take Time which I will focus on as soon as I have finished this story during the next few weeks. But now, without further ado, the next chapter. :) All the love, Summer xxx

I was woken up by an alarm Harry must have set before he arrived because I couldn't remember setting one myself. "What time is it?" I mumbled sleepily and groggily opened my eyes. "It's 6am, go back to sleep, love." Harry replied quietly and pressed a light kiss to my forehead. "Are you leaving already?" I asked him and sat up, making the duvet dropping from my shoulders, and I felt goosebumps appear on my bare arms. "I have to be at the airport in two hours which means that I'll have to leave in an hour." Harry explained, looking down at me with a sad look on his face. "I'll make us some breakfast then and you can take a shower." I mumbled sleepily and pushed the duvet down my naked body.

I climbed out of bed and felt Harry's eyes on me without even having to turn around. "Harry, shower." I reminded him in a teasing tone and leaned down to pick up my under wear from the floor. When I came back up again, Harry was standing in front of me in all of his naked glory. "You could join me in the shower?" he suggested with a smirk and gently cupped my cheek with his hand, grazing my lips with his thumb. "You'll never make it to the airport on time if we shower together." I halfheartedly protested and desperately tried to keep my eyes on his face.

"But think about all the water we could save if we showered together." Harry mumbled and let his other hand slowly travel down my back, while his lips started to trail feather-light kisses down my neck towards my breast. "And all the fun we could have..." he continued. "Harry..." I moaned quietly, my body immediately responding to his touch. "Shower?" he asked against my skin and looked up at me through his long eyelashes. "Hmmmm..." I could only mumble and with a victorious grin, he lifted me up in a swift motion and carried me into our bath room as quickly as his legs could carry us.

When we emerged from the steaming shower twenty minutes later, he wrapped me into a fluffy towel, before wrapping one around his waist, as well. His arms wrapped themselves around my body and he rested his chin on my shoulder, both of us facing the mirror. "Why did you ever doubt that we couldn't be enough?" he whispered, a frown appearing on his beautiful face. His hands gently stroked my stomach through the towel, while he waited for an answer. 

"It just always seemed so unlikely that someone like you ever could love someone like me, Harry. I am not a very confident person and your life in the spot light scares me, so yesterday when I was feeling lonely and was being treated to badly simply because I fell in love with you, I suddenly questioned if we could really make it 'til the end, you know? I felt like you deserved someone better who is better at handling the fame and attention which comes with being with you. But you made me realise that some things are worth fighting for."

I turned my head to look up at him, and he gently turned me around in his embrace, my towel dropping to the floor in the process. "You are so much more important to me than you know, Claire. You don't give yourself enough credit. I love you because of who you are and even if I had the choice to be with someone else, I would always choose you because you make me feel like home. I will always fight for you." he admitted quietly and instead of saying something, I simply pulled his head down to me and pressed my lips to his, trying to savour this moment for the next few weeks which I would spend without him.

Only very reluctantly we finally got dressed, a process which took even longer than usually because I had to chase Harry around my whole flat after he took off with my clothes. When we were finally fully clothed, we only had twenty minutes to spare for a short breakfast and decided to both eat some muesli as it would need the least time to prepare. "Do you have any idea what kind of job you want to do now?" Harry asked in between bites and warily eyed the contents in his bowl. "That's only a date, Harry, it won't kill you." I said with an amused grin and he shot me a look, before he hesitantly shoved the spoon into his mouth. "And to answer your question, I honestly don't know. Maybe I can help with some research at the uni or something like that over the summer while I apply for a Master somewhere in the city." I explained and he nodded, while inspecting another date which had found a way into his bowl.

Fifteen minutes later, we were both standing in the hallway next to Harry's packed Tom Ford bag which had probably cost more than at least two months rent. Silently, he pulled me into a tight hug and buried his face in my neck. "I love you so much, I wish I didn't have to leave again." he mumbled and pulled away a little bit to press a sweet kiss to my forehead. "I love you, too. I'm sorry that I made you fly all the way here just because I was so stupid and insecure and-" But Harry cut me off with a kiss which I returned withing seconds. "Stop apologising, love. If I hadn't come I wouldn't have been able to have what probably was the best shower of my entire life." he said and his lips pulled into one of his famous smirks. "Oh shut up." I scolded him, but he only laughed and pressed another kiss to my lips.

"You should go before you miss your flight because of me." I said sadly and took a step back, but he gently grabbed my arm and stopped me. While my eyes were focused on his face, I saw him fiddling with something from the corner of my eye and when I looked down he had something in his hands. "Here, take this and think of me when you wear it." he said and pushed a cool object into my hand. When I opened it, I realised that it was one of his rings and I felt myself tear up. "Harry, I can't..." He placed a finger over my lips and effectively shut me up. "Shhhh, keep fighting for us, alright?" he said and pressed one last kiss to my lips, before he picked up his bag and opened my front door. "I'll see you in three weeks." With one last wave, he closed the front door behind him and I heard him climb down the stairs.

Suddenly, my body came back to life and I grabbed my keys, before I sprinted down the stairs and reached the pavement just in time to see Harry climb into the passenger seat of a taxi. "Harry!" I shouted and he looked up again, his whole face lighting up when he saw me standing in front of him with my wet hair and my bare feet. Within seconds, he was back out of the car and had pressed his lips to mine for a final kiss. "I love you, Harry." I whispered, before I pulled away and watched him climb back into the car, my right hand tightly clasped around his ring I was wearing on my left middle finger. He raised his hand in a wave and gave me one last smile, before the care disappeared around a corner, leaving me behind with an aching heart, my lips still tingling from our kiss.

When I arrived back upstairs in the kitchen, I cleaned the table and did our dishes, before I checked my phone. Lily had texted me and apologised for not warning me about spending last night at Niall's and I had also received a text from Milena. "Hi, can we talk? xxx" it read and I instantly invited her over for a cuppa tea, very curious as to what she wanted to talk about. Somehow I had a feeling that it had something to do with Louis, but I couldn't say for sure. She replied minutes later telling me that she'd be over at my place in half an hour and I went back into my bedroom to tidy up a bit, before she came around, last night playing on my mind for the next few minutes.