Before She Falls

Chapter 32

I open my eyes slowly, feeling something right beside my face. It's still pitch dark in the bedroom and I feel the back of Harry's hand covering the majority of the side of my face. The warmth of his large hand is smoothing, almost protecting.

We must to have moved positions while we were sleeping because now I'm lying on my back, with my arm draping across Harry's stomach and Harry's on his side, facing me with his hands nuzzled next to his face as well as mine.

I shift my body over onto my side, to face the opposite direction of him. Our bodies naturally curve together and his hand falls from his face to my waist and there is a slight movement from his side of the bed.

"Kat" I hear a sigh behind me.

Is he actually awake? He must be a light sleeper if he really just woke up to me shifting a little bit.

"Hm" I mumble softly, not sure if he'll even respond or if he's even conscious.

He scoots the front of his body close to my backside.

"Are you awake?" I twist my neck to look over my shoulder. Harry's eyes are shut and his face looks very relaxed; I think he's asleep.

"Mhm" he whispers.

"Well go back to sleep" I tell him and snuggle into his body again.

"No" he exhales into the back of my neck.

"It's late Harry. Go to bed" I rest my arm directly next to his.

"Hm" Harry hums and that's when I really think he's sleep talking.

"You're cute when you're sleep talking" I say to him over my shoulder.

I feel Harry sigh and it sounds almost like a laugh. Then his arm lowers from my waist to near my hip bones and his fingers lightly trace the outline of them.

"You're cute all the time" Harry responds. "But I'm not sleep talking."

I flip my body around under his arm to face him and as soon as I do, Harry's sleepy eyes flutter open to reveal that he's actually fully awake.

"Hiii" his lips form a closed-mouth smile.

"Did I wake you up?" I ask taking in Harry's features through the darkness.

His hair is a little messier than usual, but still swept upward away from his face. The outline of his full lips are visible even in the dark. His eyes are lowered to meet mine and they look huge from this angle.

"Yeah" he brings his surprisingly smooth hands up and down my side. "I'm kind of a light sleeper...when I'm actually sleeping."

"I'm sorry" I reply quickly tucking a few strands of hair behind my ear.

"It's fine." Harry tightens his arm around me, causing me to pull in closer to his chest.

"Go to sleep, you've got to be exhausted" I say as I tuck my head beneath his chin.

"One condition" I feel Harry's voice vibrate through his body surrounding me.

I lift my head up, "What?" I ask as my eyes contact his.

"Tell me why you like me."

"Go to sleep, Styles" I roll my eyes and nuzzle my face back into his chest.

I notice his tattoos only inches away from my eyes and I bring my hand up to trace the swallows near his collarbones with my fingernails. Harry's silent for a minute or so, his chest rising and falling in a consistent tempo.

"This is why I like you" Harry says into the darkness.

"What?" I ask, sincerely confused as to what he means.

"This is why I like you" he repeats. His face tilts down to look at me, but I keep my focus on his inked chest. "You tell me to go to sleep, while you're pretending to color in my tattoos."

"That's why you like me?" I question as my fingernails rake over the tail of the tattooed bird.

"Not just that" Harry laughs and takes a long pause. "I like you because you're interesting. You're brave and shy at the same time. You understand me and I don't even have to explain much. You make me laugh, and a lot of people can do that, but there's something about the way you do it that makes it funnier. You have eyes that make me think that I could never stay mad at you."

Harry sighs before starting again, "You're extremely attractive, in a way that I'm not even sure makes sense. I feel good around you and that's the best way I can explain it." He pauses to think, "You comforted me at vulnerable moments and we barely knew each other and you let me sleep next to you on several occasions. You make everyone around you feel comfortable and at ease. You just cooked me pasta at one in the morning. And now here you are drawing on my chest at three am, listening to me ramble about how much I like you."

I finish outlining the swallows four times by the time he concludes and I glance up to see him still watching me and all I can do is smile.

"And now you don't know what to say" Harry laughs and his chest shakes.

My smile widens and I feel my cheeks reddened. I hide my face in Harry's chest but he doesn't have it. He backs himself up and pushes my shoulder in the other direction so he can see my blushing face.

"Your turn" a smirk takes over Harry's entire face.

I close my eyes and shake my head, a smile spreading on my lips.

"No?" Harry asks and moves closer to me.

I shake my head again and suddenly Harry's mouth connects to my neck. His lips press right under my jaw and he works his way to the bottom of my chin.

"That's not fair" he breathes.

"Harry" I whine and attempt to pull his face away from mine, but it's no use. Harry's strength is probably double mine.

"What, I can't convince you?" I can feel him smile against the skin he just kissed.

"You can try all you want" I laugh as Harry's mouth moves to my collarbones.

"Is that so?" Harry's accent is making me melt.

Both of his arms snake around my lower stomach, under my t-shirt. His hands are so warm and large it makes me shiver. He starts circling his tongue onto my skin and nibbles a bit on certain spots and my head tilts up to give him more surface area on my neck.

"Time to go back to sleep" I run my finger through his chocolate hair.

Harry stares at me with a huge grin, "Stop acting like you want me to stop."