Before She Falls

Chapter 36

I tip-toe across the hallway to the bathroom and close the door behind me. I hurry inside the shower and turn the faucet on. The warm water splashes against my sleepy skin and I automatically feel cleaner.

I had just woken up and I'm a complete and sweaty mess. I automatically shifted myself from under Harry's heavy arm and made my way to the shower to clean myself and get ready for the day since it's already around 10:30 in the morning.

The strong stream of water washes the shampoo from my hair and I apply the conditioner as I hear a knock on the door.

"What?" I yell over the sound of the running water.

"Hurry up! I need the lou!" I hear a guy's voice call and I believe it to be Niall.

"I'll be out in a minute!" I yell back and begin to wash my body with soap.

I'm still thinking about what happened last night with Harry and where it leaves us now. Are we like together kind of, or are we just hooking up? Is he going to tell the boys about our night, or is this going to be a secretive affair? And what about when Harry leaves today to go back home? Given it's only about a forty-five minute drive from Wolverhampton, but still. And what's going to happen when he leaves for his tour and when I leave to go back to New York? Is this going to continue? I mean, I'm starting school back in Boston in two weeks and he'll be on tour in the UK. How is that even supposed to work? I guess I had a lot of questions for when Harry wakes up.

I rinse my hair out one last time before shutting the water off and stepping out of the shower to grab one of the towels hanging on the rack. I dry my hair off first and then begin to rub the towel over my body to dry it. I wrap it around my chest and grab my worn clothes from the counter.

"Finally" Niall's standing in front of me with one of his crutches as soon as I step out of the bathroom.

"Good morning to ya too" I laugh and stroll across the hall.

I open the door and Harry's turned onto his stomach facing me. His green eyes are halfway open as the light from the window is shining down near his face.

"Morning" his voice sounds more like a moan and last night's events consume my thoughts.

"Hi" I chirp back to him and smile.

"You left me" Harry mumbles into the pillow and slides his arms up underneath it.

"I just had to shower, Haz" I rummage through my suitcase to pull out a pair of leggings and a tie-dyed shirt.

"Yeah yeah" He moves onto his back and places his hands behind his head, stretching out his back. His arm muscles flex and I can't help but stare at the various tattoos covering them.

My phone chimes from the nightstand and my eyes direct at the screen, as do Harry's. His hand reaches and his tired eyes look to my phone to see what my new notification is.

"Who's Mark?" Harry's nose scrunches up and my jaw drops slightly.

I don't answer Harry, but I probably should because his face looks puzzled. I just move to the edge of the bed to sit next to him and look to see what, probably pathetic, message Mark sent me.

"He said, 'Call me' and 'When you come back, we seriously need to talk'" Harry reads the words off of the screen in a monotone manner and looks to me for an answer.

"He's so annoying" I hiss and roll my eyes.

"Who is he?" Harry's eyes look to mine.

Did I really want to say my ex-boyfriend? That just looks so bad.