Clutch.

|ten|

Zoe's POV

The last thing I could remember clearly before my eyes drifted to sleep, was how blissful it was, sitting under the stars next to Harry. It was better than I could have ever imagined. The kid goes above and beyond, that's for sure. The next morning was pleasant. Even a few rooms apart, I could almost feel the level of comfort between us go up instantly after last night.

I stepped quietly into the hallway and heard soft sighs and deep breaths coming from Harry's bedroom down a ways. I knocked gently on the door as he jumped up off the edge of his king sized bed. His eyes glistened as he blinked weary tears away from the corners of his eyes.

"Hey... is everything okay?" I asked quietly before stepping in slowly and joining him on the end of his bed.

"Yeah, yeah.. No problem." He smiled weakly, forcing the fakest smile I've ever seen on a person.

"You can tell me, I won't judge you with whatever it is." I tried to comfort him and placed my hand lightly on his bare shoulder. He brought his head up more and I got lost somewhere amongst his eyes and soul.

"Thanks Z, but it's alright. Everything is fine." He nodded, running his fingers through his hair.

"Nobody except my dad calls me Z..." I thought out loud, pulling my hands back to give him some space as I sighed under my breath. I didn't mind it though, oddly. It was kind of comforting.

"Oh..." His voice got quiet as he tried to recover from that uncomfortable moment. "I-I'm sorry. I had no idea.." He mumbled, looking back down at his hands in his lap.

"No. I like when you call me that." I shook my head slightly and looked at him. This time his smile was genuine.

"I.. I just want you to know one thing, Zoe." He said quickly after a moment, his eyes now looking into mine again.

Oh shit. I hate when people pull this kind of crap. The endless possible thoughts started drifting through my mind. Let's go through our options, shall we? Harry is either a) living a bisexual affair of Larry Stylinson with a cup of Zoe on the side b) has a sexually transmitted disease, which, you know, sucks for everyone or c) never wants to see me again after last night because I'm so awkward and weird so, definitely holding out for the third option. Seems most reasonable.

"Okay. Yes?" I said, cautiously awaiting the reply.

"I won't hurt you, okay? I promise." Harry said softly, and really, wholeheartedly.

I'm not really sure why this was even brought up in the first place. I hadn't questioned his motions at all, especially after last night. Harry had no reasons for me to even think one bit that he would hurt me, but I acknowledged and respected his thought.

"You promise?" I asked, just agreeing with him now, really. I wanted him to know I appreciated those words. Harry stuck out his pinky on his left hand before reaching out to me.

"Pinky promise." He said, grinning slightly as I linked my pinky along with his thicker one.

We both smiled at each other and got up to walk out to the living room together, still in semi groggy states of sleep.

"What are your plans for today, Styles?" I asked, plopping down on the couch as I let out a soft yawn, hugging my knees to my chest.

"Not quite sure yet. But hey, remember your luggage should be coming today!" He said cheerfully, taking a seat in one of the open chairs.

I clapped my hands quickly and grinned, because it's about freakin' time. It's a lot harder living off of four outfits than it seems. And I only had to do just a few days of it anyways. I wouldn't want to know the real struggle unless I had to.

"Any news on Emma and Niall?" I asked once I took a breather again, purely out of curiosity.

"I haven't heard much about it." Harry shook his head then stood up again and walked into the kitchen and grabbed water bottles for the both of us, tossing me one across the spacious room.

"Weird. I guess we'll see what happens then, huh?" I said, taking a quick drink.

"Zoe, I'm pretty sure you and I have other things to focus on besides Niall and Emma." He smirked slightly as he turned back around so he wasn't facing me, waking further into the kitchen now so he wasn't even visible to me from where I was sitting.

Cheeky, as the Brits would say... Right? Cheeky? I'm not sure any more, honestly. I think I'm trying too fucking hard.

"Is that so?" I asked, standing up to follow him and join beside him in the kitchen.

"Well, I sure do hope so." Harry grinned, pulling a carton of eggs and bread out from the fridge.

I agreed with him, I really did. I had fun, he seemed to have fun. I could see this going a little further than just friendship. To be honest, I certainly hope it did. You always hear about those stories where the girl just blinks her fucking eyes and guys swoon. That has never happened to me in any situation and meeting Harry was the first time in my life that I felt like someone cared and wanted to truly get to know me.

And plus, I've already gotten past the 'One Direction British popstar' front of the boys. Getting to know these fellas has proven to be amusing and it's only been like three days. God only knows what kind of shit is gonna go down in three weeks. Please don't get me wrong though, it's not like I just want to 'get with' Harry and then leave. He seems in this for the run, and... so am I, I hope.

I had been daydreaming a little bit and not realizing what Harry was doing now, and it turns out he was doing the same; staring blankly at the eggs as he stirred them weakly in the bowl. I brought my head down from the clouds and came back into reality, laughing quietly as I looked at how dazed over his expression was now.

"I won't hurt you either, Harry." I mumbled quietly, almost hoping he just didn't hear. 'Where the fuck did that come from?' was my automatic reaction from my conscience. I felt my cheeks turn a lovely shade of rose, as did Harry's.

How fucking awkward. Nice going, Zoe.

He turned to face me and looked so deep into my eyes, it almost felt like he could see my thoughts, which frightened me unexplainably more.

"Do you promise, Zoe?" He whispered, blinking a couple times.

I stuck my pinky out to him and nodded.

"Pinky promise."