Afire Love (h.s)

four

The sound of Alex Turner's voice fills my ears as my phone alarm clock goes off. I recently set my alarm sound to 'When the Sun Goes Down' by Artic Monkeys, and I have seemingly fallen in love with the sound of his voice.

I lift my head off the pillow to turn off the alarm, before sighing deeply and flopping my head back onto the pillow. As I'm sat there, thinking aimlessly, the memories from yesterday evening come flooding into my mind. Harry's lips on mine, his hands in my hair, and the embarrassment of me running away from the situation.

I mentally groan at the situation, before lifting my body out of bed and rummaging through my drawers for my workout clothes. I'm working the evening shift tonight at work, and to be honest I am a little nervous. Not because I'll be on my own, but because I don't think I'm doing very well at the whole receptionist job. I mean, Lisa, my manager does try to reassure me and tells me that I'm doing well, but it is just a self-conscious trait that I have, sadly. But for now, I am off to do my daily workout at the gym.

After I'm dressed, I quickly grab an apple and a bottle of water before leaving the apartment to go to the gym, a place that I seem to spend most of my time. I lock my door and turn to see Harry doing the same to his front door. I show a small smile towards him, as he just stares and walks past coldly, rude.

I see him press the button to wait for the lift, so I decide to take the stairs as I would rather not spend time with him in such a confined space. As I reach the last step, I can already see Harry exiting the building, so I decide to walk at a slightly slower pace, so I don't catch up with him.

When I enter the gym, I have already lost sight of Harry, and I walk to the reception desk and smile at my friend Charlotte who's working today. I hand her my membership card as she gossips to me about a boy she was texting the other day. I just laugh at her before collecting my card back and heading to the treadmills near the boxing room.

I rummage in my jacket pocket before realising I have forgotten my earphones, "Ugh!" I quietly curse to myself, before switching on the treadmill and starting my workout.

As I near the 25 minute mark of my workout, I start to hear shouting from the boxing room, and not long after I notice that the voice is none other than my confusing neighbour, Harry. I roll my eyes and carry on running, before the voices become even louder, and at this point I am starting to get annoyed.

It isn't long until I see Harry storm out of the boxing room, chucking his gloves on the floor as he furrow his eyebrows. I am quite scared at his outrage, and stop my workout for a few moments. I watch Harry as he walks out of the building and sits on the curb opposite the entrance, before I turn my head back to the boxing room. I notice his trainer stood in the doorframe to the room, rolling his eyes before he turns around and walks back into the boxing room whilst shaking his head.

I turn back to see Harry sat on the curb with his head in his hands, and I decide to be a good neighbour and begin to walk towards the exit, leaving my jacket and water bottle by the treadmill.

As the cold air hits my face, my hair starts to blow a bit in my eyes and I walk towards Harry sat on the curb. He doesn't actually notice me until I'm sat down next to him, our arms brushing slightly.

We both sit in silence for a good 3 minutes, before he moves slightly, and reaches into his jacket pocket, retrieving a packet of peppermint flavour soft mints. He opens the packet and stares at it, before looking down at me, nodding to the packet, "want one?" He questions, as he pops one out of the packet. I shake my head, "I prefer spearmint flavour," before I nod to the gym, "I have a packet in my jacket," as I look down again. He puts the mint in his mouth and starts laughing at me, his shoulders shaking and smile reaching from ear to ear, "what?" I question, as his laughter dies down. "That rhymed!" He says, trying to hold back his laughter before bursting into giggles again. This brings a small smile to my face before I am soon laughing with him, and we both look like idiots, sat on the curb and laughing at something so silly.

Its moments like these that I question how Harry can be so easy to get along with one minute, but so horrible and rude the next.

Our laughter dies down completely and I look up at him, as he chews the soft mint in his mouth, his jaw tensing and his jawline extremely prominent. "So, what was all that about?" I softly question, nodding to the gym. He leans his head back and sighs, "he's not letting me compete tomorrow because of my black eye and the cuts on my face, he says they're 'too serious'" he looks towards me, both anger and sadness shown across his face. "Oh," I reply back, "Why did you get a black eye?" I question, "don't be so nosey, Liliana," he snaps back, looking away from me as he does so. I sigh and shake my head, looking down as my teeth start to chatter and I try and hug myself to stop the heat leaving my body. Harry seems to notice as soon enough there is a jacket draped around my shoulders, and the smell of peppermint and his aftershave fill my senses. I look up at him and smile, "I'm sorry, I don't mean to snap," he looks down at me, with a much softer tone to his voice. "If I tell you, you cannot tell anyone, understand?" he tells me, and I nod in return.

"The guy that I'm meant to be fighting tomorrow was in town the other day, the night that you found me in that state," he stares ahead as he begins to explain to me. "Long story short, I absolutely despise the guy, and he was in the same bar as me that night," I nod in return so he knows that I'm listening. "He started teasing me, telling everyone that he was gonna get revenge and beat me in our fight tomorrow, and that he would 'get my mum back', so I hit him, and he hit me back, many times back," he looks towards me, "but my trainer can't know that it was him I hit, as that's against the rules, and we're not supposed to know our opponents," I nod, and open my mouth to reply, "I'm sorry he was like that to you, but why do you despise him, and how does he know your mum?" I question. He looks at the gym and back to me again, "that story is for another time, Lil," he replies, before he bends his long legs and lifts himself off the curb, turning to me to grab my hand and help me up.

I hand him back his jacket and stare at him as we walk back towards the gym, "did you just call me Lil?" I question, slightly smirking at the small nickname he gave ma a few moments ago. He nudges me with his shoulder as a smile creeps onto his face, "shut up, Liliana," he says smirking back at me. I groan at the name he calls me as we both enter the gym again to carry on with our own business.

HEY!!

Sorry I have taken a bit longer to update, I have been busy with family parties and catching up with friends?! How are you all finding this story so farrrrr? Please comment and vote and recommend to friends!!

Much love,

devil-styles xxx