Mad World // Harry Styles

Chapter 5

I pull up to the dorms a full hour early. I’m anxious. What if she doesn’t show? What if she tells me to fuck off? What if she’s already hurt herself? All of these possibilities run through my mind.

I tap my feet and squirm around for the full hour that I wait, constantly peering out the windshield. Finally at twelve thirty exactly, I catch sight of Melrose trudging towards my SUV, a scowl on her face. She wrenches the door open and plops down in the passenger seat before slinging her duffle bag so that it lands with a thud in the back. Her scowl still in place, she crosses her arms and huffs.

“Go ahead.” I sigh, bracing myself for the apparent rage that is bound to spew out of Mel any second.

“Go ahead and what?” she snaps, her lips forming a sneer.

I roll my eyes. “Go ahead and rant about whatever it is that’s made you pissed.”

She rakes her fingers across her scalp before drawing her knees to her chest and screaming into them. With a heavy breath she lifts her head back up. “I got fired!” She pulls on her hair. “I got fucking fired because I was defending myself against some pervert!” Her eyes are wild and her chest is heaving.

“What’d the guy do to you?” I crease my eyebrows.

“This douchesicle thought it’d be a good idea to try and stick his hand down my thong and when I told him that I wasn’t a prostitute, just a stripper, he said he could change that and tried to slip a finger into me! At that point I’m more than a little pissed, so I jerk his hand out of my underwear and slap him. Apparently my boss didn’t take too kindly to me defending myself.” Melrose barks out in one breath.

I scoff. “So he sexually assaulted you, yet you’re the one who got fired? That’s bullshit!”

She closes her eyes and sighs. “I know, and now I don’t have a job, so yeah my life has pretty much gone to crap. Not that it was much better before.” She peeks an eye open at me. “Get why I want to kill myself now? My life is shit. I’m shit.” She kicks my dashboard. “How I am going to even attempt to pay for college without a job? God damn it!” she kicks the dash again.

“Hey.” I place a hand cautiously on her shoulder. “Until you find another job I’ll handle all your college stuff. Don’t worry about it.” I frown.

She shrugs my hand off. “I don’t need your pity money.”

I roll my eyes. “It’s not pity money. It’s helping money.” I poke her cheek.

She eyes me for a second before sighing in resign. “Fine.”

I smile and pull out of the parking lot. A few minutes later Mel’s quiet, “thank you,” echoes through the car.

“You actually got flowers?” Are the first words out of Mel’s mouth when she enters my apartment.

I grin bashfully and scratch the back of my neck. “Um, yeah. I picked them up a few hours after you left. You were right. They did make my flat look better.”

Mel stares at me thoughtfully for a second before pacing over to the bay window on the opposite side of the room. “Why orchids?” She arches an eyebrow.

“So that’s what they’re called?” I nod to myself. “I just picked a random one. They were the prettiest because all the colors kind of faded into each other.” I lick my lips before asking, “How do you know what kind they are?”

Melrose runs her fingertips along the petals, slowly brushing down the stem of the flower. “My mom was a florist.” She tosses the answer over her shoulder noncommittally.

“Was as in past tense?” I pry. Piece one of the puzzle that is Melrose is about to fall in place.

“Yes, was as in past tense. She’s never sober anymore, so that means no job.” She smiles at me grimly. “She still has a greenhouse though, and she has her regular customers. She just can’t provide flowers for big events anymore because she doesn’t come through. There were one too many weddings that she didn’t show up to, and after that her career was kind of done.”

“I’m sorry.” I don’t have anything else to say. That was not the piece I was expecting.

“Me too.” She whispers. Her hand falls away from the plant. “Where can I put my stuff?” The duffle bag she brought with her hangs heavily on her arm.

“Um, I have quite a few empty drawers so you can just-just. Here.” I guide her to my dresser and pull the top two drawers open. “You can just put whatever you like here and then there’s some closet space you’re welcome to use as well.”

She nods and starts to unpack.

 I watch intently as she delicately folds her clothing into the drawers, only leaving out a few pairs of jeans and a couple of dresses.

“I must be really interesting to look at.” Her dry voice breaks me out of my stupor. Her face is right in front of mine so that I feel her soft exhales against my collarbones.

“W-what?” I stutter. Smooth Harry. Real smooth.

“This is the second time I’ve caught you staring at me in twenty-four hours, so I must be extremely interesting to look at.” She cocks her head to the side, narrowing her eyes.

“Yeah. Yeah I guess.” I reach up to scratch my neck. “You have nice hands.” I glance down at her pale fingers. Her fingernails are painted the same light shade of blue as her toes.

I try not to stare at her mouth as she sucks her bottom lip in. Her eyes are wide. “Wow. You seriously need to sleep my friend. You sound a tad sound crazy, although that’s not new for you considering you said I had moon toes.” She wiggles her toes to make a point.

I snort. “S’ not my fault your toes looked like they had moons on them.” I turn away from her with a rye grin, pulling a pair of sweats out of my dresser. I start to strip out of my jeans.

She eyes me reproachfully. “No modesty, huh?”

I chuckle. “Says the stripper.” I glance down, trying to work my feet out from the ends of my trousers. When I look back up Mel is standing in nothing but her underwear. My eyes grow wide. Not that I’m staring at these things or anything (I’m definitely staring), but her undergarments aren’t anything like I expected them to be. There aren’t any frills or lace. It’s not racy in the slightest. Melrose is wearing simple, peachy, cotton underwear with a matching bra. I feel pleasantly surprised.

“You asked for a stripper. You got a stripper.” She smirks.

I stand up straight, my eyes still wide, and thrust one of my t-shirts in her direction. “I didn’t ask for a stripper.” I seriously need to work on my reaction to seeing half-naked girls. I’m twenty-five for Christ’s sake, not some horny thirteen year old boy.

Her smirk falls as she reaches for my shirt, only to be replaced with a soft smile. “Thanks.”

“It’s just a shirt, I mean…” I begin to stutter out.

She cuts me off. “No. Thank you for not immediately taking advantage of me like you could have. A lot of guys see nudity as an invitation, but you didn’t, so thanks.” She shrugs before slipping the t-shirt over her head.

“No problem.” I murmur, furrowing my eyebrows.

Melrose pads past me, making her way to the bed. “Share a bed, yay or nay?” She calls, her voice muffled by a pillow.

“Yay.” I plop down next to her. Her body heat immediately comforts me. I toss and turn for a minute before getting settled. My back is pressed against Mel’s chest. Her arm casually makes its way around me. “Are we good enough friends to be doing this?” I ask her over my shoulder.

“No, but do I care? No.” The pads of her fingers press against my butterfly tattoo in the dark.

“You must be fond of that tattoo.” I chuckle, my knuckles brushing against hers.

“It’s a possibility.” She sighs against my back. Her fingers press more firmly against my skin. “Goodnight.” She breathes, her breath ghosting across my shoulder blades.

“Goodnight.” I sigh. My hand clasps hers as I drift off to the sound of her soft exhales.