Courting You

11

Niall Horan

Pain. Head-smashing pain.

I grunt, as I slowly wake up. With delicate and extremely slow movements, I will myself to get up. I head feels like I smashed it against a wall a thousand times. Maybe, that would hurt less, I guess.

I sit up and take in my surroundings. I'm definitely not in my room and I'm in my boxers. The first thing that comes to my mind is that I hooked up with a girl, and this is her room. The second thing that comes to my mind is that, I'm feeling guilty, cause I was chasing Laila, and this incident might mess up the process.

Laila.

That's when the third thing comes to my mind: recognition. I'm in Pearl's house. I'm kind of ashamed, that I didn't recognize this earlier. I've been in this room, so many times.

Through the haze of intense headache, I was successful in noticing that the space beside me, on the bed was unmade. That clearly means that I did not sleep alone.

That does mean that, I actually bought a girl here? But why would I bring a girl here and not at my apartment?

Then another thought hits me. What if I hooked up with Laila?

DAMN

Is it possible that I actually hooked up with Laila and I don't even remember it? Sh*t.

But that's not a problem. Within a few hours I'll have all the recollection of the night before.

Just then, I hear the bathroom door opening. Well, it will answer at least one question. Was it some other girl, or was it Laila.

Neither Laila nor any other girl comes out. My head was already pounding, but what makes my heart pounding is the sight of Harry, coming out of the bathroom, in this towel.

Oh no. no.

No.

No.

No.

He looks at me and gives me a weak smile.

No.

No Harold.

No.

"Morning" he says in his deep husky morning voice. I can't find any words to reply.

It has nothing to do with the fact that he is super sexy and has a sexy voice which sounds even more sexy in the morning. No. 

This is about something else.

What does this mean? Was I that drunk, that I actually explored another criteria? Did I ACTUALLY sleep with Harry? Why didn't Pearl stop me? Why didn't Harry stop me? Why didn't I stop me?

With all these questions going on in my mind, my head starts throbbing a bit more.

"Aarrrrrrggggghhhhhh" I groan and put my head in my head.

"There's juice and painkillers on the side table. Take that, it'll help." Harry tells me.

On the mention of juice, I actually realize that my throat was absolutely dry. Feels like a desert formed in there. I quickly take a painkiller and wash it down with the glass of juice.

That felt good.

"I'm going to the kitchen to get some coffee, want me to bring you some?" harry asks me, being the gentle creature that he is.

"Yeah, I'll take some coffee"

He nods and heads towards the door.

"Harold", I call him just when he's about to exit the room. "We didn't..... You know... like... sleep together or something?" I ask him in a slow voice.

"Of course we slept together Neil". At this, I close my eyes, and put my head back in my head.

"But if you are asking, whether we had sex or not, we didn't", he adds. I look up at him. He has a goofy grin on his face. I throw a pillow at him and just as he runs out of the room before it hits him.

As*hole.

Not that I have anything with gay stuff, it's just that I'm not interested in it. If it does happen, I want to be consciously aware of my decision. That's it.

I make my way towards the bathroom and start the shower. As the cold water hits me, I relax a bit. The pain killer was doing its job. My head did hurt but not that much. I let the cool water run on me. I tried to think about the night before. All I remember is, going to a big fancy club with Laila.

Laila. Where is she? I remember her playing that stripping game with that guy. Is she with him? The thought made me mad. Kind of.

I remember absolutely nothing after that. I don't sweat it much. I'll get to know about it. Eventually.

I dry myself with the towel, and wear a bathrobe. I'll either have to wear last night's clothes or I'll have to see whether harry has any extra pair of clothes here. I doubt whether that'll fit me or not.

I see Laila on the bed, as soon as I come out of the bathroom. She has a sandwich in one hand and her phone in the other. She's concentrating hard on whatever she's doing on the phone. She suddenly looks up at me. I guess she heard the bathroom door closing.

She locks her phone, keeps it on the bedside table and gives me a big smile.

How can she manage that big smile right now, surely, even she must have a hangover, like me. She must have had drank something last night.

"Sorry, I ate one sandwich. I'll bring you another one. You see, I shouldn't be trusted around food." She says.

She smiles again and eats the last bit of sandwich that was in her hand. She gets up from the bed and reaches for a bag beside the bed. 

"I got some clothes for you, since I had no idea whether you have any clothes here or not." She tells me while taking out a black t-shirt, deep blue jeans, and a boxer. She keeps it on the bed and turns towards me. That's when I realized that i was in a towel and she was staring at my chest.

"You didn't have to do that. I would have worn something of Harry's." I tell her, as I inch closer to her. She backs away. Typical.

I keep it going until she was up against the wall and I'm right in front of her. I keep my arms on either side of her head, as it is shown in typical rom com movies.

I further invade her private space by reducing the distance between us. She tries to maintain some kind of space between us.

"How do you think you are getting out from my arms? And why do you care, if I have something to wear or not?" I whisper in her ear.

"First," she says, and ducks out from below my elbow and stands behind me.

"I'll get out like this." She gives me a half bow.

"Second, I was just being considerate. I had no idea whether harry had any extra pair of clothes here or not. And even if he did, whether it'll fit you or not. And before you ask, I bought a pair of clothes for harry too, just in case."

I scowl at her and she laughs at me. Her laugh is so carefree, that I laugh with her.

"At least I tried." I tell her.

"Yes you did, and failed miserably." She replies.

"You had to spoil it, right?" I ask her.

"Spoil what?" she asks innocently.

"The moment!" I exclaim.

"What moment?" she gives me a confused laugh.

I take a bold step and grab her waist. I pull her close to me. I could feel the swell of her breasts. I look at her eyes. And she's looking at mine.

The silver of her eyes have turned the color of steel. We simultaneously close our eyes, and I lean in for our first kiss.

And she doesn't even stop me.