Breaking The Ice

You're Gretzky

TJ's POV

I pulled up to the frat house, my eyes searching the crowd of people out front for any sign of Harry or Chelsea before I took a deep breath and got out. I made my way inside through all the sloppy drunk people laughing and cheering over god knows what, and scanned the living room before I headed into the kitchen.

"Teej!" Liam exclaimed as he came up behind me, throwing his arm over my shoulder and pulling me into a hug as he swayed back and forth in an attempt to stay on his feet.

It appeared Harry wasn't the only one who was completely wasted.

"You came." He beamed as he pulled away to look down at me.

"I'm just here to get Harry, do you know where he is?" I asked, eager to get him home so I could get back to my paper.

"I think he was in the back yard." Liam shrugged.

I made my way through the house toward the back yard, stepping outside onto the patio to see Chelsea talking to my brother and some other girl I didn't know, and they turned to look at me as I approached them.

"Where is he?" I sighed.

"He's over there, around the corner." Chels said as she motioned toward the side of the house. "He hasn't moved since you called, I gave him some water. I just checked on him, I think he's sobered up slightly but that's not saying much."

"Alright, I'm gonna take him home." I said before I turned and headed around the side of the house, where I found him slumped up against the wall, cradling his bottle of water like a newborn child.

"Hey." I said softly as I crouched down in front of him, and his head immediately shot up to look at me.

His eyes scanned my face for a few seconds before his lips slowly curled up over his teeth into a big, dopey grin.

"Hi." He smiled, looking at me like he hadn't seen me in months. "You came."

"I told you I would."

He lifted his hand and placed it on the side of my face, his palm cupping my cheek as he stared at me, and I couldn't read the emotion in his eyes. I waited for him to say something, but he stayed silent, so I figured it was time to get him home.

"You ready to go?" I asked. "I think we should get you to bed."

"Can we cuddle?"

"Harry..." I sighed.

"No...no, I know." He started. "I know I fucked it up, I always fuck it up...I just, I just wanna hold you. Please, Teej? Let me fix it."

I exhaled heavily, throwing my head back in exhaustion as he watched me, his eyes pleading with me. Whatever this back and forth was between us was sucking the life out of me, and I just didn't have the energy to argue with him anymore. I knew he was drunk, that he probably had no idea what he was even saying, and that in the morning he would most likely go back to being distant and a dick most of the time. Still, all I could see was the desperation in his eyes as he looked at me, and as usual the soft spot I had for him just wanted to give him whatever would make him feel better.

"Let's just get you home first." I said.

I watched as his face fell, looking like someone just kicked his puppy, before he nodded in understanding and I stood up. I reached down and took his hands, helping him up as he stumbled into me, and I took his arm and threw it around my shoulder. He laced his fingers between mine as I helped him walk, clutching his bottle of water in his other hand.

We walked back around the side of the house, waving goodbye to Chels and Lou, before we tried to navigate our way through the crowds of people. After bumping into multiple surfaces and almost dropping him a few times, I managed to get him near the front door where I propped him up against the wall.