Idiosyncrasy (Harry Styles AU)

15

Harry's POV

"Harry."

I moan, waving the voice off and pulling the blanket over my head. I just want to sleep.

"Harry."

The voice is so annoyingly persistent, so I reluctantly roll over. "What?!" I grumble, not opening my eyes.

"It snowed," Bethany whispers excitedly.

"So what. Let me sleep." I couldn't care less.

"Come play in it with me."

"That sounded suggestive, you know."

I open my eyes a crack to see Bethany kneeling beside the couch all dressed in warm clothes. The rosy glow in her cheeks tells me she's already been out.

"H—"

My flesh and blood. Rosy cheeks. Hair in tangles. Freckled nose red from the cold.

"Harry!"

A small hand tugs at my sleeve.

"Come play with me!"

"It snowed!"

"Let's go—"

"Let's go build a snowman."

"I have a carrot for his nose!"

"And a scarf for his neck!"

"I don't want to play by myself . . ."

I shake myself out of my reverie, fighting back the urge to punch a door.

Instead, I smile and giggle at her.

"What?"

"You look like a kid in a candy shop."

She smacks my arm, rocking back on her feet. "And you look like a grumpy boy in need of a relaxing snowball fight."

I raise an eyebrow, and then close my eyes again, willing her to leave me alone and stop reviving old memories.

"I thought baking cookies was relaxing."

She grabs my arm, and is surprisingly strong for her size. I slip off the couch, landing with a thud on the floor.

I scream and hop back onto the couch, hiding under the covers.

"It's bloody freezing out there!" I yell, pulling my pillow over my head.

"Duh. You're only in your boxers," Bethany replies with a fake lisp.

"Oh."

I take the pillow off.

"Fine. I'll go; just for a few minutes though," I comply, rubbing my eyes.

She squeals, hopping up like a child. "I'll get your clothes."

By the time I'm dressed and partially awake, Bethany is insanely giddy, and it's really starting to annoy me.

I yawn. "What time is it anyway?"

"Oh, about 9:30 AM."

I choke on my spit. "What?! And after we only got like three hours of sleep last night?!"

She giggles.

"What, are you super woman or something? You can run on an hour of sleep now?" I mumble, adjusting my beanie.

She rolls her eyes and grabs my hand, yanking me off to the elevator.

When we reach outside, Bethany picks up a handful of snow and chucks it at me. I don't respond, stuffing my hands in my pockets and rolling my eyes.

"Harry," she groans, deflated. She sighs, flopping on her back into the snow and waving her arms and legs to make a snow angel.

I smirk, bending down to pick up some snow. I frown at how cold it is. I've always hated the cold; London is the wrong place for someone like me.

I pack the snow into a tight ball and toss it gently at her, hitting her square in the face.

I've never doubted my aim.

I laugh as she screams, wiping the snow from her eyes. "Harry! Not in the face!" She stands, chasing after me.

I laugh, running from her. She pummels snowball after snowball at me, missing every time. I continue to laugh at her, and she slips on some ice covering the pavement of the parking lot.

I stop running, doubling over in laughter.

Suddenly, I'm on the ground and Bethany's straddling my waist, a snowball clutched in her left hand.

I've never noticed before what a beautiful shade of blue her eyes are. But then again, I've never been this close to her before. Their darker than her hair and looking at it, I wonder for the first time what her natural hair color is.

My eyes widen. "You wouldn't," I whisper, looking warily at the snowball in her hand.

She smirks evilly and rubs the snow in my face.

"Payback sucks!" she cackles.

I shout and kick my legs, rolling her onto her back.

We're both breathing heavily by now, the hot air from our mouths clearly visible in the crisp air.

We stare into each other's eyes for a long time, until I realize what I'm doing and stand up.

We brush the snow from our clothes, and Bethany straightens.

"Want a cup of tea?" Bethany asks as I help her off the snowy ground.

I nod, and we trek back upstairs.

"You have to admit, that was fun," she says, filling up the kettle with water.

I loosen my scarf, rolling my eyes.

"Come on."

"Just a little."

"Don't be a killjoy."

"Whatever."

"You sound like a child, Styles."

"Well maybe that's your fault, Carol."

Bethany laughs, turning to place the tea kettle on the stove.

I can't help but look at her hair again. My eyes slowly travel downwards, but I chew my lip and turn away before they get too far.

"Want to play scrabble?" Bethany asks suddenly.

"Scrabble?" I raise my eyebrows. "I thought we were going to study today."

She shrugs. "We can study later . . . Unless you have someplace to go."

My mind wanders to the party in my house last night. I don't think I'm ready to clean that mess up yet.

"Scrabble's fine."

Notes

I think this is a really adorable chapter if I do say so myself ;) comment what you think!