It's been two hours.
You're sat crisscrossed in front of the television with a plastic bag of crimped, worn out, kanekalon hair sitting between your legs. You painstakingly repeat the process of cutting and removing each individual box braid from your head over and over again.
Your stomach's growling, your arms are sore, and you question yourself as to whether or not your real hair is even worth it anymore.
You slide the scissors away from you.
Your phone vibrates. You ignore it, instead focusing on the task at hand. You knew that it was Harry since his sleep schedule was practically non-existent at this point because of work, and because of him, yours was too.
He was relentless. After a few minutes your apartment felt like it was having a mini earthquake. He began spamming your phone with emojis and sending out individual texts letter by letter.
" A N S W E R Y O U R P H O N E I L O V E Y O U K B Y E"
You couldn't help it. You rub off any excess oil on your leggings and pick up your phone.
"Can talk. I'm busy."
It buzzes back almost immediately.
"That's gonna be kinda hard considering that i'm outside your door right now. Open up, it's dark out here :/"
You freeze. The three knocks behind the door prove this to be true.
In your seven months of dating, Harry's never actually seen your natural hair. He'd only ever seen you in your braids or wigs, and you were worried as to how he would react to seeing your big curly afro.
You scatter around your living room, picking up empty soda cans and pop-tart wrappers. You toss the bag of hair behind the sofa, patting down the side of your head that no longer had extensions.
Before you could even fully open the front door, you're smothered by him, immediately drowning in his cologne. He grabs you under the butt and kicks the door shut, carrying you towards your couch.
"Harry!" You whine," kicking your legs up in the air. "It's 3am. Don't you have anyone else to aggravate?"
He carefully lays you on the sofa, spreading your legs and crawling between them. He lays his head on your chest, and exhales, a smile of content rising on his lips.
"Yes, but they don't quite put up with me the way that you do."
"God you're such an idiot." You giggle, running your fingers through his curls. "But you're my idiot, and I wouldn't change it for the world."
Harry bites his lip. "I love it when you talk passively aggressive to me."
"Oh yeah?" You whisper, the corner of your lips turning up.
He nods, leaning so close to you that you can feel his hot breath down the front of your neck.
"Do you understand the meaning of the word "busy" asshole?" You purr into his ear.
He raises his brow, not breaking eye contact. His voice was low and husky. "It's seems to me like you forgot the passive part."
You erupt into laughter, pushing your clown of a boyfriend off of you. Even if you didn't feel like it, Harry always knew how to make you smile."
"Seriously though. I do need to finish with my hair." You announce, patting his leg.
This was the first time he'd really noticed the current state of your hair. The way it seemed to defy gravity whenever you moved, the way the curls were just asking to have his fingers wrapped around them, he was blown away.
Why hadn't he seen her this way sooner?
"Harry?" You repeat, waving your hand in front of his face. You had a feeling he wouldn't like it, just like all your previous boyfriends. You feared the worst.
"What is it?" You ask defensively.
"Y-your hair..." He trailed off, confirming your suspicions.
"It's absolutely stunning!"
You're taken aback. "You don't have to say that if-"
"Yes, I do, because I mean it." He insists. You look away, but he pulls your chin back towards him. "You thought I wouldn't like it didn't you? That's why you didn't want me over."
You stay silent, more preoccupied with biting the skin off your cuticles.
"Baby, nothing you could do would ever make me think any less of you, especially wearing the hair you were born with. Think about how silly that sounds."
You sigh. You should of known Harry better than that. That's just not the way he is. You feel silly for even allowing the thought to slip into your head.
You punch him on the arm. "Why do you always have to be so right all the time?"
He playfully rubs his shoulder. "Somebody has to be. Besides it would break my heart if you were out asking other guys to take out the rest of those braids out of your hair.
You nod, impressed with his prediction. "But I wouldn't just ask anyone to take them all out." You dramatically fall into his lap and make a pouty face. "My arms hurt, babe."
He leans forward cupping your face in his hands. "You're lucky I love you. I was hoping i'd spend the rest of the night with my fingers doing something else. "
You slide onto the floor between his legs and rest your head on his knee. "Hey, the nights not over yet Harold.
There was something oddly thereputic in in the way he'd occasionally curse under his breath as he dilligently worked away. At some point you had drifted off to sleep. When you woke up, sunlight was beaming through the shades and Harry was laying beside you on the floor, his arm wrapped tightly around your waist.
You pat your head in disbelief. You were extension free. He had even went as far as to braid your hair down your back. You cringe just thinking about the amount of knots that he caused, but appreciate the effort.
You turn to face him and bury your face in his chest.
"How did I do?" He mumbles through half shut eyes. His arms tighten around you.
You begin to kiss him starting at the base of the neck all the way up the corners of his mouth.
"How do you think?"
"Hey! That tickles!" You could feel the edges of his lips turn upwards underneath yours. He leans forward into your mouth, gently returning your kisses.
"I don't want you to ever feel like you have to hide from me," He admits, wearily looking into your eyes. "I love you for you, and that includes your beautiful, amazing, frustratingly thick hair."
You're thankful for your dark complexion, because you were definitely blushing.
"I love you too Haz." You mumble into his neck. "I was just afraid that you wouldn't like me anymore if you saw me like this."
"Like what? It's going to take a lot more than hair to break us apart babe," He laughs, planting a kiss on your forehead.
"That's just what I needed to hear." You announce, climbing to your feet. You walk toward your small bathroom and turn on the shower. "Because it's time for round two."
Harry raises his brow, a mischievous grin appearing on his lips. "Round two?"
"Wash day!" You announce, stripping off your tank top and throwing it at him. "Now, are you just going to sit there or are you going to join me?"
"Oh, you should know me better than that." He laughs, stripping off his clothes and passing you into the bathroom.
