Beyond Compare (h.e.s)

part eleven

Another super long update
Big thanks to harryslovehandles_ for the header pic❤

o0o

I wake up first the next morning. It sucks because my apartment is the farthest from Amber and Summer's, and I have to be in extra early today. I went to bed the earliest—which was still at 3am—so I'm interested to see how sleeping arrangements worked out. I crashed in Amber's room, and she's still out next to me; in the living room, I find Harry and Brayden passed out on the couches... which means Summer and Carter shared her room.

As Carter said last night, interesting.

The sight in the living room is nothing I haven't seen a million times, after we've wound up crashing at someone's place. But my heart flips anyway. Brayden's on one couch, dead to the world. I swear that man could sleep through a vuvuzela-airhorn-bagpipe trio..

On the other couch—sprawled on his stomach, his feet dangling off one end, his arms draped all over—l is Harry. His head is turned facing me, his mouth slightly open, and his nose and cheeks are still a bit sunburned.

I sit down at the edge of the couch and debate whether to wake him up or not. I'm fairly sure that sleeping is one of the greatest things in the world; it's probably just below Harry and consuming vast quantities of food on my list of favorite things to do, so I'm not sure there is a good way to wake someone up. I mean, is there a good way to take away bacon from a person? No. You're the terrible person that takes away a lovely thing from someone.

It's quite possible that this line of reasoning is proof that I lost my mind around the same time I lost my heart and I almost don't want to wake him. But, I'm greedy and maybe a little selfish and I've missed him too much.

I run my fingers through his hair, brushing away the errant strands that have fallen on his face. He lets out a quiet hum in his sleep… and then turns his head to the other side.

Trying to forget about that article that Amber once made me read in Cosmo called "Sleep Rejection: What His Snores Are Telling You That He Isn't", I run my hand down the side of his neck, shaking his shoulder lightly to wake him up.

Nothing.

It's at this point that my patience wears out, and I give up on waking him with loving caresses. After all, I can caress him lovingly once he's awake and that's so much better. Shaking his shoulder forcefully, I wait until his movements indicate consciousness. He turns his head back towards me, maybe sensing the body sitting next to him.

He opens his eyes and looks up at me, then closes them again. A few seconds later, he repeats this motion, opening them once more, then closing them. This time, he keeps them closed but lets the biggest, sweetest smile spread across his face. Then finally, he opens his eyes again and grins at me, making my heart twist and leap in ways that would put ballet dancers to shame.

He slips his arm around me and pulls himself closer to me, burying his face in the side of my thigh.

"Harry," I whisper. "I have to go to work."

"Okay," he mumbles, kissing the skin on my hip where my shirt has ridden up slightly. He doesn't move away though. "Have a good day."