Cut!

Take 23 - Diana - Part 1

A/N: Please vote on the chapters before this, and comment as you read. 

I woke up with a dry mouth and swollen lips. Groaning loudly, I stretched out, only to discover that I wasn’t alone—Harry was here.

“Morning, sunshine,” he said when I finally turned around to look at him.

“You’re here…” I blurted. “I mean, you’re usually gone when I wake up.”

He had an arm behind his neck, and he gave me a lazy smile. “You clung to me like glue the entire night, even if I’d wanted to leave, I couldn’t.”

He was still fully dressed on top of my covers. The sunlight from the window bathed the room in yellow and orange colors, and I looked around trying to remember exactly what had happened last night. Lucky for me, my memory returned relatively quickly.

I recalled how Harry had turned down my advances, and as sad as it made me, I was also happy that he hadn’t taken advantage of me. I moved up and kissed his cheek. “Thank you,” I said.

“For what?” He looked surprised.

“For yesterday evening and night.” I looked away, feeling shy. “And for stopping me. You know… before bed.”

He chuckled. “Don’t worry about it. I wouldn’t want it to happen that way anyway.”

My face flared up. His words suggested that the continuation of what could have happened last night hadn’t been far from his mind. Truthfully, I liked that.

I met his eyes and was, once again, compelled to kiss him. We moved closer, and I was ready. A kiss, without any alcohol. I could live with that.

Except… I pulled back. Harry looked at me with a cocked eyebrow.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “I’m really sorry.”

He looked away. “It’s okay.” He sighed and swung his legs over the edge of the bed. “I’ll leave.”

“No!” I blurted and sat up, trying to stop him. “No-no. It’s not that; not at all. I wanted to kiss you—I want to kiss you. I just have a really bad case of morning breath.”

As he turned around to look at me, I realized that I was rambling. “Morning breath?” he said.

I nodded. “Yeah.”

Harry laughed. The sound was contagious, and in just a few moments, my own laughter joined his.

“Okay then.” He grinned and hooked a thumb over his shoulder. “I’m still going to leave, though. I need to brush my teeth too.”

I smiled at him while nodding in agreement. “Okay.”

“I’ll see you later, though. Okay?”

As if I was a broken record, I nodded again. “Okay.”

He jumped from the bed, and I watched as he left the room. Like the weirdo I was, I threw myself into my sheets, rolling around with happiness. Sure, I hadn’t exactly confessed my feelings, but at least he now knew that I actually did want to kiss him when I was sober. That was a start, right?

I rolled out of bed and ran to the bathroom. Lucky for me, the beach house had supplied disposable toothbrushes, and as I finally removed the poor taste from my mouth, I vowed never to forget my toiletries again.

The shower this time was quick, and I applauded myself for only panicking for a second about what to wear. My own clothes were dirty, and the dress from last night reeked of alcohol. Then I remembered that Diana had left her other outfits in my room.

It was too hot to wear a long-sleeved white tee, but the shorts were perfect. Unfortunately, that left only the low-cut top as another option. I tried it on, and while it was a little snug around the chest, I could live with it.

Plus, I felt kind of frisky.

After I had collected the rest of Diana’s clothes, I decided to take them to her room. It was hard to remember exactly which room she had. Zayn greeted me in the hallway.

“Morning,” I said.

“You’re up early considering…”

“We didn’t stay that long after you left.” I laughed nervously. Did he know? “How was Diana when you put her to bed?”

He grinned. “She fell asleep the moment her head hit the pillow. She was so drunk.”

“I was actually on my way to see her.” Holding up the clothes, I smiled. “I wanted to return these.”

“She’s probably not feeling too well,” he said. “Do you know where she is?”

I shook my head. “Nope. Can you show me?”

“Sure,” he said and gestured behind me. “This way.”

We walked in silence, and I didn’t know if I needed to say anything. My mind kept turning around whether Harry had said anything. From what I heard yesterday morning, they clearly talked about me. I just didn’t know how much.

“It’s here,” Zayn said. He stopped in front of a closed door.

“Thanks,” I said and stared at the door. If Diana were feeling unwell, would she hate it if I disturbed her?

Zayn chuckled. “Yeah. Good luck.” He patted my shoulder and then walked away.

I took a deep breath and gently knocked on the door three times.

“Who is it?” Diana called from inside, her voice sounding weak.

Opening the door, I stuck my head inside. “It’s just me. Can I come in?”

She was spread out on the bed, her face planted on a pillow. Her hand waved at me to enter, and I stepped carefully over to her.

“I feel like hell,” she whined into the pillow.

“I have your clothes,” I said. “Well, some of it. I borrowed another outfit for today—I hope you don’t mind.”

She turned her head slightly and looked at me. “No, it’s fine. How are you feeling?”

Shrugging, I smiled in sympathy. “I’m okay, actually. Probably didn’t drink as much as I thought.”

“I envy you.” Slowly, she turned over and sat up. Her red hair was a mess on top of her head, and her make-up was running. “I’m never drinking again.”

“I think we always say that.” I chuckled slightly. “Can I get you anything? Water? Something to eat?”

She held up a finger to stop me and covered her mouth with the other hand. It wasn’t until she bolted off the bed, heading straight for the bathroom that I realized what was happening. I threw the clothes on her bed and followed her.

Diana was on her knees in front of the toilet, retching violently. I cringed at the sound, smell and sight, but still bent down to grab her hair. There was no reason she should get vomit in her hair after all—everybody hated that.

“There, there,” I muttered, unsure of what to say.

 This wasn’t how I’d imagined I would spend my morning.

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