This Thing Upon Me [Order The eBook] [Harry Styles]

Chapter 33 (Re-Post)

(DISCLAIMER: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. It's important to remember this is all totally fabricated, embellished, and exaggerated for entertainment purposes.)

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Let me out of the darkness

Fed my heart on ancient light/love

Kept me close, kept me honest

I love you

Oh, how I love you

Ray Lamontagne | It's Always Been You

(THIS IS A RE-POST FOR THOSE HAVING TECHNICAL ISSUES VIEWING THE OTHER ONE)

Again, I awakened, this time to the sound of someone humming, and a cool and consistent application to my toes. Groggy-eyed, I lifted my head to find Z dressed in a black tank-top and sweats, diligently painting my toenails with orange nail varnish.

"Z?" I uttered, huskily. He kept at his task, blowing the paint on my toes until it dried to his satisfaction. When I wiggled them, he slapped my foot so I'd stop, and I fell back onto the bed with a laugh.

"I'm hungrrrry!" I growled. "Ahhhhhh!"

"Me too..." he replied with a half-grin, switching to the other foot. "I was waitin on ya...to see what you'd want."

"Everything, I think."

"Like last time?" he snickered, referencing our unhealthy feast from the other day.

"Pasta and steak and chicken and pork and lobster and—"

"Just kill all the animals," he noted with a glance, his smile making his eyes mere slits.

"Great, now I feel awful. Thanks a lot, mate."

"Vegan sounds gud to me," he shrugged, pulling the sheet away. I felt exposed and covered myself, but he moved my hands away, kissing my thighs and belly, and tracing the tiger tattoo with his fingertips until I laughed. Then he examined the tiny Brasil tattoo. And finally, the secret Yin Yang symbol I had on my lower abdomen which only he knew the meaning of. I'd gotten it long before he left, but hardly anyone knew about it.

He rested across my hips, and I dragged a fingertip down the center of his face until he licked it away. I pulled at his fuller lip, revealing his slightly crooked bottom teeth—which I found adorable. They were forever eager to pinch at my skin when I least expected it. Now I ran a fingertip along the tops of them and he couldn't help but bite down on it. Then he reached across me and grabbed a cigarette from the nightstand, which I lit it for him like we used to do. It was such second nature for me to light them for him I didn't even realize I'd grabbed the lighter. After setting it away, a thought occurred to me.

"You know you're, uh, willfully inhaling things like...lead into your body? And like...4,000 other chemicals? Or should I say 3,999 other chemicals."

"Oh, gee. Noh, Harreh. I had noh idea. Thank youh for tellin' me, Harreh. You're soh bloody smart..." I could hear the eyeroll in his voice.

"Just stating facts. Look..." I grabbed the package and read the Surgeon General's warning. "Cigarette Smoke Contains Carbon Monoxide." I face-palmed. "Mate, it's right on the bloody label. What're doing with your life?"