Rosie || h.s.

3.0- Rosie

in all the years I had been going to this annual pool party for Fletcher I had never had this much fun.

we had done the usual things, ball in the pool, chicken fights, the competitive competition of who could make the biggest splash. but harry joining us made all the boys even more competitive.

we started by playing ball and although I had played many times I had never won and the game was always one-sided where everyone but me and Michael really got into it even if I wanted to play. I was the smallest and always got lost in the commotion. but for once we won, well not for once, harry being the only athlete in the group besides Calum, pushed the limits of the game. the boys worked hard and for once I wasn't pushed to the side, even Michael joined in. all of us laughing.

harry tossing me the ball and before Fletcher could steal it from my hands harry said, "oh no you don't," taking me up by the hips to raise me higher to make the ball into the little net.

we played chicken fights, Fletcher and I beating Michael and luke six out of nine rounds.

harry watched sipping on his soda with Ashton who eats at the table with the kids. It was hard to not pay him any attention. my eyes kept wandering to him leaning against the deck chairs. it was even harder to peel my eyes away when I had turned to slip off my sandals and looked back to see him stripping his shirt away from his body as if it was nothing.

I mean it should have been nothing but I think I stopped breathing for a couple of seconds. his tattoos lining the rest of his arm that was blocked by the shirts he wore. he even had them pressed into his shoulders, chest, abdomen, hips. I had never even imagined one on his thigh, some on his legs.

I couldn't help watch as he turned to lay his things down.

who knew boys could look so good. maybe it was just him I mean I'd seen many of these boys shirtless at these pool events and never had I even paid them attention. but with harry, I felt like I was being so rude.

I never wanted to just reach out a touch someone so bad. just to place my fingertip to his collarbone, to trace the butterfly not even touching it just hovering, light and ghostly.

I was glad when fletcher jokingly faked throwing me into the pool. taking me up as I screamed soon letting it turn into a laugh. "don't you dare throw me in!"

"or what you're like three feet you're not going to hurt me," he laughed pretending to toss me again.

but even when we were in the pool, when harry was next to me, laughing over how fletcher missed making the ball into the net. when he had lifted me up and I didn't have time to think about how bad I wanted him to wrap me up in his arms keep me close.

as the night drew to an end, the boys laid on the pavement drying so they could play video games in the basement. Harry sat in the chair he seemed to have claimed, head tilted back as the sunset cast a golden glow around the yard. his skin like the color of clover honey.

"you know staring is a bit rude," he muttered eyes still closed face to the sky.

"I'm not staring," I whispered turning to look over the water.

he chuckled letting his hand fall over onto the edge of the chairs handle. he didn't even look at me as he asked for mine. intertwined fingers, warm and loose from the distance.

the boys got up heading to the basement already making a lot of noise as they went. Ashton had already dropped his siblings off back home since he was staying the night with the rest of them. harry said he would drop me off whenever I wanted to go back to my house.

but I didn't want to leave, I wanted to spend the rest of the day with him, just holding his hand by his fingers.

when we had been sitting in silence for a while, just letting the setting sun cast its light on us, harry sat up shaking his hair out of his hat. I let his hand go and his head snapped to mine.

"what?" I ask standing, my body stiff from being locked in one position for so long. I stretch reaching for the sky. harry doesn't answer only reaching out for me. I let my arms fall moving to his seat, standing between his legs. "ready to go?"

his eyes not leaving mine his hands holding my sides.

I tried not to let him notice what his touch did to me. that welcomed shiver to the base of my neck and the flush of heat to my cheeks. I bit the inside of my bottom lip trying to think past my insecurity. the girl's voice louder than even now in my head made me want to shrivel up.

my hands rested lightly on his shoulders fingers playing the ends of his hair.

I felt one of his thumbs move to brush the edge of my exposed skin where the cut out of my swimsuit was. my breathing faulted, my teeth digging into my lip harder.

what was happening to me? was this normal? this shaking, quivering feeling racing over my body.

he leaned closer to me and I felt the hoving of his lips over the spot his thumb had just been. I stopped breathing as his breath, warm and welcome washed over the spot. "sorry I'm overstepping," he muttered pulling back, hands loosening on me.

I wasn't breathing, my mind moving a thousand miles an hour. what was happening to me? I shouldn't have been acting like this, people didn't act like this. I mean in movies they seemed to put together, so calm and collected. they didn't act as if their bodies were melting, pooling at the feet of their partner.

I stepped closer to him not wanting him to feel as if I didn't like his hands on me. it was foreign but I liked it. "harry..."

"Hmm?" he looked up, eyes crystal jade set in worry.

"can i..." I didn't know how to ask I mean I was a weirdo for even thinking of asking but I did anyways not caring if he said no, " can I touch your tattoo?"

"Which one love?" he asks the smallest smile facing his lips, you can barely tell the difference in his eyes, the worry gone. he moves one of his hands from my hips to take one of mine from his shoulder.

"the butterfly," I whisper not wanting to look him in the face. it was embarrassing this craving to just let my fingers trace its outline.

he placed my hand over his stomach. rising and falling with his slow and uneven breaths. I let my finger flutter over the top part of the tattoo, "did it hurt?" my voice low.

"in a good way," he muttered, goosebumps rising over his skin. "can I?" he asks raising his pointer finger pointing to the spot he had touched earlier. I nod as he places the pad of his finger down over my skin, goosebumps rushing along my own body.

"I love your little beauty marks," he says tracing a line connecting the spots I was embarrassed by.

I lean down place a quick kiss on his temple. "it's getting dark and if we stay any longer the boys will ask us to listen to them play,"

"then I guess we have to leave maybe even get a milkshake..."

"is that you asking me out for a milkshake?" I ask rocking forward on my feet brushing his hair back.

"I want to spend more time with you," he pulls me closer, arms locking around my waist.

who knew you could collapse into yourself from just a simple sentence. he was so...heartwarming. I wanted to bottle this feeling he brought to me. to feel the pads of his thumbs tracing circles on my sides. I leaned down, "can I kiss your cheek?" I ask and he nods biting his bottom lip.

I kissed his cheeks on both sides. "I feel like I could go for a milkshake,"

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