The first thing that registered in my sleepy mind was the sound of my front door opening and closing.

For most single women living alone that would be a sign for alarm. Not for me. I knew who it was and as I heard the quiet footsteps make there way through my apartment I didn’t move one inch in my comfortable state.

The sound of someone breathing added to the gentle padding let me know they were in my room. Again, I didn’t move.

Even when I felt the bed dip slightly and the comforter lift just long enough for me to feel the cool air chill the backside of my bare legs with a body sliding in behind me, I still gave no indication that I was awake.

Not until I heard the deep, exhausted sigh and feel a nose rub the back of my neck and a hand glide over my waist, did I begin to move.

Slowly I flipped over to squint at the familiar face cuddled close to my body.

“Harry?” I really didn’t need to ask. It’s not like it would have been anyone else.

“Yea.” He sounded so worn out.

“What are you doing here?” My voice was still raspy from just waking up.

There was a long pause while Harry just looked at me. We both just laid there our heads sharing my pillow, only inches apart.

“Caroline and I broke up.” He finally spoke sounding like he was just telling me what he had for dinner.

My eyes widened as I felt myself wake up at his words. “Harry. I’m so sorry.”

He shrugged and cuddled closer to me, resting his forehead against mine and shutting his eyes.

“Are you alright?” I asked a little confused by his blase attitude towards his break up with a woman he had been seeing for quite some time.

Granted she was older then him, causing a bit of stress in the relationship as the whole world frowned upon it but still, it was a relationship he was in. Shouldn’t he be... I don’t know? More affected.

He almost seemed like he didn’t care. And if anything, I knew Harry was sensitive to these sorts of things. He cared deeply for the people around him and any kind of severing of ties hit him hard.

His eyes opened at my words, sweeping my face before closing again. “It wasn’t meant to be. It’s not like it was working anyway.”

“What does that even mean?”

“I was never as into it as she was.” His tone as he said that let me know he wasn’t going to elaborate at all.

Deciding that I would let him be, he had just broken up after all, I snuggled in closer to him causing his lips to break out into a soft smile as he tightened his arm around me and pulled me closer.

We just laid there for a long time not speaking.

“Dawn?” He whispered like he was checking to make sure I was awake.

“Yea?” I asked back in the in between of sleep and awake.

“Thank you for being here.”

The corner of my lip tugged up. I leaned forward lifting my head slightly to place my lips on his forehead. I brought my hand up and opened my eyes again watching myself push the curls away from his face. It took me a second to realize he had also opened his eyes and was watching me. When I locked eyes with his he smiled and closed his again.

Not long after I heard his breathing even out and his whole body relax. He was asleep.

I took that time to really look at him.

His face was pale. There was purplish bruising under his eyes from his lack of sleep as of lately. He was still beautiful though.

I knew he was doing something he loved to do but sometimes I felt like the people around him forgot he was just a regular person, that they were all regular people. He was just under an extraordinary amount of pressure.

From the bands sudden success to him being in a relationship that was almost always featured in some tabloid or another. It was a lot for any one person to have to take and for a barley 18 year old to have to deal with it was unheard of. But, for the most part, Harry did it with out any complaints.

I was amazed by him. I would never tell him, because he would just annoy the hell out of me if he knew and it was a bit corny anyway, but he was my hero. The way he just took everything in stride even when he wanted to break down, and sometimes he did to me or Louis in private. He was the best person I knew.

Sighing as I let my eyes take his face in one last time, I promised myself that I would always be here for him, even when he broke into my apartment at 4 in the morning to casually tell me he had broken up with his girlfriend.

Notes

alright here is the first one shot in Harry and Dawn's friendship. This all takes place BEFORE the Mess We Became. Enjoy and let me know what you guys think.