When I wake up in the morning the first thing I think is that I'm ridiculously warm. My eyes flutter open and I begin to focus on dark lines...Harry's tattoos. I start looking around a little, marvelling at his perfectly toned body before looking up at his face. He's still asleep, lips parted slightly and hair a mess of curls. His arms are wrapped tight around me, hugging me against him so tight that his body heat is making me sweat.

Suddenly all the memories of what happened last night come back to me and I start feeling really embarrassed. How could I have told him all of that? It doesn't make a difference. I feel like I can trust Harry now, but that only makes me even more afraid. What if I do trust him and he changes his mind and breaks my heart? What if I'm wrong about this and I end up getting hurt? That is the thing I was trying to avoid in the first place.

Harry shifts a bit and his breathing changes slightly. I stare up at his face and think about what I should do next. I really do care about him. I can't deny that. But I just don't know if I can do this. It's the scariest thing in the world to me. Plus, Harry is so much older than I am. He probably wants a more serious relationship, something that could be long term. I'm not even thinking like that. I don't even know what I'm going to eat for dinner tonight, let alone planning out the rest of my life. I can't be the person he needs right now. Is it fair of me to ask him to risk so much when I know the chances of this working are so slim?

"Take a picture," he says suddenly. His accented voice is low and raspy and all kinds of sexy. He slowly opens his eyes and looks down at me with an adorable crooked smile. "Good morning."

"Hi," I reply shyly. He gently presses his lips to my forehead and pulls me closer by putting his leg over mine. This feels so nice, so comfortable.

I need to get out of here.

"I should probably get home," I say quietly, trying to pull away from him. He opens his eyes and gazes down at me in confusion. "My brother is probably freaking out a little bit."

"You need to go right now? At least let me make you breakfast."

"It's fine. I can just eat at home." I roll onto my back and he lets me, still looking confused. I do my best to smile at him before getting up and going to the bathroom to get changed back into my clothes. I take a deep breath against the fabric of his shirt to memorize the smell before pulling it over my head. Once I'm dressed I fold the t-shirt and bring it back to the room. I set it on the dresser and he sits up, stretching his arms above his head.

"Are you sure you have to leave?" he asks hoarsely. That voice...

"Yeah." I stand there awkwardly and put my hands in my pockets. He scratches the back of his head and begins to get up. "Harry, stay in bed. I can see myself out, it's fine."

"Don't be silly," he says, smiling and standing up only in his boxers. Why. Just why. I watch as he pulls a pair of sweats over his legs, leaving them hanging low and keeping his incredible v-lines exposed. I tear my eyes away and walk down the steps to the main floor, going straight to the living room to get my phone and my purse. I put my bag over my shoulder and slide my shoes on. Harry steps closer to me.

"Thanks for letting me stay." I smile weakly at him and he keeps his confused look. "I umm...I guess I'll see you."

"What?" he asks quietly. "What does that...why are you acting so distant?"

"I'm not," I defend weakly. I take a step back towards the door and put my hand on the knob. "I just really need to get home."

"Don't lie to me, Savannah."

I have to. "I'm not."

He steps closer again and I hold my breath. "Call me, okay?" he asks, brushing his fingers along my cheek. I nod and quickly kiss his cheek before stepping out of his apartment. I hurriedly walk down the hall to the stairs and get down to my car as fast as possible. I need to get out of here, I need to get away and clear my head. Only one place to do that.

---

"Damn it, Mason. Stop calling me!" I yell into my phone. Mason has called me a million times since I got here and I haven't answered, hoping he'd get the hint. Apparently not. "I'm not at his house anymore, alright? I'm at the beach."

"You could have at least texted me that," he says frustratedly.

"You're not my keeper. You don't need to keep tabs on me."

"What is your problem?"

"You are." With that I hang up, throwing my phone back in my bag and laying back on the sand. I close my eyes and pull my sunglasses down to shield them from the sun. I knew Mason would be weird about not knowing who I'm seeing, but this is excessive.

I feel really bad about the way I left Harry's place, but I didn't know what else to do. I trust him and that scares the hell out of me. The annoying thing is, I don't even know why I trust him. I just do. It's annoying.

He's probably so confused by the way I acted when we woke up this morning. I wanted to stay so much but I couldn't. I still don't know what I want. Well, actually that's a lie. I know that I want him. The problem is that I don't know if I want to go through all of this. What are the chances of this actually working?

My phone starts buzzing again and I roll my eyes, removing it from my bag. Oh shit.

"Oh my gosh, Mikayla! I am so sorry, I completely forgot about our session yesterday!" I did end up agreeing to tutor her and we've been meeting twice a week to work on her writing.

"It's fine," she says shyly. "I was wondering if we could meet today? I have an essay due tomorrow and I wanted to go over it with you."

"Yeah, that would be fine. I can meet you in the library later. What time works for you?"

"It doesn't atter. Two o'clock, maybe?"

"Sounds good. I'll see you then."

"Thanks, Savannah." She hangs up and I check my texts; one from Harry.

I don't know what that was this morning...I have to go to school for a few hours today but can we meet up later?

I grimace as I read the text. I already made plans with Mikayla and I can't flake again, so I'm going to be on campus at the same time as him. Great. Hopefully he doesn't come to the library. I take one last look at the water and get up from my place with my purse. I slowly walk through the sand back to my car and drive back to my house. Mason better not pick a fight with me right now.

When I get inside I quickly walk straight up to my room; I can hear that Mason is in his and typing away on his computer. He calls my name as I walk past and I reluctantly walk back and stand in the doorway.

"Hey, what were you doing at the beach?"

"What do I always do on the beach, Mason?"

"You don't have to be short with me, Sav."

I roll my eyes. "You've been acting like my father and it's annoying. I don't need you to take care of me, alright? I have enough to deal with right now, I don't need to be worrying about you, too." With that I walk to my own room, shutting the door and stepping into the bathroom. I have a half hour to get ready and head to the school

---

"Anyway, I just wanted to make sure I got the theme of the novel. I'm not sure if I explained it very well," Mikayla says, handing me her paper.

"Okay, let me take a look." I flip open to the first page and take a pouch out of my purse, the one that holds my pens and stuff. I take out a highlight and a pen and start reading the introduction.

"I'm going to get some coffee, do you want some?" she asks, standing from her seat.

"Sure." I smile and she nods her head as she leaves. She's still so shy around me and I really wish she wouldn't be. I'm not that scary. I continue reading through, highlighting and marking things I think could be changed. That isn't much, though, since her writing is probably better than mine.

"Savannah?"

Shit. I slowly look up and meet Harry's eyes. Damn it. I really hoped I wouldn't run into him here. He walks over to my table and sets his bag on it, pulling out the chair beside me and sitting down.

"What are you doing here?" he asks.

"I'm here with Mikayla."

He nods and looks around a bit before leaning in closer to me. "You didn't reply to my text. Is something wrong?"

I shake my head and fiddling with the lid of my highlighter, staring at it like it's the most interesting thing in the world. I can't look into his eyes, they make my insides melt. I can't help but talk to him when I look at them. I hear him sigh and he gently places his hand on my leg. I look down at it and then around the room; there's only a few people in here and they all seem to be pretty consumed in what they're doing. Plus, no one has a direct line of sight to the contact.

"We can't do this here," I whisper.

"Just tell me what's going on. Why'd you run off this morning?"

"I didn't, I just had to go home."

"You're lying and I know it. I thought we worked this out last night, why are you still shutting me out?"

"I can't do this right now," I reiterate. He suddenly sits up and removes his hand from my leg, clearing his throat and looking past me. I turn around and see Mikayla standing there with a coffee cup in each hand. She blushes a little and hands one to me.

"Thanks," I say, smiling to her. She nods and sits down in her seat, avoiding looking at both Harry and me. I slowly look back to him, wishing he would excuse himself.

"What are you two working on?" he asks, smiling at Mikayla.

"Just my essay," she answers quietly. He nods and looks at me.

"Things are going well, then?"

"Yeah, Savannah has helped me a lot," Mikayla says.

"I had a feeling she would," he says lowly, still looking at me. I squirm uncomfortable and look down at her paper, pretending to be reading. After a moment he takes his bag and stands slowly. "Have fun, girls." I can feel his gaze on me but I refuse to look up at him, sipping my coffee instead. Finally he walks away, taking a seat at a table near the window. A girl walks in the room and goes to sit with him, followed by a boy. He takes out his books and starts speaking with them. Must be some extra help. He lifts his eyes and looks over at me, smiling when he catches me watching him. I quickly look back down and continue reading.

"I think he likes you," Mikayla says. My eyes snap up to hers and I can feel the shock on my face.

"What?"

"Mr. Styles. You're in his class right?" I nod and she continues. "He seems to like you a lot. You must be smart."

Oh, she means as a student. "I don't know about that."

"I think so. He probably wouldn't come talk to every one in his class like that."

I smile nervously and look down at her paper. She remains silent as I work through the rest of it. It takes everything in my power not to turn and look at Harry, especially since I can feel his eyes on me. When I'm finished the paper I put the lid on my pens and put it between us. I explain the things I think are good about it before moving onto the points I made throughout the paragraphs, telling her the things I think should be changed or adjusted a bit. She makes her own notes and asks plenty of questions; her commitment to her work really is impressive. She probably has one of the highest GPAs in her grade.

"Anything else?" I ask once we've gone through it all a few times. She looks over everything and shakes her head.

"I think I'm okay. Thanks, Savannah."

"Any time and how many times have I said to call me Sav." I smile and she laughs a little. "I'll see you in school tomorrow, Mikayla."

"Okay. Thanks again."

"No problem." I collect my things and she remains in her seat to continue working on the paper. My eyes meet Harry's shortly and I turn to exit the library. When I get into the hallway I walk towards the exit. I hear the door open and close behind me and automatically pick up my pace. I feel a hand wrap around my arm and turn to face Harry.

"What?" I ask shortly.

"Are you going to tell me what's wrong?" he counters.

"We are at school, Harry. We can't talk about this right now." He releases my arm and softens his look.

"You practically ran out of my place this morning and now you're being distant with me again. I thought we got past this?"

"Got past what?"

"You pushing me away," he explains. I look down at his chest and he sighs. "Savannah, whatever is bothering you just tell me. Don't shut me out again. You can trust me, you know that."

I look back up at his eyes and my heart flutters. I know that I can trust him, that's why I'm freaking out. Even though it feels so easy and right I still feel like I shouldn't. Trusting someone gives them the chance to hurt you and I don't want that.

"Can we talk about this later?" I ask quietly. He sighs and nods his head.

"I'll call you." He reaches up and gently runs his fingers along my jawline.

"Okay." I step forward without thinking about it, my eyes flickering down to his lips. I go a little red when I realize what I did and where we are right now. He chuckles lightly and looks all round us. He quickly leans forward and presses his lips to mine for a short second. I frown slightly when his lips leave mine.

"You look hot," he says smirking and looking down at my body. I blush and he quickly kisses my cheek before walking back towards the library. I watch him go, my heart beating slightly faster than before. He winks at me before disappearing through the doors and I turn and walk towards the parking lot. I'm in trouble.

---

"How long are you going to ignore me?" Mason asks, coming outside onto the patio. I shrug without looking up from my book. He sits on the lounge chair next to mine and waits for a few minutes for me to say something. But I don't.

"Troy has been asking about you, he said he hasn't talked to you since he left the house yesterday morning. Are you seriously already doing this to him?"

I slam my book shut and set it on the chair beside me. "Are you fucking kidding me Mason? First of all, that is none of your business. My relationship with Troy is between me and him, not the three of us. Second, would you just stop trying to tell me what to do? I'm not your little sister, you don't have to try to protect me or something. Just stop it, okay?"

"It is my business when my best friend is one of the two guys that you're screwing," he spits. My mouth drops open and I get up without another word to go back into the house. He follows me. "I thought you said you weren't going to do this to him? Tell him what's going on or I will!"

"He already knows what's going on!" I shout, looking back at him as I walk through the house. "He knows more than you do! Troy and I aren't dating so it really doesn't matter that much! He hasn't even said that he likes me so it's really not that big a deal!"

"If you believe that then you're an idiot, Troy has been crushing on you for years and you were just too oblivious to realize. Now you've slept with him twice and you're going to screw him over. I'm not okay with that!"

"I'm going to talk to him when I know what's happening, Mason," I say, trying not to scream at him while I walk up the stairs. "Give me a minute to get my head on straight. Stop breathing down my neck about this."

I walk quickly down the hall to my bedroom, stopping in the door to look back at him. He looks less than pleased with me, arms crossed and face turned into a frown.

"And not that it's any of your business, but I'm not screwing both of them. You're an ass for saying that." With that I slam the door in his face, making sure to lock it behind me. My brother is such a jerk to me sometimes. He is totally thinking about Troy in this, not me at all. I don't understand this, I'm his sister! I'm obviously going through something here and he hasn't paid attention to me long enough to realize that. How kind of him.

I take my phone and reply to Kylie's text, walking out to the balcony and leaning on the railing. I close my eyes and let the wind blow against my face, trying to calm down a bit. Mason definitely knows how to get under my skin. My phone starts buzzing and I answer without looking at the ID.

"Hello?"

"Hi gorgeous."

I smile and take a deep breath, relaxed by the sound of Harry's voice. "Hi Ha-" I stop and look over to my brother's balcony, relieved to see he isn't there.

"You alright?" he asks, chuckling a little. I laugh and walk to the other end of my balcony, sitting on one of the chairs in my patio set.

"Yeah, I guess so."

"You sound stressed out."

"My brother is just...nevermind. Are you still at the school?"

"I'm driving home right now," he says. "What are you doing tonight?"

"I was about to order some food for dinner and I have some homework to finish."

"Well, I have some tests to grade. Do you want to come over and do your homework here?"

I bite my lip and think about the offer. I do want to see him and doing work together is simple enough...

"Okay," I agree, smiling to myself. "What time should I come over?"

"Doesn't matter. I'm back now so I'll just be here. You can come whenever you'd like."

"I'll text you when I'm on my way?"

"Sounds good. See you soon."

We both hang up and I sit there for a few moments before going back downstairs. I ordered a pizza just before I had my little argument with Mason. I sit on the couch in the foyer waiting for it to come. When it does I bring the box into the kitchen, sitting at the island with my phone while I eat. He comes down eventually and takes a bunch on a plate, heading straight back to his room without a word to me. Well that's fine with me.

I really do want to see Harry, but maybe that's not a good idea. I left so quickly this morning because I'm terrified about how I feel. I really feel like I can trust him and that's a problem for me. Trusting him means letting my guard down and doing that means getting hurt. It's inevitable. Harry says now that he cares and he won't leave me, but he doesn't know half the things that make me who I am. He'll be so done with me when he realizes how screwed up I am. What am I supposed to do then?

But I can't stay away from him. That's quite obvious. So I don't know what I'm supposed to do now.

I finish eating and clean up after myself, then go upstairs to get ready to leave. I change into something a little more comfortable and put all the stuff I need to study in my bag. I flop down on my bed for a bit, playing a game on my phone while I kill some time. Harry texts me to ask when I'll be coming and I realize I've been killing more time than I thought. It's already almost eight and it's dark outside. I decide to leave now before I change my mind, throwing my bag over my shoulder and not bothering to tell Mason that I'm leaving. On my way to Harry's house it starts pouring rain. When I get to the building it's coming down hard. I groan to myself and get my backpack so I can make a run for the door. I press Harry's apartment number and after what feels like ages he finally lets me in. I swing the door open and walk up the steps, my clothes completely soaked. So much for looking cute.

I knock on Harry's door and wait for him to answer, reaching up and taking out my hair tie. Harry opens the door and smiles as he takes in my dishevelled appearance.

"Since when do you knock?" he asks, stepping to the side. I walk in and run my hands through my wet hair, shaking out the excess water. "And why are you all wet?"

"I jumped in the building's pool," I retort sarcastically, flipping my hair upside down and shaking it out some more. When I flip it back up he's watching me with an amused smile. "It's raining."

"You're sassy, aren't you?" he asks, stepping towards me. I continue shaking my fingers through my wet hair and he grabs the bottom of my soaked shirt. "You're really wet."

"It's really raining."

He laughs and slides his hands under my shirt to rest them on my waist. I put my hands on his arms. "Do you want something to change into?"

"If you tell me you have another woman's clothes here I'll probably punch you."

"Relax. I meant something of mine."

"Oh." I look down at his chest and bite my lip. Wearing his clothes again? That probably sends the wrong message about what I want from him. But I'm not going to sit here soaking wet either. "Sure."

He leans down to kiss me and I slide my hands up his arms, resting them on his cheeks to hold him against me when he tries to break it. He smiles against my mouth and slides his hands around to my back to push our bodies together. I wrap my arms around his neck as he parts my lips with his, pushing his tongue into my mouth. A sigh leaves my mouth and I tangle one hand into his hair. Suddenly he breaks the kiss and I'm left breathing heavy and wanting more.

"Now you've made me all wet," he says against my lips.

"Sorry," I breathe, not distancing myself.

"You know that I'd like to continue this, but I really do have work to do, love."

"Right. Sorry."

"Stop apologizing," he laughs, reaching up and brushing some wet hair back from my face. I laugh nervously and unravel myself from him. "Let's get some dry clothes, yeah?"

I nod and he takes my hand from his shoulder, leading me to the stairs. We walk up and he goes to his dresser, pulling out two shirts and some sweatpants for me. He hands me the clothes and I go to the bathroom to change. I smile when I pull the shirt over my head; it smells so much like him. The sweats are a tad big on me, but I tie the drawstrings tight enough that they stay on my hips although they hang quite low. The t-shirt is also really large so I tie it up at the corner. A section of my hip is revealed and I smile at myself in the mirror. I like this, wearing his clothes.

When I emerge from the bathroom he's already changed and leaning against the railing, looking down at the rest of the place. He looks back at me when the door is open and his eyes go a little wide. I walk up to him with my wet clothes and he eyes me carefully up and down.

"You're staring," I inform him, smiling. He nods.

"I am." My face flushes a little and he plays with the knot I made in the shirt with his fingers. "This is a nice touch."

"Your clothes are huge," I laugh. He shrugs and takes my wet clothes.

"I'll dry these for you."

"Thanks."

He eyes me up and down once more before walking to the stairs. I follow him down and get my bag from the floor by the door, taking out my books and setting my stuff up on the coffee table. He comes back and looks at me.

"What are you doing?"

"I thought we were working slash studying?" I ask, sitting down on the couch. He nods and walks over to me.

"We are, but why are you sitting here?"

"I like to be comfortable," I shrug. He laughs and sits next to me.

"Alright well I'm going to sit at the table over there." I turn my head and lean it against the back of the couch to look at him. "I don't want to get distracted," he says quietly. I smile and turn my body, folding my legs but putting them on his lap.

"Well we can get a little distracted," I whisper, leaning in closer to his lips. He raises his eyebrows and I rub my nose against his lightly before pressing our lips together. He puts his hand against my cheek and I lift myself up, straddling him and fisting the front of his shirt in my hands. His tongue pushes into my mouth and our lips move together perfectly. The kiss gets more heated by the second and I start moving my hips slightly against his. He moans and holds me tighter. I suddenly break the kiss and remove myself from his lap, satisfied with the reaction I got. He sits there in shock and I try not to laugh as I open one of my textbooks.

"What?" I ask innocently, stopping my reading.

"You're going to kill me," he says softly. I just laugh and start reading again. He kisses my cheek once and I smile. He looks at me and I stare down at my book. He kisses my cheek again and I giggle a little. He chuckles and kisses my cheek a few more times before getting up and walking over to his kitchen table. I watch him for a few minutes then go back to my own homework. It is kind of weird sitting here in my teacher's apartment doing homework, who I also just made out with, while he sits at the table marking papers. Thinking about the situation is strange but sitting here feels really normal.

After almost two hours I've finished most of my homework, so I stack up my books and walk over to Harry. I walk up behind him and rub his shoulders a few times. He sighs and I start massaging his neck and shoulders and back.

"How's the studying?" he asks, making some red marks on a test.

"I'm done."

"Lucky you."

I continue rubbing his shoulders for a few minutes but eventually my hands get really tired. I kiss the top his head and wrap my arms around his neck, leaning my head down beside his. He turns and kisses the tip of my nose.

"I'm almost done," he says, flipping over the test and moving to the next one. "Downside of being an english teacher is there's no fact. I have to read every answer and analyze them separately. It takes a while."

"Apparently. Take your time." I sit down in the chair adjacent to his and pull my knees to my chest, watching him while he works. His forehead is slightly creased and he keeps biting the tip of his pen when he's not writing. It's adorable.

"It's hard to concentrate with you staring at me," he says, smiling but not looking up from the paper.

"Sorry, I can't help it."

"If you want a drink or something help yourself," he offers, writing something down. I take that as my cue to stop bugging him and venture to the fridge, looking through everything. I look back at him and then back to the fridge. I wonder..

I take a can of beer and crack it open, hopping up on the counter to drink it. After a minute he looks up quickly. Realization comes across his face and he looks back at me, one eyebrow raised.

"What are you doing?" he asks, trying not to smile.

I shrug. "I was thirsty."

"So you're drinking a beer?"

"Is that bad?"

"You're seventeen."

"I'm sorry, I didn't realize you were so cautious of the rules," I joke, taking another sip. He shakes his head and smirks at me. "Besides, didn't you give me wine last night?"

"I guess I did. Want to get me one?"

I hop off the counter and get another one from the fridge, tossing it to him. He catches it with a surprised look on his face.

"What?" I ask, sitting in the chair I was in before. He opens his beer and takes a sip before setting it down in front of him.

"Nothing. You're just...unpredictable."

Funny, I feel the same thing about him. By the time he's finally done marking the tests I've started my second beer. He cleans up his stuff and organizes himself for class tomorrow. I wait patiently and when he's done he takes my hands and pulls me to stand up.

"I'm sorry that took so long," he says, leading my hands up to his neck.

"It's fine. I should probably go home soon anyway."

"Why?" he asks, looking quite disappointed. I smile and play with the tiny curls at the back of his neck. "You can't drive anyway, you've had a drink."

"I'm fine," I assure him. "I need to get home soon."

"I'm not letting you drive any time soon. Too dangerous. Looks like you're stuck with me." He winks and I roll my eyes. "What do you want to do?"

"I need to go home," I say again.

"I'm not letting you leave." Before I can protest again he leans down to kiss me. All of my arguments fade away and when he pulls back I'm smiling. "Want to watch a movie?"

"I guess I can stay a little longer." He smiles and kisses me once more before leading me to the couch. He picks Life As We Know It on demand and I cuddle up against his side. I like this, right ehere. It's simple and easy and comfortable. We haven't argued or talked about anything complicated and with all of that put aside I feel so much more relaxed. I'm sick of going back and forth in my head. I can't help but wonder what's going to happen next, but right now I feel perfect.

I guess we'll see what happens next.

Notes

another one tonight maybe? please tell me what you think please pleaseeee


comment, vote, subscribe!!

love yew