If you’re pretending from the start like this,
With a tight grip, then my kiss

“Sky, this is my friend Lara.”

Lara blinked at the word friend, but recovered enough to accept Sky‘s outstretched hand.

“Nice to meet you.” Sky said with a smile and Lara nodded dumbly.

New discovery?

Her mind was still stuck on the introduction. As if in answer to her thoughts, Harry continued.

“Sky’s a talented singer I discovered last year… you might remember her. The busker we saw singing that night?”

Lara thought back to the night of her birthday last year. Harry had taken her out to dinner that had been totally organised by Modest, complete with flowers and a present.

Unbeknownst to Lara, they had also organised a surprise birthday party at a club. Every last detail of this birthday surprise was fed back to the press, who in turn created fairy tale stories about romantic Harry’s thoughtful gestures.

Even Lara had let herself get carried away with the romance of the whole night, despite Harry’s subdued mood. He had seemed distant that night, and had rejected her advances. That was the night she had been given a hard dose of reality when she later caught Harry and Louis kissing in the stairwell.

But before the surprise party, Harry had stopped to watch a lone busker on the street. Lara suddenly realised why she had seemed so familiar. She had only seen her once, but she remembered how engrossed Harry had been in her performance.

“I’ve noticed her here before, so I always check to see if she’s around when I’m in the area.”
Harry had murmured to Lara as they watched her strum her guitar. Lara remembered the girl had recognised Harry’s face, but had simply smiled in acknowledgement when Harry had dropped money into her open guitar case.

“Do you know her?” Lara had asked curiously.

“Nope. But it’s nice to listen to someone sing when it’s all just about the music and not the added bullshit that we have to go through.”

Lara had noticed the grim look on his face as he spoke the words, and in hindsight she should have recognised the relevance of Harry’s comment. He envied the girl on the street. She was able to sing and be judged solely on her talent.

He on the other hand, had a panel of people dictating his every move. From what kind of music he had to make to who he had to present to the world as his official love. He had started out singing because he loved music and he loved performing. Not the ‘added bullshit’ of upholding a public image or being forced to expose his personal life.

“I remember.” Lara said noticing Louis approaching the group, an amused look on his face when he saw Lara.

“She’s just been signed to Syco.” Harry said proudly.

“Really?” Lara turned to a beaming Sky. “Congratulations.”

“Thanks… I still can’t believe it.” Sky replied looking a little overwhelmed, pink tinging her
cheeks. So innocent, Lara thought, and she looked to see Harry smiling at her like a proud parent, his arm still around her shoulder.

The conversation drifted from there, and they all began to chat, leaving Lara to study Sky a bit more closely. Her heart shaped face was perfectly set off by her perfectly painted scarlet lips, Lara noted with a touch of annoyance. She didn’t hear Harry berating her about her choice of lipstick. Her eyes were a deep hazel, and her platinum blonde hair hung perfectly straight in a short bob. She was dressed casually in ripped jeans and Converse sneakers with a black and white striped top. She heard Louis’ voice near her ear before she even noticed he was standing right behind her.

“Jealousy’s a curse.” He murmured.

“You knew about her didn’t her? You knew who she was.” Lara shot back before turning to face him.

“Yeah, why?” Louis said.

“Then why did you pretend you didn’t know how Harry knew her or who she was when I asked you?”

“I told you she was one of Harry’s strays. You heard him… he found her busking on the fucking street!” Louis said laughing.

“You’re impossible.”

“So they tell me.”

Lara checked her watch… it was almost midnight and she had to be awake in six hours. She looked up to see Harry talking to Sky, his eyes flitting over to her before he turned his attention away.

“I’ve got to go home.” Lara said half to herself.

Harry’s radar must have sounded because she blinked one moment, and the next moment he was right by her side.

“Where are you off to?” He asked.

“Home.” She said shortly.

“Can I come with you?”

“Are you being serious?” Lara asked, feeling worked up and finding it hard to hide. “What just happened still doesn’t explain LA.”

“Didn’t you hear what I just said?” Harry said calmly. “I helped her get that recording contract. She went to LA to record some songs... but we weren’t meant to be photographed together. I don’t want anyone to know I’m the one behind her getting that contract.”

“Why?”

“I want her to have a fair chance. If it gets out that I’m the one who helped her, then the focus won’t be on her anymore. All people will want to talk about is whether I’m fucking her or not.” He said. “And she’s too good for that. “

“That’s very noble of you.” She said sarcastically. “Good luck with it all.”

She turned on her heel to leave, only to feel Harry’s hand on her arm

“Don’t leave like this.” He said lowly. “Come home with me.”

Lara let out an audible sigh.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“I think it’s a fucking great idea.” He replied. “How many drinks have you had? I’m not letting you go home alone in this state.”

“I’m fine.” She mumbled as he took her by the arm and quickly bid the others good night.

Before she could protest, they were walking out the door and in a car headed to Harry’s house. They were silent for the entire drive, up until they entered his dark apartment. He had only switched on the light when he backed her into the wall.

“Did you like dancing with that guy?” Harry asked.

“Did you like laughing with those girls?” Lara countered.

“Because I didn’t like seeing you with someone else.” He ignored her comment to say.

Lara could feel the heat rising to her face at his close proximity and the way his words were spoken so calmly and deliberately.

“I don’t think I can handle you being with anyone other than me.” He said, his eyes not wavering from her face.

Lara swallowed nervously, thoughts of Ben clouding her mind. Ben dangling the cocaine in front of her like bait, Ben slowly massaging her shoulders, Ben ordering her to take her clothes off, Ben letting his eyes rake over her.

“Only me.” Harry repeated. His thumb reached up to touch her lips, smudging the lipstick across her mouth. He took her bottom lip between his teeth and sucked it gently, his arms reaching around her waist to lock her into place.

“Nobody else.”

They were the words that should have filled her with satisfaction. Instead she felt a sense of dread that bubbled away at her until she could barely look him in the eye. What would Harry do if he knew she still lived with Ben?

He led her into the bedroom and was relieved when all he did was hand her one of his T-shirts. She didn’t know if she could have succumbed to his advances tonight.

She stared into the bathroom mirror to see Harry had managed to rid of her of the lipstick leaving her with smudged lips. When she entered the bedroom she saw a shirtless Harry lying on the bed with a smile on his face. Lara wordlessly curled into his embrace, falling asleep within minutes.

X

Lara woke up hours later feeling groggy and tired. She looked over at Harry who slept beside her and then checked the time to see it was almost 5.00am. She had enough time to go home, shower and dress and make the early shift at the café, but she could barely move her body. Harry shifted slightly and opened one eye to look at her before closing it.

“Stay with me today.” He said sleepily.

“I can’t… I’ve got to go to work today…”

“Call in sick.” Harry hooked his leg over her and she could feel the temptation to do just that
as he wrapped himself around her.

“Noo.” She mumbled her face buried in the pillow.

“Yesss.”

Lara felt Harry’s cold fingers make their way under her shirt and onto her warm skin making her jump.

“Stop it.” She said trying to shrug him away

“Not until you say yes.” He said and his cold fingers now trailed across her neck and she struggled to escape his grasp. Her fingers moved down to tickle him, causing Harry to yelp and roll away from her. He rolled back and then scrambled to his knees before pushing her back on the bed and pinning her arms down. He triumphantly smiled down at her, only to see her looking up at him wide eyed and pink cheeked.

“I don’t want to hurt you.” She said softly and he gave her a funny look.

“I thought that was my specialty.” He joked. “And anyway… I don’t think you have it in you.”

And he kissed her on the tip of her nose as if to punctuate his point.

They looked at each other for a few moments before he lifted her top exposing her stomach. He lowered his head to kiss the soft skin, smiling to himself when he heard her take a sharp intake of breath. He pushed the shirt up over her breasts, his lips following soon after. His tongue swirled around her nipple, before taking it between his teeth and sucking gently. He raised his head and regarded her with a raised eyebrow.

His head went down again and she felt his hand between her legs, spreading them apart. Lara stared at the ceiling, her body tense with anticipation as his tongue licked her inner thigh. Harry lifted his head to glance up at her before his fingers quickly pulled down her underwear and tossed them to the side. He crawled between her legs again, his hands spreading her legs apart even further.

Harry stopped for a moment to take in the sight of her before his tongue flicked over her entrance, causing an involuntary shiver to run through her body. She raised her hips at the unfamiliar sensation and Harry slightly pulled away allowing her body to relax before his mouth returned to her soft folds.

His tongue dipped into her entrance, forcing Lara to bite down on her bottom lip, her eyes lowering down to focus on the top of his head. Her hands reached down to touch his chocolate brown curls, twisting them around her fingers as he teased her aching nub with his warm tongue.

This elicited a low moan from Lara, as she squeezed her thighs in response. The teasing stopped as his mouth began to work on her, relentlessly sucking and licking until she squirmed beneath him.

Harry held her legs down, low moans turning into high pitched cries as he began to deftly tongue fuck her. She reached her high almost immediately… wanting it to last forever but unable to prolong the moment. Lara screamed his name, clutching the back of his shirt, as she rode out her orgasm, her cries soon turning to little whimpers. Harry raised his head to smile at her before playfully licking her one last time.

“I don’t know why you keep doubting me… or yourself.” He murmured,

“You don’t make it easy for me.” She said breathlessly.

Harry rolled on his side and propped his head up with his hand, his eyes trained on her.

“Things are not always black and white Lara.” He said. “There’s always going to be shades of grey.”

Notes

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