"That's new," I hear Niall say behind us. Harry takes my hand and leads me over to the chair he was sitting on. For once my cheeks don't heat and when Harry pulls me onto his lap I actually feel confident about this. My arm loops around his neck and he smiles up at me.

"So, are you all coming to my game tomorrow?" I ask, looking at the group.

"Only if you pay for us," Louis says. Ivy hits him. "What? I'm broke, I'm a student."

"It's free for students," I tell them. I look at Harry. "Wait, is it?"

"No," he laughs. "It's only five dollars, though. Instead of fifteen."

"So basically free." I look back at everyone. "So who's coming?"

"I am!" Harry shouts, putting his hand up. I laugh and look back over at him, a goofy grin on his face. He drops his hand and it lands on my leg. "What?"

"We'll all go," Zayn says. "We don't have anything else to do. And we can go out afterwards."

"Well I can't drink but I'll go with you guys," I say.

When I suddenly stand up again everyone looks confused, especially Harry. I just came to see him quickly, but I really do need to sleep. I really wanted to see him. When I got home this morning and he was gone I was freaking out. Then I didn't hear from him all day and it really did scare me and I needed to...I don't even know. I just had to come here.

"You're leaving already?" Harry asks, following me to the door.

When I lean back against the door he puts his hand beside my head, blocking my view of the rest of the group. His hair is really slicked back today, more than usual. Probably from him running his fingers through it.

"I have a game tomorrow," I remind him.

"You could sleep here," he says quietly. My heart starts hammering and I look down at his chest, my cheeks warm with the inappropriate things running through my mind.

"Your bed is tiny," I say quietly.

"You know, small beds may be a little inconvenient, but I don't think we need that much space," he continues. I laugh nervously and look down at the ground. Harry places his thumb and finger around my chin to tilt my eyes back up to his. "Stay?"

Have I ever wanted to do anything more? Probably not. But I know that it's not a good idea. We'd end up talking for a while and I wouldn't be able to stop my heart from racing and being so close on such a small bed would just make for a bad combination.

"I can't."

"I'll sleep on the floor," he suggests. I laugh and he smirks, his eyes flickering to my lips. A huge part of me, most of me actually, doesn't want to leave. Who would want to leave someone like him?

"Goodnight, Harry." I force myself to open the door, pushing Harry back a little so I can move. "I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

He sighs. "Fine."

"Don't act so wounded," I tease, stepping back. He looks at the group and follows me onto the porch. "Where are you going?"

"Relax, I'm not following you. I just want to kiss you."

"Oh."

"Yeah, oh." He laughs, putting his hands on my waist. All the confidence I had earlier has fled and now it's like we've never done anything, despite the fact he slept in my bed last night. I don't know what it is about Harry, but I'm always so nervous around him. His crooked smile makes my knees week and he rubs his nose against mine. It makes me laugh, the playful gesture not anticipated but perfect for calming my nerves a little bit.

When Harry's mouth fits to mine I literally have to hold onto him to stay standing. If there was anything to get me to stay tonight, this would be it. Every time he kisses me I feel it more and more, feel the passion behind it more and more. His large hands push flat against my back, our bodies so close that I can feel his heart pounding. My hands slide up his large arms, one against his cheek and the other knotting into his curls. His lips are pressed even harder to mine then, so hard it almost hurts in the best kind of way. When his tongue touches mine I feel like my heart might actually fly right out of my chest.

Neither one of us makes any move to break the kiss. There's no oxygen in my lungs and my body feels so heated that I could explode, but I don't want to stop. Ever. I can't even keep track of everywhere Harry's hands have travelled, but wherever he touches me I get goosebumps. There are so many things happening to me that I've never experienced, and it's the best kind of overwhelming.

Harry suddenly pulls back from me and buries his face in the crook of my neck. My breathing is hard and fast and all I can do is keep my arms around him, confused by the action but grateful to be able to breathe again.

"Is something wrong?" I ask finally. He shakes his head and slowly pulls it up to look at me.

"I'm perfect," he says. He lets out a nervous, airy laugh. "It's fucking terrifying."

"What is?"

"How I feel right now," he says quietly. "No one's ever made me this...I don't even know."

I can see in his eyes that he's unsure of himself and of me, not sure what I'll do next or how I'll respond. The side of me that I'm used to listening to is screaming at me to run from this boy before he can break my heart, but the other side, the smaller one that is usually drowned out by fear and loneliness finally breaks through. Stay.

"I want to stay," I whisper. His green eyes widen slightly and he smiles.

"Tonight?" he asks. He smiles and I feel him fist the back of my shirt in his hands. "Really?"

I nod. "I don't want to go home."

He quickly brings me back inside and shuts the door, like he's afraid I'll change my mind. Only Liam and Niall are left in the living room, and when we pass by them to head upstairs I catch Liam with a pained expression on his face, staring at my hand in Harry's. It confuses me, but I decided to let it go for now.

Harry pulls me into his room and shuts the door. "You need to sleep now, right?"

I nod, though I don't really want to sleep yet. He walks to his dresser and pulls a t-shirt out of his drawer. When he walks back over to me I take it, but that's not what I want.

"You can sleep in that," he says. I look up at him nervously and his eyes roam my face. "What?"

"I don't...can I have this one?" I ask quietly, my voice shaking along with my hand as I tug at the material of the black shirt he has on right now. He looks down at my hand and smiles as he takes the shirt back.

"You want the one I've been wearing all day?" he clarifies. I nod and try not to feel embarrassed. This is Harry, after all. His shirt probably smells amazing right now, and that's what I want.

"Yeah."

"Why?"

His eyes are playful and the smirk on his lips makes me roll my eyes. If he's going to make me say it then I'll sleep in my jeans. He laughs, though, and removes the shirt. My eyes automatically go to his abs and when he holds it out to me I don't even realize.

"How long have you had this?" I ask, running my fingers over the moth tattoo. He flinches slightly and I look up at his eyes.

"Your fingers are cold," he says. I flush and remove them, but he reaches for my hand. "No, don't stop."

"I've thought about getting one," I admit. His eyebrows are raised when I look up at him. "I just can't think of anything I'd want on my body for the rest of my life."

He laughs. "Yeah, that's a heavy way to think about it."

"How do you think about it?"

He shrugs and looks at his arm. "I don't think about them too hard. If I want something, I get it."

"What if you regret them?"

"Such is life."

I roll my eyes and drop my hand, his charming smile distracting me for a moment before I realize he's attempting to pull my shirt over my head. He laughs when I push his hands away.

"Nice try," I say, pointing my finger in a scolding way. "Hands to yourself."

He puts his hands up in surrender. "Just trying to help."

"Help me by putting a shirt on," I mutter, taking the one he was wearing out of his hands.

"I did have one on," he says, stepping closer to me again. "And you requested it. I'm not going to dirty another shirt just for you. I need to put off laundry as long as possible."

"How would you feel if I just stood around without a shirt?" I challenge. He cocks an eyebrow and I realize what I just said. "Don't answer that."

He laughs. "Do you want me to sleep on the couch?"

"Yeah," I say, rolling my eyes. "I stayed here so I could sleep in your bed without you in it."

"You're sassy tonight."

"Aren't I always?"

"Fair enough."

He jumps onto the bed and lays on his back, arms behind his head. His eyes are only on me and I'm very aware of the fact that I need to change. And that he's here. I don't want to be immature and go to the bathroom, but I feel quite on display right now and I'm not sure how I feel about that.

Harry notices my apprehension and turns onto his stomach, burying his face in the pillow and shielding either side with his hands. I can't help but laugh as I pull my shirt off, replacing it with his. It doesn't fall as low as the shirt I slept in last night, but it covers enough. When my jeans are off and folded I set my clothes on his dresser and sit on his back, my legs on either side of his stomach.

"I have to be facing the other way for this to work," he says, his voice muffled from the pillow. He laughs when I flick his back. "Can I look now?"

"Yes, you weirdo."

He turns his face as far as he can so he can look over his shoulder, and as his eyes scan my body he smiles. "You're not wearing pants."

"Harry," I whine. I lay between him and the wall, my face covered by my hands so he can't see me blush. "I can't sleep with pants on! It's uncomfortable!"

"I don't mind, trust me." He laughs and pries one hand from my face. "Don't be so shy."

"I'm never shy." I'm not. It's strange that I'm so timid around this boy.

"Mhmm." He plays with my fingers for a moment in silence, my heart pounding so hard I'm sure he can hear it. Then he suddenly gets up. "Okay, I'll be right back."

I nod and watch him walk out of the room. My eyes scan the space, looking for something I may not have noticed the first time. I forgot to ask him about the guitars; I didn't know he could play or that he had four different ones. When I start to walk over to them I notice something familiar lying on his desk. A copy of City of Bones rests on it, a bookmark about a quarter of the way through the pages. Is he reading this?

When the door opens I ask immediately. "Harry, are you-"

"What are you wearing?"

I jump at the angry sound of Liam's voice, which is not the one I was expecting. He stares at my bear legs with distaste clear in his eyes before they meet mine. I don't feel uncomfortable around Liam ever, but the way he's looking at me...it's clear disappointment and disapproval, something I never get from my best friend and it makes me self-conscious.

"Do you need something?" I ask.

"Carmen, what are you doing?" he asks, walking into the room. He stops in front of me and waits for an answer.

"What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean. Harry. Why are you doing this?"

"Why am I doing this?" I repeat. He raises his eyebrows. "Liam, I'm not...what is so wrong with it?"

"It's Harry," he says, like I should know what he means. "You're too good for him, Carms, and I don't want to see either of you get hurt, especially you."

"What makes you so sure he's going to hurt me?" I fire back, quick to defend him. "He's been nothing but good to me."

"Yeah, we all know he's charming. Can't you see past that?"

"What? You think he's playing me or something?" He doesn't answer and I feel completely offended that he thinks about me that way. "I'm not that stupid, Liam."

"What's going on in here?" Harry asks, stepping into the room. He's still very much shirtless, and his body distracts me for a moment.

"I'm just talking to Carmen," Liam says. I notice his hands ball into fists and Harry's stance is anything but calm. His brow is furrowed and he's got these adorable lines on his forehead that remind me of a child when you tell them they can't have candy.

"Sounds like you're yelling at Carmen." He looks at me.

"I'm fine," I say, looking at both of them. Liam looks at me again and I know he's not done with this conversation, but I am. I have enough doubting and second-guessing as it is, I don't need him providing more reasons for me to walk away from the first person in forever that actually cares about me and is trying to be in my life. "Goodnight, Liam."

Liam shakes his head a little as he walks past Harry, whose face finally relaxes once he's gone. He swings the door shut and comes over to me, his hands on running up and down from my elbows to my shoulders.

"I'm fine," I assure him.

"What did he say?"

"Nothing, it's fine. Are you reading this?" I hold up the novel and he smiles shyly. I think I notice a pink tinge in his cheeks.

"I started it a few days ago," he admits.

I nod and flip open the first few pages. There's a ink mark on page nine, that bleeds through to pages ten and eleven that is oddly familiar to me.

"Harry!" I exclaim. "Did you steal this from me?"

He laughs. "Well I didn't want to buy it. That would be a waste since you already had it."

"You could have asked," I say. "I would have given it to you."

That adorable bashful smile reappears and he looks away from my eyes. "I was going to tell you after I finished."

It's interesting to see the tables turned now, Harry being shy and timid with me instead of the other way around. The fact that he's reading this just because I did, to impress me maybe? No one has ever done something like that for me. No one's ever been this interested in something simply because I am, to be closer to me.

"Is that weird? It's creepy, isn't it. Forget it," he says quickly. He takes the book and throws it on the desk.

I laugh and step closer to him, my arms looping around his neck. "It's not weird," I assure him. His dimple pierces my eyes and he puts his hands on my waist. "It's really nice. Do you like it so far?"

"No judgments until I'm done."

"Wow."

He laughs and suddenly lifts me up so my head us above his. I'm laughing when he sets me on his bed, also aware that my shirt is not sitting in the middle of my stomach instead of on my thighs, which Harry now rests between. His face is too close for comfort and I don't think my heart has stopped racing since the minute I stepped through the door.

"So we should probably sleep," he says.

"Yeah."

"Well I was hoping you would argue a little."

I laugh and he waits patiently. "Not gonna happen. Sorry to disappoint."

He huffs and rolls off of me. "Fine. We'll just sleep then."

---

The mood in the locker room is completely somber today, even though we won. Apparently taking it to four sets wasn't good enough and the girls are all pissed that we lost one little set. I don't understand. We aren't invincible and we're going to lose sometimes. Part of the game, right?

Anyway, the faster I get out of there the better, and when I get out of the gym all of my new friends are waiting for me. They erupt into cheers when they see me, and when I look at Harry I catch him staring at my currently bare legs. I only took my jersey off, put my jacket over my sports bra, and changed into my burks instead of court shoes. The spandex shorts stayed, and Harry is taking notice apparently.

"I like volleyball," Niall says. He swings a friendly arm over my shoulder. "Lots of pretty girls in tiny shorts."

"Gross," I laugh, whacking his chest.

"That part was enjoyable," Louis agrees. "The game was incredible, though. You were great, Carmen."

I blush and look at Harry, who's just smiling proudly at me while he lets everyone shower me with compliments despite how much he knows they make me uncomfortable.

"Wait, where's Liam?" I ask suddenly. He was sitting with them at the game, I know he was there until the end. Where is he now?

"He uh.." Harry scratches the back of his head. "He left. He said he was meeting Talia."

Maybe he's more upset than I thought. Liam and I have never fought; argued, maybe, but we've never actually been angry with each other. I thought this was just another argument, but I guess I was wrong about that. Harry waltzes over and roughly lifts Niall's arm away from me to replace it with his.

"Where are we going?" he asks.

"There's a party at a frat house near our place," Zayn says. "We can just walk there later."

"Do you want to go home first?" Harry asks. I nod and he takes my bag from my shoulder to put it on his. "Okay, let's go. We'll meet you guys later."

"Thanks for coming, guys!" I call as he pulls me away. "Harry, that was rude."

"No, it wasn't."

"Yes it was."

"No. It wasn't."

"You're annoying."

He laughs and his hand slides over mine. Eyes everywhere are on us and while I'm aware of them pinning me down, Harry doesn't seem to care. I know he has a reputation around campus, but I didn't realize I'd have this many girls glaring at me. How many of them did he actually date?

"You played really well," he says, pulling me out of my thoughts.

"Oh. Thanks."

He laughs a little. "Still not great with those compliments."

---

"Carmen, they're both great," Harry says, trying to keep his patience with me.

"Okay, but which one is better for a frat party?" I ask, holding up two different tops.

"Honestly? No top is better for a frat party."

"Harry," I laugh. I stand between his legs, Harry perched on the edge of my desk. His smile when I laugh at his jokes is heartwarming. Like he's saying them just so that I'll laugh and when I do he's content.

"What look are we going for?" he asks, playing into my ridiculous female tendencies.

"Well I want something that says 'I'm here to have fun but not to drink and not to pick up guys because I'm not really but sort of taken'."

"Not really but sort of taken?" he repeats. I roll my eyes.

"That's the only part you got from that?"

He smiles and takes advantage of the tops in my hands when he pulls me closer. "Yes, that's all I got. What does 'not really but sort of taken' entail exactly?"

"Well," I begin, putting the shirts down beside him. I threw on a baggy shirt so I could pick out what to wear. "I guess it means I won't be dating anyone else."

"That's good to know. I should probably cancel my date tomorrow night, then." I whack his shoulder and he stands up, laughing as he throws me back onto my bed. "I'm kidding, Carmen."

"Not funny," I grumble, crossing my arms. He smiles as he leans down to kiss me, but before he can I put my hand over his mouth. "No time for that. I need to get dressed."

"We have a little time."

"No, everyone is already waiting for us."

He sighs and sits down against the wall, legs outstretched. "Okay fine, but you own me a make out session."

"Umm...you're weird."

Notes

paaaaaaaarty time. good idea? bad situation? could be either one but im excited to find out.

thanks for all the comments guys :) LOVE LOVE LOVE THEM AND YOU!!
so glad you like the story!! I think this is going to be a long one...and probably my last one :(

please keep commenting :) i really love it and appreciate it. best readers everrrr

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