Annie

“What’s O’Brien’s?” Niall asked.
“The pub I work at,” I replied. “You’ll have to come see it. My friends and family back home can’t get over the fact that I moved to London and got a job at an Irish pub that looks a lot like my favorite bar back home.”
“Harry, you didn’t tell me that she worked in an Irish pub. Doll, you’ve just become my new favorite thing about Harry,” Niall said making us all laugh.
“So Kim, have you had a boyfriend since you moved here?” Harry asked. I’m guessing he wanted to find out for Niall’s sake and what I was gathering was Kim and Niall were content with not discussing much about life outside of the flat until they absolutely had to.
"No. I wouldn't cheat and I did sleep with Niall."
"Her 'fun friend' might want to know about Niall," I said. I'd unleashed my secret weapon on Kim as retaliation for Cameron.
"Fun friend?" Niall asked.
"I wouldn't call him anything really. We hook up occasionally but haven't in well over a month."
"Who?" Harry asked.
"Lizzy's cousin. Nathaniel," I declared.
"You're being mean to her," Harry whispered.
"She showed you an old picture of my ex-boyfriend kissing me. Payback's a bitch."
"We could take a picture of us kissing. That would be hotter."
"Maybe," I said quietly hoping for the result I ended up with. His lips pressed against mine. It was soft, sensual and made me want to bolt down to my room immediately.
"Nathaniel, huh? What’s he do?” Niall asked.
“Nate used to be the drummer in a band,” I said. “But he’s back home now. Mummy and Daddy told him that he needed to use the degree they paid a small fortune for and put him to work in the family business.”
“Which is?” Harry asked.
“Law and politics. They made him start working in his Dad’s practice in Cambridge. His Dad is heavily involved in politics and when his older brother moved north to be nearer his wife’s family and open up his own practice they made Nate come back to work. He’s just annoying now. Showed up in a suit at the pub, talked about work and then his band showed up and he proceeded to get royally pissed and puke all over the loo,” I said.
“Gross,” Harry replied laughing. “Did you have to clean it up?”
“Oh hell no. I made Frankie do it. He kicked Nate out after that. But I had to deal with him when I got home because he ended up here.”
“He’s a good guy. He’s just stressed out. He misses music. The band was playing a few gigs here and there with him but realized they needed a full-time drummer so they replaced him. Within a month of that they had an A&R guy catch one of their sets and they got signed. He’s just pissed it didn’t happen earlier.”
“But you aren’t dating?” Harry asked. I was sure he was seeing what I always saw. That no matter how much Kim told people that she and Nate were just friends with benefits that she did have feelings for him. She had since the first time they met but he was clear about the fact that he didn’t want a girlfriend. He didn’t want tied down when they toured. But about a month in to knowing him he packed up and moved back to Cambridge. At first he was back every weekend to play shows and sleep at our flat. Then it was every other, then maybe once a month. He’d been put on a large case for the firm and was working a lot. She tried hard not to be attached to him but she was. I knew she missed him.
“No, we aren’t dating. It’s casual. I’m too busy with work and so is he.”
"Oh, okay. Cool." Niall was doing a terrible job trying to act nonchalant about it. But refrained from asking questions and acting like a freak the way Harry had a few minutes ago. "So do we have more questions?"
"We can but she's getting drunk by avoiding questions," Harry said gesturing to me where I was laying on the couch with my legs sprawled across his lap and a glass of wine rested on my stomach.
"She's just the right amount of drunk that she'll show you the pink knickers," I said trying to smile seductively and failing. So I just fell over in fits of laughter instead.
"She's also speaking in the third person. I think I need to take her to bed." It was early. Only 10:00 but I was a bit tipsy. Suddenly the iPad in Harry's hands started to make noise and I saw him click a button. I heard the familiar whoosh of a FaceTime starting.
"Harry songs!" came the cheering of my favorite voice in the world.
"Gigi?" I asked sitting up right.
"Annie!" she said excitedly. "More Harry Songs. Beautiful song."
"Harry songs?" Harry asked me.
"She's a fan. What can I say?" I moved closer to Harry and he held the iPad so we were both in the frame. "Hi Birdie. I miss you. Are you having fun with Grammy today?"
"Yes. We paint." I saw Mom move in behind Gigi.
"She wanted to paint a picture for you for your birthday."
"Aww," I said.
"Hi, I'm Harry" Harry said waving at Mom and Gigi.
"This is my friend Harry. He got snowed in with Kim and I." I saw the look on Mom's face. She knew who he was. And so did Gigi. When I was home at Thanksgiving we'd watched lots of One Direction music videos. She was getting better at talking and forming sentences but still couldn't say One Direction. She just wanted to watch Harry songs.
"Harry," Gigi said in a giggle.
"Hi, you must be Gigi. Your Auntie has told me loads about you. It's nice to meet you."
"That's my Mom, Joy," I said.
"Nice to meet you Joy. You have a lovely daughter." I couldn't believe this. Here I was half drunk, wanting to go downstairs and kiss him in to next week and I was getting a FaceTime request from Mom and Gigi. She was awful with the time difference. I'd often wake up in the middle of the night to her calling just to see how I was doing and then realize I was sleeping because it was six hours ahead here.
"Are you guys staying safe during the blizzard?"
"Yeah, we still have power. The tube is shut down and Harry's car is buried under snow but we're okay. It's supposed to start to let up around noon or 1:00 tomorrow so we can dig him out. But until then we are fine," I said.
"Harry songs!" Gigi said again. "Beautiful song, Annie."
"Her favorite song is What Makes You Beautiful. What can I say; we are Harry girls in my family." I laughed and knew I was blushing. He kissed the crown of my head and I saw Mom smile. She'd met Cameron through FaceTime a few times. She thought he was nice, though his appearance was a bit much for her. "Okay Mom. I'll talk to you tomorrow. Its 10 here and I had a bit too much wine with dinner. I'm heading to bed." I was impressed I'd managed to talk as well as I had.
"Okay, sleep well." We waved our goodbyes and ended the FaceTime.
"So that was awkward," I said closing the case on the iPad.
"Why? Your niece is adorable and your Mum seems nice," Harry said.
"Well besides the fact that Gigi inadvertently outed me for playing her 1D videos at Thanksgiving you just met my mother, while we're both mostly drunk and were talking about my knickers." Kim and Niall both started to laugh.
"Eh, so what? Shit happens. Now about those knickers," he said smiling at me. We said our goodnights and headed down to my room.
"I'm kinda drunk," I slurred when we finally made it in to my bedroom. "And you're kinda cute."
"Kinda?" He shut the door behind us but we didn't move.
"Fine, you're super cute. Hot even."
"You are drunk. Should we just go to bed?" he asked stepping back from me.
"No. We should finish what we started earlier." I pulled the t-shirt over my head quickly, standing in front of Harry in leggings that were rolled down to reveal my tattoos and a black lace bra. He moved towards me again kissing me and picked me up so my legs wrapped around his waist. He pushed my back up against the door. "Bed," I mumbled in to his mouth before harshly biting his lip. We moved quickly to the bed and I pulled his shirt over his head and then slipped out of my leggings. There I was in a black lace bra and panties, I was just drunk enough that I was bold and had no inhibitions but still knew 100% what I was doing and how much I wanted to do it. I reached behind my back, unhooking the bra and slowly moving it down my arms. He kissed over my breasts as I struggled with his belt buckle. I reached my hand in to the front of his pants as I had done before.
"You are such a tease," he said biting my nipple.
"I don't intend on teasing," I said, again slurring my words partly from the alcohol, mostly from the work his mouth was doing. He kissed down to my panties before kissing across my stomach just above the lace. As he slid my panties down he kissed down my legs and then back up before kissing over the part of me that ached for him. It was almost embarrassing how quickly I was ready for him. His tongue and fingers went to work sending my body in to a state of frenzy. My fingers tangled in his hair just as he pushed me over the edge. It was the first orgasm I'd had in over a month that wasn't self created or battery operated. I didn't last nearly as long as I'd hoped and my body was in this completely relaxed state now. "Oh...oh...come...come here so I can kiss you." He kissed up my body and captured my lips with his as my hand slid in to the front of his boxers wrapping around him. I could taste myself on him which would've been completely weird if I wasn't drunk and complete putty in his hands after what he did to me. She started to gently stroke him up and down. My free hand pushed his boxers down to his thighs. Wow. Just wow. "Hi there."
"You are amazing," he said laying down on his back as I stroked him again and again making him harder. "I want you so badly." He kissed me drawing my body to him again.
"We need condoms. Let me go get them."
"No, you stay right here," he said kissing me. "I'll be right back."
"They are in the cabinet opposite the toilet. Top drawer on the right all the way at the back." He kissed me again, pulling his boxers back up and leaving the room, shutting the door quietly. I didn't realize how completely relaxed I was from my orgasm until he left the room. All I could smell was him on my skin. He was taking a bit longer than I expected and the alcohol and euphoric state were making me tired. I closed my eyes promising myself it would just be for a second. I couldn't resist and sleep took over. It was as if I immediately started dreaming. Harry was with me laying beside me and gently stroking my cheek. I smiled at the touch of his hand.
"Annie." He sounded just as amazing in my dream as he did in real life. A rasp in his voice like he had this morning and earlier today when we were making out. "Annabelle." Definitely weird that Dream Harry knew I loved being called Annabelle by the people I cared most about. He looked like the cover of a romance novel. Hair flowing in the wind, muscles glistening with sweat, and we were laying in a warm meadow. "Sugar, wake up." I felt him kissing me, Dream Harry still had soft lips but didn't try to deepen the kiss. I rolled to my side to get comfortable feeling Dream Harry pull back a bit, it made me sad and then I heard his voice. "Tease."
I woke up alone in bed. I glanced at the clock. Fuck how had I fallen asleep? How long had I been asleep? The clock said it was 11:30, I couldn't have been asleep that long. I slipped on Harry's t-shirt and nothing else. I checked the bathroom, empty. I headed to the stairs, maybe he snuck up here. I made it to the second step when I heard voices. It was Kim and Harry, they were talking about me. So I sat down for a second, not wanting to interrupt. I felt bad that I was eavesdropping but I wanted to know if he felt for me what I felt for him.
"So she and Cam really aren't still sleeping together, right?" he asked.
"No, they aren't. They really did stop seeing each other after the flowers. They were close and loved each other but make better friends. So they still slept together for a while. He met someone and they stopped sleeping together. He was the first person other than Frankie and Lizzy that she met here. He really did let her drag him around trying to find your cologne. She claimed the beard threw off the scent." Harry laughed. I loved his laugh. It made me smile and my stomach do more of it's Olympic routines.
"I hated not being here for Jason's anniversary. She seemed so sad." I had been sad. I wished he had been here and I didn't realize why at the time.
"She was. Your flowers made her smile. She would put them in the living room during the day but every night she'd take them down to her bedroom so she could see them when she slept. She likes you a lot. Cam knew that from the first time she mentioned that you were coming in to the bookshop. He also knew he didn't stand a chance. You are the kind of guy she wants to end up with. Cam was like her late 20s rebellion when moving away from home. Or at least that's what he calls himself." I smiled wanting to laugh. Cam did call himself my rebellion when he found out that my Dad, from another country, tried to forbid me from dating him. Cam wasn't what my father would've pictured me with or approved of on the outside. If he knew him I was sure he would've changed his mind. Cam was sweet and caring. But there were so many things that complicated our relationship beyond just my Dad's opinion and my developing feelings for Harry.
"And you guys are close friends?"
"Yeah," she said. "He's someone I value a lot. He also cares about her a lot. Wanted her to be happy. He was trying to get her to make a move on you after the quilt. Knew something like that was a gesture from a guy who wanted to take care of someone. Not just sleep with them and leave in the middle of the night."
Cam had been jealous that Harry's Christmas present was so personal and thoughtful. He'd gotten me a bottle of the perfume I wore. Granted, we weren't together. He was still trying to hold on to us and see if there was hope for us to work out some day. Harry's Christmas present was what made him realize there was no hope of us being together again. I knew he needed time away from me. He had still been staying at our place every night even after we split up. I sent him home alone for Christmas rather than going. I didn't want things to be more awkward than they should've been.
"I do want to take care of her. Be around to get to know you too." Aww. He's so adorable. Listening to him talk to Kim made my heart beat a little bit faster.
"I've done a great job at trying to get to know you by sleeping with your friend." I wanted to laugh. She really was being a bit unlike herself. One night stand, sure it happened on occasion. But she was acting with Niall in a way I'd only seen once, with Nate very early on, before he moved.
"Yeah, it's okay. You make him happy. I can tell. He's not normally like this. He normally wants to do the dating thing first. You've enchanted him a bit and I'm glad. From what Annie says you're special. You deserve someone good and he's my best mate in the band. Few better on the planet than him. He's got a big heart." I love that he paid attention when I talked about the people in my life. Most guys weren't interested in knowing friends or family. Harry took a genuine interest in it.
"I can tell. I do like him a lot. I mean if I didn't I wouldn't be sitting in the cold just so he can warm me up. You feeling any better?" she asked him.
"Yeah, started to. I might have to grab a blanket. I'm starting to get cold."
"You can go to bed. I couldn't sleep and he passed out quickly. You don't have to stay up with me."
"No, it's nice to talk to you. I know a lot about you from Annie. I like actually getting to know you," Harry said. I heard him closing the window and walking across the floor. Why was the window open? There's a freaking blizzard outside. These two were nutjobs. "She still hasn't approved my request in Instagram. It's killing me."
"Don't tell her I gave this to you."
"Am I the reason her profile is private?" he asked. What could he possibly be looking at on my Instagram? Thankfully I’d grabbed my phone when I went to look for him. I listened for clues to what he was saying to flip through the pictures. Shit. Shit. Shit. Why had I posted so many pictures of us in compromising positions? The fact that Harry was interested in me blew my mind.
"No, her family. She wanted a chance to live her life without them watching her every move because she feared they’d disapprove. They sort of did, her Dad flipped the first time he saw a picture of Cam."
"They didn't like him?"
"They didn't like the way he looked." That was an understatement. I don't think my family had spent that much time on the phone with me in one day since I'd left until they found out I had a boyfriend and who he was. "No one ever met him. Only me. She's tried to prevent home from coming to visit. She is adjusting a lot better than she thought here. She's a bit nervous that if home comes here it will sort of upset things. I get it. My cousin is the only one that's come to visit. We went to Ireland for my birthday."
"I remember Annie saying that. She said she was excited to have the place to herself."
"Oh she was. And then she freaked out the first time she heard a noise. Cam said he got here to her with the door locked, the table by the door shoved up against it and a baseball bat in her hand." Harry laughed a little. I was terrified. I thought I heard a scuffle outside and then could've sworn that someone was trying to break in to the apartment.
"I can imagine that. She tries to be tough but she's a softy."
"Giant softy," Kim said.
"Did he live with you guys?" Harry asked. Why was he asking if Cam lived here? Random question to ask.
"No, they stayed together a lot though. He lives in Brixton and travels a bit for his job, plus the second job is the pub and we are closer.”
I felt my anxiety kicking in. He'd realize soon enough that I was nothing special and bolt. Though Cam hadn't bolted. It was me that did. It was me that ended things because I wanted something deeper. I'd loved Cam but wasn't in love with him anymore. My heart and stomach didn't feel like they were in a vice grip every time he was mentioned. They did with Harry. I was like a pathetic puppy when it came to him. He was what made me want something deeper. Until the moment he sent me those flowers in October I'd been happy with Cam. But the moment those flowers arrived I melted. And when they weren't from Cam it made me realize that I wanted something different, deeper. Someone who thought of those moments that I might need a reason to smile, even if they were half way across the world. Cam had done nothing that day. Okay, not nothing. He'd come over with dinner and laid in bed with me while I listened to music that made me think of Jason and cried.
"She looks happy in all these pictures."
"She was. Cam really is a good guy."
"But she broke up with him?" Harry asked.
"Yeah, she wanted to be happy and find someone she can spend forever with. She loves Cam and was maybe even potentially in love with him but she eventually wasn't. And even when she was that there was a guy out there that paid attention to the little things and did the sweet romantic things, like send flowers when he was away and knew she needed a reason to smile, she decided not to settle for anything less. She wanted a fairytale. Cam told her that they didn't exist. That reality was him and working at the pub. But that was him being selfish. He knew that even his fairytale couldn't stand up against your reality."
"So you're not a footie fan?" he asked. Footie? Cam and I watched a lot of football together. And if we were both off work it usually involved cuddling on the couch and taking stupid pictures of ourselves. Why didn’t I clean up my Instagram after we broke up? I am such an idiot.
"I don't really understand it. I get bored. I love sports, that's about where I get lost."
"Niall would happily teach you about it."
"Well he'll definitely be better than Cam. He'd bury the remote in the cushions and fall asleep to it forcing me to watch even when I wanted to watch something else. I'll likely never be a fan though.”
"He can make you a fan. He's made you a fan of snuggling. He'll watch just about any match that's on. Annie seems to be a Manchester United fan. That's good, that's my team."
"I think that may have been intentional." Don't release my secrets Kim. I knew he was a Man U fan but I didn't like it just because of him, only partially because of him. "One of her best friends from college is an Arsenal fan. She watched a lot of that but when she lived in the states she'd watch whatever was on TV when it aired in the middle of the night because she sleeps like never, which is funny that she fell asleep on you."
"Shut up. Not funny. I was in pain."
"She'll make it up to you. She'll feel terrible when she realizes that she fell asleep on you." Pain? Shit. I fell asleep. He'd given me an amazing orgasm and I fell asleep when he went to get condoms. All of this has just been terrible timing. Mother Nature is trying to get us together but everything else seems to be doing it's best to screw everything up.
"You work at The Roundhouse, right?" It was sweet that he was asking her about what she liked to do. He was so genuine and kind.
"I do. I do marketing and work with the acts. Though I'm being transitioned. My main focus will be iTunes Festival every year. So I'll prepare for it, help with the people at Apple in deciding who the artists are going to be, help managed the contests to win tickets, and then spend the entire month working my ass off during the shows. It does free up time outside of that so I could actually eventually take a vacation. But I jumped in to the iTunes Festival Team last year with only a month on the job and did good. The head of the iTunes Team left and I got the promotion. It's pretty cool."
"We played iTunes Festival a few years ago. It was so much fun."
"Yeah it was a blast last year. I'm hoping that because a lot of what I do can be done remotely that she'll finally decide to start traveling. She has been helping Lizzy a lot and we've not taken that many trips in the six months we've been here." I had been helping Lizzy a lot. We had moved here with the intention of traveling somewhere one weekend of every month and had only made it to Scotland together, she had made it to Ireland. I felt terrible knowing that it was me that was preventing us from traveling as much as we had planned.
"Traveling is fun. Best part of my job. Want another?" Another what? He walked past the stairs and I caught a brief glimpse of him. He was just in his boxer shorts. He was beautiful.
"Sure, I'm not tired yet." I heard two beer bottles clink together in the fridge. It was sweet that he was having a few beers with Kim though I was starting to get tired again and really wanted him to come back downstairs so that he could cuddle with me. I slept so well last night, it was insane. One night in his arms and I felt more rested than I had in months. I kept listening to their conversation as I got comfortable on the stairs and almost fell asleep again. “I know that the idea of an ex might make you uncomfortable but he's been a good friend to her. She's had a tough few months being away from family, he's helped her a lot."
"I'm not threatened." He paused for longer than I felt comfortable. "Okay, I'm threatened. I mean I couldn't physically be more different than him. I couldn't grow a beard if I didn't shave for a year. Yes, I have tattoos but holy hell he's covered. And I mean...is that what she's attracted to?" I didn't want him to feel threatened. Cam never posed a threat to Harry, it was the other way around.
"Well she yes is attracted to Cam, of course. But she's also attracted to you. In reality she's not overly attracted to the beard. Don't worry about it thought. She likes you...a lot. She would talk to me about you a lot more than she should've been for a girl who had a boyfriend."
"How soon in to her living here did they start dating?"
"We went to the pub the first night we were here. Neither of us could sleep, we were wired. So we wandered around Camden until we found the pub. Cam and Frankie were working that night. By the time we left she had a job and a date." I did leave with a job and a date. Cam took me out on my third day in London. It seemed so fast and unbelievable. I'd always had horrible luck with men and then one day in a new country and my luck was changing.
"He literally asked her out the first day you lived here?" Harry asked. Kim nodded. "Well hell I'm just a chump. It took me almost six months." I'd met Harry three weeks in to living here. Lizzy and Frankie took to me immediately and it took two weeks before I was working for both of them.
"She loved it. Honestly if you'd asked her out the when you first started to get to know each other I don't know that it would've worked. She was intimated for a while. Your picture is on the magazines in the grocery check out. Your love life is breaking news and filled with models. She feels like she's not good enough, inferior." I did feel that way. I hated admitting it but I did. He dated models, actresses, singers, not me.
"She's amazing. I think she's beautiful and funny and smart. She shouldn't feel like that. Honestly, I haven't felt for someone the way I feel for her in a long time. I like the way she challenges me and she doesn't feel like she needs to kiss my ass. You tired yet?"
"Getting there. You look tired."
"I am. Sort of ready to crawl in bed." I heard footsteps start across the living room. Shit. If I didn't move fast they'd catch me eavesdropping on their conversation.
"Go get in bed. Warm up. She'll be happy to have you to snuggle with. She tells me you look very cuddly." He laughed a bit.
"Thanks for keeping me company and talking. We should do this more often. It's nice to know someone in her life that isn't from the bookshop."
"Yeah, it's been nice to have a chance to talk to you too. She talks about you enough that I feel like I know you already. You're just like she says." I heard them as I shut the door. I hurried to bed, pulling off his shirt so I was naked again, just how he left me and tried to steady my breathing so it seemed like I was sleeping. I heard the footsteps coming down the stairs and the door slowly creak open. The bed sank on Harry's side as he climbed back under the covers. I could feel how cold he was from the other side of the bed. He really had sat upstairs with the window open. I felt terrible. I rolled over to face him and burrowed my head under his arms so they wrapped around my waist.
"You're freezing," I mumbled trying to sound like he'd woken me up.
"You're warm," he replied as he spoke in to my hair. He kissed the top of my head.
"Seriously why are you so cold?" I finally opened my eyes to look at him.
"I...uh...I went upstairs and sat in front of an open window to cool off. You feel asleep on me and I was a bit hot and bothered."
"I'm sorry," I said as I leaned up to kiss him and wrapped my arms around his chest. "I can make it up to you." I yawned making him yawn.
"You'll just fall asleep on me again. I'm not making that mistake twice. Let's just go to bed." He hugged me tight to his chest.
"I'm sorry." I pouted at him. "I want to help you." My hands slid across his back and on to his chest as they started to move downward he grabbed them. He pulled them to his lips kissing them.
"No. I'm not freezing myself out again. It's okay baby. I promise. It was a good thing. I wanted to be a gentleman, waiting is a good thing." We were still wrapped in each other's arms. I felt his leg slide between mine as he kissed me sweetly on the lips before kissing the tip of my nose, the bridge, my forehead and the top of my head before resting his chin on the top. Our breathing began to sync up as we drifted off to sleep in each other's arms.
I woke up early the next morning as the light started to peak through the blinds in my bedroom. It wasn't quite sunrise but the sky was slowly awakening. The clock on my nightstand read 5:45. I glanced out the window to see that the snow had slowed but was still falling. I hada headache and knew that I was going to have a hangover. Harry was still laying with his arms wrapped around me in his boxers. I slowly got out of bed not waking him up and quickly used the restroom before going back in to the room.
I slowly crept beneath the covers still not waking him. I slid his boxers down his legs. I positioned myself in between his legs, still covered by the blanket. I placed light kisses on his thighs as I began to stroke his length. He stirred but I peaked up and didn't see his eyes open. As he started to harden a bit I slid my mouth around him. I was bobbing up and down a few times slowly as my hand still stroked him and then heard him groan. It was just want I wanted to hear. I felt the cover lift off of my head as I removed him from my mouth and smiled at him.

Notes

Okay that chapter was a LOT longer than I intended it to be. But it was so good I had a hard time stopping what I was writing. :)
What do you think? Gigi knowing who Harry was is super cute and it's nice to see him trying to get to know Kim better too.
I'm hoping to have my next chapter up tomorrow but it will depend on if I actually get some sleep after a the long day/night I'm headed to at work now.
Enjoy the new chapter and as always....comment, message, like, rate, subscribe, tweet, tumblr...all those lovely wonderful things. Have a great day!!
xx

Oh and if you need a laugh just watch the video I posted on tumblr of Harry and Ian McKellen. It made my day!! But I do love LOTR so there's that. www.raybansandcoffee.tumblr.com