Harry

I pulled back from Annie to see a smile spread across her face. Her smile was beautiful but there was something different to it right now. Maybe it was the kiss swollen and reddened lips. Or the sense of joy I could tell she was feeling. I leaned forward again, lightly brushing my lips against hers. My hands found their way to her waist pulling her close to me. I’d kept telling myself that being a gentleman was the way to go with this. I really liked her and wanted to do this right. But at the same time all I wanted to do was kiss her.
“We should be cooking,” she whispered.
“I know,” I replied just as quietly before barely touching my lips to hers. “But I want to kiss you.”
“So kiss me.” I finally pulled Annie closer to me this time kissing her passionately.
"Aww you two are finally kissing. About time. Do I smell coffee?" We were interrupted by Kim’s voice. I saw that she had sat down at the breakfast bar with Niall next to her. I saw Annie’s cheeks flush before she snuck out of my grasp and moved towards the espresso machine.
"You do. Pumpkin spiced latte for you and vanilla caramel for you," she said handing mugs to Kim and Niall.
"This is delicious," Niall said. "I now see why Harry spends a small fortune getting coffee from you every day. You're like the magical barista."
"She also typically has a cupcake or a muffin literally with my name on it," I said. It made me feel special that if she knew I was in town she’d bring me a treat every day. I’ve always heard the phrase, the fastest way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. I never really put much thought in to it but with Annie it had been accurate.
"I've got these little brown bakery boxes that I found at a cute shop that I put stuff in. I always doodle on Harry's so that it's safe for when he comes in."
"Aww, young love," Kim said laughing. "So how is the cooking coming along?"
"So far the sauce is on. Harry wants to learn how to make all of it so I've been trying to teach him. Once the meatballs are made and in I'll get started on the cupcakes. I'll do the pumpkin first so that you don't shank someone and then the red velvet. Though I considered doing the purple velvet instead."
"How do you do that?" Niall asked.
"Food coloring. It's a bit expensive but it's fun. I did blue velvet for Kim's birthday."
"Those were so good," I said, she’d saved one for me and brought it to the shop. Blue velvet with cream cheese frosting and blue glittery sprinkles. "You are lucky you live with her. Though I'm sure I'd be fat from all of her baked goods."
"We live across the street from a 24-hour gym. I spend a fair amount of time there. Especially December, she got homesick and baked non-stop,” Kim replied.
"I vaguely remember a new cupcake or muffin every day for a few weeks,” I said.
"It was every other day when you were in the States. She bakes more frequently if she knows you'll be eating her sweet treats."
"Shut up!" I caught Annie glaring at Kim because she was trying to embarrass her. I was having fun today. It seemed natural that the four of us were spending time together.
"Aww Sugar. That's cute." I leaned down and kissed Annie again. "You still taste like mint chocolate."
"What?" Niall asked.
"I made mint chocolate lattes for Harry and I,” Annie replied.
"Didn't know you liked that mate." Niall was giving me a strange look.
"Neither did I until I accidentally drank her's last week. It's amazing."
"I figured we could do mint hot chocolate later. I have some super amazing hot chocolate that Dad sent for Christmas. He got it at Crate&Barrel. It's so yum. I've also got mint Bailey's we can spike the hot chocolate if we really wanted to have fun with our snow days,” Annie said excitedly.
"I'm on board," Niall said.
"You're always on board for sweets," I added laughing.
"I was thinking of trying something new for cupcakes too." Anyone could spot the wheels turning in Annie’s head. She would occasionally come up with different ideas of things she wanted to try to bake. I’d sat with her during many an afternoon while she searched recipes online.
"What?" Kim asked.
"Cookies and cream."
"You've made those before," I said. "They were amazing."
"I was thinking of a chocolate cake this time. Even considering mint cookies and cream frosting. But that seems like I'm obsessed with mint and want only mint things."
"You are obsessed with mint," Kim and I both said.
"Well whatever. I've got a list of a few I want to try. Let's take votes."
"PUMPKIN!" Kim yelled. We all laughed at her.
"Of course pumpkin," Annie replied, I caught her rolling her eyes. "Okay the other options are red velvet, cookies and cream, orange creamsicle, or pink lemonade."
"I vote red velvet," Niall said.
"I like cookies and cream," I added. "Though your red velvet are delicious."
"I only care about pumpkin. Though I saw you found a Dr. Pepper cupcake recipe. I want to know when I get that," Kim replied.
"Soon. I have an Irish Car Bomb cupcake I want to try too. It's got Guinness, Baileys and Jameson in it. I'll have to wait until a special occasion for you to try them," Annie said talking directly to Niall.
"A special occasion? How about tomorrow? I'm trapped in this house with you. That's a good excuse."
"Except I've got no Guinness, only mint Baileys and no Jameson. I don't drink the contents of an Irish Car Bomb."
"Well then let's go to a pub and find some."
"It's snowing like crazy we are going no where," Kim said. "Now you two get to making meatballs. I say do red velvet. Like you said cream cheese frosting for both, makes the process easier."
"She's got a point Sugar." I wrapped my arms around Annie’s shoulders from behind resting my chin on top of her head. She’d often complain when she was climbing around the bookshop about how short she was but I loved it.
"I know. I just really want to try the cookies and cream." She was pouting.
"Oh don't pout. We can try those later this week. We can bake together."
"Fine," she said. Now that she’d determined what she was going to bake we got to making the meatballs. It was fun to learn this from Annie, it was also fun occasionally sneak kisses as we moved about the kitchen. Once we were done with the meatballs I hopped up on the counter as she got to work on the cupcakes. The entire time I sat, drinking coffee and talking to Annie. And like our usual conversations it flowed freely and easily.
"Come 'ere," I said as she was taking out the second batch of cupcakes. She walked over to where I sat on the counter and I pulled her in to me with my legs. I bent down to kiss her. "How about when this blizzard is over I take you on a proper date. Like out to dinner in a nice restaurant. Just us."
"I would like that. I honestly never thought we'd make it here. Six months of you coming in to the shop almost every day you were in London to see me. Your sweet emails, texts and tweets when you were away. That was all I thought I would ever get because I maybe refused your drink request one too many times. A date would be incredibly nice."
"I figure I should be a gentleman and take you out since I really enjoy kissing you and would like to make that a more permanent thing." I kissed her again as a smile crept across my lips, she’d agreed to a date. Internally, I was doing my same stupid happy dance from the car yesterday after I dropped her off. That was until I felt her bite my bottom lip. I had every urge to reach down and pull her on to my lap, partially because the height difference would be removed, mainly because I wanted to be closer to her.
"I can't say I've ever been this happy about a snow day before." She laughed at herself as she went back to the cupcakes, pulling them from the pan to cool. "Okay Dimples our time in the kitchen is done until we need to stir the sauce in a bit. I think I need a nap."
I jumped down off of the counter and we headed back in to the living room. Kim and Niall were curled up on the couch watching TV. I pulled her to the cove climbing in first and pulling Annie in with me. She snuggled in to me as I wrapped my arms around her so we were close enough that I could feel her breath on me.
"Today has been fun so far," I said.
"I know. It's been nice having you around. You seem to just fit perfectly in my flat."
"I like being here. I like being around you." I leaned in to kiss her, finally having the advantage of being on the same level. I immediately moved to her hips pulling her so she straddled my waist as I lay on my back. I pushed against the small of her back so our bodies were flush against each other. I slowly slid my hands under her sweatshirt and brushed the tips of my fingers along her skin, feeling it react with a shiver and goosebumps.
"I can hear you two kissing. Do you need privacy?" Kim called.
"No," we both replied. She rested her forehead against my lips giving up trying to hold herself up and letting her body weight fall on to me. What were we doing? The small voice inside my head reminding me to be a gentleman with her was getting quieter and being overshadowed by a much louder voice telling me that her kisses were intoxicating and I needed them to survive.
"You sure?" Niall asked. "We can go sleep in her room. Hell you two can go downstairs."
"No we're fine," Annie replied sliding to lay next to me resting her head on my chest. I started to run my fingers through her hair causing her to yawn before her lips formed a smile.
“Did you want to nap?” She nodded. “Let’s go down to your room so you can get some decent sleep.” We both climbed out of the cushions and she briefly asked Kim to watch the food she was cooking before we headed down to her bedroom.
“You don’t have to nap with me if you aren’t tired.”
“I am tired actually,” I said. I laid down on her bed putting my hands behind my head. I saw a brief look flash through her eyes before she reached for her camera and snapped a quick picture. “What was that?”
“You looked like a picture needed to be taken of you laying like that. So I did.”
“Okay,” I said. Annie pulled her sweatshirt off and I caught a glimpse of tattoos on her hips. “I haven’t seen those tattoos.”
“I have more than you haven’t seen,” she said.
“Well now I need to see them.” She sat down between my legs and pulled her shirt up a bit tying it loosely so it fell below her bra. She got up on her knees and pulled her leggings down a bit. Without thinking I reached out and touched the colorful birds inked on each hip. “These are beautiful, sort of like mine only bright and vibrant.”
“I love my sparrows.” She turned a bit and pulled the shirt up. I caught a glimpse of the black lace of her bra. And words that looked almost delicate on her skin, whisper words of wisdom let it be. A Beatles reference, but not from one of the songs she mentions most as her favorites.
“Let It Be, huh?”
“Yeah, when things go dark and I get full of worry I sing the song to myself. Remind myself that the answer will come to me some day. I’ll figure it out when I’m supposed to and until then to relax, stop worrying and let it be. They are my words of wisdom.”
“That’s an incredible message.” She turned a bit more and at the bottom of her back on the right side I saw a sketching of a candle. “What’s this from?”
“The Invitation by Shel Silverstein. We read his poetry as kids all the time. It’s probably my favorite poem.”
“I’ve never heard it before.”
"If you're a dreamer, come in. If you're a dreamer, a wisher, a liar. A hope-er, a pray-er, a magic bean buyer. If you're a pretender, come sit by my fire. For we have some flax-golden tales to spin. Come in. Come in,” she said. “The candle is the drawing at the bottom.” She reached over me towards a bookshelf next to her bed and pulled out a book and opened it to the page. There was the poem she’d just recited and the candle. “This is a copy I bought when I moved here. The copies I had as a kid are at home. I gave them to Genevieve was she was born. That way Gigi can have a love of the poetry that her Daddy and I did.”
“That’s sweet. Very special for a gift for your niece. I bet Gigi loves it.”
“She will some day. Right now she’s too young.” One final turn and on her left side I saw a compass rose with two stars. “This one is to remind me how wonderful life is if you take risks and adventures. Second star to the right and straight on til morning.”
“Peter Pan, subtle but beautiful. Like you.” I leaned forward and kissed her as she faced me again. “I like them. They all say a lot about you that I didn't know."
"Tattoos have a way of doing that. Some day I'm going to get you to tell me what the freaking shirt hanger means." I laughed at her. I did have a lot of random tattoos. “I mean the tattoo you’ve seen says a lot about me.” I traced over the words on her wrist, count to five. She’d gotten the tattoo on the anniversary of her friend Jason’s death. She’d cried the first time she told me about it. It was the identical tattoo he’d gotten shortly before he died. A tribute to the TV show LOST and not allowing fear to overrun his life. She often wore a watch or bracelets to cover it. I asked why once. She said that talking about Jason sometimes made her emotional and she wanted it to be something she could share when she was comfortable.
“Do I get a show and tell now?” she asked as she toyed with the hem of my white t-shirt.
“You’re just trying to get me topless.”
“Maybe,” she replied coyly before starting to tug at the hem again. She pulled it over my head. I saw Annie bite her lower lip as she traced her fingertip along the outline of the butterfly on my stomach. I shivered as my stomach sucked in away from her touch. I rested my hands back on her hips before pulling her in to me again. Our exposed skin pressing together and sending an electric current through my body. The voice telling me to be a gentleman must’ve been silenced because all I could think about now was the way her body felt against mine.
“You’re so beautiful.”
“You’re gonna make me blush,” she replied.
“No need to blush, Sugar. You are beautiful. Though the blush is cute.”
"We are supposed to be napping," she breathed out between kisses. Her hand was rested against my cheek, gently stroking my face before moving and tracing along my lower lip.
"I'm not in need of a nap anymore." I kissed her again, my hand sliding up and under her shirt resting on her ribcage below the underwire of her bra.
"I might not be either." She yawned and I laughed at her knowing that her tired side was betraying the side that wanted to get lost in kisses.
"You do. I'll try to contain myself so we can sleep."
"Okay. If you don't fall asleep wake me up in 20 minutes." With a soft kiss she curled up in to my chest and fell asleep. I tried for 20 minutes and couldn’t fall asleep but she looked so peaceful that I couldn’t imagine waking her up. I looked at the nightstand on the side of the bed closest to me. For a girl with a bookshelf on the other side of the bed she kept a lot of books on her nightstand too. The bottom shelf had a few books stacked there, the most noticeable being the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy. “Interesting choice of light reading, Sugar. Are you a bit of a naughty girl,” I said quietly. I also noticed a beautiful black cover with red and silver writing. The Complete Works of Edgar Allan Poe, I wouldn’t have imagined I’d find that on her nightstand. I picked up the book and opened it where she had the ribbon placed to keep her page.

It was many and many a year ago,
In a kingdom by the sea,
That a maiden there lived whom you may know
By the name of Annabel Lee;
And this maiden she lived with no other thought
Than to love and be loved by me.

I was a child and she was a child,
In this kingdom by the sea,
But we loved with a love that was more than love—
I and my Annabel Lee—
With a love that the wingèd seraphs of Heaven
Coveted her and me.

And this was the reason that, long ago,
In this kingdom by the sea,
A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling
My beautiful Annabel Lee;
So that her highborn kinsmen came
And bore her away from me,
To shut her up in a sepulchre
In this kingdom by the sea.

The angels, not half so happy in Heaven,
Went envying her and me—
Yes!—that was the reason (as all men know,
In this kingdom by the sea)
That the wind came out of the cloud by night,
Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee.

But our love it was stronger by far than the love
Of those who were older than we—
Of many far wiser than we—
And neither the angels in Heaven above
Nor the demons down under the sea
Can ever dissever my soul from the soul
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;

For the moon never beams, without bringing me dreams
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And the stars never rise, but I feel the bright eyes
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side
Of my darling—my darling—my life and my bride,
In her sepulchre there by the sea—
In her tomb by the sounding sea.

The imagery was dark but romantic, a classic piece by Poe. Annabel Lee, it was interesting choice of all of the pieces in this book. But again it showed a piece of Annie that I hadn’t expected to find in that moment. I flipped through the Poe book for a while before settling on another book she had on her nightstand, it was the book she’d been reading in the bookshop yesterday, Sex Drugs and Cocoa Puffs. She was right it was funny. I caught myself laughing a bit when I noticed she was watching me.
“Hi.” The sleep was still invading her voice.
“Did I wake you up?” I asked brushing her hair out of her face.
“Yeah, but it’s okay. You didn’t sleep at all?”
“No, I didn’t. I found some books to look at. This guy is really funny.” I gestured to the book. “Though if I had a girl who was playing across the country to see Coldplay I’d chase after her and enjoy the show.”
“Yeah, he’s a bit cynical when it comes to some of the concepts of love. But in reality they do all make sense. Though I am totally the girl he’s writing about. If Lloyd Dobler showed up and sang me Coldplay songs I’d be in love forever.”
“I thought you’d probably think that. Though I’m still not sure who this Lloyd Dobler character is. Are you sure it would be him and not Mr. Fifty Shades you’d fall for? Are you a bit kinky, Sugar?” Her eyes went wide as she saw the books sitting on the nightstand as well.
“Definitely Lloyd Dobler. I’m not quite that daring. But the books are hot and a girl can use her imagination right? Sometimes you get lonely.”
“Well I’d like to help prevent that from happening in the future.” I pulled her back on to my lap as she had been upstairs. Our kisses escalated quickly. There was no sign of the internal voice trying to get me to be a gentleman. Just a little devil jumping up and down cheering louder and louder as my hand slid beneath her shirt, this time not stopping at the bottom of her bra. As I cupped her breast in my hand I heard her moan and felt her hips grind in to mine. She gasped at the sensation giving me more room to move my tongue in to her mouth. Her hips moved again.
“Fuck! You can’t do that,” I said, my voice so deep that anyone could hear the tension in it.
“Did you just growl at me?” She was laughing at me now.
“Maybe. You deserve it though. You’re trying to give me a hard on and laughing at me all while you know that I’m trying desperately to be a good and decent gentleman and that I’m failing…miserably. Your hips aren’t helping. Right now they are making me want to rip your clothes off and fuck your brains out. If they move against me again I may not have control over my action.” She stopped laughing abruptly.
“Oh…” Did I actually just admit to that? Out loud?! Fuck.

Notes

Yay! A new chapter! Thanks for patiently waiting out my illness. I am still barely able to talk without causing a coughing spurt and feel pretty miserable. Hopefully my antibiotics will start helping soon. I'm also hopeful that I'll have the next chapter up soon. Took a bit longer to write the last one on cough syrup. :)

Please comment and vote and rate and all of those wonderful things you do so I know if you like the story. You can also find it at www.raybansandcoffee.tumblr.com and can follow me there as well as on Twitter! www.twitter.com/raybansncoffee I do really want to know what you think of the story, the characters and how your day is going.

I hope everyone else is able to stay healthy because being in bed and binge watching Gossip Girl, while fun, is starting to get old. So is the coughing. :) Have a wonderful day! xx