Descendants.

“Noooo,” I whimpered softly, the sunlight breaking through the blinds and onto my still sleeping face. Rolling over, I forced one eye open long enough to realize that I had no idea where I was. My mouth felt like it had been stuffed with cotton balls, I was sure my head was about to split open at any second, and I was wearing someone else’s t-shirt.

What happened last night?

Pushing myself up on my forearms, I blinked back the scratchiness in both my eyes. I had also slept in my contacts. Fantastic. Looking around, I found myself sharing an overly large bed with four other girls. Eleanor, Sophia, Ruth, and Nicola. Wait, when did Nicola come around? Last I’d remembered, we were bitching about how she didn’t want anything to do with us now that I’d entered the picture. And I vaguely remembered seeing Eleanor and Louis off in a corner somewhere, but why were we all in here? And where the hell were the boys?

Throwing my feet off the side of the bed and onto the cold wood floor, I shuffled to the nearest door hoping there was a bathroom hiding behind it. Thankfully, that’s exactly what it was. Pulling the mystery t-shirt over my head, I stood in front of the mirror in the tank top I’d had underneath it and the definitely-not-mine athletic shorts I’d acquired at some point last night.

I looked like a hot mess, which was fairly accurate for the way I was feeling.

I leaned over the white porcelain sink, splashing enough cold water on my face to hopefully make me look human again. I almost didn't see the mouth shaped bruise forming on the top of my left breast. If my eyes had been just a little less clear, or if the edge of my tank top had covered it just a little bit more, it would have gone completely unnoticed. Groaning, I picked the t-shirt off the floor and slid it back on. I was going to have to avoid low cut shirts and open necklines for the unforeseeable future.

Opening the bathroom door and trudging back into the bedroom, it was clear none of these girls were going to be awake anytime soon. I had no idea what time it was, but it felt early. I left the bedroom quietly, hoping not to disturb anyone else who was trying to sleep. Turning down the hallway, I caught a collage of photos hanging on the wall.

Louis’s house.

No wonder I hadn’t recognized it. I’d only been around him in short doses, and I had definitely never seen the inside of his house before now. I’d been told that, of all the guys, he was the hardest to get to know. I followed the hallway until it opened up to a massive living room, scattered with sleeping bodies. While the girls had had a sleepover in the bedroom, to talk about the boys I could only assume, the guys had scattered out in front of the TV with enough junk food and video game consoles to keep them busy for weeks. The only boy who was missing was the only other person awake. I could see a mop of curly brown hair sitting outside on the balcony, right out the living room doors. Grabbing a blanket off the back of the couch as I passed by, I slid open the balcony door, causing Harry to jump before turning around.

“Hey.” I said softly, closing the door behind me.

Harry stared at me as I wrapped the blanket around my body and tried to maneuver myself into the small deck chair. He took a drag of the cigarette he held in his right hand, but he didn’t return the greeting. Maybe he wasn’t a morning person.

“Aren’t you cold?” I tried again, noticing for the first time his bare chest and feet. He wore a pair of long, ratty grey sweatpants, and nothing else. He shrugged his shoulders as he brought his coffee mug up to his lips and took a long drink. What a delight he was being. The wind shifted as he turned his face to look over the balcony. The mix of sweat, day old alcohol, and Harry’s natural scent brought back a flood of lost memories from the night before.

I closed the bathroom door behind me, my heart racing as I realized what I’d just done. Whether or not he followed through was another story entirely. And if, for whatever reason, he didn’t follow me down here, I was going to have to tuck my tail between my legs and go running for home. Either that, or die of embarrassment. Both options were possible.

Luckily, that wasn’t a choice I was going to have to make. The door opened a crack as Harry slid through it, shut the door behind him, and turned the lock to make sure we weren’t about to be rudely interrupted. When he spun his body around to face me, the raw desperation on his face made me gasp for air. He sauntered towards me like a man on a very serious mission, pushing my back against the rough concrete wall. I didn’t even have enough time to consider how disgusting club bathrooms were before his hands were holding my face and his tongue was dancing with mine. The way he rocked his body into my hips every time our tongues met was enough to keep me from thinking of anything else but wanting his hands all over my skin.

His tongue left my mouth in search of more uncharted territory. Traveling from the sensitive skin behind my right ear, down the curve of my jaw, making his way past my collarbone, and settling on the swell of my breast that was peeking out of my low cut top, I knew I had worn this push-up bra for a reason. Even I was impressed with the cleavage I’d made appear. His mouth found a sweet spot and stayed attached, a nip every now and then making me groan slightly.

My eyes grew wide; my head snapping around towards him. I pulled the top of the t-shirt down low enough to show the love bite I’d been scarred with the night before.

“You did this.” I accused him.

He didn’t smile. No grin induced dimple took up residence on his face. His eyes got dark, and his short laugh was cold.

“Damn right, I did. You have great tits.” He took another puff of his cigarette. “And while you’re at it, why don’t you go ahead and try to remember everything else that happened. I know you were pissed drunk, Blair. But honestly.”

“Is that why you’re being such an ass first thing this morning?” I bit back.

He stomped out his cigarette on the deck floor before staring me down with a look of anger I’d never seen on his beautiful face. Harry was always the easy one. His temper wasn’t out of control, like Liam’s could be. He wasn’t so quiet that you had a hard time reading him, like Zayn was. He wasn’t so hyper that pinning him down was hard to do, like Niall. Harry was calm, and kind. He was almost always in a good mood, and if he wasn’t, it wasn’t a daunting task to pull him out of it with a corny joke or a well staged prank.

He picked up his coffee mug and threw it at the brick wall behind me, shattering it into a thousand tiny pieces. I jumped in surprise. His cheeks were pink, but I knew it had nothing to do with the chilly morning air and everything to do with the conversation at hand.

“You swore to me that you weren’t that wasted.” He snarled.

“I’m sure I thought I was fine.” I said, softly.

“I don’t act like that.” He snapped, grabbing the back of my neck so I was forced to look at him. “I don’t shag girls I barely know in public places. But you had me so out of my head, I let my conscience fly out the window.” He pulled our faces so close that our noses were practically touching. I could feel his angry breath on my lips.

“I might have been drunk, Harry, but I wanted it, too.” I whispered.

“Oh believe me, love. That much I know for a fact.” He grabbed the pony tail I had thrown up at the base of my neck. Wrapping my hair around his fist, he pulled my head to the side roughly, his mouth finding my ear. “You told me how much you wanted it when you got on your knees on that shitty floor. You told me how much you wanted it when you sucked my dick like it was your favorite flavor of ice cream on a hot summer day.”

I could feel the color rushing to my cheeks. He pulled my pony tail harder and I heard myself whimper in response.

“You told how much you wanted it when my head was buried between your legs and your knees were shaking.” He continued. “And baby,” he nipped my earlobe, sending a chill through my entire body. “You told me how much you wanted it when you wrapped your legs around me and let me fuck you against that bathroom door. My problem doesn’t have anything to do with you not wanting it. My problem is that you don’t remember it.” He sighed. “So, now I’m just going to have to do it again.”

To say I wasn’t upset that he was admitting it would happen again was a huge understatement. I reached out, grabbed him by the pocket of his sweatpants and tried to pull him closer to me, desperate. He yanked my pony tail straight back.

“Not right this second.” I could see him take a couple of deep breaths. “I am still beyond angry with you for lying to me.” His eyes glanced up from my face, seeing something in the balcony window. His hands left my hair and he dove back into his chair as if I was on fire. I heard the door slide open as I watched him adjust himself to hide his growing excitement. He might be angry, but I was encouraged to see that he was still affected by our conversation.

“What the bloody hell happened out here?” Liam looked back and forth between me, Harry, and the broken porcelain lying all over the patio floor. Harry’s usual easy laughter filled the air around us.

“We were having a heated exchange about how men should be allowed to cook if they want to. Your sister here said it was a woman’s job. But you know how passionate I get sometimes. I threw my hands up at her insane logic and my mug just flew out of my hand. Honest mistake, mate.”

Liam’s eyes looked to mine in suspicion. Harry’s excuse was far fetched, but what was I going to do? Tell Liam that he threw the mug at the wall because I’d lost almost all memories of having had sex with his friend at the club last night?

Not likely.

I nodded in agreement before gathering myself up, carefully stepping over the broken mug pieces, and dragging myself inside. The rest of the group was starting to wake up, and I was relieved to see that I wasn’t the only one who looked like death. In fact, the only two people who didn’t look like they’d consumed their weight in alcohol last night were Sophia and Nicola.

“Ruth,” I whispered loudly as she walked into the room. “When did Nicola get here?”

Notes

Chapter Title lyrics: "Make Me Wanna" by Thomas Rhett.