You + Me + Him

Fall 2015

Alyssa watched as Harry expertly hailed a cab outside of the venue, and stood aside to let her get in after he opened the door for her.

“Thank you,” Alyssa smiled at him as she slid in, tucking the train of her gown underneath her. Harry slid in next, closing the door behind them, sending her a cool smile.

“Where to?” The cab driver asked in a thick New York accent. Harry gave Alyssa a look to tell her it was up to me.

“I don’t want to go home. Zayn will be there with Amber,” Alyssa told Harry as the cab driver pulled into traffic.

Harry immediately turned to the cabby and spouted out the address to his family home in Allendale, NJ. Alyssa knew immediately that the cab ride was not going to be cheap at all. It was at least an hour to his house from where they were.

Once they reached the Lincoln Tunnel, Alyssa looked over at Harry to find him texting on his phone.

“You look like Zayn right now,” Alyssa told him.

“What?” He asked, looking up at her through the dim light of the cab.

“He spent the better part of the evening texting on his phone,” Alyssa said with a small smile.

“Oh, uh. I was just texting my dad to tell him we left. You know, so they didn’t wait for us,” Harry said before pocketing his phone.

“You’re thoughtful,” Alyssa told him sincerely, watching as he smiled bashfully and shook his head. She couldn’t help but smile again. Harry Styles was adorable.

“Are you cold?” He asked when he saw her shiver slightly. It was a pretty mild fall, but with the sun down, it got a bit chilly.

“A little,” she told him.

“Here,” he said, immediately taking off his suit jacket.

“I’m fine, Harry,” she protested.

“When are you going to stop saying that all the time when you don’t mean it?” He asked, and she couldn’t help but stop for a second and really think about his words.

“Here,” Harry said, tucking the jacket on her shoulders.

“Thanks, Harry,” Alyssa said quietly, giving him a soft smile.

“You’re welcome, Alyssa. Don’t be afraid to tell me how you really feel. Please,” he told her, and all she could do was nod her head before turning to look out the window, watching the New Jersey scenery pass by them through the night.

She must have fallen asleep a little while later, because she woke up with her head resting against Harry’s shoulder as the cab drove slowly down the street his family lived on. Alyssa sat up, looking out the windshield, and Harry straightened up too, taking his arm back that was wrapped around her.

“Hi,” Harry said quietly when she looked over at him.

“Hi,” she squeaked, her voice a bit gruff from non-use.

“We’re here,” he said as the cab driver pulled into the driveway.

Alyssa picked up her purse from her lap and began digging in it for some money.

“Alyssa, I’ve got this,” Harry told her, putting his hand on hers to stop her search.

“Harry, it’s gotta be almost a hundred dollars,” Alyssa protested.

“I’ve got this,” he told her again, handing the cab driver a handful of twenty dollar bills.

“Let me help,” she said, finally managing to pull out the forty dollars in cash she had on hand.

“Oop. It’s already paid for. Look at that. Now let’s allow this nice man to get back to where he needs to be. Thank you, sir,” Harry said playfully as he opened the door of the cab, sliding out.

Alyssa glared at the back of Harry’s head for a split second until he turned around to help her out of the cab.

“Thank you,” she told him once he shut the cab door.

“You’re welcome,” he said, smiling at her as they walked toward the house.

Alyssa watched as Harry punched in the code on the garage door, causing it to automatically open for them.

“What time is it?” Alyssa asked as they walked into the garage toward the house door.

“A little after 11 o’clock,” he told her as he opened the door, letting her in first.

The blast of warm air was welcoming, and Alyssa realized she was still wearing his suit coat.

“Here,” she said, sliding the jacket off of her shoulders and holding out to him.

“Thanks,” he said with a small smile.

“No, thank you, Harry,” she retorted, with a smile that was all for him.

“You can… uh, sleep in Zayn’s room,” Harry told her as they headed toward the stairway.

“I’d rather not be reminded of Zayn,” Alyssa said truthfully.

“Well… uh, my room then?” He offered, rubbing his palm against the back of his neck.

“Sure,” she said with a quiet nod.

“Uh, alright. Ahem,” he said quickly, clearing his throat as he turned away from her to ascend the stairs. But not before she caught the bashful smile displayed on his face. Little Harry Styles was getting embarrassed over a girl sleeping in his bed.

“Unless that’s weird,” Alyssa said as she followed him upstairs.

“No, no. You’ve slept in my bed before,” he said casually.

“I was sixteen and drunk – having spent the better part of the evening puking my guts out,” Alyssa reminded him with a laugh.

“Yeah, that was a fun night,” he said sarcastically, smiling back at her as they reached his room and he flipped on the light.

“You know… you don’t have to sleep on the floor like you did that night,” she told him. His eyes met hers, looking almost stunned.

“I mean, we’re friends. We can share the bed. We’re adults,” she elaborated.

“Yeah… ahem. Yeah,” he said, clearing his throat again. Alyssa smirked at his bashfulness as he walked toward the chest of drawers on the opposite side of the room. He was adorable.

“I uh… let me get you some clothes to sleep in,” he said as he pulled his wallet and phone out of his slacks and set them on the dresser.

“Alright,” Alyssa said, stepping toward him, the train of her gown whooshing behind her.

“Uh, a t-shirt,” he said, pulling open a drawer and handing her a white v-neck. No surprise there. It was pretty much all he wore.

“Pants or shorts?” He asked, looking up at her tentatively.

“Hmm?” She asked, snapping out of her admiration of the v-neck.

“Pants or shorts?” He repeated.

“Whichever… uh, just give me shorts. I don’t want to get too hot,” she told him. He eyed her, slightly cocking his eyebrow before returning his focus to his open dresser drawer.

“What was that for?” She asked with a light laugh.

“What?” He questioned.

“That look,” She clarified.

“What look?” He asked.

“That little eyebrow twitch,” she laughed.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said, snickering to himself.

“Yeah, right,” she laughed, dropping the subject as he handed her a pair of blue basketball shorts, which she was sure were going to be baggy on her.

“I’ll step out so you can change,” he said, grabbing a t-shirt and shorts for himself as well, heading for the door.

“Thanks, Harry,” she told him, genuinely meaning it.

“No problem,” he said before he closed the door behind him.

It was weird being in Harry’s room instead of the room down the hall that once was Zayn’s – the room where she lost her virginity. The room where she and Zayn made countless memories together throughout their friendship.

Winter 2009

“Alyssa, can you come over?” Zayn asked once she answered her cell phone. He sounded obviously distressed.

“Zayn, it’s 10 o’clock… on a Sunday. We have school in the morning,” she pointed out.

“Lyss, I need you,” he said, his voice cracking with emotion.

“Zayn? What’s the matter?” Alyssa asked, concern rippling through her.

“Just come. Please, Alyssa,” Zayn told her.

“I’ll be there in a few minutes,” she said immediately, knowing something serious had to be going on because Zayn wasn’t one to get easily emotional.

“Thank you,” he said before they hung up.

Alyssa dressed as warmly as she could in lightning-like motions knowing she needed to get to her best friend as soon as possible. Walking across the neighborhood in the below zero temperatures was not ideal, but Zayn needed her and she was going to be there for him. She texted him on the way to make sure the door was unlocked for her when she got there and sure enough it was. She took the stairs two-by-two to get up to his room, knocking lightly on his door when she did.

Zayn opened it looking incredibly distraught and Alyssa couldn’t even begin to fathom what would make him act that way. She was thinking worst case scenario – Trisha and Des getting a divorce, or they were moving back to England, or something of that matter.

“Zayn, what is it?” Alyssa asked as she moved deeper into his room. That’s when she noticed his eyes were red and puffy from crying – that he was still crying. Oh, God.

“Zayn, seriously. Talk to me,” Alyssa said, panicking as she stripped off her many layers of clothing, leaving herself in just her pajamas.

“She… Kelsey cheated on me,” Zayn said, bursting into tears as he sank down onto his bed.

“Oh. Jesus. What the…” Alyssa said, her heart sinking for her friend.

She dropped down next to him on the bed, wrapping her arms around him and held him as he cried.

“Zayn, what happened?” Alyssa asked again, hoping he’d be able to give her some sort of details on the messed-up situation.

“I went over to her house tonight just to, you know, see her and… and… Robbie was over there,” Zayn began to explain.

“Robbie Jefferies?” Alyssa choked out.

Robbie and Zayn had been friends since he moved to the states – way before Alyssa was even in the picture.

“Yes,” Zayn cried.

“He didn’t,” Alyssa gasped.

“They weren’t having sex, but they were well on their way to it. I… I didn’t even know she was ready for that,” Zayn said as tears streaked down his face and he wiped them away quickly.

“Are… are you ready for that? I mean, would you have… done that with her?” Alyssa asked. She was horrified to hear his answer.

“I don’t know. Maybe,” he said quietly.

Alyssa’s face automatically drop into a frown, and she tried to hide it from him. But it didn’t matter anyway because he was too distracted with his own life dilemma.

“But not now!” He cried.

“Zayn, I’m so sorry she did that to you. God. Seriously,” Alyssa said, letting out a huge sigh. The more she thought about it, the angrier she got. She knew that girl was trouble from day one. But she never thought in a million years that Robbie would betray Zayn like that.

“I can’t believe she would do that… with my friend!” He exclaimed, and Alyssa quietly shushed him, knowing his parents’ room was not that far away from his.

“I can’t believe Robbie would do that,” Alyssa said, appalled at his friend’s actions.

“Well, he did. And I don’t ever want to talk to him again,” Zayn said, laying back against the mattress, pressing the heels of his hands into his eyes.

“I’m sorry, Zayn,” she said quietly.

“You’re the only person I can trust, Lyss,” Zayn sighed, looking up at her.

“I would never do that to you, ever,” she assured him. Zayn let out a light chuckle.

“What?” She asked, furrowing her brow at him.

“That’d be kinda hot,” Zayn said, smirking at her suggestively and it took Alyssa a moment to realize what he meant.

“Oh, gross!” She said, shoving at his side.

“I’m just saying,” he laughed.

“Typical man,” Alyssa scoffed, rolling her eyes at him.

Alyssa spent the night over there with him because, in the end, he didn’t want to be alone. In the morning he drove her home to get dressed, before driving them both to school.

“I don’t want to go in there. I don’t want to see either of them,” Zayn told Alyssa, with a large frown on his face.

“I’m so sorry. Just… just turn the other way if you see them,” she told him. That was her big advice? She was so incredibly bad at this.

It wasn’t until after first period that Alyssa saw Robbie standing by his locker. She walked straight up to him and shoved him as hard as she could into his locker, doing her best to try to make it hurt.

“What the fuck!?” He screamed, looking incredibly pissed at her. But he could never be as pissed as she was with him.

“Fuck you, Robbie. And you know what for,” Alyssa spat at him viciously before walking away from him.

She didn’t see Kelsey until after lunch and god damn it, the girl got Alyssa’s blood boiling.

“Heard you fucked around with your boyfriend’s best friend. Super classy, Kelsey. Bravo,” Alyssa said sarcastically, narrowing her eyes dangerously at her.

“Oh, go away, Alyssa,” she sighed, rolling her eyes at her.

“Did he beg for it? Is that why you did it? Or did you just have an itch that nobody else could scratch?” Alyssa asked, taunting her, almost hoping she’d give her a reason to hit her.

“Fighting Zayn’s battles for him? You always were his lap dog, weren’t you?” She snapped at Alyssa.

“At least he’s still in my life, you hoe,” Alyssa spat back.

“Fuck you, Alyssa. Just get out of my face,” she growled.

“Stay the fuck away from Zayn or I will personally kick your ass,” Alyssa threatened her in a slow tone she could easily understand.

“I’m so scared,” she said sarcastically, scowling at her.

“I hope you are,” Alyssa told her as she walked away from the girl that broke her best friend’s heart.

As she rounded the corner to her locker, Zayn was standing there staring straight at her.

“You don’t need to fight my battles,” he scoffed as she walked up to him.

“I’m not,” Alyssa told him casually as she opened up her locker.

“You just threatened to kick her ass,” he pointed out.

“Well, she deserves it,” Alyssa said, passively shrugging her shoulders. He just smirked and shook his head at her.

“I may or may not have slammed Robbie into his locker earlier,” Alyssa told him apprehensively.

“What? You did?” Zayn asked, looking wide-eyed.

“Maybe,” Alyssa said with a mischievous smirk, which in turn caused Zayn to smile.

“You’re my best friend, Zayn. I’m going to stick up for you,” she told him.

“Thanks,” he said quietly.

“Anytime,” she told him with a proud smile.

Alyssa shook her head, trying to shake the memory. She busied herself with trying to unzip the dress, but she couldn’t reach it. It was perfectly placed on the spot on the back that was virtually unreachable – the spot where when it itches, you need a back scratcher or someone else’s fingernails to scratch it because your arms are entirely too short to reach that far back. Damn it.

Alyssa opened Harry’s bedroom door wondering where he went.

“Harry?” She called out.

Moments later the bathroom door opened and Harry was standing in front of her wearing only a pair of white basketball shorts. Her first thought was – damn. When did this boy grow up? His chest was a perfectly sculpted masterpiece from his shoulders to his well-defined sex lines. And those biceps… good lord. Once her perverted mind cooled down, she wondered how on earth he stripped out of his tuxedo so fast.

“Yeah?” Harry answered, snapping her out of her daze.

“Uh, I uh… um… my zipper… I…” She was a babbling idiot. Oh, god.

“Turn around,” he said with a smile as he stepped out of the doorway toward her. She did as he told her, simultaneously brushing the fallen curls from her up-do out of his way.

Alyssa felt his hands graze the skin of her upper shoulders before he found the zipper. Her breath caught in her throat as he pulled it all the way down to the bottom. The sensation of his fingertips against the skin at the top of her thong sent shivers up her spine.

“Don’t look at my butt, Harry,” Alyssa quipped, turning her head to look back at him over her shoulder. He let out a low chuckle as a smile widened across his face.

“Caught me,” he said playfully.

“Perv,” Alyssa said with a giggle before she gracefully made her way back to his bedroom, shutting the door behind her.

Once she was changed into the clothes Harry provided for her, she cracked his bedroom door to let him know she was finished before crawling in underneath his blankets on his bed. She felt a bit exposed in his white v-neck, only because she wasn’t wearing a bra, and the air was a bit crisp. She pulled the blankets up a bit so she wouldn’t show off too much of herself.

Moments later she heard a knock at the bedroom door.

“Are you decent?” Harry asked tentatively.

“Yes,” Alyssa called out.

Harry opened the door and she noticed right away he was now wearing a shirt along with his shorts.

“I think you win the award for fastest tux taker-offer,” Alyssa said, playfully smirking at him.

“Blame it on my night job as a male stripper,” he joked as he walked over to his dresser, grabbing his phone.

“Ooh-la-la,” Alyssa said playfully, watching as a smile formed on his face.

“Trisha and my dad are on their way home now,” Harry said, looking down at his phone.

“It’s not going to be weird, right? Me being here?” Alyssa asked him.

“Are you kidding, Alyssa? You’re practically family. I’m pretty sure Trisha would disown Zayn before she’d ever let you go,” Harry said with a light chuckle.

“Alright,” she said quietly.

“Do you want to watch a movie or something?” He offered as he sat down on his side of the bed, picking up the TV remote.

“Sure,” Alyssa told him.

They both agreed on watching Love Actually which was on Netflix. Both of them loved it and could quote practically all of it.

Alyssa ended up falling asleep before the end of it, and she woke up entirely too early for her liking the next morning. Her body was hyper-aware it was in a foreign bed with a foreign body next to her.

She and Harry lay in the absolute center of the bed, their bodies sandwiched next to each other. She couldn’t figure out if there was a dip in the middle of the mattress that led them to the position, or something else. All she knew was she was lying extremely close to Harry – body-to-body. She could feel his warmth against her, and she couldn’t say it bothered her any.

Alyssa leaned away from him just enough to see his face. He looked peaceful, serene even. Half of his face was buried in his pillow, while the other half faced her, eyes closed. She could really appreciate the length of his eyelashes at that vantage point, which gave her a sudden urge to want to reach out and touch them. But she refrained because she didn’t want to wake him up.

She laid her head back down, looking over at Harry for a few seconds more before she closed her eyes again, trying to will herself back to sleep. But as fate would have it, sleeping just wasn’t in the cards for her.

“Harry?” She heard as his door opened and Trisha walked in while knocking.

“Crap,” Alyssa grumbled under her breath.

“Oh,” Trisha said, stopping in her tracks when their eyes connected, seeing that she was in bed with Harry.

Alyssa was well aware what their situation probably looked like, and she knew the rapid blushing of her cheeks wasn’t going to help her any.

Notes