Somebody Else's Arms

Hailey woke up to pounding on her condo door the next morning and was most displeased over it. Why? No, seriously, why? She opened her eyes as she lay in bed and wonder who in the hell could be at her door at eight in the morning on a Saturday. And fuck it if it wasn’t an emergency of some sort. That was the only acceptable explanation. She wouldn’t have it if it wasn’t. She grumbled to herself as she threw the covers off of her, realizing that the maniac pounding on her door wasn’t going to stop until she made them stop.

She pushed her glasses onto her face and threw her tousled hair into a ponytail. She didn’t care that she was only wearing an oversized t-shirt and panties – she was literally only looking to shoo away the inconsiderate bastard, whomever they may be, and go back to bed.

As she walked down the hallway, the pounding on the door only got louder.

“Fuck’s sake,” she grumbled, letting out a huff.

“Hailzzz!” She heard her name come through the door as she went to unlock it.

Well, fuck. It was Harry.

“Hailey, open up the bloody door,” Harry grumbled from the other side of it.

Good God. She looked like a nightmare. Did she really want him to see her like this? She looked around the room for anything to cover herself up with, but there was nothing – absolutely nothing. She even took the blanket from the couch to bed with her last night. Shit.

“Hailey,” Harry whined through the door as her fingers twisted the deadbolt and peeled back the chain that was locking him out.

“Stop whining,” she grumbled as she opened the door.

“Oh, finally!” Harry gasped, looking rather relieved.

“Hi,” she said, peeking her head around the door, making sure to keep her bare legs out of sight.

“You sleep like a god damn rock,” he said, smirking mischievously at her.

“Harry, it’s eight am… on a Saturday,” she pointed out, looking unamused.

“I have coffee. And muffins,” he said, holding both up with a smile on his face.

Hailey grumbled to herself, debating on letting him in or not.

“Don’t be such a grump,” he said, giving her a stern look before he squeezed himself passed her into her condo.

“Uh…” Hailey stammered, realizing that nothing was going to keep him from seeing her in all her glory now.

Harry set the coffee and muffins down on the coffee table and looked up at her, really looking at her.

“Jeez, Hailz. You sure don’t leave much up to the imagination,” he said, smirking devilishly at her.

“I was sleeping,” she grumbled as she shut the door.

“I can’t say I’m sorry to have woken you,” he replied playfully as she saw his eyes travel up her legs and land on her chest. Her t-shirt was incredibly thin and she wasn’t wearing a bra – so honestly, there wasn’t much left up the imagination.

“I’m… I’m going to go get dressed,” she said awkwardly.

“You know, you don’t have to,” he said, smirking at her.

“With the way you’re perving on me right now, yes I do,” she snickered and he let out a loud boisterous laugh. A moment later, she hurried down the hallway to her bedroom.

Jesus Christ. Was Harry really just checking her out? Her of all people? It made her nerves and anxiety and everything else inside her want to spontaneously combust or vomit out of her uncontrollably. Or whatever. She didn’t really know how to feel.

A sense of satisfaction ran through her thinking about it. Harry had never looked at her like that before and everything inside her was screaming because of it. Her gaze made its fair share of trips over his body in just the same way, but she’d never seen him look at her with such raw sexuality before. Holy Mary, Mother of God.

Hailey stripped off her t-shirt and dressed quickly in a tank top and jeans before she went back out to the living room. Harry was already eating his muffin and smiled at up at her as she approached.

“Starbucks made great muffins today,” he said through a mouthful.

“Great,” she said, smirking at him as she sat down on the other side of the sectional sofa, keeping a safe distance between the two of them.

“Here,” he said, leaning over to hand her the muffin and coffee he got her.

“Thank you,” she said quietly, setting the drink on the coffee table before she opened the bag and pulled out her muffin. Harry had a sideways smirk plastered on his face as he ate his muffin and she couldn’t figure out why he was so god damn chipper.

“What’s gotten into you?” Hailey asked, looked at him oddly.

“What? Can’t I get breakfast for my friend?” He replied, smirking at her with crumbs teetering on his bottom lip.

“I mean, yeah. But you’re… you’re acting weird. And you’re up… like, awake before eight am. It’s weird,” she pointed out.

“Hmm,” he said, shrugging his shoulders.

Hailey eyed him for a long moment. That little smirk hidden at the corner of his lips was still there. His eyes were bright without a hint of sleep. He was cheerful and giving. And it all pointed to one thing.

“You had sex last night,” she blurted out, causing Harry to nearly choke on his coffee.

“You did, didn’t you?” Hailey prodded.

“Christ, Hailz,” he laughed, sending her a peculiar look.

“My style choices got you laid,” she said, smirking at him, feeling particularly proud. Even though it was more than a little bit hard to carry on such a conversation with the man of her desire.

“I’d like to think that my charm and suave moves got me laid – not your style choices,” he laughed out loud.

“Oh, gross. ‘Suave moves’?” Hailey cringed as she let out a laugh.

“What? You don’t think I have game?” He laughed, looking at her dumbfounded.

“’Game’? Oh my god. Are we in a bad nineties movie now?” She laughed, leaning back against the couch.

“Shut up, Hailey. You’re an absolutely terrible friend. You’re not supposed to make fun,” he laughed, leaning over to push at her shoulder.

“You’re not supposed to set yourself up so badly,” she laughed at him.

“Give me back my muffin!” He said, trying to swipe it out of her hand.

“No freakin’ way!” She said and licked the entire top side of the chocolate-chocolate chip muffin.

“Oh, vulgar!” He shouted, scrunching up his nose at her.

“You want it now?” She taunted him, holding it out in front of his face.

“You think I’m afraid of your saliva?” He challenged, cocking an eyebrow at her.

“You should be,” she laughed.

“Why? Is it poisonous? Are you a man-eater?” He laughed, narrowing his eyes at her.

“Yes. All of thee above,” she laughed playfully.

“So, you’re saying if I ate this muffin, in which you completely slobbered, I would die?” He asked, smirking playfully at her.

“No. You’d just fall under my spell,” she teased, smirking wildly at him.

“Ohhh. And that would be a bad thing?” He quipped, which completely made her stomach do flip-flops.

“Totally,” she nodded, taking a big bite out of the muffin.

“I better stay away. I wouldn’t want to be under you in any way shape or form,” he said, quirking an eyebrow at her.

Whoa. Was it just her or was there a strong dose of sarcasm that came along with his words? She eyed him for a moment, wondering what the hell he truly meant. Because it wasn’t fair to toy with her emotions like that.

Harry let out a laugh and took a sip of coffee from his cup.

“I can’t believe Emma gave it up,” Hailey said, shaking her head. She had to change the subject immediately to get his little sexual innuendo out of her mind.

“Oh, please. She was practically begging for it,” Harry scoffed playfully.

“Jesus,” Hailey snickered.

Harry looked at her with a bashful smile tugging up his lips, like he knew he said too much.

“Don’t hold back, my friend,” Hailey laughed.

“I mean… I just… whatever. We’ve been seeing each other long enough…” He started to justify his response.

“No, no. We’ve been friends long enough, Harry. You don’t have to sensor yourself,” she giggled.

“But… I don’t know. That just came out all wrong. I…” He said, looking genuinely embarrassed.

“It’s okay,” she said, smiling over at him. He eyed her for a moment and then took a sip of his coffee for a lack of better things to do.

“But, you know I’m not just some disgusting pig looking to get laid, right? I mean, that’s not how you see me, right?” He asked, seeming a bit self-conscious.

“That’s not how I see you at all, Harry,” she told him honestly. Her head was pretty much shoved so far up his ass, it wasn’t funny anymore. He literally had to do a helluva lot more than say some fake misogynistic remark to get her to ever retract herself.

“How do you see me?” He asked, quirking an eyebrow curiously.

Oh, Jesus Lord. That was a loaded fucking question if she ever heard one. How did she see Harry Styles? Well, what was the PG answer? She couldn’t actually tell him what she really thought – that would be reckless.

Well, she could start with the obvious. He was a well-manicured, pristinely built, gorgeous specimen of a man. There was never a day, in her eyes, that Harry didn’t look absolutely mouth-watering – even with his eccentric style choices. She’d known him now for a year and a half and had pretty much seen him in every light. She saw him when he was sick, when he was sad, when he was depressed – she was witness to it all. And literally nothing, over time, ever deteriorated her view on him.

And then there was the internal parts of Harry. He had the biggest heart out of anyone she had ever met. He was a genuine person all around. As far as she knew, he didn’t lie. He loved his family unconditionally. His dogs were his best friends and he took care of them like they were his children. He treated women – including her – with the utmost respect. Overall, Harry Styles was absolutely the most perfect man ever created. That was how she saw him.

“You’re a good guy, Harry,” Hailey said evenly, giving him the compact version of her answer.

“I’m a good guy? That’s all you have for me?” He scoffed, smirking at her – very unsatisfied with her answer.

“What do you want me to say?” She laughed and shrugged her shoulders.

“I don’t know. Give me something,” he laughed.

“Is this some sort of ego boost, or what?” Hailey asked, eyeing him.

“No. Jeez. I just want to make sure my best friend doesn’t think I’m some sort of creeper, sleazebag,” he laughed.

“Best friend?” She choked out. Did he really refer to her as his best friend?

“Shut up, Hailz. Of course you’re my best friend. One of them at least,” he told her and all she could do was nod her head.

“Am I not one of yours?” He asked incredulously.

“Yeah, I guess,” she said quietly, picking at the outside wrapper of the muffin in her hand.

“I love the confidence in your tone,” he laughed as he popped the last bit of his muffin in his mouth.

“Shut up,” she scoffed, sending him a playful glare.

Hailey set down her muffin on the coffee table and took a sip of her coffee to cut the edge off of the feelings she was feeling. She wanted to freak out a little because he just cemented their friendship into a level she never knew could exist between them. She didn’t even realize he thought of her that fondly. Before this she thought she was just his neighbor. She liked being referred to as his best friend. But then it slowly dawned on her that if she was his best friend, there was just about no chance to ever break free from that. Fucking friend-zone.

Notes