Ally’s POV

“Shot me out of the sky…”

My eyes fluttered awake at the sound of my phone ringing somewhere on the nightstand.

“You’re my kryptonite…”

“Ugh.” Harry groaned beside me, tightening his grip around my waist and pulling me closer into his warm body. He nuzzled his face even deeper into the crook of my neck. His soft lips grazed the exposed skin unintentionally, still earning goose bumps to rise up.

“You keep making me weak…”

Even in Harry’s tight grip, I leaned towards the little table where my phone was ringing like crazy. I squinted at the harsh, bright light shining from the screen. Aiden’s contact picture flashed in front of my face indicating the call. I quickly silenced the ringer, shutting off Harry’s voice, which, now that I think about it, sounds quite strange to say. A part of me is hoping he is in too deep a sleep to have heard the ring-tone.

“You can answer it sweetheart.” Harry mumbled against my shoulder. His fingertips lightly circled further around my hips.

“It’s okay.” I told him, brushing his messy curls away from his eyes. “I can call later.”

"Shot me out of the sky..."

“Allyson,” Harry muttered, reaching across me to retrieve the ringing phone from the table. Somehow, with his eyes shut, he managed to press the ‘Accept Call’ button and place the phone to my ear.

“Hello?”

“Ally!” Aiden cheered on the other end. I could feel Harry’s lips curve into a smile against my shoulder, obviously hearing Aiden’s voice.

“Hi, how’s it going kiddo?”

“It’s good. I do admit I don’t like the idea of being an only child much anymore. Mom and Dad pay so much more attention. I can’t get away with a lot,” Aiden pouted.

“Well, listen, it actually is pretty early over in London right now, but why don’t you give me a couple of hours and I’ll call you right back.” I told him, feeling Harry drape an arm across my stomach.

“Okay Alls,” he agreed before rapidly hanging up. Even though I told Aiden it was too early to talk there was no denying I was now wide awake. Sleep was a lost cause. I slowly tried to gently pry Harry off of me who seemed to be drifting in and out of sleep consciousness. Just as I lifted off the bed his sleepy eyes fluttered open.

“Don’t go, I’m cold,” he whined, jutting out his bottom lip in efforts to help persuade me.

“I’m going to take a shower. I’ll be back in a bit,” I told him despite his pleading. Swiftly, I made my way down the hall, retrieved my towel from the back of my bedroom door, and headed for the bathroom next door. As soon as I stepped into the steaming hot water I was woken up even further. I ran my fingers through my wet hair, lathering the apple shampoo I managed to pick up with Eleanor from root to tip. Suddenly, I heard the door creak open. I knew I should have locked it. “Hello?” I called out.

“It’s just me,” Harry’s sleepy voice answered from behind the curtain. Curious, I pulled back the white curtain so it covered everything from my chest down. Harry was sat on top of the sink in only some white basketball shorts which blended in to the décor. His large hands were rubbing his tired eye and his legs were crossed at his ankles.

“What are you doing in here?” I asked. Harry looked up at me with his green eyes blending into a softer, warmer shade.

“I don’t know. I just wanted to talk and I missed you,” he said, flushing, even in all this steam, as the last few words seem to tumble from his lips without any control.

“I was just with you not even five minutes ago, silly,” I teased, wiping the water droplets from not getting in my eyes.

“I know, it’s just, I feel like I wasted so much time before and now that you are actually mine I don’t have the ability to be near you for very long. I want to savor as much time as we have,” he answered softly. With a smile, I closed the curtain and continued to work the shampoo through my hair.

“Okay, what do you want to talk about?” I wondered, looking forward at the array of products as I awaited his answer.

“Can we play twenty questions?” He asked.

“You start.”

“Favorite cheesecake flavor?”

“I don’t like cheesecake,” I responded.

“You’re joking, right?” Harry said.

“Nope, completely serious. Do you?”

“It’s easily in my top three favorite desserts, but we can work around this. More cheesecake for me,” he answered. I laughed earning a chuckle from Harry on the other side.

“My turn,” I said, “Favorite…Ed Sheeran song?”

“’Little Bird’ definitely,” he answered with conviction.

“Mine too,” I added, smiling to myself.

“What’s the most interesting class you are taking?” His question actually stumped me. I was not expecting it in the slightest.

“Most interesting class? Maybe psychology…yeah psychology. I like learning about how the brain works.”

“Really? I didn’t know that about you,” Harry said thoughtfully, “Tell me something else I don’t already know about you.”

“Okay, well going off of the psychology route, I like to research or look up what some of my dreams mean…you know, the really good ones.” Harry chuckles to himself. Even though he was hidden by the curtain, I could imagine him looking down at his crossed ankles as the raspy sound rose out of him, dimples prominent on his cheeks.

“You do? What does it mean if you have a dream with other people in it?” He wondered.

“I’d like to believe the theory that it means they were missing you, but it’s most likely because they were the last thing on your mind before you fell asleep even if it was subconsciously.”

“What if someone appears in your dreams because they were thinking about you as you were thinking about them, subconsciously or not?”

“I like that idea the best,” I said with a smile. My fingers ran down my hair, removing the shampoo with the help of the stream of water. The apple scent flourished at the contact.

“Would you consider studying psychology in college?” Harry asked as I worked in the matching apple scented conditioner.

“No, I’m sticking with writing,” I replied.

“That’s right!” Harry exclaimed. “Writing! I remember you doing that, in your little journal. I actually picked one up for myself.”

“Oh, really?” I wondered. “What are you writing?”

“It’s top secret, love. If I tell you I’d have to kill you.” I threw back my head in laughter, allowing the water to rush over my hair while Harry’s laugh joined mine. The two laughs sounded harmoniously together; mine sounding soprano compared to his.

“Okay, can you tell me what we have planned today then?” I asked, our laughter dying down.

“Well, my dear Ally, I was hoping to spend the day locked up in my room watching television and relaxing in bed with the fruit bowl I made the other night.”

“Mmm, fruit,” I hummed as I finished rinsing the conditioner from my hair and turned the dial off.

“I went all out too; mango slices, kiwi, raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, cantaloupe. The list goes on, girlfriend.” Harry assured me. I wrapped the towel around me, pushed the curtain to the side, and broadened my view of the slightly more awake boy perched on the countertop. Harry smirked at my appearance, hopping down from the sink. His long fingers hooked around my forearms that held the towel tight to my chest. “You’re all wet.” He observed with a smile.

“Am I? Damn.” Harry’s smile grew wider before pressing a kiss to my damp nose.

“Yep, but now it’s my turn.” He said gleefully, stepping around me and into the steamy shower. Harry closed the curtain behind him, tossing his white basketball shorts over the top. The water started seconds later, which as I took as my cue to leave. “Don’t go.” Harry called once I opened the door just a crack. I smiled. My legs carried me to the vacant spot on the countertop. I crossed my ankles, swinging them so they lightly tapped the cabinets below.

“What are you thinking about?” I asked Harry. Instantly he dove into the numerous thoughts running through his mind. Some were more random than others. Some were deeper than I expected them to be. He told me about the dream he had the night before and how much he misses his family when he’s away and which time of day he is the happiest (late afternoon). In that moment, I realized I wanted it to be this way forever: Harry learning more about me and me learning just exactly how he works.

---

“I think we should drive up to Holmes Chapel tomorrow.” Harry mumbled into my hair as he fiddled with our intertwined fingers. We had been relaxing in bed all day, just as he had described. The door was in fact locked, the fruit bowl was cleared within the first half an hour, and, much to our luck, reruns of Friends and Family Guy were on the entire time. Being with Harry was enough for me. I won’t get the chance to relax with him like this when he’s gone. I have to savor every chance we get, but right now the savoring has been thrown out the window as Harry threw me in to panic over his statement.

“Tomorrow? As in a few hours from now? As in I’ll be meeting your parents in a few hours from now?” I rushed out, looking up to him from my resting spot on his chest.

“Hey! I’ve already met your parents,” he reminded me, a smirk rolling onto his features as he turned our hands over.

“But you’re Harry. You’re, like, naturally charming!” I fired back. Harry cocked an eyebrow, obviously pleased by my praise of his overflowing charm. I swatted at his chest to get him back to the topic at hand.

“My charm can only get me so far, sweetheart,” Harry said, “Don’t forget I was the British boy, with tattoos, touring the world in a boy band that wouldn’t be able to spend much time with his girlfriend. There were many reasons for your parents to be wary of me.”

“You were the one that invited them to dinner!”

“How on earth did you think I would convince them to let you come with me had I done otherwise? Would your parents really let you fly halfway across the world with some guy they didn’t know?” Harry defended and damn did he have a point. I looked down at where our hands were entwined. His large ones engulfed my petite ones, but I liked it that way. It made me feel safe. With Harry, I was safe. “We don’t have to go now if you really don’t want to.”

“No, no, I want to. Let your mom know we are coming please. I don’t want to throw her completely off balance.” I told him. I could sense Harry smiling above me. His lips pressed into my hair for a soft kiss.

“To be completely honest, she has had the guest house set up for us since I divulged my plan to kidnap you,” he said. “With mum, she already loves you.”

“Are you going to show me all of the places you fell off swings and tripped on rocks?” I teased, smiling against his chest. Harry erupted in laughter, his body shaking beneath me out of pure happiness.

“Yeah, something like that. Don’t forget, I have to show you where I dominated at the monkey bars and badminton too…we have to have some of my lifetime accomplishments in there.” Harry added.

“Cheshire Harry lived a crazy life.” I stated.

“He lived life on the edge. Those monkey bars were never attacked so intensely.”

“Yeah, now he’s all boring.”

“That’s it,” Harry said before he began to tickle me. His fingers moved everywhere, coming from my sides to my arms to my legs and back multiple times a minute. I giggled and squealed at his touch, an expression of pure joy evident on Harry as he peered down at me. I wiggled around to try to get away, but there was no escaping him.

“Harry…please…” I breathed between fits of giggles. Harry beamed down at me, his hair falling in to his emerald eyes. His dimples became prominent on his features as he shook his head.

“Nope. Not until you say the magic words,” he said in a sing-song voice.

“Harry Edward Styles is the best boyfriend in the entire world and I would be absolutely nowhere with out him!” I shouted. Thankfully, Harry’s fingers left my skin. He looked back at me, seemingly very pleased.

“The word I was looking for was ‘taco’, but I guess what you said works too,” he teased, “I must say, Miss Striker, pulling out the middle name got you bonus points.” I rolled my eyes with a smile as I looked at him. His eyes were focused so intently on mine. The most genuine smile was on display for me. Harry watched me for what seemed to be the longest time. As he did, his smile closed to showcase his very pink lips and his hand reunited with mine. In a single breath, he leaned forward and whispered, “I love you.”

Notes

I am so incredibly sorry this has taken so long to update. I have had slim to none inspiration, but now it's coming to me in buckets! I also want to say thank you to every one who has read the story thus far. I think I want to make things move a little faster after these next few chapters. I have big plans ahead and I can't wait for the future of this story! :) To make up for the mini hiatus, this chapter is dedicated to Hally. It may be a tad boring, but I hope you like it all the same. Love yoooou.

-Carlie Xx

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