I Thought You'd Care
Chapter 22: Sex Hair
Chapter 22: Sex Hair
Harry’s POV
I woke up to the sound of music playing. It wasn’t very loud, it sounded as if it were over in a different room, but apparently it had been loud enough to wake me. I groaned and looked at my clock. It was 1:45 in the morning. My plan for tonight had been, originally, to take some girl home in an effort to get over Nell, but after kissing her and then seeing her and Niall together, I couldn’t manage to do it. I had, briefly, tried talking to a girl, but I had quickly decided that I really had no interest in sleeping with anyone tonight, so I took one last look over at the pair of them and, seeing how stupidly happy Niall looked, I just left. I had gone straight home, and crawled upstairs. I had a massive headache, but I seem to remember that I heard someone come in earlier.
I slowly stood up, my head pounding, and I staggered my way out of the room into the living room, where I stopped.
I saw Niall and Nell in the kitchen.
Deciding that I didn’t want to be seen, I crept around until I was close to them, but hiding behind a couch in a shadowy corner of the room. Nell was sitting on the counter, swinging her legs, and Niall was at the stove, cooking something, laughing at whatever she had just said. She had started music playing. It was the Beatles.
I was sitting there, perplexed, when, scanning them, it hit me, and my heart sank.
They had just had sex.
There was actually a stunning amount of evidence, and I’m surprised it took me this long to notice. Even with my fogged brain, I could tell after a little bit of inspection that they had just gotten it on.
Exhibit A: Hickeys/Love Bites on both of their necks. That one was obvious.
Exhibit B: Their shoes thrown carelessly on the floor next to the door.
Exhibit C: Nell wearing his t-shirt and a pair of leggings, with her hair tied up on top of her head in a messy bun. Classic post-sex attire.
Exhibit D: Niall’s sex hair.
Exhibit E: The way they were looking at each other, it was just so obvious. Like they had some secret that no one else knew (although, obviously, that was far from the truth). Niall looked at her like she was some kind of goddess. I swallowed the rage in my stomach and continued watching them.
One of our songs, Last First Kiss, came on. Niall immediately dropped what he had been cooking—eggs, I had decided, seeing as I’d noticed some broken eggshells on the counter—and looked over at her. “Do you want to dance?” He asked, smiling.
She grinned back and bit her lip. It hurt how jealous I was of him right now. “Sure, blondie.” Blondie? I thought. I want to be blondie. Well, not blonde, but the guy that’s she’s close enough to that she’d call me blondie. Or curly. Or something.
She hopped down from the counter and locked her hands behind his neck. What I would give to be him right now. He put his arms around her waist and they started moving to the music. They were looking into each other’s eyes and everything. It was the most romantic shit I’d ever seen. As the song finished, he gave her a kiss, which lingered a bit long for my liking, before running back to the stove, yelling about how his food was going to burn. I decided to go back over to the hallway and reenter. I wanted them to know I was here so they wouldn’t get up to anything too loud later.
I reentered the living room, groaning loudly and rubbing my eyes. They both turned around and looked at me. I watched as he put an arm protectively around her waist and narrowed his eyes. “Hi, Harry.”
Nell was still giggling at something that Niall had said. “Oh, hey, Harry.” She said between laughs. “I thought you went home with some girl.” She winced a little bit, after she said it, like she realized that it was offensive. Even though I probably deserved that and more for kissing her, I still felt anger rising in my throat.
“That’s what you think of me, then, huh?” I asked. I tried to keep my tone calm, joking even, but it just sounded bitter. Not quite what I had intended.
She started to say something, but Niall cut her off. Still glaring at me, he said, “You’ve given her reason to.”
I sighed and looked down at my feet. “Yeah, you’re right, Ni.” Forcing myself to look at them, I said, “Guys…I’m really sorry. About…you know.” I didn’t wait for an answer, I just turned and trudged back to my room.
-1 hour later-
I was still lying on my bed, my head pounding with a hangover, when Nell came in an hour later. My door was open, and she knocked awkwardly on the door frame. It was really dark, but I could tell from the outline of her body that it was her, so I said quietly, “Come in.”
She did, and I turned on a light. God, she looked good. I had a pair of shorts on that I hadn’t bothered to take off, and I didn’t have any blankets over me, as it was ungodly hot in my room. I sat up on the bed and she perched herself on the side, as there were no other free seats.
“What are you doing?” I asked. “Niall’s going to wonder where you’re off to.”
“He’s asleep,” She said. “I just came to…talk. About what happened.”
I rubbed my eyes. I had absolutely no desire to talk about this. “Yeah, well. I’m sorry. I was drunk, and I know it was an awful kiss.”
“It’s fine. But I guess I was thinking less about the kiss and more about what you said.”
I winced and considered lying, but my hungover and tired body couldn’t manage it. “I wasn’t lying. I really did feel like I had to.”
“That’s what I can’t seem to understand, Harry. Why? Why did you have to?”
Stop pushing, I thought, because you’re not going to like what you find. “I just…I’ve been hung up on you ever since I met you. I can’t stop thinking about when we kissed. I get so jealous of Niall, because I really like you. I really, really do.”
She stared at her hands for a while. Say something, I pleaded.
“I don’t really know what to say, Harry.” She said, talking slowly, like she was pondering each word. “I don’t understand why you like me, to be honest. I haven’t ever had two amazing guys like me, especially not at the same time, before. It’s terrifying.”
I didn’t say anything.
She did something unexpected. She leaned over and kissed me, a good kiss. “I hope that helps both of us get over it.” Both of us? “We’re friends, right?” She asked, pleading.
“Yeah,” I said.
“Good.” She replied, and left.
An hour later, I was still staring at the ceiling, wondering what reasoning she had for doing what she’d done. Usually, getting over it didn’t really involve perpetuating the feelings that you’d had already by kissing the person you couldn't get off your mind.
Harry’s POV
I woke up to the sound of music playing. It wasn’t very loud, it sounded as if it were over in a different room, but apparently it had been loud enough to wake me. I groaned and looked at my clock. It was 1:45 in the morning. My plan for tonight had been, originally, to take some girl home in an effort to get over Nell, but after kissing her and then seeing her and Niall together, I couldn’t manage to do it. I had, briefly, tried talking to a girl, but I had quickly decided that I really had no interest in sleeping with anyone tonight, so I took one last look over at the pair of them and, seeing how stupidly happy Niall looked, I just left. I had gone straight home, and crawled upstairs. I had a massive headache, but I seem to remember that I heard someone come in earlier.
I slowly stood up, my head pounding, and I staggered my way out of the room into the living room, where I stopped.
I saw Niall and Nell in the kitchen.
Deciding that I didn’t want to be seen, I crept around until I was close to them, but hiding behind a couch in a shadowy corner of the room. Nell was sitting on the counter, swinging her legs, and Niall was at the stove, cooking something, laughing at whatever she had just said. She had started music playing. It was the Beatles.
I was sitting there, perplexed, when, scanning them, it hit me, and my heart sank.
They had just had sex.
There was actually a stunning amount of evidence, and I’m surprised it took me this long to notice. Even with my fogged brain, I could tell after a little bit of inspection that they had just gotten it on.
Exhibit A: Hickeys/Love Bites on both of their necks. That one was obvious.
Exhibit B: Their shoes thrown carelessly on the floor next to the door.
Exhibit C: Nell wearing his t-shirt and a pair of leggings, with her hair tied up on top of her head in a messy bun. Classic post-sex attire.
Exhibit D: Niall’s sex hair.
Exhibit E: The way they were looking at each other, it was just so obvious. Like they had some secret that no one else knew (although, obviously, that was far from the truth). Niall looked at her like she was some kind of goddess. I swallowed the rage in my stomach and continued watching them.
One of our songs, Last First Kiss, came on. Niall immediately dropped what he had been cooking—eggs, I had decided, seeing as I’d noticed some broken eggshells on the counter—and looked over at her. “Do you want to dance?” He asked, smiling.
She grinned back and bit her lip. It hurt how jealous I was of him right now. “Sure, blondie.” Blondie? I thought. I want to be blondie. Well, not blonde, but the guy that’s she’s close enough to that she’d call me blondie. Or curly. Or something.
She hopped down from the counter and locked her hands behind his neck. What I would give to be him right now. He put his arms around her waist and they started moving to the music. They were looking into each other’s eyes and everything. It was the most romantic shit I’d ever seen. As the song finished, he gave her a kiss, which lingered a bit long for my liking, before running back to the stove, yelling about how his food was going to burn. I decided to go back over to the hallway and reenter. I wanted them to know I was here so they wouldn’t get up to anything too loud later.
I reentered the living room, groaning loudly and rubbing my eyes. They both turned around and looked at me. I watched as he put an arm protectively around her waist and narrowed his eyes. “Hi, Harry.”
Nell was still giggling at something that Niall had said. “Oh, hey, Harry.” She said between laughs. “I thought you went home with some girl.” She winced a little bit, after she said it, like she realized that it was offensive. Even though I probably deserved that and more for kissing her, I still felt anger rising in my throat.
“That’s what you think of me, then, huh?” I asked. I tried to keep my tone calm, joking even, but it just sounded bitter. Not quite what I had intended.
She started to say something, but Niall cut her off. Still glaring at me, he said, “You’ve given her reason to.”
I sighed and looked down at my feet. “Yeah, you’re right, Ni.” Forcing myself to look at them, I said, “Guys…I’m really sorry. About…you know.” I didn’t wait for an answer, I just turned and trudged back to my room.
-1 hour later-
I was still lying on my bed, my head pounding with a hangover, when Nell came in an hour later. My door was open, and she knocked awkwardly on the door frame. It was really dark, but I could tell from the outline of her body that it was her, so I said quietly, “Come in.”
She did, and I turned on a light. God, she looked good. I had a pair of shorts on that I hadn’t bothered to take off, and I didn’t have any blankets over me, as it was ungodly hot in my room. I sat up on the bed and she perched herself on the side, as there were no other free seats.
“What are you doing?” I asked. “Niall’s going to wonder where you’re off to.”
“He’s asleep,” She said. “I just came to…talk. About what happened.”
I rubbed my eyes. I had absolutely no desire to talk about this. “Yeah, well. I’m sorry. I was drunk, and I know it was an awful kiss.”
“It’s fine. But I guess I was thinking less about the kiss and more about what you said.”
I winced and considered lying, but my hungover and tired body couldn’t manage it. “I wasn’t lying. I really did feel like I had to.”
“That’s what I can’t seem to understand, Harry. Why? Why did you have to?”
Stop pushing, I thought, because you’re not going to like what you find. “I just…I’ve been hung up on you ever since I met you. I can’t stop thinking about when we kissed. I get so jealous of Niall, because I really like you. I really, really do.”
She stared at her hands for a while. Say something, I pleaded.
“I don’t really know what to say, Harry.” She said, talking slowly, like she was pondering each word. “I don’t understand why you like me, to be honest. I haven’t ever had two amazing guys like me, especially not at the same time, before. It’s terrifying.”
I didn’t say anything.
She did something unexpected. She leaned over and kissed me, a good kiss. “I hope that helps both of us get over it.” Both of us? “We’re friends, right?” She asked, pleading.
“Yeah,” I said.
“Good.” She replied, and left.
An hour later, I was still staring at the ceiling, wondering what reasoning she had for doing what she’d done. Usually, getting over it didn’t really involve perpetuating the feelings that you’d had already by kissing the person you couldn't get off your mind.
8/19/13