November 2017
“Hemingway, you are the best dog in the world. Yes, you are. Look at those teeth. Look at you. Big bad pooch,” Harry said, wrestling with his dog in the grass in the front yard of his Los Angeles condo.
“Could you get anymore sickeningly cute?” He heard from above him. He looked up to see his neighbor Maggie standing down at him and his dog.
“Thanks,” he smirked, bouncing an eyebrow.
“I meant Hemmy,” she said evenly, but he could see the smirk on the corner of her lips. Maggie bent down to pet Hemingway, who had already completely started ignoring Harry and putting all of his attention on the beautiful girl in front of him.
“Ha. Yeah,” Harry said, sitting up in the grass.
“Hi, baby boy,” Maggie cooed to Hemingway as she pet him lovingly.
Harry’s dog was entirely smitten with their new neighbor. He didn’t even like Kendall, Harry’s girlfriend, like he liked Maggie – and Kendall was the one who bought the dog for Harry.
“I think he’s hooked on you, Maggie,” Harry said, smiling at her.
“I think I’m hooked on you too, Hem,” she said in a baby voice to Hemingway as she sat down in the grass next to them.
“Maggie – is that short for Margaret or something?” Harry asked curiously. He’d wondered since he met her.
“Nope,” she said, finally directing her vision to Harry instead of his attention-whore of a dog.
“Just Maggie,” she said matter-of-factly.
“Just Maggie,” he said with a nod and a smile.
“Have you ever heard the song ‘Maggie May’…” She started to say.
“By Rod Stewart?” Harry asked, quirking an eyebrow. He was familiar.
“That’s the one,” she said, beaming a smile at him.
“Wakeup Maggie, I think I’ve got something to say to you…” Harry sang in his best Rod Stewart impression. Maggie’s eyes immediately widened as if in awe.
“That’s the one,” she breathed.
“Are you named after it?” Harry asked curiously.
“Yep. Maggie May Covington. My mom had the hots for Rod Stewart back in the day. Dad liked the song,” Maggie explained with a bashful smirk.
“Does it run in the family?” Harry asked, quirking an eyebrow.
“Does what?” She asked, looking confused.
“Having the hots for rock stars?” Harry asked, smiling slyly at her.
“Oh, wow. Uh, I don’t know,” she said as a deep blush crept up her cheeks. Harry smiled, knowing he caught her off guard. He couldn’t help but chuckle. She was absolutely lovely.
Maggie went back to petting Hemingway, trying her best to hide her embarrassment.
“I quite like that song,” Harry told her a moment later.
“Me too,” she said quietly.
“Well, that’s good. It would be a shame to be named after a song you didn’t like,” Harry chuckled.
“Yeah,” she said, smiling up at him.
“Oh, Maggie. I couldn’t have tried anymore…” Harry sang another snippet of the song and Maggie blushed wildly again as her smile nearly ate her alive.
“Does it make you uncomfortable that I am singing your song?” Harry asked, looking over at her.
“No. I just… I’ve never really actually had it seriously sung to me – by a professional,” she said with a nervous chuckle.
“I’d hardly call myself a professional,” Harry chuckled.
“Well, you’re no amateur,” she countered, smiling over at him.
“I don’t do Rod Stewart justice,” he laughed.
“I think you’re better,” she said quietly. She looked up at him just in time to see a knee-weakening, dimpled-cheek smile that was all for her
“Do you?” He asked, quirking an eyebrow again.
“Yes,” she said seriously with a nod of her head. Oh my, my, my.
“Maggie May, you’re going to give me a complex,” Harry said, smirking at her. She laughed outright and Harry laughed too.
He loved making her laugh. She was fantastic – so intoxicating. He just wanted to wrap himself around her and never let her go – but alas, he could not. He was taken by another woman and Maggie – well, Maggie was like forbidden fruit. She was like a dream he couldn’t actually touch – perfect in every way, but just out of his reach.
Harry snuck a look over at her from the corner of his eye. She was looking up at the clouds, so he allowed himself a longer look at her. Her long blonde hair was cascading down her back. She had a small smile on her lips, which in turn made him smile. She looked happy.
His eyes moved across her perfect jaw line, down to her neck looked positively edible. His eyes passed down her collarbone and down to her chest. Her breasts were perfectly proportioned for her petite frame and Harry couldn’t help but admire them for a moment longer than he did her other aspects.
Maggie’s gaze came down from the sky to meet his again and he quickly looked up into her eyes, not wanting her to know he was just oogling over her chest.
“There are a lot of fluffy clouds in the sky,” she said, smiling at him, oblivious to his perversion.
“Oh, yeah?” He asked as he lay back in the grass to look up at them. A moment later, she joined him.
“Have you ever picked out things in the clouds? Like pictures?” She asked, looking over at him. Their heads were so close, it would be so easy for him just to lean across and kiss her.
“All the time,” he told her.
“Good. I’m not the only weirdo,” she chuckled, looking back up at the sky.
“It’s not weird. It’s something I think everyone does during their childhood. And apparently adulthood,” he laughed.
“There – that cloud looks like a bunny rabbit,” she said, pointing to the sky.
“You mean a dinosaur?” Harry questioned, smiling over at her.
“No, look. Those are his ears… his body… and his tail…” She said, trying to point it out.
“No, there’s the neck… his body… and his tail….” He countered, pointing upwards.
“Dinosaurs have long tails, Harry,” she protested with a laugh.
“It’s wrapped around his body,” Harry said, looking over at her with a quirk of his eyebrow.
“I think you’re just making that up,” she laughed, looking over at him too.
A moment later, Maggie sat up, looking down at him.
“I should go,” she told him.
“Okay,” he said, sitting up next to her. Harry watched as she stood up and then got up himself.
“Hey, there’s something I wanted to ask you. And you can completely say ‘no’. It’s just a thought…” He told her.
“What’s that, Harry?” She asked with a small smile.
“Uh, I have to fly to Cheshire next week and I was wondering if maybe you would want to watch Hemingway for me during those days,” Harry asked hopefully. If not, Hemingway would be spending a week either at a kennel or with Kendall. Either way, it probably wouldn’t be pleasant for him.
“Oh. Uh, I’m probably going up to Sacramento to visit my family for Thanksgiving, but…” She started to explain.
“You know what, never mind,” he said, waving it off.
“No. I’ll ask my parents if it’s okay and then I’ll let you know,” she told him.
“No, Maggie. Seriously it’s fine. I can just put him in a kennel or something,” Harry said, shrugging his shoulders.
“What!? No!” She practically yelled, causing Harry’s eyes to widen from her outburst.
“No way, Harry. I’ll watch him. Seriously. If my parents have a problem with it, then I can stay at my Aunt’s or something,” Maggie said firmly.
“Maggie, I don’t want to inconvenience you. It’s your time with your family,” he told her.
“Hemmy is not an inconvenience,” she scoffed, sounding quite offended.
“Maggie May, are you sure?” Harry asked, quirking an eyebrow.
“Yes… Hazza,” she quipped. Harry laughed out loud. She must have been reading up on him or something.
“Oh my god. I can’t believe I just called you that!” Maggie said, slapping her hand over her mouth, looking embarrassed.
“Ha. No, it’s okay. Louis still calls me that,” Harry said, smirking at her. She closed her eyes and shook her head.
“You can call me that. I don’t mind,” he told her honestly.
“Are you sure?” She asked, biting her lip.
“About as sure as I’m going call you Maggie May from now on,” Harry told her truthfully, which caused her to laugh out loud.
“Alright, Hazza,” she said, putting emphasis on the nickname.
“Alright, Maggie May,” he said, smirking wildly at her. Maggie laughed out loud and shook her head.
“Okay. I leave the day before Thanksgiving and I’ll be back by the Monday after,” he told her, getting down to business again.
“Okay. Just uh, write some stuff down that you want me to know. And I mean, we can talk about this again later. Oh, and you don’t mind if I take him with me to Sacramento, right?” She asked, realizing she just assumed that was how it was going to go.
“He loves car rides,” Harry said, smirking at her.
“Perfect! It’s a long one,” Maggie chuckled.
“When will you be back?” He asked her.
“Probably by Sunday… but I can come home Saturday if you’d like,” she told him.
“No, no, no. Spend time with your family. I can wait until Sunday to see him,” Harry said, smiling at her.
“Alright, Harry. I’m excited,” she said happily.
“I’m glad,” he said, smiling back at her.
“I really should be going though,” she told him again.
“Yeah. Don’t let me keep you,” he told her.
“Alright. Bye, Harry,” she said, waving as she began to walk away. Hemmy let out a little bark in her direction.
“You forgot someone,” Harry laughed.
“Oh, HEMMY!” Maggie cooed, bending down as the dog ran to her.
“I’m sorry, baby!” She giggled as she pet him.
“I’ll see you later, handsome,” Maggie said to the dog, but looked up at Harry a split second later, making him wonder if it was an innuendo directed at him.
“Bye, Harry,” she said again.
“Bye, Maggie May,” he said, smiling at her.
Maggie stood up and started walking toward her car again.
“Hemingway! Come here, boy,” Harry said, calling to his dog who was trailing behind the beautiful lady.
“Hemingway Styles! Get over here, now!” Harry called him again.
“Hemmy,” Maggie said, shaking her finger at the love-struck dog.
Moments later, Harry walked over to them and scooped up the puppy.
“Bye, Maggie May,” he said again with a smile.
“Bye, Hazza,” she giggled as she went out the gate.
Harry brought Hemingway back into his flat, singing ‘Maggie May’ under his breath, realizing it was his new favorite song.

Notes

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