You + Me + Him

Fall 2015

Alyssa sat up cautiously, trying to show Trisha, without really showing her that she, in fact, was wearing clothing. That she wasn’t naked in her darling step-sons bed, with her darling step-son. But then Alyssa remembered how revealing the white v-neck seemed to her the night before, and she was certain it would look even more revealing in the light of day.

“Alyssa, dear. Hi,” Trisha said, looking just as flustered as she was.

Out of the corner of her eye Alyssa saw Harry begin to stir, and she hoped to God he was waking up because she didn’t want to be the only one stuck in this awkward situation.

“I… uh, Zayn and I… we got into a fight last night and I didn’t want to go home. So Harry brought me here. But I didn’t want to sleep in Zayn’s room because I’m… upset… with him,” Alyssa explained, her words coming out in a jumble.

In her mind, it felt like what they were doing was bad. Maybe because it looked that way. She felt guilty for some reason, even though all they did was sleep next to each other.

“Oh, well… okay. I’m sorry. I don’t mean to be so out of sorts. It was just a shock to see you with Harry,” Trisha said with a smile, still seeming to be wrapping her head around the fact that Alyssa was in bed with her step-son, a person Alyssa previously didn’t get along with.

“Harry and I… we’re not together,” Alyssa said, feeling the need to make that crystal clear.

“I understand,” Trisha said with a smirk.

“We’re just… we’re trying to be friends again,” Alyssa continued.

“That’s wonderful, Alyssa,” she said, genuinely looking quite happy. Alyssa knew it always bothered her that Alyssa and Zayn didn’t get along with Harry.

When Harry finally stirred awake, it was like a weight was lifted off Alyssa’s shoulders. But at the same time, it was like another one was put on, because she felt all awkward around him again for some reason.

“Trisha?” Harry asked as he sat up, rubbing at his eyes.

“Hi, sweetheart,” Trisha said with a light chuckle.

“What are you doing in here?” he asked, his groggy morning voice so incredibly alluring.

“I… I was just going to tell you I made breakfast,” she stammered, looking between him and Alyssa.

It was in that moment that Alyssa realized Harry was no longer wearing a shirt. Her face went red at the sight.

“Thanks,” he croaked, running his fingers through his tousled hair.

“And of course, Alyssa, you are always welcome. There is plenty of food,” Trisha quickly told her.

“I-I should get home,” Alyssa said, pulling the blankets off of her, showing Trisha again, without words, that she was fully clothed.

“Alright then. We’ll be in the kitchen if you change your mind,” Trisha told her with a smile as she stepped out of Harry’s bedroom, leaving the door propped open.

“Oh my god, Harry!” Alyssa whined, standing up to stare at him.

“What?” he asked, furrowing his brows in question.

“You’re half-naked!” Alyssa yelped.

“So,” he said, giving a shrug.

“So? Trisha just found us in bed together, and you’re half-naked. Don’t you think that might trigger a few questions?” She asked him, still feeling more than a little flustered.

“I didn’t know she’d come in here like that. And besides, I’m not used to sleeping with someone else, alright. It got hot in the middle of the night,” he chuckled, not finding an issue with it.

“Jesus,” Alyssa said under her breath, letting out a sigh.

“You’re a twenty-two-year-old woman, Alyssa. I’m twenty-one. We’re adults. It’s not that big a deal. I promise you,” Harry said as he got out of the bed too.

“Yeah,” she said quietly.

“Trisha is still going to think you shit rainbows, even if she might think you fornicated with me,” he said with a mischievous smirk.

“HARRY!” Alyssa yelped, grabbing the nearest pillow, throwing it at his head.

“I’m kidding. I’m kidding,” Harry laughed, deflecting the pillow, knocking it to the floor.

“Not funny!” Alyssa laughed along with him.

“A little funny,” he retorted as he bent down to pick up his discarded shirt.

Alyssa watched, all too entranced as he replaced the shirt on his body, covering up all his well-developed goodness.

“Are you sure you have to go?” He inquired.

“I should,” she told him, trying to shake off the foreign feelings inside of her.

“Alright,” he said as he picked up the pillow she threw, tossing it back on the bed.

“Don’t worry about the clothes. You don’t have to change back into that dress,” he said, pointed toward her black gown from the previous night that was now slung across his desk chair.

“I have my clothes from yesterday I can change into,” she told him.

“No seriously, Alyssa. Don’t worry about it,” he said, waving it off.

“Are you sure?” She asked.

“I’m sure,” he said with a reassuring nod.

“Thanks, Harry,” Alyssa told him.

“Don’t worry about it,” he said, sending her a smile.

“I mean, thanks for everything,” she clarified and he nodded.

Alyssa walked toward where her dress was and scooped it up in her arms, realizing how badly she didn’t want to lug the thing around.

“I’ll walk you out,” Harry told her as the two of them moved toward his door.

“Yeah. Just let me grab my things from Zayn’s room,” Alyssa told him, and he nodded in response.

Alyssa slipped into Zayn’s old room, being immediately bombarded with old sights and smells that brought on old memories. She moved as swiftly as she possibly could to retrieve her things before she slipped back out the door. Harry was still waiting for her in the hallway and smiled when he saw her. Alyssa smiled back and their eyes caught for a few silent moments, staring at one another.

“You’re a good friend, even when I don’t deserve you to be. You always have been. I just never realized it,” Alyssa told him, maybe truly realizing it then in that moment herself.

He didn’t say anything in response, he just looked to the floor and nodded his head lightly. Without really giving it a thought, Alyssa slipped her arm around him, giving him the best hug she could with her dress and bag in her other arm. It only took about a second for Harry to respond, wrapping his arms fully around her, squeezing her tightly. When his grip finally loosened, Alyssa pulled back and looked into his beautiful green eyes. His eyes were so different from Zayn’s and they held something else in them too. They looked at her rather than through her like Zayn’s always have. Harry was more genuine and honest than Zayn in almost every way. He had a heart that was big and giving – someone you could really trust. And he wasn’t naïve about it – he gave willingly even when he didn’t receive the same back from people. For years he tried to get Alyssa to open her eyes about Zayn – about how Zayn treated her, she just never listened. She was the naïve one.

Her eyes broke away from Harry’s – they were too intense. Her cheeks blushed at the memory of Harry’s words trying to get her to realize how much Zayn was hurting her – how unfair it all was to her.

Winter 2014

Zayn hands came up through the sheets, touching Alyssa’s body.

“Zayn, really… can we just sleep?” Alyssa whined, feeling nothing but exhaustion in that moment.

“But you’re in my bed…” He said, being playful as his hand snaked its way up into her shirt to cup her breast.

“Zayn, I’m serious. I’m drunk and I just want to go to sleep,” Alyssa said, pushing his hand down, which only made him grope her lower regions.

They just got back from the bar and it was two a.m. Alyssa just wanted to go to bed.

“Zayn! Stop!” She growled finally.

“Alyssa Michelle! It’s not a big deal. I’ll do all the work,” he said, kissing up her neck.

“Yeah and you’ll get your rocks off, but what about me?” She asked, feeling annoyed.

“You want me to make you come? Because I can do that,” he said, snaking his hand in her shorts and cupping her mound.

“Zayn, I’m serious. I just want to go to bed,” she said, trying to be as stern as possible. It wasn’t easy turning down someone she desired with every part of her anatomy.

“Fine!” He snapped at her and turned over in a huff like a fucking baby.

“Now you’re just going to be an asshole to me, aren’t you?” Alyssa questioned.

“Well, you’re being a bitch to me,” he threw at her.

“Oh, so I’m a bitch because I don’t want to have sex with you one time out of how many times, Zayn?” Alyssa asked as she sat up in bed. He was thoroughly pissing her off.

“You’re a bitch because of the way you’re acting,” he snapped, sitting up to face her.

“And you’re a fucking asshole because of the way you’re acting,” she shot at him.

“Why don’t you just fucking go home, Alyssa?” He spat out meanly.

“Fine, you dick! I will. Fuck you,” she yelped, getting out of his bed.

“Fuck you,” he retorted and laid back down with his back to her.

Alyssa flipped on his light so she could gather up all her things to leave, and when she left his room, she didn’t bother turning it off again out of spite. She would have slammed his door for good measure but she didn’t want to wake up any of his family.

As Alyssa made her way down the hallway toward the stairs, she felt a rush of emotion that she couldn’t hold back. By the time she was descending the stairs, her tears were flowing pretty heavily. It only got worse when she realized the only shoes she had there were her black high heeled boots that she wore with her dress to the bar with Zayn. They were going to look real good with Zayn’s t-shirt and pajama pants she was wearing.

Alyssa sat on the bench in the foyer just crying. She didn’t want to put those god damn boots back on and walk down the road to her house.

“Alyssa?” She heard, breaking her out of her misery.

Damn it. It was Harry.

“Just leave me alone, Harry,” Alyssa told him, shielding her eyes away from him with her hand.

“Why are you crying?” He asked, sounding genuinely concerned.

“Harry, I’m serious,” Alyssa said, swiping her fingers under her eyes to clear away the tears.

“What did Zayn do?” He asked in a grievance tone.

Alyssa rolled her eyes at the fact that he completely ignored her when she told him to leave her alone. Seriously, what was with these fucking British dudes thinking they walked on water?

“How do you know it was Zayn?” Alyssa asked, realizing immediately that it was a stupid question.

“Of course it was Zayn. It’s always Zayn,” Harry said, giving her a pointed look.

“I don’t want to talk about it, Harry,” Alyssa said, standing up to look in the mirror on the foyer wall.

Christ. Her makeup was nearly trailing down her face in lines. She looked like a nightmare.

“Here,” Harry said, offering her some tissue.

“Thanks,” she said, taking them from him.

“What did he do?” Harry asked again.

“God, Harry. Didn’t I say that I’m fine?” She huffed.

“No. You said to leave you alone,” he answered truthfully.

“Yeah. Go with that one,” Alyssa said sarcastically.

“So, what? Is he making you walk home or something?” Harry asked.

“You are such a nosey little shit, Harry,” Alyssa said, rolling her eyes.

“Why? Because I’m concerned?” He scoffed.

“Because you’re in my business like you actually care about me,” she snapped.

“I do,” he said, and all she could do was let out a scoff in response.

“Let me give you a ride home,” he offered.

“I’m fine,” she said through clenched teeth.

“You’re drunk,” he pointed out.

“I live right down the street, Harry,” Alyssa countered immediately.

“And you’re going to put those big ass boots back on your feet and walk a block to your house in the freezing cold?” He asked curiously.

“That was the plan,” she said, taking a deep breath as she finished fixing her makeup.

“Let me give you a ride and you won’t even have to put those boots on. Besides, they wouldn’t go with your outfit,” he said with a smirk. Alyssa couldn’t help but crack a smile at him. Little shit.

“Fine. But I don’t want to hear a lecture from you about how shitty of a friend Zayn is,” Alyssa said, pointing her finger at him.

“Just know I’ll be thinking it and it will be eating me up inside not to say it out loud,” he said, smirking wildly at her. Alyssa rolled her eyes at him with a smile on her face. He just had to say something.

“Come on, let’s go,” Harry said, bending down to pick up her boots before he grabbed his keys and jacket.

As the two of them got into his dad’s SUV, Alyssa couldn’t help but feel awkward being with Harry. She stayed silent in the passenger seat the entire time – which really wasn’t all that long since she lived so close.

“Uh, thanks Harry. Even though I could have walked,” Alyssa said, feeling grateful, yet not at the same time.

“Why can’t you ever accept nice gestures? Zayn has you brainwashed into thinking that being treated like shit is okay,” Harry said, annoyance lacing his words.

“What happened to keeping your mouth shut?” Alyssa shot at him.

“I can’t help it. It’s irritating. My brother doesn’t deserve you as his friend – plain and simple,” Harry snapped.

“Well, whatever. Thanks,” Alyssa said, feeling annoyed as she got out of the car, slamming the door on purpose.

“I never understood why you always took Zayn’s bullshit. But I’m glad you’re standing up to him now,” Harry said, smiling proudly at her.

“It feels good to have the upper hand,” she told him as they made their way toward the staircase.

“Liberating?” He questioned.

“Yeah. It really is,” Alyssa told him honestly.

“Well, I hope you keep it up,” he said, smiling at her. Alyssa nodded without a word.

Harry walked her all the way to the door, watching as she slipped on a pair of flats she had in her bag.

“Thanks for the sleepover. It was like the old times in the TV room downstairs,” Harry said with a smirk on his face.

“Yeah, except I didn’t wake up with a back ache from sleeping on a floor,” Alyssa said with a laugh.

“Yeah, but we were kids. It was fun,” he pointed out.

“It was,” she agreed, thinking back fondly on it.

“Well, I’ll see you around, I guess,” Harry said, looking a bit awkward in the moment.

“Yeah, for sure. Uh, we should hang out more often,” Alyssa told him.

“Yeah, that would be fun,” he said, smiling bashfully. Alyssa immediately registered the blush creeping up his cheek and it made her smile.

“Do you have my number?” She asked.

“Uh… yeah… I think so. If not, I can get it from somebody,” he said, digging his phone out of his pocket, idly looking at the screen.

“Now this really does sound like we slept with each other,” Alyssa said, biting her lip as a smile engrossed her face.

“’Aye baby, can I get yo’ numba?’” Harry said in a fake-Jersey accent.

“Oh my god, no,” Alyssa said as they both laughed.

“Well, um. Alright. I’ll see you, Harry,” she said as she pulled open the front door.

“Bye, Warrior,” he called out, which made her giggle.

“Maybe you and I need to have a one-on-one game of b-ball to see who the true Warrior is!” Alyssa told him. Even though she knew he would totally kick her ass. He had way more skills than she ever would.

“I’d school you and you know it,” he called back to her. They both knew it, but she’d never admit it.

“Ha! Keep dreaming, Hazza!” Alyssa laughed as she reached her car.

“Don’t kid yourself,” Harry said with a chuckle.

“Huzzah, Hazza!” Alyssa called out her old tagline for him and saw him laugh from the front door just before she got into her car.

And he put a smile on her face that didn’t leave the whole way home.

Notes