You + Me + Him

Early 2016

When Alyssa woke up the next morning, she was still in Harry’s arms. After so many disappointing mornings waking up alone after a night with Zayn, it was comforting waking up next to the guy she fell asleep with.

She gently turned in his arms, waking him in the process because of her movements.

“Hi,” he croaked.

“Hi,” she said, smiling at him.

His eyes stared into hers and he looks happy, really truly happy to have her there with him. Alyssa leaned in and kissed his lips softly before pulling back to look into his eyes again.

“I’m glad you stayed the night,” Harry said, smiling widely.

“Me too,” she told him honestly.

“What do you have planned today?” He asked.

“Uh, I should probably get home. I’ve been procrastinating on my laundry, and the piles just keep getting worse and worse,” she told him with a sigh. He snickered to himself, scrubbing his knuckles into his eyes, trying to wipe the sleep away.

“What are you doing today?” She asked curiously.

“Probably studio stuff,” he said with a shrug.

“Didn’t you finish your album?” She asked, quirking an eyebrow at him.

“I mean, yes and no,” he said, looking over at her.

“What does that mean?” She questioned.

“I have all the songs. I mean, I have like thirty-something songs written. But I have all the songs for the album recorded and pretty much mastered. Now we have to finish the aesthetics and stuff. I don’t know. It’s hard to explain,” he said, letting out a sigh.

“Sounds complicated,” Alyssa chuckled.

“You have no idea,” Harry laughed.

“So you’ll be in the studio?” She questioned, looking over at him with a smile.

“I’ll be in the studio,” he said, smiling back at her.

“When are you not in the studio?” Alyssa chuckled. His dad paid good money for him to finally record an album, of course he wouldn’t waste the opportunity.

“When I’m with you,” he said sweetly.

Alyssa stared at him for a few moments relishing in the comforting way he made her feel. He caught her off guard with his sweet words and made her stomach turn – in a good way. She kissed him again, thanking him without words, before sitting up in his bed. Harry sat up too, running his fingers through his tousled hair.

“I really should go,” she told him as she lifted the blankets off of her.

“I wish you didn’t have to,” Harry said, placing his hand on her bare thigh.

“I know, but we both have things to do,” she told him. He nodded weakly.

“But we can see each other again, really soon,” she offered, smiling hopefully at him and he noticeably perked up with her words.

“Uh, now I just have to figure out how I’m going to sneak out of here,” she told him as she gathered up her clothing.

“You don’t have to sneak out of here. We’re friends,” Harry told her.

“I know. But I think we should keep our sleepovers a secret until we can figure out a way to let Zayn know about us without having him blow a gasket,” she told him. Harry agreed with a nod.

Alyssa quickly pulled Harry’s t-shirt over her head as she began re-dressing into her own clothes.

“Now that’s a sight I wouldn’t mind getting used to,” Harry said, admiring her bare chest.

“Perv,” Alyssa snickered, smirking at him as she replace her bra on her body.

“What?” He said, smiling suggestively at her.

Alyssa finished getting dressed and Harry put on some shorts and the t-shirt she just took off.

“Mmm. It smells like you,” he said, smiling at her and she smirked at him.

“C’mere. I wanna kiss you before you disappear,” he said, pulling her to him.

“I’m not disappearing. I’ll just be at home. You know where to find me,” she reminded him with a smile.

“Mm-hmm,” he hummed as he lowered his lips down to hers.

They kissed for a bit and his hands groped her skin happily. He made her entire body tingle with his touch.

“I’ll see you soon,” she told him.

“Promise?” He smiled at her.

“Definitely,” she confirmed and stood up on her tip-toes to kiss his lips again.

The two of them made their way toward his bedroom door and he opened it. Safaa could be heard immediately, talking in the kitchen with her parents.

“I’ll head down to the kitchen and distract them while you sneak out the front door,” Harry offered.

“Sounds good,” Alyssa smirked.

“I’ll call you later,” he said, wrapping his arms around her.

“Okay,” she said, kissing him one last time before he was out the door.

Alyssa made her way down the stairs once Harry made it to the kitchen.

“Good morning, family,” she heard Harry say cheerfully.

“Good morning, sweetie,” Trisha greeted him.

“Why do you sound so… chipper?” Waliyha asked.

“Is it a crime to be happy in this house?” Harry asked with a playful scoff.

“You’re just usually a little grumpy in the morning,” Safaa pointed out and Alyssa couldn’t help but smile to herself.

“He woke up on the right side of the bed this morning apparently,” Des quipped.

“That I did,” Harry quipped and Alyssa couldn’t help but smile to herself as she stealthily snuck out the front door.

She walked down the street where her car was parked on the adjoining street, conveniently out of view from the Malik/Styles house due to her and Harry’s super-secret late night hook-up. She drove back home with a smile on her face.

When she got in, Zayn was in the kitchen making toast with a serious case of bed-head.

“Hi,” she greeted him.

“Hey,” he grunted, not bothering to even look her direction.

Alyssa poured herself some coffee and stood against the counter holding it, waiting for it to cool a little as she watched Zayn butter his toast. He had yet to actually acknowledge her with a look. And it kind of bothered her, which okay yeah, they did sort of have a fight yesterday. But it felt weird.

Once his toast was prepared, he turned his back against the counter and leaned against it like she was. They stood there practically side-by-side in an awkward silence – Zayn chomping on his toast and Alyssa sipping on her piping hot coffee.

“You need a haircut,” Alyssa said, ruffling her hand over his head.

“Yeah,” he said, through his mouthful as he pulled his head away from her hand.

She sent an odd look in his direction, that he missed because he’d yet to look at her. He was acting strange and it really bothered her.

.

.

Summer 2010

Alyssa felt like shit. And to top it all off, she woke up in Harry’s bed. Luckily, the little perv was sleeping on the floor. But she wasn’t fully sure on how or why she was in there in the first place – rather than in Zayn’s bed.

She pulled herself up out of the bed and tip-toed across the floor, not wanting to wake up Harry who was cocooned in a nest full of blankets on the floor. She made her way into the bathroom and was accosted with the memories of her throwing up everything she ever ate in her entire life and then some. She was never drinking again – she swore it to herself. No matter how hard Zayn begged her.

Soon she was spiraling through memories of her night with Zayn.

Zayn mixing them drinks that consisted of ninety percent vodka with a splash of orange juice. Her and Zayn in a fit of giggles down in the TV room after each drinking two full glass of his concoction. Harry scolding them. Then she and Zayn trying to get up the stairs to go to bed.

Oh, god. Oh, good god.

She and Zayn kissed. Holy shit. They kissed! Zayn kissed HER.

And then Doniya caught them.

Oh, god. Her stomach turned at the memory. Zayn actually kissed her. She couldn’t help but smile. It was everything she’d been dreaming about since she was thirteen.

Alyssa did her business in the bathroom, trying to make herself look as if she didn’t just spend the night dying in there as she puked her guts out. When she finally came out, the house was alive with the sound of a house full of kids in the morning.

Safaa was already in the kitchen going on and on about her cereal choice with Waliyha and Doniya. Harry was in his room already playing music at such an early hour. And Zayn stood against the hallway wall across from the bathroom, grumbling that it took her forever in there. Alyssa let him pass her so he could use it before she went downstairs for breakfast.

Doniya eyed her as soon as she walked in the kitchen.

“What?” Alyssa grumbled, giving Doniya the eye.

“Nothing,” she said with a smirk.

“Hmm,” she grumbled as she grabbed a bowl and spoon from the kitchen before sitting down.

As Alyssa poured her bowl of frosted flakes, Zayn meandered into the kitchen – his hair a serious birds nest atop his head. He definitely looked hung-over and didn’t care to hide it.

“Jeez, what happened to you last night?” Waliyha said, looking at her older brother.

“Hmph,” Zayn grunted as he took a seat with his own bowl and spoon.

“You sound like a caveman,” Safaa told Zayn.

Alyssa nearly inhaled her frosted flakes, trying not to laugh and Zayn quickly shot a glare in her direction.

“So, what were you two doing last night?” Doniya asked, looking between the two of them. Zayn’s glare snapped toward Doniya so hard, he might have gotten whiplash from it.

“I wonder…” Harry said sarcastically as he came into the kitchen.

“Shut the hell up, Harry,” Zayn shot at his little brother.

“You’re not supposed to say ‘hell’ like that. It’s naughty when you say it like that,” Safaa told Zayn matter-of-factly.

“You’re right, Saf. Zayn’s naughty,” Alyssa told her.

“Yeah, Zayn’s super naughty,” Doniya said, but she wasn’t talking about using the words ‘hell’.

“Shut up, Doniyahh,” Zayn warned, exaggerating her name, making his older sister snicker.

“Fun night last night, guys?” Waliyha asked, oblivious to what they were really talking about.

“Yeah, what part was your favorite, Alyssa? The part where you puked your guts out in the toilet or—” Harry eyed her.

“Shut up, Harry,” Alyssa growled, cutting him off before he had a chance to say anything else.

Zayn looked over at Alyssa quickly, completely unaware that she spent the night dry heaving into the toilet.

“Wait… why were you puking?” Waliyha asked, looking more than a little confused.

“They drank a lot of v-o-d-k-a,” Harry said, spelling it out so Safaa wouldn’t know what he was talking about.

“Oh!” Waliyha exclaimed, looking between the two culprits.

“Shut up, Harold,” Zayn growled.

“Are you serious?” Doniya asked, completely slack-jawed.

“Seriously, everyone just shut up,” Zayn demanded.

“Is that why the two of you were practically on top of each other on the stairs?” Doniya questioned, her narrowed eyes looking straight at Zayn.

“GOD! SHUT UP!” Zayn growled, completely annoyed.

“Dude, you were making out with Alyssa!” Doniya said, blurting out their little secret to the whole table.

“What!?” Harry asked incredulously.

“Oh my god,” Alyssa said, holding her hand over her face, feeling so incredibly embarrassed. Not because of making out with Zayn, but because it was a topic of conversation at the breakfast table.

“What is ‘making out’?” Safaa asked curiously.

“It’s something you don’t need to know about for years,” Waliyha told her little sister.

Zayn growled again as he threw his chair back and left the table. After a few moments of the awkward silence, Alyssa quietly got up from the table, putting her bowl and spoon in the sink and left the kitchen too.

She found Zayn in his room lying on his bed.

“We don’t have to talk about it,” she told him. He stayed silent.

“We can pretend like it never happened,” she offered. Silence.

Alyssa went silent too with Zayn’s lack of words, feeling absolutely horrible about everything.

The kiss wasn’t talked about again for many years.

.

.

“So, are we going to live like this from now on?” Alyssa asked, looking over at Zayn.

“Like what?” He asked, still not looking at her.

“Distant. Not talking,” she explained and he shrugged.

“Apparently we are,” she said under her breath, setting her coffee cup down on the counter top.

“What do you want from me?” He asked incredulously.

“For you to be my friend,” she said, trying her hardest to keep her voice even.

“I am,” he said quietly.

“You have yet to make eye contact with me even once during this whole conversation…” Alyssa pointed out. He immediately looked up at her, but she didn’t see his usual warm caramel eyes. Instead, they were cold and distant.

“You’ve hardly said a word…” She continued.

“I just woke up. Give me a fucking break,” he grumbled and Alyssa rolled her eyes.

“I’m just… wow. I’m excited that our friendship has progressed into this. Awesome,” Alyssa said sarcastically as she walked toward the doorway to leave the kitchen.

“Alyssa…” Zayn sighed, but she was already on her way.

If she wanted to have a one-sided conversation, she would be just as happy talking to herself up in her bedroom as she sorted out her laundry. She was not going to play childish games with Zayn. Not today.

Notes