Pick Me Up

After the first night spent together, Percy and Harry were going at it like a bunch of rabbits. And they didn’t care where they were when they got to it: the back room at work, Harry’s place, Percy’s place, the back of Harry’s car, the bathroom at the club, and pretty much any place with dark enough lighting. They were trying their hardest at not getting caught.

“Alright boys, I’m off to sleep.” Percy said as he got up. Leaving behind Zayn, Niall and Harry on the couch. “Work and class tomorrow. Can’t be late to either.” She gave each of the boys a playful pat, and a subtle wink to Harry, as she walked past them.

She raced up the stairs and was gone. Harry knew this was his chance. He hadn’t been with her in a few hours and it was driving his libido insane. He just needed to make and excuse to leave and he’d be in the clear.

“I think Percy was right, it’s time for bed.” Said Harry, putting on his acting skills, which were very questionable to begin with.

“You two, such downers sometimes.” Said Niall, taking another drink of his beer.

“Some of us actually have to work for a living.”

Niall scoffed at him, “God forbid that day ever comes.”

“Anyways, see you guys.” Harry left the den and then walked towards the front door and pretended to close it shut, then silently walked up the stairs to Percy’s room. He knocked on the door lightly, not wanting anyone to hear him. It was still quite a secret that he and Percy were fooling around. After a few seconds there was no answer, so he knocked again.

“Jesus, guys, I said I was going to slee---.” She opened the door, expecting to see Niall or Zayn, but when she saw Harry’s shit-eating grin on his face, she knew it only meant one thing.

“Let me in.” He whispered. Percy stared at him, head cocked to the side as if she really didn’t believe he was there. “C’mon Perce.” She opened the door a bit wider for him to slip through. He didn’t waste any time, his hands were all over her, lips pressed to her’s as he pushed her back onto her bed. “I’ve been thinking about this all day.”

“Really… I couldn’t tell.” Joked Percy as she lay down as Harry crawled on top of her. He pulled her shirt over her head and was happy to see she had already taken off her bra for the night.

He kissed her mouth then trailed his lips behind her ear. He kept nipping at her skin down to her neck and chest, he continues working his was down and began kneaded her breasts softly. He moved down to her stomach and then her navel to her panty line. He quickly reached down to pull her underwear down her legs and tossed them to the other side of the room. He left her wanting as he bent her left leg and kissed from the knee down her inner thigh.

His torturous teasing was finally over and she felt him kiss her clit softly before taking it between his lips, sucking on it so gently. The moan she let out made him only want to pleasure her more. He then ran his tongue up her slit making her quiver and locked his arms around her legs so she couldn’t move, he wanted her as still as possible. He licked up her again, and again, and again, stopping each time to give her a quick kiss on her clit. And oh, how she moaned. She was in the middle of stuttering his name out through a shaky breath when there was a knock on the door.

“Perce?” shouted Zayn from the other side. “Are you alright in there? Were you crying?” Harry chuckled to himself making his lips vibrate, which only made Percy wiggle more.

“I’m fine!” She answered back, as she did, Harry slipped a finger inside of her, hooking it so it rubbed against her g-spot making her gasp for breath.

“You sure?” shouted Zayn again.

“Very sure!” she barely got the two words out in between gasps for air as Harry continued.

“Jo said if it gets bad again that you can talk to us, you know that right?” Zayn’s voice was full of concern and all Percy wanted was to reach an orgasm that Harry was keeping away.

“Nothing is wr-wrong.” Her words were drawn out, every time her voice began to crack, Harry was doing something magical. He decided it was time to play even dirtier. He inserted another finger, this time pumping fast in and out. She was going to loose it soon, he could feel her coming undone below him.

“I’m not leaving until you open the door.”

And Harry wasn’t going to let her up until he made her cum. Percy tired to get free, but she couldn’t even budge. His grasp was too tight on her. His tongue was moving in fast circles around her clit, his fingers were moving too fast, she couldn’t hold it in anymore. The burning sensation was building up in her stomach, she didn’t even try to mask the noise she was making. This feeling was too good to keep a secret. She whispered his name, and he let it happen, he let her go as she rode his tongue, moving her hips up and down slowly.

Again, Harry chuckled as he kissed her inner thigh and patted her ass gently signaling she could get up and move now. She threw her long shirt on and raced towards the door where Zayn as knocking on it. She swung it open, Harry diving behind the bed so he couldn’t be seen.

“What?!” She asked, rather rudely, face flushed and hair wild.

“Just wanted to make sure you’re okay…” said Zayn, a bit hurt.

“I told you I was fine.”

“You didn’t sound fine, you sounded like you were crying.” He tried peering into her room to see if anyone was in there with her.

“Well, I wasn’t.” She tapped her fingers on the door impatiently. “Is that all?”

“Yeah… I guess.”

“Okay. Night.” She slammed the door in his face and walked over to Harry, who was now standing at the end of the bed. She started to playfully slap him while he tried to block her blows by covering himself up with his arms, but all he could really do was laugh. “You rat bastard.”

“Oh come on, you can’t say you didn’t enjoy that…” He was smirking, a self satisfied smirk.

“You could have at least waited until Zayn left…”

“Where would the fun in that be?”

“Jerk.” He walked over to her and kissed her. She could taste herself on his mouth, and it just made her want him more

“Now…” He said, pulling away. “What are we going to do about this?” he asked, pointing down at his rather large erection in his jeans.

“Not my problem.” Joked Percy as she shrugged and sauntered back over to her bed. Harry let out a low growl.

“Wrong answer.” He said, tackling her onto the bed. She let out a tiny scream as he pinned her down. “Shhhhhh… You don’t want Zayn to come back do you?”

“I never minded an audience.” Percy’s eyes rolled back as Harry began kissing her neck, sending shivers down her body.

It was their post coital ritual, they would lie there both with stupid, giddy smiles on their faces. Harry was breathing hard while Percy had her eyes closed, taking in what had just happened. She still had trouble believing that this was all real. Just a few short weeks ago this guy couldn’t stand her, now he couldn’t stand to not be around her. He wanted to touch her all the time, taste her lips, hold her hand, nuzzle her neck, listen her to talk on and on about anything and everything, and Percy was more than okay with that.

But at the current moment all she could care about was getting that cigarette out of her bag and smoking it. She was trying really hard to cut back and quit, since Harry didn’t like it, but it was just a bad habit that was going to take longer to get rid of than her constant tardiness. It was just like he had read her mind because not a second later Harry turned to her.

“You want a smoke, don’t you?” he asked, his faced was still flushed red and his hair was laying flat against his head, for a first. Percy hesitated and bit her lip, looking away at his sliding door to the outside for a second.

“Dying actually.” She replied, looking at him almost ashamed. He looked at her and rolled his eyes, but still had a smile on his face.

“Well, go on then.” He said as he gestured out towards the door. Percy quickly got up, throwing on one of his shirts. She bent down to look for her underwear, which she was sure thrown off the bed at some point. It took her a few minutes, but she looked up and saw Harry swinging them around his index finger with a sneaky grin on his face. “Looking for these, are we?”

“Jerk.” She said, making a grab for them, but Harry was too fast and he pulled away. “Give them back.”

“Nope.” He shook his head. “I think I am going to keep these as a souvenir” She made another go at getting back her knickers, but he grabbed her hand and pulled her into him, kissing her. She had to pull away, because if she didn’t, she would spend the rest of the day in bed.

“You either give them to me or I am going out on your balcony butt ass naked.” She stood up, putting her hands on her hips. He didn’t move. She took his shirt back off and walked towards the door.

“Fine! Fine…” he threw her underwear back to her. “I like being the only one seeing you naked.” Right as he said that, he knew he wasn’t the only person, Zayn had seen her too, way before he did. It killed him a little. She put them back on, stuck her tongue out at him, and opened the door to the cool air, lit her smoke, and inhaled like it was the last breath she was ever going to take, and god, did it feel good. It didn’t take very long for Harry to come traipsing out after her, just in boxers, his necklace hanging low on his neck. She reached for it and turned the cross and Star of David over.

“What are you doing tonight?” He asked sincerely.

“I have a thing.” She answered, she wasn’t too sure she wanted to tell him what was going on. So far, their relationship was mainly carnal, but it was slowly turning into something more real.

“A thing?” He asked suspiciously, raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah.” She shrugged, “A school thing. I don’t even really want to go, but they’re making me.”

“Who is making you? What is this school thing?” It was his turn to ask too many questions, especially when she was being so cryptic. He put his hands around her waist and pulled her closer to him, he wanted her warmth.

“A thing for scholarship students. That’s all.”

“Okay?”

“It’s for people who write big checks out to the school, people bring their families and stuff. We show them what we’re doing and how we are living up to our end of the bargain. It’s stupid.”

“I don’t think it’s stupid.” He kissed her nose. “Not one bit.”

“It is though. And I have to give a speech.”

“A speech?”

“Yeah, guess being a star pupil has its downs.”

“Your family is going to be there?” This was a subject never really brought up between them. He knew what Jo and Zayn had told him when she first started working at the coffee shop, but he never really got around to asking her. And to be honest, she hadn’t asked him about his family either. Guess they both were a bit shy when it came to things so personal.

“No, but I prefer it that way. Giving a speech to a bunch of people I don’t know is easier than having people there.” Percy shivered, it was nearly the end of November and they were in just light clothes.

Harry noticed and ushered her inside. He moved behind her, still grabbing onto her waist, and they both slowly walked back into the room.

It was on his mind all day, the way he felt when Percy said she had no family coming to hear her speech. She had worked so hard in school the last semester and being recognized for it was kind of a big deal. It broke his heart almost, to know that when she looked at the crowd there would be no comforting faces, just random strangers. He thought about it the whole way to Zayn and Niall’s. Of course, they were all in the den. Zayn was sketching in his book, Niall and Louis were playing video games, Liam was texting and Jo sat with Kyle just talking. He threw his book bag down and went to grab a beer from the fridge. He looked around at his friends, Percy’s friends…

“Hey guys…” He asked. “What are you all doing tonight?”



“Shit, it’s already started!” said Niall as they entered the ballroom at the Marriott hotel in town. They were all done up, boys in suits and Jo in a nice dress. There was a bunch of people, all at assigned tables. They looked around for an empty one, but saw none. Just then, a man with a clipboard came up.

“May I help you?” He asked, rather snotty.

“We are here for the scholarship banquet.” Said Jo, trying to act like a real life grown up.

“Who are you here with?” His voice was still arrogant.

“Percy Appleyard.” Answered Zayn. The clipboard man looked down his list with his nose turned up.

“Sorry, she has no one listed.”

Harry pushed his way to the front of the group. “Listen here, mate. She doesn’t have any one here for her, no family or anything and she is about to give a speech to a room full of people she doesn’t know. We are her friends and want to be there for her…. Can you just let us in?”

The snotty man sighed, looked into the room and pointed to a table in the far corner with just enough seats for them.

“Go ahead.”

“Thanks man!” said Harry patting him on the back. They rushed over and all picked up the table to move it right in front of the stage. The kid who just finished speaking walked off the stage and an older gentleman came out.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, our last speaker is someone who over came a very challenging childhood, excelled in every way in high school, and proved to us that taking a chance is sometimes worth the risk, Miss Persephone Arielle Appleyard.”

“Percy’s name is actually Persephone?” Niall asked Zayn, who promptly elbowed him in the gut to shut up, while everyone else clapped. Not only did they all clap, but Zayn, Niall, Liam, Louis, Jo, Kyle, and Harry all whooped and yelled, whistled, screamed, and rooted for her when she came on stage, she was wearing a strapless silver gown with her blonde hair down, to Harry, she looked gorgeous. The minute she saw them her eyes were like a dear in headlights, she was scared shitless. She shakily got to the podium and began her speech.

“Thank you Mr. Bird and to everyone who came here tonight to listen to our stories and accomplishments so far.” She nervously cleared her throat. “Like what was said before, I didn’t have the most traditional childhood, I grew up in a part of the country that didn’t really have a name, or postal code. I didn’t have the same things other kids or people in general had. I grew up with no electricity, no running water and no real schooling. It wasn’t until I was 7 that I even really existed to the outside world. But, the government came in, busted the door down and required me to start schooling in the traditional sense. It was easy to say I was very far behind for my age, but with my will to learn and a little effort from my best friend Jo and her family, I began to catch up.” She cleared her throat because when she mentioned Jo, her best friend’s eyes got teary and she was afraid she was going to start crying.

“Once I was in high school I started to realize that I needed more than just what the school could provide me. I needed access to more information than what was supplied by my, so I made the choice to emancipate myself at 16, and I again relied on my best friend and her family to help, but they did so much more than that. They took me into their home, bought me clothes, helped me with my schoolwork, let me use their car to find a job, and through all that I became independent.

“I’ve always had a love for books and the written word since I was first exposed when I was 7, and that love continued to grow as each year passed, so for the first time, when I began applying to Universities, I knew what direction I wanted my life to go. Luckily, I touched a few people with my story and my scholarly work, so they took a chance and gave me a place to continue to pursue my love of knowledge and books.” She took another deep breath and looked at Harry, before she could get any more words out, he just smiled at her and mouthed ‘You’re amazing.’ It made her heart flutter faster than every before. “I went from being a lonely sheltered child to someone with a very bright future a head of me, not only with school, but with friends as well. So, for this I thank you.”

The whole place erupted with claps, but again, it was her friends who made a scene and wouldn’t shut up until she physically had go to their table and tell them to stop. But they didn’t, they all hugged her and congratulated her. Harry snuck in a very long hug, followed by a kiss on the cheek and a whisper saying how great she was up there. He also held her hand a little longer than friends would.

As they sat at the table and drank a bit too much, someone from the student newsletter came up and asked for Percy’s picture, but she refused until they let her friends in the picture as well.

Being a Wednesday night, no one was up for going out, so they made plans that weekend. Harry pretended to go home, when in reality, he waited in his car a few blocks away from Percy’s and waiting for her text saying that Zayn and Niall were distracted so he could come over. He only had to wait about 20 minutes before he ran up the stairs, quiet as a ghost. He was getting pretty sneaky. The more time he spent tip toeing through the mansion, the more he thought about becoming a secret agent.

Her room was unlocked, as per usual, but instead of finding her reading or on her computer, the shower was running. How convenient for him, he thought while stripping down. He never had shower sex before, maybe this time will be a first, plus, the water would drown out the noise. He finally flung his boxers off his feet, pulled back the shower curtain and slid in while Percy was facing the wall. She turned around and nearly had a heart attack seeing him in there with her.

“Holy crap, Harry!” She said, catching her breath and trying to cover herself up with her arms. She was used to being naked around Harry in the dark or under sheets. She felt kind of exposed. “How did you get in here with out me hearing you?”

“I’m becoming very, very sneaky as of late.” He couldn’t help but to want to grab the soap and run his hands all over her. “Proper MI6 stuff.”

“Yeah.” She said sarcastically while rolling her eyes. “Right.”

“Don’t’ want me in here?” He asked, pretending to be shy and upset.

“Meh. Could really care less to be honest.” She joked, turning back around and grabbing her shampoo bottle, trying to ignore him the best she could. But, Harry took the bottle from her hands into his own, squirt some shampoo in his hand, lavender and lemon, and began to lather it up in her hair. And as much as Percy hated to admit it, it felt good having someone else wash her hair, like when you get your hair done at a salon, but usually your shampoo boy doesn’t turn you on. She turned back around, Harry’s hands still in her hair.

“Lean back.” He said, and she obeyed, putting her head under the shower head, letting the soap run out of her hair and down her body, which Harry had is eyes on.

“See something you like?” She asked, trying to be cheeky.

“Maybe.” He shrugged. Goosebumps started to perk up on his body.

“Switch?” she suggested.

“Please?” The reversed roles, now he was under the warm water. It was her turn to drink Harry in. God, he was fit. Hands down the best looking guy she had ever been with. This felt a bit different, she had never showered with anyone, and Harry just seemed so casual in her shower, like it was his own. She was thinking too much, over thinking got her in trouble. She shook it from her mind and let watched him as he inspected all her bath products. “You have so much shit in your shower.” He said, letting out a tiny laugh.

“Hey…” She wanted to sound slightly offended.

“I’m just saying. You girls have so many things for the same purpose.” He ran his hands through his hair, slicking it back, then rubbed his face as water tickled down. “Look, shampoo, conditioner… understandable. But body wash, face wash, shaving cream.” He was picking up all the bottles and setting them back down. “What’s this? Another type of body wash?” It was her Summer’s Eve… No boy should ever have to know about that.

“Give it here.” She said, snatching the container out of his hand. She pushed her way back under the water and forced him out in the cold. “Out…” She demanded.

“What? Why?” He asked, a little shocked. He was hoping this could turn into shower sex, but as he examined his surrounding, he could tell that there was no way for that to happen. There was nowhere to hold onto that would carry their weight.

“Because. I need to do all my girly shower stuff and I can’t with you in here.” She explained. She really didn’t want to shave in front of Harry. They still had a bit of mystery between them. She doubted that would turn him on.

“Come on.” He begged slightly while slipping his hands around her waist, pulling her in closer, then gently kissed her, suds and all.

“Out. Now.” She insisted. Harry hung his head and kissed her quickly before he climbed out. It was only about 10 minutes before she rejoined him in her bedroom. He had a towel around his waist and was lying on her bed, against headboard, eyes closed. Luckily, it gave Percy a chance to run into her closet and grab some sweats as she crawled next to him. She didn’t waste anytime and snuggled up really close. The instant he felt her near, he wrapped his arms around her and brought her to his chest, the most comfortable feeling ever. “You smell like me…” she said softly.

“It’s a good smell.” He said, opening his eyes and looking down at her. “You were brilliant today up there, the whole speech and everything.”

“Meh.” She shrugged, “It wasn’t that great.”

“No.” He said, sitting up a bit straight, “Seriously. You were awesome. You seemed in your element, completely natural.”

“Still…”

“Don’t short yourself, you really are amazing.” He was trying to convey how completely sincere he felt about it.

“Thanks.” She said happily, she crunched her nose up at him and he did the same. She just lay comfortably in his arms for a few moments, soaking in how non-awkward the silence was.

“Was it okay that we showed up?” He asked.

“It was definitely a surprise.” She answered, “But a good one, promise.”

“You looked like a deer caught in head lights.” He joked.

“Well, when you have a group of people screaming, yelling, hooting, hollering, and clapping while you walk on stage, it’s a bit unnerving.”

“Proud of you, that’s all.” He hugged her a bit tighter and rubbed her shoulder.

“Right. Right.” She yawned and was beginning to get sleepy. It had been a long day in more ways than one, but Harry had one more thing on his mind before they fell asleep.

“Soooo…” He elongated. “Do you think your parents would have come?” Neither of them had mentioned their families to each other so far, but, getting to know Percy was great, and he wanted to know as much as she would let him.

“What?” She asked, a little freaked out to hear someone who wasn’t Jo ask about her parents. It made all the hairs on her arm and neck stand on end; her parents weren’t a particularity fun subject to chat about.

“Your parents… Do you think they would have shown up today?”

“No.” She answered very short.

“Did they know about today?” He asked, rather brave, but his heart was beating a little faster than usual.

“Probably not.” Her answer was, yet again, short.

“You didn’t tell them?”

“I send the things from time to time, but they choose not to acknowledge things they don’t accept or believe in.” She knew that this was just the beginning, but if Harry wanted to know, she was going to tell him. She moved from his arms to up against the headboard, mimicking Harry’s stance, arms folded at her chest. She always felt uncomfortable talking about how he life started. “How much do you know?”

“Uhhhh…” He pondered on whether or not to tell the truth or to keep in hidden, but he liked Percy too much to hide something from her. “Jo and Zayn gave me some information, but not all.”

“I’m going to kill both of them.” She said, clearly frustrated.

“Don’t.” He said. “They only did it so I could understand you a bit better. This was in the ‘Princess’ phase of our relationship.” Harry had a mini panic attack at the word that had just come out of his mouth. Luckily, Percy just glazed over it.

“Well. This is what I remember.” She now was sitting cross-legged, looking down at her legs, picking at the hem of her pants. “I remember being a happy child. I loved running free, barefoot around the house and farm. My Mum and Dad were both very loving and caring. They taught me what they knew, we aren’t talking about math or epic novels, but respect for the land we lived on and the food that we provided ourselves.” She breathed in heavily and let out a sigh. It had been a long time since she had told this story, her story, to anyone.

“I wasn’t abused in the terms that everyone thinks of, but I was deprived. We didn’t really talk to other people. Sometimes we would sell our extra produce to people, but we didn’t have a community like you would think. It was only the three of us and it worked, for a while.” This was the heavy part that she hated getting to. She was determined not to cry in front of Harry, not yet anyway. “But, one day, my entire world came crashing down. I guess one of the people that we sold to saw how old I was, what I wearing, how I behaved, and thought it strange. So they made a phone call, people showed up, I was taken away for a few days while they did an investigation.” Harry read her body language and sat up, then began to rub her back.

“It was a culture shock to be in a new place with out the only two people I knew. Everything was strange and alien to me, even the other kids in the home thought I was weird. But luckily I got to go back with my parents under certain guidelines. I had to go to school. I had to learn everything everyone else had already known for years. I hated every minute of being at school and not at home. I had to start form the beginning, I had tons of help from teachers, but I was miserable. Everything I was taught by my parents, all the things that made me happy weren’t normal and were wrong.

“When I finally got to the same level as kids my age, I was still an outsider. I stayed by myself at all times, didn’t play with other children, until one day Jo came to my rescue. I was getting bullied by another girl who called me dirty and poor, Jo stepped in and in front of all her friends said that they were being mean and just because someone was different didn’t make them less than you were. At first, I think her parents took pity on me, but I knew Jo was a genuine human being.

“I grew up, made my own choices that my parents weren’t approving of, they thought that my school and Jo and her parents had brainwashed me. There was so much fighting towards the end. I couldn’t take it anymore. So. I emancipated myself, went to live with Jo, and chose to turn my back on them. At least that’s what they think. I don’t know. I love them, you know? They’re my parents, they were good to me, I thought they were. I haven’t spoken to them since I grabbed what little stuff I had and drove away, leaving them in the Collin’s rearview mirror.”

Whoa, thought Harry. He was maybe expecting a short skim over Percy’s life, but she let it all out. He was slightly emotional that she could share something like this with him; it was so personal and real. He now regretting how mean and rude he was to her in the beginning, she had been through so much, over came a lot of obstacles, and chose a better life for herself. He was actually kind of proud of the person Percy was at this moment in time. He looked at her and noticed a few tears coming down the corner of her eyes.

“Hey.” He said, softly. He put her face in his hands and brought their foreheads together. “It’s okay.” He wiped the tears away with him thumbs and kissed her. She then started to cry harder. He brought her into his chest and let her cry for as long as she wanted to. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked.”

“It’s okay.” She said, leaning away from his embrace, cleaning her face with her sleeve. “I just. I just… don’t talk about it that often, so when I do I just kind of loose it. It’s not your fault. I cried when I told Zayn too.”

Ouch. That stung a bit. Zayn was always a sore subject. She shared everything that she had with Harry with him as well. But he kept telling himself he was the one in her bed not Zayn. He shook the jealousy in the back of his mind and concentrated on Percy.

“So you know everything now.” She said.

“I do?”

“You do.” She sniffled one last time, “So now you know why they wouldn’t show up to a thing like today.”

“Well. That’s what friends are for. You can’t choose your family, but you can choose your friends, and I think we’ve got a good group.”

“The best.”

“Exactly.” Percy smiled again. It was probably the shortest time in between crying and smiling she had ever done.

“I can tell you’re an older brother, you know?” She said, kind of out of the blue. If she just lay it all on the line about her family, he was going to the same. “You get weirdly over-protective sometimes. At first I didn’t think much of it, but now I see it. You totally have a younger sister.”

“Are you psychic like Ashton or something?” He asked, joking.

“No, just observant.” She said. “Tell me about her.”

Just as Percy’s parents were a sore subject, so was Aimee. But Harry was determined not to ruin this flow of conversation. They were getting somewhere, hopefully to a trusting place, like she had with Zayn.

“She is 2 years younger than me, she is crazy smart, like you, she is at Uni in London.” He kind of gave her the sugar-coated version.

“That can’t be it.”

“Its is.” He lied.

“Nope, come on Styles… I gave you my sob story.” He glared at her for half a second, but gave in.

“Fine. Her name is Aimee… when we were younger we were as close as brother and sister could be. In fact, she didn’t even speak to my parents most of the time she spoke through me. If she wanted something or needed something, she’d tell me and then I would tell my parents. That happened until she was like 3 or 4, my parents forced her to speak for herself. If Aimee wanted something, she had to ask for it.”

“That is really sweet.” Percy took to lying next to Harry again, hugging his arm like a body pillow.

“And that is about as sweet as Aimee got. She was a pawn between my mother and father, she manipulated both of them into getting what she wanted. The luck of being the little sibling.” He grabbed Percy’s hand and interlocked their fingers together. “I think, because she got everything she wanted it kind of scarred her for life. When my parents started fighting all the time the attention went away from her, so she acted out.”

“How old were you guys when they started fighting?”

“I was 17, she was 14. I kind of saw it coming, so it didn’t really affect me the way it did her. She, for some reason, always had my parents on some pedestal. I was almost out of the house so I could get away, but she was stuck. It’s still no excuse, but she fell into the wrong crowd. They were all older than she was and were bad influences. They took her to parties, got her drunk, and went straight to the hard stuff. I was always the one that came to the rescue, not that she appreciated it or anything.” He huffed a sigh, “Before I left to Uni I sat her down and tried to talk some sense into her about how I’m not going to be there anymore and I didn’t want to find her dead in a ditch someday. It worked for a little while, she started doing better in school, I think it was because my parents were kind of oblivious to what was going on so I became a substitute parent for a while, always calling and checking up on her. She got into Uni in London and I thought that she had cleaned up, but the same thing happened again, our parents filed for divorce and she fell into another bad crowd, forgot about school, and ran away. I’ve been kind of trying to follow her around, but it’s really no use. She is going to do what she wants until she ends up dead or in a hospital.”

“That’s really intense.” Said Percy, being completely serious. She always thought Harry was a good guy, but this was a whole other level or being a good person. Putting your neck out on the line over and over again for someone you love unconditionally and hardly getting anything back from it. It was pretty selfless of him. “When was the last time you spoke to her?”

“Like actual voice to voice contact?” he asked back. “Errrr… probably a couple weeks go. She had a new boyfriend, some idiot probably. As far as I know, she has been staying with him in London, somewhere.”

“Do your parents know she isn’t at school anymore?”

“I don’t really know how much they know. My Mum sends her money almost every week, my Dad is too busy to really care. Aimee is a master manipulator, she can make you believe the sky is orange while looking directly at it and seeing it’s blue.”

“You love her thought, despite everything?”

“More than life itself. Sometimes I feel like she is my kid, not my sister.”

“She is lucky to have you.” Said Percy, scooting closer to him, kissing him gently.

“I suppose so.” He said, smiling back at her, returning the kiss she gave.

“What about your Mum and Dad?” She asked, she felt him tense next to her.

“Ughhhh.” He groaned. He didn’t know how he felt about talking about his parents, they were a sore subject as of late. But since Percy bore it all, he had to do the same, as much as it stung to do it.

“You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want. Just thought I would ask.” He could feel her pulling away from him, making the right side of his body cold. He wanted her warmth back.

“No. No. I do. It brings back old feelings, angry feelings that I’d rather not express, not with you in the room anyway.” He reached out to hold her hand again, electricity going from his fingertips to the hair on his head. “My Mum is a wonderful human being. She was always fair and kind; she was the happiest, most positive person. She made our childhoods memorable and lovely. Can’t say a bad word about her to be honest.”

“That’s the kind of Mum I wanted.” Said Percy, seriously jealous of Harry’s Mum. “Not one that argued with me every day over something small and ridiculous. Well, ridiculous to normal people.”

“You are a normal person.” He said, trying to get off the subject of his parents, he knew the next question was going to be about his Dad.

“Yeah to you and everyone else. You just have to remember what was normal for me wasn’t the same for you. My childhood was so confusing. What about your Dad?”

“My Dad… well, he was there. He wasn’t an absent father or abusive or anything like that. He just had this idea in his head of a perfect family and tried to get us to fit into that bubble, and it just didn’t happen.”

“What do you mean?”

“He wanted me to be sort of like him, business oriented, but my brain didn’t work like that. My Mum started playing music in the house when I was younger and I just remember thinking it was so cool that she knew all the lyrics to the songs and was dancing around the house with me. Music made her happy, it made everyone happy. I wanted to do that, make people happy in that way. So I asked for a guitar for Christmas one year and I got it, haven’t put it down since.”

“You are quite good at it, from what I have seen anyway.” Boosting his ego a little, but it wasn’t a lie, but he could sense a ‘But’ coming. “Your Dad didn’t like you playing guitar?”

“It’s not that he didn’t like it, he just didn’t see it as a sensible way of spending my time. He wanted me to do well in school, and if I did, I could keep playing. That’s the only reason I am even at Uni, if I can get through school he will let me go off and play music for real. Not just as a hobby or at the coffee shop for open mic night.”

“So you’re going through school for him and not yourself?”

“Yeah.” He shrugged, “Pretty much.”

“That doesn’t seem right to me.”

“Trust me, I’ve argued about it until I was blue in the face. It got me nowhere, just grounded.”

“You haven’t mentioned really mention your parents relationship with each other…”

“Because they never exactly had one. Neither of them were ever overly affectionate with each other around us. They had to like each other at some point since both my sister and I are around.”

“Oh.”

“It seemed more like of an agreement than a marriage. I think my Mum held out until Aimee and I were out of the house just so we could grow up with both parents around, which I am grateful for, but I’m kind of glad it’s over. Towards the end it was just all of us walking on eggshells, trying not disturb anything.”

“So you don’t think your parents were ever in love?”

“I really don’t think they were.”

“That’s tragic.” Percy was really upset by this notion of a family with out love between the parents. Her parents were madly in love, they showed it everyday, it oozed out of ever pore of their bodies. She could see the worry lines come across Harry’s face. She was sure that all her questions were getting under his skin somewhat. But, she liked knowing this stuff about him. It made her feel less guilty about all the sex they were having for some weird reason. Like this could actually go some place and wasn’t just a series of hook ups.

“Are we done talking about our families now? I’m exhausted.” He begged a little.

“Yes. Yes. We’re done.” Said Percy, letting out a little laugh. It was true, she was tried from telling her life story and Harry telling her about Aimee, plus his Mum and Dad, also was a bit draining. “If you ever need to talk about Aimee, you can come to me, okay?”

“Okay.” He agreed, “Same about your parents. I’m here for you.” They kissed each other again and stared off into dark of her bedroom.

“I think that having Jo and Zayn, plus the rest of you lads is like the universe’s way of paying me back for all the hell I went through when I was younger. You guys are my family now.”

“Poetic.” He said, it’s was exactly what he was feeling at that moment. He had never said what he was feeling at the point he was feeling it. It was nice. He squeezed her hand.

“What are we going to do now?” She asked with a very specific idea in mind. She tapped her fingers on his own, hoping he could get the hint. Even after this deep conversation, she couldn’t help but to think that she wanted to take off that towel he was in.

“I could think if a few things.” Said Harry, Percy didn’t even have to look at Harry to know what face he was making. Eyebrow raised, smile on his face, a dark gleam in his eyes. And she was sure that Harry could feel her rolling her eyes at him.

“Come on then, show me.”

“Challenge accepted.” And in an instant, he tore the towel off his body, across the room, and pinned Percy to the bed, making her giggle as he kissed her.

Notes