The Photographer - h.s

Hold me, baby

Harry

I woke up in my bed and rolled over to the absence of the tangled mess of light brown hair I fell asleep next to. I sat up and let my eyes adjust to the bright room and checked my phone for anything important before I swung my legs over the edge of the bed and got up, feeling the cold hardwood floor under my feet. I made my way to the kitchen and found Victoria sitting on a stool at the island with a cup of coffee in front of her and another beside her.

"Good morning." I said in a sing-songy and sat beside her. "Is this for me?" I asked to her and she spun on the stool and faced me and nodded with a small smile.

"Finally, you're up." She said to me with a smirk and rolled her eyes.

"Oh hush, did you sleep well?" I asked her and she nodded and took a sip of her coffee. It made me happy knowing she was able to sleep without being woken up by a nightmare. She told me they don't happen often, and I'm hoping it goes back to her being able to sleep every night without having to worry. She's been so radiant recently, I mean, she always is, but more so recently.

"You made coffee, I'll make us some breakfast. Eggs on toast sound okay?" I asked her as I slid off my stool and she smiled and tilted her head.

"Of course, thank you baby." She said back and it made me feel so warm. Hearing her call me by... really anything makes my heart start racing, even hearing her call me by my name makes me excited.

I cracked the eggs and let them fall onto the pan and begin to cook. I connected my phone to the Alexa speaker in the corner and searched through my playlists for a song to play.

"Ah, here we go." I said and looked up to her a smiled.

~•PLAY SONG NOW•~

"Hold me, baby, just one more time, You make it easy, you make it right." The song began and I started dancing and turned to face her as she smiled widely to me giggling. I walked over and grabbed her hand pulling her into the center of the kitchen with me to dance, I wrapped an arm behind her back and held our hands out to the side of us as we swayed quickly to the beat, she threw her head back and laughed.

"You and I. Can't deny, That we've been stuck with cold feet. Not gonna lie, I kinda like it. Just tell me where to be." I sang to her along with the music and she shook her head softly and continued to sway with me as we smiled widely at each other. This feels like a dream I've had before, dancing in the kitchen while I make breakfast for the girl I l- for my best friend. She is my best friend, but she is.... beautiful and she is captivating, timeless... she's perfect. The sound of her laugh fills me with warmth and joy, and it makes me feel even better knowing that I'm the cause of her laughter. Nothing compares to this feeling, nobody compares to her. Her smile is contagious and so kind. She is so kind. This moment feels perfect, and being able to feel so completely myself with her is amazing. I never would've imagined myself here with her 5 months ago when we met back in January.

"You and I, It's a sign. Staring at the ceiling, Maybe I'm Out of line, To wanna get caught sleeping. Do you mind Leavin' the lights on? 'Cause I really like to see you..." i pulled away and held our connected hands over her head and she spun around and came back in and I pulled her closer to my body, our foreheads almost touching. I leaned in slowly and kissed her slowly. This felt different though, this wasn't some quick kiss or anything like before, this felt... important. There was passion and emotion in this. It was everything. I pulled away from her and she gave me a small smile and glanced to my lips and back to my eyes.

"Wow Styles, you've got moves." She said laughing and I held her tight and dipped her back quickly and pulled her back on to her feet, and spinning with her as she giggled the whole time. I never see this side to her, her soft, giddy side. The side of her she doesn't try holding back, she's a very guarded person, I've noticed that from the beginning, and I've worked so hard working away at her wall and gaining her trust, and I feel like I'm finally getting there.

"What can I say? I'm a dancer." I said jokingly causing her to raise her eyebrow and nod. I shrugged and let her go and spun around, taking the eggs off the pan and placing them on the pieces of toast I had on plates beside the stove. I placed the plates on the island where our coffee mugs sat and I turned to the fridge and placed a small bottle of hot sauce on the table for Victoria, she adds hot sauce to almost anything she eats, I decided to go out and get the kind she had in her fridge so she can have some when she eats with me. She looked at the bottle and back to me with a slight blush on her face and she gave me a sincere smile.

"Thank you." She said and leaned up on her toes and kissed my cheek before we walked around the island and took our seats as I hummed along to the music. I looked over at her and she was staring at me with a smirk before looking back to her plate and began eating when I locked eyes with her. She always acts so surprised when I do something nice for her, like... just being a nice person blows her away sometimes. I just want her to actually believe that she deserves acts of kindness from others.

"Hey, I gotta do some stuff with Mitch at the studio today so, how about we swing by the cafe, and then I'll bring you home... like 12 o'clock?" I said to her and she smiled to me while chewing with her mouth closed and nodded.

"Perfect, I have some shoots I have to go through and retouch I need to catch up on." She said back to me and took a sip of her coffee. It made me so happy that her career is starting to take off and she's gaining the recognition she deserves. We ate the rest of our food in silence letting the music shuffle through its playlist, I took our plates and the mugs and placed them in the sink before we headed back to my room to get ready for our day. She kept my white shirt on and put a pair of my basketball shorts on with it. She looks better in both of them than I ever could.

-

I walked into the studio and Mitch looked up and from the computer and looked at me a moment before looking back to the computer.

"Hey, man." I said to him as I walked in and sat down on the couch, he typed for a moment before spinning around in the computer chair and giving me a small wave as I smiled to him.

"What's got you all...happy?" He asked and I furrowed my eyebrows shrugging.

"Uh... I had a good morning, I guess." I said to him, and leaned forward onto his knees.

"With Vic?" He asked me and pressed my lips together and remained silent. "Awww, because you wove her?" He asked in a baby voice and I took a small throw pillow from beside me and threw it at him.

"I do not, you asshole. She's... my best friend." I told him and he rolled his eyes and leaned back in the chair.

"Yeah, because friends totally looks at friends the way you look at her. Friends also... kiss and make out, and write songs about-"

"Okay, shut it. You've got it all wrong, we're just.... friends." I said bluntly and he shook his head and pushed his hair out of his face.

"Are you trying to convince me... or yourself? Harry, everybody seems to know you love her except for you and her. You have to allow yourself to feel that again." He said to me and I shook my head and leaned back into the couch.

"What do you mean?" I asked him and he chuckled and looked at me with a serious look on his face.

"You know what I mean. You're too scared to actually love another person after Emily ruined you, but you gotta let it go, man. You just have to trust her. I know you loved Emily, and I know she was everything to you and then she went and ruined it all, but you have to trust that Victoria is different." I shook my head and looked down at my boots.

"She only destroyed me, because I loved her the way I did, and gave her so much of myself. I can't keep doing that, because every time it falls apart it takes something from me. And I cannot let this fall apart, if I go all in and this falls apart... It'll take everything that's left of me." I said to him and he just looked at me and shook his head slowly.

"Harry, you have to trust that this won't fall apart. That you can let yourself love her and you'll be okay. I just want you to be happy, man." He pushed and I nodded and intertwined my fingers together in front of me.

"I'm happy now." I said to him and he shrugged.

"I just want you to know, I have your back man. In whatever you decide to do here, I just wanted to give you my take." I appreciate that he cares and that he's trying to be helpful, but I just- I'm happy with what we're doing right now, why mess with something that's completely fine? We're both fine.