Arcane

chapter 22

I woke up, taking a second to remember where I am. I smiled, taking in the scent of Harry's pillow, wanting to bottle up this memory and keep it in my pocket. I stretch out my arms, letting out a small groan as I did, rolling over- almost slamming into someone's chest. "What the fuck-" I pulled down my arms, wiping away the sleep from them as I blinked to clear my vision. I swear my eyes almost popped out of my head as I saw Harry in front of me, no shirt, his tattoos decorating his chest.

He groaned in his sleep, his plump lips separated slightly as he moved, his arm wrapping around my waist and pulling me towards him. I let out a small yelp at the unexpected move. Was he awake?

Nevertheless, I melted into the position, laying my head on the pillow we were no sharing. I trailed my finger over his several tattoos, the swallows, butterfly and ferns, only to go over them again as I finished. I wonder when he had gotten them, and if they hurt a lot. I moved my finger up to look at the tattoo on his right arm around my waist, then the one his hands and wrist.

I didn't pay much attention to them before, but now in our close vicinity I couldn't get my eyes off of them. "Feels nice" His low voice grumbled making me jump, removing my finger only to have his hand place mine back on his chest, letting go when I continued to trace over the tattoos. "I- I didn't know you were awake." I said with less confidence than before, "Wasn't, you woke me up" he answered, his eyes still closed as he licked his lips.

"Oh, sorry"

"It's fine, like waking up like this" He pulled me closer as he spoke, keeping his hand on my waist. I felt a deep blush grow on my cheeks, hiding my face in his chest as he chuckled. "Did you sleep okay?" He asked moving his hand from my waist to my hair, running his hand through it. "Yeah, have a bit of a head ache though. I'm never drinking again" He laughed quietly, his chest rumbling as he did. "Yeah right, need an Advil?" He moved to get up but I pulled him back to the bed.

"No no, just stay a bit longer" I said, embarrassingly admitting how safe and comfortable I felt here. He agreed and put his hand under the sweater I was wearing, tracing small patterns on my back as I placed my head under his own, feeling his stomach muscles tense as I moved my hand over his tattoos.

I felt sleep grow over me, my eyes slowly closing.

----

Shit, had I fallen asleep? I sat up, the covers falling to my waist as I rubbed my eyes with the back of my hands. I looked around feeling slightly disappointed when I saw I was alone in the bed. Looking to my left I saw someone had left an Advil and glass of water on the nightstand, I smiled and took it, waiting for the head ache to subside. I swung my legs over the bed, standing up and feeling the room slightly spin. I need to get some food in my system.

I opened the door, almost running into Gemma who had a toothbrush in her hand. She looked at me with wide eyes, giving me a one over. "Are.. you wearing Harrys clothes?" She asked with a smile playing on her lips. It took me a second to realize what she was suggesting, quickly shaking my head and waving my heads, my head ache getting slightly worse.

"No- well yes but it isn't what you think- we didn't uhm.. you know" She laughed at my nervous behavior, "Relax, he told me you slept in his room since you got a little bit plastered last night. It's sweet he took care of you, breakfast's downstairs if you're hungry" She walked back into the bathroom, "Thanks" I mumbled a bit surprised with how cool she was with this, I walked down the stairs, the smell of bacon filling my nose.

I heard my stomach growl as I walked closer to the kitchen, seeing Anne by the stove again and Harry on one of the stools. "Morning sleeping beauty" Harry said, biting a piece of bacon off as Anne turned around with a smile looking at my clothes for a split second as her smile got bigger, glancing at Harry but not saying anything. He just rolled his eyes with a smirk and patted the stool next to him, shoving his plate over in front of the stool.

I sat myself on the stool, shrieking when he placed his hand on one of the legs of it and pulled me closer to him, our legs touching. "Sorry, just wanted you closer" he mumbled, making me blush once again, my stomach churning and not from the hunger.

He had so much effect on me and didn't even know.

I took a bite of the bacon and sandwich that was on the plate, almost moaning when it hit my tongue. "Anne this is amazing" I said, covering my mouth with my hand as I heard a small chuckle from her "Thanks love" She washed the plates and headed upstairs saying she was going to get ready to run some errands, leaving me and Harry alone.

"You meant what you said yesterday right?" He said, cutting through the silence. I took a bite off my sandwich and looked at him. "What do you mean?" He shuffled his phone around the table distracting himself, "When you said you wanted to be more?"

Shit I forgot I said that. But I did mean it.

"Yes" I said, not hesitating to show him I meant it. A small smile appeared on his face as he looked down to hide it. "Okay, just wanted to make sure" He chuckled. I nodded finishing my sandwich as Anne walked back downstairs saying goodbye. Harry cleared his throat as he took my plate to clean it off, "Oh no it's okay I can do it-" he scoffed and looked at me, "Em, you're a guest. Let me do it"

I rolled my eyes at his manners and sat back down.

"So I have an idea" He started, sitting back down, I hummed a response "Yeah? What's that?" He looked at me, our stools close together. "Well since your only here for like 5 more days, I wanted to go places with you, you know" He looked a bit uncomfortable asking me as if I would reject him.

"Of course, what did you have in mind?"