Meet Me in the Hallway (HS AU)

forty five.

It was as if I was ripped from sleep. I sat up in a sharp jolt, a heavy presence weighed across my stomach. I worked to slow my breathing and allowed for my eyes to adjust to the dark. When did I fall asleep?

My eyes scanned quickly around the room, it wasn't mine and I was sure of that. Immediately, I knew what the weight on my abdomen was. The top of his head was nuzzled into my skin, arms wrapped around my hips. His curls were a mess from sleep and his breathing was slow and rhythmic.

Although it seemed like he was in a deep sleep, my movements must have brought him out of it. Instinctively, his arms tightened around me and he readjusted his position so his head was facing toward my face instead of my legs.

"Go back to sleep, don't overthink it." His voice was low and gravely, before his lips parted back into deep breathes as sleep washed back over him.

I fell backwards, careful not to wake him again. My back was stiff as a board, eyes locked to the ceiling, hands sitting awkwardly at my side. What did this mean? He was literally wrapped around me as he slept comfortably, I had no idea what time it was or how long we had been like this but in my state of discomfort - I still felt oddly calm.

My eyes shot open and closed just as quick when I noticed the brightness pouring into the room. We mustn't have closed the curtains last night before falling asleep. Cautiously, I opened my eyes again and allowed them to adjust to the light. Without looking down I could tell Harry was still attached to me. As well as his arms around me and head on my stomach, our legs were intertwined and my hands were placed around the back of his head.

I tried so hard to stay as still as possible so he would stay asleep but he seemed to have a radar for this kind of thing. Always knew exactly when to show up, wake up or speak up.

"Best sleep I've had in months." He whispered, giving my body one slow squeeze as he stretched before rolling off of me and laying beside me.

I flipped onto my side so I could look at him, our eyes level so I could look straight into his sleepy ones. Delicately, he raised a hand towards his face and used the knuckle of his pointer finger to wipe sleep from his eyes, letting out a yawn in the process. His hand then found its way to my cheek.

"You're still the boss you know, so you can tell me to fuck off if you want," his thumb caressed my cheekbone, "but its a new day and I still want to kiss you."

A breathy laugh passed my lips and I rolled my eyes. "You are insatiable."

"Maybe, or maybe I'm just finally getting to see a side of you that lets you be happy. The fact that I seem to contribute to that probably doesn't help my overwhelming desire to kiss you all the time or be near you all the time."

"It's too early for this." I spoke through a nervous laugh.

"Tell me to leave it if you want, but just know that I will never say no to kissing you if you ever have the urge to just," he wrapped his arms around himself and made childish kissy noises into the air, "you know?"

By this point I was laughing so loud that if Clem wasn't awake, she certainly would be now. Clem. Fuck.

"Oh fuck. Clem." I covered my eyes with my hands, a headache forming at the top of my spine at the thought of explaining this situationship to her.

"What about her? Unless you were using our sibling rivalry to make her jealous and you plan to run away with her in the dead of night or something, it's none of her business." He poked my shoulder as he joked, he could tell I was shitting bricks at this point.

"Yeah actually, we had plans to skip town last night, get married and live off the grid. I think it might hurt her to see me leave her brother's bedroom after I flaked like that." I continued on, the sick feeling in my stomach slowly dissipating.

We laid there for some time, just making small talk and joking with one another. My throat was dry due to the stretch of time without water, it was at that point we decided it was time to leave the safe space that was Harry's room and enter the real world again. Being closest to the edge of the bed, Harry got up first and stretched his long body before spinning on his heel and helping me from his soft mattress. My bare feet were cold on the hardwood floors below us. I didn't even have to say anything and a pair of socks were being placed on my hand.

After putting those on and spending some time pressed against Harry's bedroom door exchanging soft kisses, I swallowed my fear and turned the knob to pull the door open. I moved to exit his room and instantly stopped in my tracks.

Clem just so happened to be leaving her room at the same time. She was frozen, hand stuck to her door handle, mouth falling open and eyes wide. We stood in this stand off for a short amount of time before her slack jaw slowly turned into a cocky smile.

"I fucking knew it." She screamed.

'I was right. I always am. Harry and Jo are a thing. Clem is so smart.' Her chants echoed down the hallway as she did dances such as the sprinkler in a circle. She soon moved to run up and down the hallway continuing her mantra.

Harry looked at me, rolling his eyes before he walked past me to the kitchen. I couldn't help but let my eyes follow his figure through the kitchen doorway and around the corner. Once I brought my eyes back to Clem, I noticed she was on the phone.

"You owe me $20 Adrian. I fucking told you they would so get together."

Oh dear.

Breathe, Josephine.

*****

Hi, I'm sick and emotionally drained this week so I apologise for a boring chapter but I just wanted to get something out. I hope to do better for you all next update!
Stay safe babes xx