BLACKOUT :: REWIND // A Harry Styles AU

ELEVEN :: DEPARTURE

Madeleine could hear the rain. As she pretended to sleep soundly on the very edge of her bed, staring towards the window through a gap between her duvet and her pillow, she could hear each individual droplet pelt against the glass, lulling her back to sleep. She could feel Mason's hand on her hip, lightly squeezing and occasionally stroking her skin. It tickled when he did, and she had to force herself not to move. She didn't want to engage in any conversation with him yet. Alcohol consumption and fainting last night aside, she still remembered what he'd said.

No matter the rain, it was still a bright day outside. At least, that's what her chiffon curtain told her. She wasn't entirely sure if that was really the case. It behaved like a filter - holding back the negative aspects to present her with only the positive, although if she couldn't hear the rain, she'd be lured into a false sense of security. That seemed to happen to her a lot.

After a little while longer, Mason rolled his way out of bed and got himself dressed. Still Madeleine refused to move, but she knew he wouldn't just get up and leave without saying anything.

He'd be going for a run.

She waited again, listening not only for the flat door but also the building door to bang shut, before she finally managed to stretch out into her own bed in peace. Mason's side was still warm, but it wasn't a comfort to her at all. It was a reminder that he'd been there, and would be coming back.

Once she was fully awake and satisfied, she climbed out of bed and made herself some breakfast. While the kettle was boiling she put some pyjamas on - a green pair of chenin bottoms and a matching oversized jumper. She also brushed through her hair, feeling the ache of it after having it up so tightly the night before. She'd plait it once she'd eaten. Decided that she wouldn't be leaving the flat today, she tucked herself back into bed and watched the Saturday morning news with her porridge and her tea.

The images on the TV screen blurred as she watched it. She wasn't really paying attention to world's matters. In fact she barely remembered eating breakfast at all, because the face of the man she met the night before - Harry, with the loud suit and sheer shirt -, kept distracting her thoughts. As it had been since the moment she laid eyes on him, his beautiful face plagued every conscious (and unconscious) thought she'd had. Those two instances where she'd seen him - running into him, and in Charlotte's office - repeated over and over in her mind as if the moving images were tattooed on the insides of her eyelids.

Something about Harry felt different. She was on edge all day yesterday, as if her body was preparing her to meet this random stranger. And while they'd barely exchanged two words to one another, the way he looked at her had been overwhelming. He'd never met her but he looked at her like she were a priceless oil painting - one that even Mason would be proud to ever restore. But that was just the difference. Already, after not knowing the man for even 12 hours. Mason had spent a year trying to 'restore' Madeleine to an acceptable level that he could get on with. Harry already looked at her as if he wouldn't change a thing.

Her thoughts began to irritate her. How could she get such a powerful and overwhelming feeling about a man she didn't know. Because she really didn't know Harry, in any capacity. She knew by word of mouth that he was a talent scout, and that he wore loud clothes. But that was it. And yet, from no more than five minutes total in his presence, she felt an undeniable connection to this man. A connection she didn't even know she was capable of having, or feeling.

Madeleine had never outwardly craved the company of anyone, especially not men, and certainly not in a romantic capacity. But in that moment, sitting up in bed with her last spoonful of porridge swirling its way stodgily around her mouth, she had never yearned for someone's physical presence more. She wanted to see Harry again. She had no idea how she was going to even attempt to quash the desire, not that she really wanted to at all. Craving the attention of another person when she couldn't give the same in return to the man she was already seeing was about to prove itself to be Madeleine's biggest challenge.