Matilda | Harry Styles

THIRTY

I could feel Harry's touch on me from the moment that I woke up. His arm was thrown over my side, and one of his legs was pushed between both of mine, connecting us. I was facing him, our faces inches apart on the edges of our own pillows. He was watching me, silently, a focused glint in his eye that made me wonder if he'd been doing the very same thing I always caught myself doing, when he was ever asleep beside me; taking in every detail, fixating on each intricacy of his face and admiring them.

The moment our eyes met, I watched a smile tug on his lips that made me melt, even despite barely being awake. I exhaled, as his hand met the side of my face in a gentle movement, only for the pounding in my head to settle in.

"Ouch," I mumbled, then, shuffling towards him with a silent wince at the way it caused the pressure in my head to amplify. His hand moved to rest upon the back of my neck, his fingers pushing gently under my hair to somehow alleviate some of the pinching pressure I could feel, there, as I leaned into him.

A wine hangover somehow felt even more torturous than any other kind. I was prone to a headache after I'd had a few too many drinks, but when it was due to wine, I found myself feeling so much more sluggish.

"Rough night," Harry remarked teasingly, as I buried my face into his neck. His hand drew over my back, between my shoulders, and in that moment, I was just happy that he didn't have anywhere to be. In recent days, he'd had to shoot off with somewhere to be, before I could even properly wake up; but he didn't have any press today - it was only soundcheck, later on, and then, obviously, the show. He was here, otherwise.

I couldn't remember much of what had happened after leaving the restaurant; it had all sort of blurred into one. I had a vague memory of us leaving, and being in the car, and then I vaguely remembered Harry tucking the covers around me to put me to sleep; and that was it, really. There were blank spots in my memory, where the only thing I could be sure of was Harry's company.

"You should probably eat something," he said, as I leaned my head back against the pillow again, and his hands moved forward to push my hair from my face, lingering there for a moment. I heard my phone vibrate from the table behind me, and I groaned, leaning back to enable me to grab it.

I'd been added to a new group chat; this time, just myself, Elin, and Sarah.

Elin: Is anybody alive?

'Barely', I responded, before my phone buzzed again.

Elin: The wine must've been laced, because WTF.

I set it back down on the bedside table without replying, a short laugh leaving my lips as I nestled back into Harry's arms.

"I don't think I can handle food," I admitted, with a sigh. The idea of eating right now made me feel nauseous. I brought my hand to my forehead, wincing a little at the intensity of my headache. "I could do coffee, though."

"Do you want me to try to go get some?" he offered. "There are some cafes around here that look good."

"No," I sighed, "if you go, you'll need a whole security detail. We could just go downstairs?" I suggested. It definitely wasn't early enough in the morning for Harry to sneak through New York City undetected, and I'd feel bad if he got bombarded with people, just because I'd asked him to get me some coffee. I sat up in bed, attempting to ignore the way my head pounded as I continued, "If I don't get up now, I'll rot in here all day."

"Look at you, soldiering on," Harry remarked, causing me to attempt to push his head away from me, playfully, with my hand as he, too, sat up to throw his arms around me.

"Get off," I huffed, giggling as he squeezed his arms around my torso and drew me back against his chest, and he trailed a line of repeated kisses from my ear to my neck, causing me to squirm with laughter. I finally relented, collapsing back into his arms with a sigh. I brought my arm up, bending it to enable my hand to gently cup his jaw, behind me. "Thanks for looking after me last night," I said.