Harry Styles Imagines and Preferences

Comforting Moments

 It's late when Harry comes home, shuffling through the door on tired feet that have been standing in the studio most of the day, and you fumble for a moment with the indecision of whether or not you should pretend to be asleep or not.

It would sure make things easier; you wouldn't have to answer his inevitable questions, what have you done today? (nothing), how are you? (I feel useless), are you alright? (no, not really). You wouldn't have to worry him, have him fret over you and hover about trying to find a way to fix whatever's wrong when you can't even quite put your finger on it yourself.

And yet you don't know how much longer you can stomach it, how much longer you can act like you don't feel like you're collapsing from the inside out. There isn't anyone else for you to talk to, no one who understands or would care enough to try, and though you hate being the cause of his concern, you really could use some of his comfort.

His footsteps carry into the room and your fingernails bite into your palms.

"Love?" he whispers it into the near darkness, just in case you're sleeping, and you open your mouth but stop yourself just before a sound leaves it. After a few moments of silence, you hear the rustling of his clothes leaving his body, and then feel the dip of the mattress as he climbs onto it. He slides close to you, carefully, fitting up against your back as his fingers brush your arm, your hair, wrap around your waist to gently pull you back snug against his warm chest. He doesn't seem to be settling down to sleep just yet, or to be bothered by the lack of sound or light, he seems to be quite content just to spoon you and take in your presence, your warmth, stroke your skin with feather light touches and breathe in the scent of your hair.

It's as if you're his place of peace after the chaos of his day, like you're all he needs to feel at home, and for some reason it makes you burst into tears.

"Baby?" he questioned as soon as he realizes that you're sobbing in his arms, withdrawing quickly away as if he'd burned you, and then he scrambles to flick on the lamp.

"Oh God, what happened?" He grips your shoulders and tries to get you to turn to him, but you hide away from him, pressing your face into your pillow and trying to bunch up into a tight ball. You can almost feel his panic.

"Did I do something?" You manage to shake your head, and Harry's sigh of relief is immediate, but he still climbs off the bed to come around and kneel down next to you.

"Baby please tell me what's wrong Please? I can't help you if you don't tell me..."

"I...I don't want to bother you..." Harry tuts like a mother at your croaked response, pushing your hair from your face and trying to catch your watery gaze.

"Haven't we been through this? Don't keep everything to yourself and not telling me things." He catches a few fat tears on his thumb, giving you a small, worried smile when you finally can bring yourself to look at him.

"C'mon. Tell me what's wrong babe." He waits for you to finish a fresh wave of tears, handing you a few tissues conveniently located by the bed and letting you speak up at your own pace.

"I just feel like..." you begin, having sat up against the headboard now and mopped at your face until you start to feel more human again.

"I feel like, it doesn't matter how hard I try to fix things, they just never change. I don't even know why I try anymore, everything just goes to shit and I..." You press your hands to your face as your bottom lip quivers hard, trying to breathe yourself calm as you feel Harry shift into place next to you. His arm comes around your shoulders, pulling you into his side and letting your lean against him as another soft sob leaves you. His body is solid but warm, his skin is soft and smells like clean linen and vanilla, and as you soak up his comfort it feels a little easier to breathe. "Sometimes I just really feel like such a failure."

"You aren't though baby," he says softly, kissing the top of your head.

"You work so hard and you're so strong. You don't give yourself enough credit." You sigh and shut your eyes, pressing your face into his neck and letting him play with your hair.

"I mean, I know I'm a bit biased, but I think you're fantastic. I think you're smart, and funny, and you're so sweet." He drops another kiss to your temple. "And you're so pretty, and so cute, and so supportive of me."

"But..."

"So you don't have everything figured out yet. You don't have to." Harry lifts your chin so you meet his warm green eyes.

"You've got time, baby. You're going to be okay. And in the meantime, you have me and that's never going to change, you will always have me no matter what." Your eyes well up again, but this time it's because he's making your heart feel so full you can hardly stand it. You hug him tightly, loving him so much you don't know how to put it into words.

"Thank you, I don't know what I'd do without you you know." The words feel horribly inadequate, but you can feel him smile against your neck as he hugs you back, holding you close and kissing right behind your ear.

"You're welcome, love." He squeezes you affectionately. "Never be afraid to come to me when you're feeling down, okay? Let me carry you through the hard times."