How It's Going To Be [h.s.]

Chapter 48

Trigger warning

Because of my work schedule, I could only stay two nights in Stockholm. My first day in the city with Harry was dreamlike. Walking along Monteliusvägen and seeing the beautiful views as Harry and I talked about how much we loved each other was a memory I surely could never lose. The smile on my face from the day lasted until the following morning.

"Time to get up," Harry mumbled in my ear.

"No," I whined.

"Planning to sleep all day?"

"Not by myself," I smiled. I opened my eyes and saw Harry sitting on the edge of the bed near my leg. I tugged on his arm and he surrendered. I pulled him back onto the bed. "We could stay here."

"Don't tempt me," he pouted. "The boys wanted to have breakfast with you."

"Really?"

Harry held up his phone, "I've gotten nearly a dozen calls from Louis this morning begging us to come with them. And Niall keeps calling to hurry us up because he's starving."

I pushed the duvet off me and sat up. "Only for those boys," I mumbled.

The bathroom was humid from Harry's shower. The fog on the mirrors was just disappearing as I started brushing my teeth. I examined my reflection in the mirror carefully. My hair was messy from the bed, but I generally looked good. Getting a full night's sleep had performed miracles on my complexion. No dark circles pooled at the bottom of my eyes. My cheeks were a healthy color, not ghostly white like they had been.

I reached for a bottle of moisturizer as the sleeve of my t-shirt fell off the curve of my shoulder. When I looked back in the mirror, the moisturizer dropped from my hand and landed on the bathroom floor in a clatter. My mouth fell open and my eyes fell to a deep purple bruise on the top of my shoulder. Its shape was organic with imperfect edges and harsh coloring. The purple faded from violet to magenta in different areas of the mark.

"Are you okay?" Harry knocked on the nearly closed door. He stuck his head in the room and our eyes met in the mirror.

"I'm fine, but my shoulder..."

Harry caught sight of the bruise and his eyes widened first in horror, then in amusement. "Is that my doing?"

"Unless another boy was attached to my shoulder last night," I huffed.

"Some love bite you have there, Kate."

I rolled my eyes, "Well done, Styles."

Harry walked up and stood behind me to evaluate the love bite himself. He frowned at the mark and his lips pouted. He raised his hand to gingerly touch the bruise. "Does it hurt?"

"No," I shook my head.

"Does it bother you?"

"It's not like anyone can see it," I shrugged. "I didn't bring anything sleeveless to wear."

"Good."

"Good?" I raised my eyebrows.

"I just think there are better ways for us to show the world that we're together than by me leaving marks on your skin. I'm not trying to convince anyone that I own you. I don't want to own you. I was just caught up in the moment last night." The tone Harry used to say "own" was nothing short of disgusted. He wasn't trying to control me or force me into anything. He saw us as equals and it was reassuring. "I'll leave you to get ready."

____________

With my love bite concealed by the short sleeve of my white knit babydoll dress, Harry and I joined the rest of the boys for breakfast. Situated at the table beside Niall and across from Louis, I had to fight to keep from having syrup spilled on me and salt put in my orange juice by the notorious pranking pair. The boys were joking and carefree. It was nice to see them so relaxed. Each took turns sharing stories from tour and competing to get me to laugh the hardest.