Note To Self (Harry Styles AU)

Chapter Thirty Nine.

The incessant, repetitive chiming of Harry's cell phone was what pulled Harry out of the comforts of his slumber before he was ready to leave. The sun was bright in his room as Saturday morning commenced, Winnie's snout puffing hot breath on his face from where she laid, still fast asleep. He grumbled, curling in on himself when the room fell peacefully quiet, much to his delight, before his phone went off again for what felt like the hundredth time in just the few short moments he'd been awake.

Frustrated, his arm slapped against the mattress and he blindly patted the surface in search for the device, finding it mere millimeters from toppling over the edge onto the floor. He wiped at his bleary eyes as he looked at the screen, wanting nothing more than to turn the phone off so he could get more sleep. He saw he had several messages, each of them sent by the same unsaved number in his phone.

"Harry, are you awake?" He received at 10 A.M., followed by multiple messages that said nothing more than, "Wake up." Another one came in while he held the phone, vibrating in his palm.

Harry typed back that he was awake, just to stop the messages from pouring in. He dropped the phone onto the sheets as soon as he hit send, stretching out underneath the covers with a long yawn.

As he swallowed, he noticed a slight ache in his throat and realized he wanted some water, but was far too comfortable to get some for himself. His phone lit up with another message from the unknown number. "Great :) Wanna go for a walk with me? You can take Winnie."

It was obvious to him that he was speaking to Aubry, no other person messaged him early in the morning or late at night. That was exclusive to her, and her only. He sighed. Truthfully, the last thing he wanted was to take a walk. "I literally just woke up like 2 minutes ago."

"Right, I forgot you're a lazy ass," she replied back.

Harry wasted minutes staring at the ceiling, contemplating if he really wanted to bother getting out of bed before noon. Well aware he was home alone, mother out shopping like she always was on Saturday mornings, and father at work, he really wanted to squeeze as much sleep as he possibly could before he was inevitably forced out of bed. Maybe Aubry was right about him being lazy, but she was wrong if she was under the impression that he cared. In the end, he picked up his phone to reply, "Can we go in a little while? I need a shower."

Even after she confirmed she'd wait for him, he still didn't budge. The sheets of his bed were too soft and warm to leave, and having Winnie to curl up next to while she slept didn't sway his decision to stay in bed even longer. Getting Harry out of bed was the second hardest thing in the morning. He'd rather not talk about the first.

Fifteen extra minutes passed before he bothered to move from his spot, lazily sliding out from the covers and strolling out of the room in his underwear to get a drink from the kitchen. He stared out the window over the sink as he slowly sipped from his glass, the sun shining brightly on the leaves of the maple tree in the yard. The squirrel Winnie always tried her absolute hardest to catch was running along the top of the fence carrying what appeared to be a piece of bread in it's mouth, big, fluffy tail gracefully following along behind him. He zoned out as he watched the animal hop from the fence, to the tree to climb up to it's home, until he felt the cold, wet nose of Winnie brush against his bare thigh.

She stamped her front paws on the wooden floor happily when he glanced down at her, tail wagging rapidly before she walked away, wanting him to follow. She was asking to be let outside, Harry knew, and he opened the door for her. The squirrel was hidden away by the thick veil of leaves before she'd even gotten a chance to see it, but Socks was enjoying the sun from the chair placed on the porch. Eyes squinting in relaxation, he hardly noticed Harry in the doorway as Winnie raced by to run in the open grass. Harry didn't say hi to him like he usually did, instead he decided not to disturb the lounging cat any more than the bug flying around his twitching ears already was.