crystal method || Harry Styles au

2:26 a.m. - Tillamook, Oregon Police Department

Mai was 22 and wasn't sure how she always ended up in the local police station. The building had become familiar in the past few years. The smell of black coffee was distinct and the heavy fog in the air from cigarettes never seemed to bother her nose. She stood opposite of the old police officer. She slid her bank account information across the counter top and took a deep breath. The 5k was supposed to go towards her college tuition, that she had dreamed about for the past 6 years. Due to an unfortunate change of events, her plans crashed through and here she was.

The older man was kind and nodded politely while entering the information into an out-of-date computer. He was here the past 4 times she had been; entering the cash for her to bail him out. Once again. She stared numbly at the wooden table infront of them. He motioned for her to follow after him and she did. The man seemed to have a slight wobble; something definitely acquired from age.

She passed the endless count of metal cages that held 3 people in each. Mai avoided eye contact with the civilians she had known her whole life. The misfits that were going absolutely nowhere with their 'careers'. After making it down the hallway, she approached the room where he was sitting.

His back was against the wall; his legs spread and his hands laced together across his lap. His hair was a complete mess. Instead of being strewn across his forehead, the curls had been combed through with his fingers and pushed back. The white shirt that he wore just about every week, had been covered in brown dirt and had holes in it; she would have to toss it out later that night. Bruises were forming on his biceps and cuts were deep in his hands and one was noticable on his elbow.

"Harry." she whispered quietly and her voice caught his attention.

"Mai." He jumped up to the sound of her voice and walked quickly from one side of the jail cell until he was face to face with her. The man pushed her to the side to unlock the door. Harry walked around the man and Mai as if she wasn't even there. He gathered his belongings at the desk; which consisted of his phone and wallet. He didn't say a word before heading outside.

The air was cold, just like his attitude towards her lately. He wasn't a man of many words. He climbed into his old pickup truck that Mai had driven to get to the police station. The brick building wasn't far off the beaten path and they were back on the street within seconds. The car was silent and he didn't bother to turn the heater on. After 10 minutes, they pulled into the parking lot of the apartment complex that the two of them lived in.

The building was quiet, it had always been that way. That's why they decided to live there once they graduated. The room was the same way they had both left it and Mai snapped out of her daydream when she heard the keys drop into the bowl next to the door. She kicked her shoes off after Harry and walked over to the heater; turning it up. The wooden floors were freezing and she didn't bother to put on socks this morning. She felt a hand run across her back and she turned to look at him. His eyes were soft and sorry.

"Thank you." he said gently before kissing her forehead and walking to the couch. He slumped down and reached over to the stereo system. He settled on a song that he knew they both liked and pulled his legs up onto the couch. "Care to join me?" He held up a rolled blunt inbetween his slender fingers and Mai shook her head 'no' before getting closer to the boy.

"Maybe you should wait a little bit Harry." She said, not trying to get in an argument with him. He tried lighting it up before she made it all the way across the room. He was too slow. She took it from his shaky hands and placed it down on the coffee table. The whole thing was covered in different substances that she barely knew the names of.

"Mai, stop being so uptight." He groaned and she sat down on his lap quickly before he could grab the blunt off the table again.

"Harry." She sighed and he cowered under her. He placed his hands on her hips and dropped his head. "Do you even know what you were doing?" She said softly while running her fingers through his hair. They had never been a couple, maybe a hookup every now and then; but it only happened when they took ecstasy. They were merely friends that got high together, but she still cared for him and he cared for her. It was inevitable.

He had always loved the drugs more than her and she was learning how to cope with that.

"No. I blacked out." He responded and shifted under her. "What was I doing?" He glanced up and his eyes were yellow, a natural affect from smoking way too much.

"You were at your parents grave." She said under her breath and his eyebrows came together in confusion.

"I don't understan-" He began but Mai cut him off before he could get another word in.

"You were digging up their graves." It was silent except for their steady breathing and the iPod playing a slow song in the background. "Are you alright? Like, if you were seeing things again, you would tell me right?" She egged on and he closed his eyes before letting out a nervous chuckle. "What?" She asked out of frustration. She was honestly worried about him.

"I thought I told you not to worry about me." He spoke in a serious tone.

Harry had met Mai at a party that was thrown by his friend; they were stoner buddies at the time. But he was a Sophomore and she was a Junior. Something about the slight age difference drew him in and he couldn't help but enjoy every second he spent with her. He never understood the idea of 'love' nor did he want to. Love causes pain; and pain seemed to be everywhere. He wasn't her 'type' and it seemed to cause a lot of drama at the school. The head cheerleader doesn't just start hanging out with a tattoo-covered, low-life, pothead. They had a friendship, and that was all it had ever been.

Although he was the one who pushed her in the 'friendzone' he couldn't help but get a hint of anger everytime she brought a different guy home to get high and then have sex with.

Harry was screwed up and Mai was well aware of that.

a/n: so i've been dying to write a story like this for a while and tada.