Energy

Prologue.

Her mittens were soft and warm against my skin as she shielded my eyes from whatever it was that she'd been so excited to show me. 

The temperature outside was low enough to have my jaw rattling and my nose running, but the sweet scent of her vanilla shampoo and her warm breath against my neck was enough to keep me from complaining.

"Okay," she said quietly, and took her mittened hands away from my eyes.

I had to blink a few times to adjust to the brilliant shine coming from the snow and ice, but when I could finally see clearly, I was unsure of what I was meant to be looking at. The back garden was completely empty of everything other that what usually occupied it, plus a large dumping of snow.

"Um Diana? There's nothing-" I stopped myself when something hit me square in the back.

I spun around quickly and caught her doubled over, laughing hysterically after having hit me with a snowball. My eyebrow shot up and I scooped up a handful of snow which I threw at her before she had time to duck, sending a few flakes down her neck which made her squeal, and me cackle.

"That, my dear, is what you get," I told her smugly.

"Don't even think about bringing up karma with me, Harold. I could have those paps in the house in ten seconds flat, just think about that for a moment," Diana remarked, which made my face fall.

"You hate me or something?" I asked, putting a hand to my heart and giving her my best how-could-you face.

"No, I love you silly!" she squealed, shuffling through the snow until she reached me, throwing her arms around my waist and grinning up at me.

My eyes raked over her pale face and flushed cheeks, her impossibly long eyelashes fluttering before her steel blue eyes and her glossy pink lips which would often pull into one of those smiles that would make anyone bend over backwards for her.

"I love you too," I told her, brushing my lips over her button nose.

"Harry! Your tea's ready," Niall called out to me.

"Come on," I grinned, taking Diana's hand and towing her back towards my back porch.

Diana and the boys had come over to spend the snow day at my place, because I had the biggest spa out of all of the lads, so all six of us could fit in easily, plus it was inside, so we wouldn't have the freezing wind making our lips numb or ruffling our hair.

"Yorkshire tea for the lad," Niall grinned, handing me a large mug as I stepped inside, kicking off my boots which were coated in snow.

"Thanks man," I said, taking a small sip of the scorching liquid.

"The other lads are getting into the spa, I was just waitin' for you," Niall told me, patting my back and smiling hugely.

"You can go down now, Di and I will be there in a minute," I said, setting my tea down on the marble counter in the kitchen and shaking off my trench coat.

Niall's eyes flicked to Diana who was lingering in the door, and he didn't say another word before he made his way through the living room to the staircase. I didn't know what it was, but for some reason the other lads had a serious problem with Diana; they used to love her, but something had happened in the past few days that made their tongue's tie up whenever they were around her, and tight-lipped smiles were the best she got.

"Maybe I'll stay up here, watch some TV or even take a shower or something . . I'm not really up for a dip in the spa," Diana told me once Niall was out of earshot.

"Are you sure? Di, if there's something going on with you guys that I don't know about-"

"There's nothing, it's nothing, I'm just not really in the mood for hot bubbles," Dianna assured me hurriedly, pressing a kiss to my cheek and squeezing my shoulder.