Reign || Harry Styles

04: Phone Call

Soft, delicate, warm.

Harry woke up with the familiar feeling of bare skin against his chest. His muscular arm draped over porcelain skin, resting on slender waist. His large hand grazing the person's stomach, the movements underneath it so subtle and delicate.

Movements that could only be associated with one simple yet fundamental activity: breathing.

A broad smile formed from his slightly chapped lips.

Elsie.

Sweet, lovely Elsie. Love of his life.

Her tawny hair spreaded everywhere on the pillow they shared. They smelled like strawberries, they smelled like home. The smell that Harry had come to learn belonged to Elsie and Elsie alone.

He planted a kiss on the top of her head, telling himself he was the luckiest guy on earth because he had her.

But the actual truth was, Harry didn't know if he would still be the same.

Not after he saw her and how she made his petty male hormones rage inside of him.

Or how she paralysed him with a single glance into his eyes.

But Harry shoved the thought to the back of his head.

It doesn't matter, he thought, she doesn't matter.

Elsie started to rustle and Harry loosened his arms just to give her a little bit of space. He loved her, he still loved her, he had always loved her. And he kept telling himself that, because he was genuinely so lucky to have her.

Her eyes slowly opened and she let out that cute groan Harry liked so much. Her hands moved to her waist to find Harry's, a blithe smile made its way to her lips as she stroked the surface of his hands lovingly.

"Good morning, gorgeous," he whispered in her ears in that low and husky voice of his.

She shifted and turned to face him, the tip of her nose just inches apart from his. Slowly, she leaned in, and Harry could feel the warmth of her regulated breaths on his skin as she closed the small gap between her soft lips and his. Her delicate hands gradually moved from his bare chest to cup his perfectly aligned jaw, leaving trails of heat on his skin.

The soothing warmth transferred from her plump lips to his, travelling down his throat, stirring in his chest. The feeling that he now had associated with home, the only feeling that could mend his homesickness for Holmes Chapel.

The kiss was short but the warmth lingered forever in his chest.

"Good morning," she whispered back, her lean fingers stroking Harry's jaw affectionately.

He hummed and closed his eyes as he felt her delicate touch, making the butterflies in his stomach capered with delight.

Before he could reply, his phone rang from the bedside table. Elsie retracted her hands as Harry took a glance at his ringing phone and then back at her, sending her a mental question. She gave him a subtle nod, signalling him that it was okay to answer the call.

He lifted the duvet off of his body and sat on the side of the bed. Sending a furtive glance at the enchantingly beautiful girl he had shared the night with, he answered the call with a short: "Yeah?"

Elsie could hear faint voices from the other side of the line, making her level of curiosity incredibly high. She lifted her head off the pillow and supported it with her hand, watching Harry's lips as they curved and moved. She smiled at the sight of him. Because Harry was genuinely so charming. And it somehow reminded her of how they first met.

Harry ran a hand through his awfully messy bed hair––which Elsie thought was "cute but in a sexy way" and he just sheepishly smiled in response––as he spoke to the person at the end of the line.

"What? Like, now?" he said, heaving a sigh afterwards. "But Zayn, I-"

Elsie raised her eyebrow questioningly, dying to know what Zayn said to her significant other. It must've been important, because it was Zayn after all, and Zayn would only call him out of work hours when something very important needed to be talked about.

"I can't, Zayn. I have things already planned out for today," he said, his fingers pinching his chapped lips. He paused to listen before muttering a rather reluctant, "Fine, I'll do it."

Elsie heard a fairly impatient "What?" from the speaker of Harry's phone. The reply somewhat irked the curly-haired guy and she saw him discreetly rolling his eyes.

"Yeah, I said I'll do it, Zayn," he replied before ending the call a moment later.

Elsie stared at him inquisitively. "What did he say?" she inquired as he placed his phone back on the bedside table.

Harry then lay back on the bed, facing the ceiling, only inches away from her. The radiating heat of her body pulsing on his bare skin, her presence alone was sufficient to warm up his coldest winter nights.

He put both of his hands on top of his stomach, his jade green eyes fixated on her gentle features. "I-uh . . . Zayn wanted me to substitute for an editorial today. The original photographer was rushed into hospital earlier this morning and there was no way they could re-schedule the whole thing."

Her eyes widened with joy. "Harry, that's great!" she exclaimed. "I mean, for you . . . not the photographer. Poor guy, though."

"But that'll mean we have to cancel our plans," he said, his voice raised slightly. "I know how much you waited for this day, El."

Elsie jolted up, lifting herself from the comfy bed. "No! No," she responded, "this is your editorial debut and I want you to go––forget about our plans––just go."

He raised his eyebrow playfully, his lips lifted into a teasing smirk. "But I'm a good boyfriend and a good boyfriend's s'pose to-"

Before he could even finish his sentence, Elsie threw a pillow at him. Harry caught it before it could even hit him in the face and burst in laughter as she pouted at her failed attempt.

"Can I just finish my sentence?" he chuckled.

"No," she said, a serious look plastered all over her face. "Look, Harry, I know you're so focused on being a good boyfriend and whatnot, but good boyfriends need to live their dreams too. And I understand that, I seriously do. Forget about our plans, they don't matter because this is possibly a once in a lifetime chance and I don't want you to blow it."

That was pretty much why Harry kept telling himself he was the luckiest guy in the world (and the reason why he loved her in the first place).

Because Elsie was selfless, caring, benevolent.

It was in her nature.

And she, somehow, was not.

Harry threw the thought of her and her ridiculously beautiful face straight away. He had no idea why she kept popping up in his head, why he kept comparing Elsie to her.

It was something he tended to do lately: compare. And Harry didn't like comparing people. Because he simply didn't like being compared.

Especially not his own girlfriend, because it would seem like he was an ungrateful human being––completely and utterly unworthy of someone like Elsie.

And he wanted her gone for a while. Just so he would compare no more.

But she couldn't.

Because she liked to linger.