Note To Self (Harry Styles AU)

Chapter Fifty One.

Night after night passed by laying beside Aubry, and the following mornings always arrived too quickly when she would wake him as soon as the sun shown in the sky. She had a way of slipping her cold feet up his pant legs and pinching his nose closed until he woke up. It was incredibly obnoxious every single time it happened, a solid three days in a row beginning in the exact same way.

Thursday morning was a little more pleasant. Gentle fingers tickled at his skin in the early hours of the morning, her hands snaked up his shirt to expose his lower back and the tiniest love handles where the waistband of his pants dug into his hips. Her fingernails, adorning chipped polish from swimming and playing fetch with Winnie day in and day out, dragged up his spine to the center of his back. Down again they went, leaving goosebumps to rise on his arms.

Harry's mind didn't begin to register between reality and the safety of his dreams until her fingers ran over his waist and down to his exposed hip, his body involuntarily jerking at the pleasant tickle. A breathy laugh passed through her nose, heard from behind as he melted into the mattress when her nails returned to drag along the column of his spine.

Seconds, minutes, maybe even hours, could've passed when he remained on the verge between wake and sleep, her fingers never ceasing their actions. Not until her hand slipped to his front to tickle along his hip bones and ribs that his eyes opened, the room almost completely dark. Just the slightest blue hue peeked from the space between the wall and the drawn curtains, the sliver of light cast onto the ceiling.

Fingers rubbed at his eyes to bring them into focus, while Aubry's left his middle to tickle along the back of his bicep. His voice broke when he attempted to speak, nothing more than a whisper passing his lips. "Time?"

"Just past five thirty."

An exhale. "Why?"

She truly felt a little sorry for waking him so early. He felt the heat of her body when she leaned her forehead between his shoulder blades. "That's why I woke you pleasantly," she admitted. "I can't sleep."

"I can." Her body heat only added to how hot he felt, and the blanket was kicked off his body, folding to drape over Aubry's twice. "Why is it so hot in here every morning?"

She giggled, scooting her head back to perch on a pillow. "It's not, you just turn into a radiator when you sleep."

His face was planted into the white pillow case he laid on, muffling his aggravated groan. "I'm never sleeping in sweatpants ever again after this."

A smack to his bum cheek caused his body to jolt and his hand clutched the spot, protecting himself from being whacked again. "Told you a thousand times to sleep in your underwear. Worked out fine the first night."

Silence came from Harry. His ongoing explanation was that he didn't think it was appropriate, but that wasn't very effective when it's taken into consideration there hadn't been a single night where her hands hadn't manage to slither down his pants anyway. Despite being woken up at the crack of dawn every day, he had never gotten better nights sleep in his life. Still, that pair of joggers, after being washed and dried after their first endeavor during their getaway, remained on at all times after the sun went down.

He wasted the time away staring at how the light shining on the ceiling gradually turned brighter, her fingers prodding at him after he hadn't moved in a while. "Hey."

"Hm?"

"Thought you were asleep."

His words were low and lazy, voice seeming octaves deeper that usual. "Watching the sun rise."

Loose strands of hair fell to brush against his arm when she propped herself up, eyes peering over his body to look at the profile of his face. Brunette curls splayed across the pillow like a halo, lips pursed and eyes hardly open. "Wanna watch it for real?"