Yellow || hs au

| 16 |

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  Harry's apartment is nice. Extremely nice. I find myself wondering about how he can afford such a place so nice just being a sophomore in college. But it's none of my business.

  The whole place is very spacious and open, the kitchen meeting directly with the living room that has a whole back wall of floor to ceiling windows and a balcony. Two hallways are on either side of the apartment which I'm assuming lead to the bedrooms.

  It's a dark place, the windows are large but the sun has gone down, I bet it's really nice in the morning. The sectional couch is all black and wraps in a 'u' shape around the living room with an expensive looking black coffee table in the middle and a projector screen replaces the area for a television. Jesus Christ.

  "Not what you expected?" Harry voices causing me to snap back into reality, looking at him. He's leaned against the dark granite counter top with his arms crossed over his chest.

  "No I. . ." I stumble over my words, Harry watching my intently with his bottom lip pinched between his thumb and pointer finger, his eyes squinted. "It's really nice, that's all." I explain.

  "Thanks." He mutters lowly. From his tone of voice, I can sense something is off, almost as if he doesn't even like the apartment himself. Which wouldn't make any sense because I would do some illegal things for an apartment like this one. But my parents pay for my apartment now, only agreeing if I keep my grades up which I have. But something like this is out my parents range by a long shot.

  "What are we doing?" I ask, following Harry around like a lost puppy, my eyes scanning along the off white walls that are decorated with old photos of musicians like David Bowie, The Beatles, Bob Marley and Peter Frampton. He must know good music.

   "I wanted to show you something." He replies over his shoulder as I follow him towards the large windows.

  I slowly approach them, looking out over the edge realizing you get a perfect of Times Square and the Rockefeller tree. The city looks amazing from this high up, especially at night. Seeing all of the lights from the streets and the billboards advertising different things. It's unreal.

  "The tree." I point, careful not the touch the glass. I stare down, looking at the ice skating rink just around the tree, the people walking around looking like little ants. I can feel Harry's gaze on me which causes me to turn and look at him. "Don't stare at me." I laugh.

  Harry swallows hard, his Adam's apple bobbing in his throat before he takes ahold of the front of my crewneck, pulling me closer to him and allowing his hands to cup my cheeks.

  I blink up at him, seeing how close we are, my forehead reaching his lips as he screws his eyes shut. His body is tense, my small hands reaching out and resting on his hips, making his body slightly relax but not much.

  "It's okay." I whisper, getting a slight idea of what he's thinking about. He just shakes his head, opening his eyes to look down at me.

  "I don't know what to do." He whispers back, my heart sinking at his words. His hands loosely resting against my jaw now, his eyes flickering between his. "You make my stomach knot." He continues causing a small grin to crawl onto my lips.

"You make mine knot, too." I tell him, noticing his hard features soften the slightest bit making my heart throb harshly against my chest. "Relax, it's just us." I mumble quietly, gently moving to hold his wrists.

He lets out a defeated sigh, his head dropping to my shoulder as he lazily leans against me, his arms forcing themselves around my waist. My heart literally jumps into my throat as I wrap my arms under his shoulders.

"Why do I feel like this?" He mutters into my neck. I'm almost paralyzed with shock, I didn't think I'd ever see the day Harry would be wrapping me up in a hug, but I'm glad it's something I get to experience.

He's being so unbelievably vulnerable and I don't know about what. He's lost and confused in his own head and I don't know what to do to help. He's so closed off and there's no way he'll tell me whatever it is that's been bothering him, but I don't care in this moment. It's hard to care about anything besides him and making sure he's okay.

"Like what?" I ask quietly. Like I expected, he simply just shakes his head, gently squeezing me before pulling away to look at me. "I'm sorry I don't understand." I whisper, running the pad of my thumb across his cheek. He shakes his head.

"It's not your fault." He mumbles quietly, looking down at me. His eyes are tired and I can tell there's a lot bothering him. "Stay with me tonight." He continues, my eyebrows furrowing.

"Are you sure?" I question. "Harry if you aren't comfortable—" His head shaking cuts my sentence off as I stare up at him, his eyes flickering between my own as I bite the inside of my cheek.

"I am. I want you to." He tells me in a stern voice. I sigh and glance out the window again, the streets are slowly beginning to empty as the night progresses.

"I don't want you to wake up in the morning and be upset, Harry." I explain, watching as he nods his head in understanding. His hand slowly comes up, brushing a strand of my hair behind my ear, his hand cupping my cheek as I lean into him.

"I won't be upset." He assures me. I finally nod after a moment, the tiny grin I never get enough of tugs the corners of his mouth before he gently takes my hand, leading me along with him through the hallway of his apartment.

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Happy update cuties! I hope you're all staying safe and healthy! Remember to wash your hands :)

Much love
~C