Frames That Used to Greet Me

The best thing about being off tour for awhile was having some time off where you don’t have anything to do whatsoever. I’m sure there were other things, but when I woke up the next morning, the first thing to pop into my head was how much I loved my bed. The second thing, though, was wondering why I was waking up alone.

I didn’t remember Mickey waking me up to tell me she was leaving, but I figured she must have. I sent her a quick text. Did you sneak out early?

I rolled out of bed shortly after that and walked out into my empty flat. I realized how nice it was to have the place to myself. I loved Lou and I even liked having Livia around, but sometimes it was nice to have time to yourself, especially when you came home from tour where you were constantly surrounded by people. I figured now that Louis and Livia were an item, living arrangements were probably going to start moving around. Maybe I would have to look into a flat of my own. The more I thought about the idea, the better it sounded.

I had some late breakfast (really closer to lunch if anything) and watched the telly, catching up on programs I hadn’t had time to watch on tour.

I didn’t realize how much time had actually passed until my phone went off from its spot on the coffee table. I figured Michaela was at work, which was why she hadn’t responded right away, so I picked it up and saw the message was indeed from her. I smirked before I slid my thumb across the screen and opened it.

I told you I was leaving, but you were out like a light. Dinner tonight? We can catch up. With our clothes on. ;)

I chuckled before typing back a response.

Aw, that’s no fun love. Come over, we’ll leave from mine.

I figured it’d be easier to leave from my flat, and then we could decide where to go from here. And if I got a kiss or two before we walked out the door then so be it. My phone beeped shortly afterwards.

Be dressed by 7. xo

I set my phone back on the table and got up, shutting the telly off before going to take a shower. It was already nearing six, and I knew Mickey would be early. She always was. I showered and then got dressed in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, figuring we wouldn’t be going anywhere fancy.

Just as I was stuffing my feet into my trainers, there was a knock at the door. I smiled, spraying just a bit of cologne before I went and met Michaela at the door.

I grinned as I let my eyes travel over her body, taking in her appearance. Her legs were getting shown off in a short sundress and she was showing just enough cleavage that it wasn’t trashy. I nodded in approval. “You look nice.”

She kissed my cheek in greeting before brushing by me into the flat. “Figured you wouldn’t even be ready yet!” she tossed over her shoulder.

I shut the door and followed her. “For you? Anything.” I winked before walking by her and grabbing my phone off the table. I pocketed it and turned back around. “Where are we going?”

“Nothing fancy, but I’m starving.”

I held my arm out in gesture for her to head out ahead of me. “The night awaits!”

***

We settled on an Italian place near my flat. It wasn’t busy, but it never was, so it was a perfect place to go and try to be hidden from the world.

Once we both ordered pasta dishes and Michaela got some wine, she started with the questions. “So how are the other lads doing?”

I nodded, taking a sip of my water. “Good. Louis and Livia are really good, on holiday right now. Liam is looking into getting a place with Danielle. Zayn and Nialler are good. Everyone’s good. What about you? How’s the job going?”

She shrugged nonchalantly. “It’s good. A bit much sometimes, bloody hectic and whatnot, but it’s good. Sometimes I feel like I’m just a glorified intern but I guess you’ll have that.”

I nodded even though I wouldn’t know. I just liked hearing about Michaela’s normal life every once in awhile. I loved my life, but when you no longer even knew what the definition of a normal life was, it was nice to hear about someone else’s every once in awhile.

“Oh! Speaking of...” she trailed off, taking a drink of her wine before setting it down and continuing. “I’ll be out of town for a few days, for work. My boss is having me go to a show in Paris for the weekend.” She shrugged and rolled her eyes, as if it was such a hassle to go to France, of all places.

I laughed. “You’re a piece of work,” I told her and she laughed as well. “So no Mickey time for me this weekend?” I mock-pouted to show my disappointment.

She rolled her eyes exaggeratedly. “I think you’ll survive, yeah Styles?”

I sighed. I’d be fine, of course I would. Mickey and I were just friends. But I hadn’t seen her in two months and we rarely talked when I went on tour because we just didn’t have time. So now I was home for a whole month and she was leaving for the weekend. It was just frustrating sometimes.

“What, will you miss me Harry?”

I smirked. “I know certain parts of me will miss certain parts of you.”

She just laughed, but an idea popped into my head. “Come over again tonight,” I told her seriously as our food got set in front of us.

“No.” She let the word fall from her lips before she even thought about it. She took a bite of her food and then a drink of her wine before she spoke again. “I have work in the morning, Harry. I can’t.”

“Why not? You did last night, and look how well that worked for us.” She rolled her eyes, so I continued. “Lou won’t be home until tomorrow afternoon. You can slip out tomorrow morning and no one will be the wiser.”

She looked to be thinking about it, but she shook her head after a few minutes. “Not tonight. We had our fun last night.”

“Come on, Mickey. We have the flat to ourselves. I won’t get to see you all weekend.” I pouted again, just barely, to try and lure her in. She looked to be leaning towards yes, so I reached my foot out underneath the table and slid it up her leg gently. “C’mon, love. Come over.”

***

My back fell against the door as she fumbled with the keys to get us inside. “God dammit,” she murmured against my skin, obviously having trouble blindly unlocking the door.

I groaned and moved her aside, taking the keys and unlocking the door in one swift motion before I dragged her inside.

“Where to?” I threw over my shoulder, my hand still clamped onto her wrist.

She hurried by me, walking backwards to the couch as she smirked at me. “We’ve already been in your bed. Let’s try the couch yeah?”

I didn’t protest.

“Getting a bit more brave, hm?” I said to her as I sat down, pulling her with me. She straddled me and rested her hands on either side of my head on the back of the couch before her lips found mine again.

We had a rhythm, one we knew very well. We were familiar with each other, which was nice. It wasn’t complicated, but it was something we knew, and it was easy. It was like all the best parts of a relationship, minus an actual relationship. I really couldn’t complain and I knew Mickey couldn’t either. There weren’t any messy feelings involved that we had to constantly worry about. It was just about... instant gratification, I suppose. We did what we wanted, when we wanted, and that was okay. Maybe it shouldn’t have been, but it was.

My hands fumbled against the zipper on her dress while she thumbed the material of my t-shirt. She pulled that off of my body first and then I tugged at her dress. My lips fell against the now-bare skin of her shoulder and I nipped at it, trailing my lips against her collarbone and then up her neck. I bit the sensitive spot right under her ear, earning a moan that slipped from her lips. My tongue trailed against her earlobe before I brought them back to hers.

We kissed hard, our tongues dancing around one another before she pulled back, biting my bottom lip in the process and getting a groan out of me. “Fuck, Mickey.”

She smirked. “Bedroom. I lied.”

And with that, losing more clothes along the way, we made our way to my bedroom.

Her back was on my bed while I hovered over her, trying to unclasp her bra in one swift motion. But it was unusually difficult, and so I was struggling, concentrating more on that damned clasp than the girl my lips were on. Finally, I heard the familiar clip that told me I was successful. Just as the straps were falling from her shoulders, I heard the door to my flat open and a familiar Irish lad call out.

“Hazza! Hope you’re hear because I might be a bit pissed.”

I swore under my breath and let my forehead fall to Mickey’s shoulder. “You’re joking,” she hissed, her voice harsh.

“Stay here,” I whispered back, grabbing a t-shirt off the ground and throwing it on before hurrying out to the living room, making sure to click my bedroom door shut behind me.

“What are you doing here?” I asked Niall when I found him sitting on the couch.

Slowly, I watched his hazy eyes take in my disheveled appearance before a grin took over his face. “Who’s the lass?” he asked.

I rolled my eyes. “You’re drunk. Why are you drunk and in my flat, Nialler? Who did you go out with?”

He sighed dramatically before falling back into the couch. “Zayn! But then he met up with his lass... what’s her name? The one from that group....” he trailed off, and as much as I liked to watch Niall stumble for words, I wanted him out, fast.

“Perrie, Niall. His girlfriend? You were out with them?” I finished, helping him out.

He snapped his attention back to me and nodded. “Aye! But then Perrie and Zayn left and I didn’t want to, but Josh was there, so it was fine, but then Josh wanted to leave...” he kept going, but I tuned out.

“So who’s the lass you’re hiding away?” he asked suddenly, changing the subject. Drunken Niall, who couldn’t even remember one of our best mates girlfriend’s name, knew I had a girl in my room. Unbelievable.

“Go home, Nialler.”

He shook his head, his eyes closing as he got comfortable on the couch. “‘m tired, Haz. Can I sleep here?”

I rolled my eyes and threw my hands up in frustration. “Fine! Stay here. I don’t want to hear any complaints tomorrow though, got it?”

Niall waved me off and I returned to my bedroom, where Mickey was curled up under the covers with one of my t-shirts on. I sighed. “Mood killed?” I asked as I joined her in bed.

She chuckled softly and nodded her head. “A bit, yeah. Who’s here? I thought you said Lou was--”

“Lou is gone. Niall’s out there, pissed and apparently falling asleep on my couch.”

“Does he know I’m here?”

That was the thing about Mickey and I. The other lads knew who Mickey was, and I think they even knew about our arrangement. It wasn’t hard to figure out really; I would leave late in the night or she would come over and then sneak out early. They weren’t dense. Hell, maybe they even heard us sometimes. It wasn’t that we were trying to keep it this big secret, really, but rather that it was all just... unspoken. We didn’t define it with strict rules, and we didn’t speak about it to other people. It was what it was, and that was all there was to it.

“Silly question,” she spoke before I could answer. Mickey knew as well as I did that Niall didn’t know who I was in bed with. “I’m not leaving now though. You owe me breakfast.”

“You owe me too,” I mumbled as she snuggled up to my side and I lifted my arm to let her.

“Keep it in your pants, Styles. I’m not going anywhere,” she spoke softly before drifting into Dreamland.