You Found Me

“LEIGH,” I heard someone scream. My head lolled back and forth as my body jerked harshly. “COME ON.”

I snapped awake, my heart racing, as I instinctively pulled my sweatshirt tighter around me. “Harry,” I stated plainly, trying to keep the confusion out of my voice. It took a second for the memories to come back, for me to realize just why Harry was standing in front of me and I was lying on an unfamiliar couch.

But once they did, and I glanced at the clock, my stomach dropped. “Oh my God,” I groaned. “My father’s going to kill me.”

“No, he’s not,” Harry denied, nodding toward the coffee table. “I sent him a text saying that Jenny had an emergency, so you went over her house and were staying the night.”

I stared at him for a second. “How do you know about Jenny?”

“You mentioned her at the wedding. And I just hoped that your father would understand teenage girl emergencies and how important they are by now.” Without saying another word, he leaned over and handed me a giant mug. “Now drink up. We have a long night ahead of us.”

“What, exactly,” I asked as I took a small sip of the scalding liquid in my hand, gritting my teeth to keep from crying out as a result of the burning heat seeping through the ceramic cup, “are you planning on having us do? There aren’t many options of fun at four fifteen in the morning.”

“Ah, now that’s where you’re wrong.” He shook his head as he planted his butt on the coffee table, tucking in his legs so he was sitting Indian-style. “There are so many more things you can do in the pitch dark of night that aren’t possible during the day.”

I sighed slowly, taking another sip of coffee. Already, I could feel the buzz of caffeine making its way through my veins, slowly but surely easing me awake. “Um, okay, I guess you have a point. But I really have to go to college, and there’s no way I’m going to let you get me arrested and ruin those plans.”

He let out a laugh that was too loud for my current half-conscious state. “Like I’d risk getting arrested. I’m going to Columbia, remember? I’m not about to throw my future away, either.”

“Then what, exactly, do you want to do?” I questioned, raising an eyebrow.

“I’ll show you once you finish your coffee.”

The tone of his voice nearly made my curiosity bubble over, but I managed to keep my cool long enough to reciprocate his small talk as I drank.

After Harry took my mug from me and deposited it in the sink loudly, he came back out into the living room and sat on the couch next to me. “You ready for the big reveal?”

“Uh…” was the most intelligent thing I could respond. “Depends on what, exactly, you’re revealing.”

He chuckled and flushed slightly, making eye contact with the fabric of the couch instead of with me. “No, don’t worry. I’m talking about the reveal of the master plan.”

“Oh, okay. Shoot.”

“We’re going to drive around the neighborhood with the music blaring and singing along.”

There was a thick, awkward silence as he waited for me to have some kind of reaction to his plan. And I don’t think what he got was really what he wanted.

“Are you saying…” I started slowly, massaging my temples, “that you pulled me out of my room in the dead of night…just to drive around the fucking streets and fucking play music?”

“Well, not just that,” he corrected. “There was a phase two.”

“And what’s phase two?”

“It’s supposed to be a surprise.”

“Clearly,” I said with an irritated tone, “I don’t do surprises very well. Just tell me. Maybe you’ll redeem yourself.”

“But it’s going to ruin everything,” he whined, sticking out his bottom lip the slightest bit.

“Harry, you better tell me right now, or I’m leaving. I will walk-”

Before I could finish my threat, he leaned over, cupping a hand around the back of my neck, and pressed his lips to mine. Although it had been such a long time since I’d kissed anyone but Jared, Harry’s lips didn’t feel unfamiliar in the least.

I pulled away for a second, slightly breathless as I whispered, “Oh, so that’s part two.”

“If everything went properly,” he added as he laid me down, hovering over me.

“Things didn’t exactly go according to plan,” I reminded him, though his idiotic suggestion was only a distant memory by then.

“How do you know?” he replied cheekily before closing the distance between us again.

This time, the kiss went deeper, his tongue sliding along my own. I felt goosebumps creep up my back as I tangled my hands in his thick, curly hair.

Unlike Jared, who had always asked before he did anything, Harry unzipped my sweatshirt and threw it onto the floor, leaving me in just my thin sleeping shirt. Thank God I’d kept on my bra from the day when I’d dressed for bed that night.

But the fabric didn’t stop him. He let his hands explore under my shirt, his hands warm and soft against my stomach and sides and hips.

I pulled away, trying to get some of my breath back, but he just moved on to my neck without missing a beat.

Before I knew it, my shirt joined my sweatshirt on the floor, and Harry was working to unclasp the back of my bra.

“Hey,” I breathed, putting my hands on his arms. “Hold up. It’s your turn.”

He snickered. “If you insist, love.” With that, he sat up and pulled his shirt off over his head, revealing a surprisingly defined stomach and chest.

“Better?” he whispered in my ear as he came back down, pressing his bare stomach against mine, connecting our lips once again.

The only sounds in the condo were our rapid breathing. My heart was racing in my chest, my stomach constricting with fear and excitement.

But no matter how good it felt to make out with Harry, something felt off, wrong. I knew my conscience was trying to tell me that I shouldn’t have been kissing someone so soon after my breakup with Jared, and it was definitely winning.

“Stop,” I insisted just as Harry finally unhooked my bra.

“Really?” he sighed jokingly, reaching up and running a hand through his hair. “You couldn’t have said stop before I got the catch?”

I sat up, making him move back a little bit, and redid the back of my bra. “Sorry,” I mumbled. “I just…I can’t go all the way tonight.”

“Are you on your period?” he asked.

I burst out laughing. “Uh, no. I more feel guilty because I just out of a relationship. I need some time.”

He let out another sigh, but again, it was just amused more than angry or irritated. “Alright, alright. That’s okay. But hold on.”

He got up on his knees and reached into his back pocket, pulling out an iPhone. He unlocked it quickly, his thumbs little blurs across the touch keyboard.

“Come here,” he ordered, putting an arm around my shoulders.

“What are you doing?” I gasped. “I’m only in my bra, Harry.”

“That’s the fun,” he snickered, pulling my face closer to his. Right when our cheeks touched, he snapped a photo. From how taut his cheek felt against mine, I knew he was smiling, while I was just staring, dazed and confused, at the camera. Lovely.

“Want one on yours?” he asked lightly.

“No,” I responded with a grimace. “I swear to God, if you show that picture to anyone…”

“Don’t worry. It won’t leave my phone.”