Code of Ethics

Just Feel the Music

I tried to look respectable as I waited for Harry to come pick me up for our date. My skirt was a modest length, my shirt didn’t show off too much of my ample cleavage, and my hair wasn’t teased in any way, instead straightened so precisely that it hung to my shoulder blades instead of stopping at my shoulders like usual. I wanted Harry to forget, even if it was just for one night, that I was a stripper. That I was the scum of society, that I was someone who could potentially need charity.

Harry hadn’t told me where we were going. Part of that made me nervous, the worrywart side of me hoping that he wouldn’t take me isolated or secluded and hurt me, but my logical side knew that he probably just wanted to surprise me. There was no way he could take me somewhere too high-profile, considering my face would be plastered all over the media, and everyone would get their panties in a bunch. Harry Styles Goes Out with Stripper. That would be some interesting news.

My mobile went off in my purse, so I pulled it out and opened the message. Here, Harry had said.

Swallowing back my anxiety, I made my way downstairs to the parking lot. It took everything I had not to run my hand through my hair to make sure it was still straight, as I knew that would make it frizz.

Harry’s car was idling outside the door, and through the passenger’s side window, I could see that he was drumming a mysterious beat on the steering wheel as he waited. Briefly, I wondered what the song was, whether it was the one on the radio, one of his own, or neither.

I climbed into the car, being careful not to flash my underwear from the somewhat large step, thanks to the height of the SUV. “Hey,” I greeted, giving him a small smile.

“Hi,” he replied. “You look really nice.”

“Thanks. You do, too.” But in reality, I wondered if I put too much thought into my outfit. He was wearing a pair of regular blue jeans and a t-shirt. Hopefully, we weren’t going somewhere that nice clothes were discouraged, since I had gone out and spent twenty-five pounds on the skirt I was wearing, which I almost never did.

Harry pulled away from the curb before starting to speak again. “So do you have any guesses where I’m taking you?”

“No, actually,” I replied. “I’m surprised you’re taking me anywhere, really. You don’t want everyone to know that you’re interested in a stripper, do you?”

His green eyes flicked over at me briefly before he shook his head. “I don’t care what people think of me dating you,” he said without the slightest of wavers in his voice. “If they have an issue, that’s their problem, not mine.”

I felt slightly uncomfortable, though also relieved, as we continued to speed down an unfamiliar street. I figured that Harry would care more about what his fans thought of him, and maybe he did, but it was pretty clear that he was trying to fight his instincts and do what he wanted when he wanted it.

About ten minutes later, Harry pulled into a parking lot and took a space, cutting off the engine and stuffing his keys in his pocket. “You took me to a club,” I stated without a bit of humor. “Honestly?”

I couldn’t help but feel slightly offended, like he couldn’t take me anywhere nicer because I was just a stripper. I should have known, really, that when he gave me that fucking speech in the parking lot, he just wanted to get laid. He was charming, I’d give him that, and I’d completely fallen for his act.

“What?” he questioned, his eyes wide with innocence. Whether it was faked or not, I couldn’t tell. “I just figured that you liked to dance, right? So this was one place that I thought you’d like.”

I had no idea if he was telling the truth or not, but if he was, I guess it was kind of sweet in some kind of sick way. He tried to personalize the date, and all he really knew about me was that I did some kind of dance for a living.

But whether it was real or not, I’d promised him a date, and promises were something that I didn’t like to break. “Let’s go.” I threw open my door and hopped down, careful not to smack it into the car next to Harry’s. It looked fairly expensive, and I didn’t want to have to pay for the damages.

The inside of the club was loud, thick, smoky, and smelled like body odor, but it was filled with an energy and excitement that immediately got me going. I started to bounce with the beat, wrapping my hand around Harry’s and dragging him toward the dance floor.

As the beat pulsed around us, I stared to dance by myself, waiting for Harry to fall into step and start dancing with me. But he looked confused and awkward, like he wasn’t sure where he belonged.

“Just feel the music!” I called to him, gesturing to the people around us. “It’s fun!”

He gave me a confused look, and I knew he hadn’t heard a word I’d just said.

So I sighed and leaned into him, my lips close to his ear as I said, “Just feel the music. Don’t worry about what other people thing.”

His hands instinctively wrapped around my waist, probably from how close I was to him, and I could feel his warm breath on my neck. I pulled back a little, feeling his grip around me tighten.

Our faces were very close, so close that I could see the flecks of blue inside of his eyes, the newly-sprouted, incredibly thin scruff on his face, the couple of bumps that threatened to be pimples the following day.

And then, I could see him leaning toward me, trying to close the already almost non-existent gap.

I wasn’t ready to kiss him. He was sweet and caring, as far as I could tell, but it could have been an act. I couldn’t kiss him so early, when I was still unsure about his motives were.

So I drew back, just before his full lips could brush against mine. “Too fast,” I mouthed.

He swallowed, probably trying to keep from looking pained and rejected, and released his grip on me.

I didn’t want to let the experience ruin the evening, so as a new song began to pound, I started to sway with the beat again, making eye contact with Harry and signaling that he should try to follow my lead.

He was reluctant at first, still stiff and uncomfortable, but once I put my hands on his hips and showed him how to sway them properly, he started to loosen up. He stopped caring about the eyes that were around him, that could potentially judge him and label him nothing but a white boy with no rhythm, and he just let himself be.

A while after he started to dance opposite me, he finally drew me in close, moving with me without trying to grind against me. I assumed he figured that I was shy around him, which he attributed to why I didn’t kiss him, and he didn’t want to push me and make me so uncomfortable that I demanded to leave.

A few hours later, the two of us were sweaty and disgusting and blissfully happy as we stepped out into the freezing air. “You’re a really great dancer,” he told me, as if I were unaware of this fact.

“Thanks. You weren’t so bad once you actually let yourself dance.”

Once we were in the car and en route to my flat, he finally stated, “I’m sorry I tried to kiss you. It just kind of felt right in the moment, and I ignored the fact that it was our first date.”

“Don’t worry about it,” I replied seriously. “It’s not a big deal. I still had a really fun time, and I hope we can do it again soon.”

“We definitely can,” he encouraged. “But maybe not to a club next time? The guy next to me kept giving me predatory looks.”

I chuckled lightly. “Wherever you want to go is fine.” There was a short silence before I added, “I’m sorry that I figured you only wanted to see me because you thought of me as a charity case and a slut.”

“I’m sorry that I made you feel that way. But it doesn’t matter. It’s all behind us.” He pulled to a stop in front of my flat building and put the car in park. “I’ll text you soon.”

“Okay,” I agreed. “Goodnight, Harry.”

“Goodnight.”

As I got out of the car, I almost expected him to pull me back and kiss me when I least expected it. I could almost feel the sensation of his lips against mine, what it would feel like to have our tongues mingle together.

But he didn’t. He didn’t even say anything as I felt my feet slap against the pavement and slammed the door behind me.

I wasn’t really sure how to feel about it.
♠ ♠ ♠
Hello there, everybody! :)

So a little bit of awkwardness on the first date (of course), but it turned out okay.

A faithful reader of mine wrote a one-shot, called All I Want, and it's quite lovely! It'd mean a lot to her for you guys to check it out, and I swear it's good. ^_^

Comments are very much appreciated! I feel like I've barely spoken to anyone all day, so any word I get from real people, even from behind computer screens, would make me a massively happy camper! ^_^