Ignite.

I had been tossing and turning for the last few hours. It seemed I had tried everything to fall asleep. I listened to music, I counted sheep, I laid in every possible position, and nothing was working. I mentally scolded myself as I pulled my phone off of my nightstand again. I had been checking periodically throughout the night to see if Harry had read the text I’d sent him, but each time I pulled up our sting of texts, it simply said ‘Delivered’. Damnit, why wasn’t he reading it? Shouldn’t he have turned his phone on? The clock at the top of the screen read 5:17 and I inwardly groaned. I was gonna be such a peach tomorrow, that was for sure. I was reading and rereading the text I had sent him when suddenly my phone said ‘Read 5:18’. He read it! He actually read it! I considered texting him again, now that I knew his phone was on, but I didn’t want to be naggy.

Suddenly, the little bubble popped up at the bottom left of the screen, letting me know that he was typing. My stomach grew tight as I waited, having absolutely no clue what he was going to say. What if he didn’t want to talk to me anymore? What if he was actually planning on listening to Henry? The bubble went away then, and I felt my heart plummet. I waited another two minutes before I decided that he wasn’t going to text me. I had just locked my phone and flopped back against my pillows when the device started buzzing with an incoming call.

Harry Styles.

I waited and let it ring a few more times, not wanting to seem like I was actually waiting up for him. Because that was just pathetic. So finally, after taking a deep breath in a futile attempt to calm myself, I slid the little bar across the bottom of the screen and held the phone up to my ear.

“Hello?” I answered quietly, my voice just a little shaky. There was silence on the other end for a few seconds, like he wasn’t expecting me to actually pick up.

“I didn’t wake you, did I? I’m sorry, it’s late, I shouldn’t have called.” His words were rushed, like he was freaking out a little bit and I actually had to bite back a smile at how cute he sounded. “I was going to text you, but I thought talking to you vocally would be better and I didn’t even realize the time, really. I just-”

“Harry, relax.” He took a large breath, collecting all of his thoughts.

“Okay,” he finally whispered.

“Did you just get home?”

“No, no, I’ve been home for a couple hours.”

“Harry, you left here at a little after one. It’s almost five thirty in the morning.”

“I know. I just- I needed to drive around for a little,” he sighed, and I could almost see him running his large hand through his hair.

“I’m really sorry about all of that. Henry-”

“He and I have a history. I deserved it.” The way he sounded so guilty ate at me a little. I mean, Henry was a well loved guy and he rarely had any problems with anybody. So for him to hate Harry the way he did, something big must have happened. And given how Harry sounded, something big definitely happened.

“What...what happened?” I finally whispered, only to hear Harry heave another great sigh.

“Jude, can we not get into this tonight? Please?” he begged, sounding so absolutely defeated that I had no choice but to say ‘okay’. “Thank you,” he murmured, and I could hear the gratitude in his voice. So I chose to change topics.

“Are you spending Christmas alone?” I wondered aloud, not quite liking the idea of someone being alone on Christmas.

“Most of it. I’ll be going round to Alex’s for dinner, though.”

“Well that should be nice!”

“Yeah, it’ll be good. Bri’s going to be there though, so that should be interesting. Maybe you could come with her?”

“I’ll definitely try. I wanna see you.” My voice had gone all soft and girlish in my last sentence and I felt a little silly. But some reason, when I was tucked into bed talking with him, I got all giddy.

“Mm, I want to see you, too. What I would give to just be holding you right now,” he groaned, causing a small pang to ring through my stomach. He just sounded to deliciously attractive when he groaned like that. A small giggle escaped my lips before I told him,

“Soon. I promise.”

“Soon.”

And then he told me that I needed to get some sleep, so we bid each other goodnight and I promised I’d let him know if I could go to Alex’s.

And I fell asleep within minutes of hanging up.

--

Breakfast and my family were waiting for me when I peeled my eyes open around ten in the morning and padded downstairs. I’d decided that I was going to pretend that Henry and Harry’s little scene hadn’t happened the night before. So I placed a kiss on everyone’s cheeks, including Henry’s, and took my place at the dining room table. Happy, and surprisingly not forced, conversation flowed through the room while we ate yet another spectacular meal from Margot and soon we were all traipsing into the living room to open presents.

The whole thing took about an hour and a half, and I had raked in quite a bit of new clothes from my parents and relatives, as well money from all of them plus friends of my parents who thought it would be nice. Hey. Not complaining. Plus, my mother had decided to pick me up this Chanel perfume I’d been ogling for a while but never got around to purchasing. I guess mother really does know best sometimes, considering I’d never mentioned it to her.

“Oh Margot, would you go grab Judith’s last present? I left it up in our bedroom. It’s just by the door,” my mother called, just as I was about to head up to my room. My eyebrows furrowed as Margot rushed upstairs to collect whatever my mother was talking about. Hadn’t they gotten me enough? Finally she returned with a smaller box, and I immediately suspected it to be a bracelet or some earrings. My mother took the box from Margot and crossed the room to me, placing it delicately in my hands. “Just one more thing your father and I thought you should have,” she murmured, a shit eating grin on her face. My father was watching from his chair, an almost identical smile on his lips. I quickly ripped the paper off, quite confused as to what they were so excited about. Even Henry was watching with excited eyes. And soon I was lifting the lid off of the small box and there, atop the velvet lining, was a key. A key to a brand spankin’ new Range Rover. My eyes must have become the size of saucers as I looked up at my mother.

“What?” I barely managed to get out before I leapt off the love seat and threw my arms around her. A delicate little laugh floated past her lips as she embraced me, leaving a small kiss to my hair.

“Well, we thought it was about time you got your license, darling. We figured this would be some good motivation.” I had never seen my mother look so excited, and I’m sure I had never looked so excited either. I mean, a car. They got me a fucking car for Christmas. I practically skipped across the room to give my father a huge hug and kiss on the cheek before he told me it was in the garage. So with Henry on my heels, I dashed through the house to the garage and there sat a gorgeous new Range Rover. It was a lovely burgundy sort of color, one that I would never think I would like, but I absolutely adored it. With a click of the small remote in my hand, the doors unlocked and I all but threw myself into the driver’s seat. A car. I had a car.

--

hey, babe. I just got to alex’s. hope to see you in a bit. x

A small smile came to my lips as I read over the boy’s text. I had already called Bri earlier and she had agreed to pick me up around six-thirty to head into the city. Of course, she already knew that Harry was going to be there, and even though she still loathed the idea of something happening between us, she thought I should surprise him. Weird, right? But I liked the idea. So I quickly typed out a reply before heading up to my room to get changed.

my parents want me home tonight, I’m sorry.):

oh. another night then.

The short answer and lack of ‘x’ tipped me off that he was upset, and a part of me felt a little bad for lying to him. But hopefully it would all be worth it when I saw him. So with happy kisses in mind, I moved to my closet to pick out something to wear.

It was nearly six-thirty, so I quickly shoved my feet into a pair of loafers and skipped down the stairs, where Henry was shrugging on his jacket.

“You heading back to the city?” I called, stepping into the foyer where my parents were as well.

“Yeah, Alina and I are getting dinner,” Henry answered, fighting to keep the small grin off his face. I was assuming Alina was his new ladyfriend that he didn’t want our parents to meet.

“Well that sounds lovely!”

“Tell her we say ‘Merry Christmas’!” my mother cheered, pulling Henry in for a hug and leaving a small kiss on his cheek. He promised he would and then my father pulled him in for a less warm hug, but a hug nonetheless.

“Are you going out as well, Judith?” my father asked gruffly, his attention turning to me.

“Yeah, Alex invited me over for dinner. Bri’s getting me in a few minutes,” I chirped, pulling my coat from the closet.

“Right, well send them our greetings.” My parents gave me quick kisses on the cheek and soon Henry and I were stepping into the frigid air.

“Alex’s, huh? Harry gonna be there?” I almost rolled my eyes, but refrained as I did not feel like getting into another argument.

“No, he’s not going to be there. Though I don’t see why it would matter if he was,” I huffed, immediately regretting my words.

“Because I don’t like him and I don’t trust him. I really wish you would just listen to me.”

“Okay, okay.” Lie.

“Thank you. Now, I really need to go, but I love you, Jude,” Henry murmured as he pulled me into a tight hug and placed a quick kiss to my forehead.

“I love you, too, Henry,” I replied, a wide smile on my face.

“Stay out of trouble, alright?” he called as he backed toward his car. And for some god forsaken reason, that I will never understand, these words slipped out of my mouth next,

“I’ll be sure to! Can’t promise that trouble will stay out of me, though.” I suppose it was meant to be a joke, but I guess mentioning your brother’s rival boning you doesn't bring on the Christmas spirit. Henry’s face dropped to a glare, and he was about to reply with something that was sure to be vile, but he was cut off by Bri honking her horn obnoxiously as she pulled in the driveway. Henry shook his head before ducking into his car, and I was quick to throw myself into Bri’s Bug.

“Merry Christmas, darling!” she cheered, pulling me into a slightly awkward car hug. I returned it wholeheartedly though, wishing her a Merry Christmas in return.

“So what’ve you got this time?” I cooed, reaching into the bag seat and pulling out a present bag that was always far too heavy to be a present.

“Eh, idunno. A few bottles of nice French wine that I know my parents won’t miss. I swear to god, they bring home a new bottle of something every day.”

“Well, thank you, Mommy and Daddy,” I hummed setting the bag at my feet and then turning to her. “So is everything all good for tonight?”

“Yeah, I called Alex before I got you. He says that Harry is still there, he’s just mopey. Which, I will admit, is kind of cute,” she sighed, refusing to meet my gaze.

“Told you he was cute,” I muttered childishly, a silly grin coming to my face at the thought of him ‘moping’ over me.

“No, no, I didn’t say he was cute. I said the moping itself was cute.”

“Yes, but who was doing the moping? Ah, yes, Harry. Therefore, by default, he is cute. Who wins? I win.” And then I proceeded to cup my hands around my mouth and make crowd cheering noises, which in turn caused Bri to let out a snort of a laugh.

“Remind me why I’m friends with you again?”

“Uhm, because who else is going to drink all of your parents’ good wine?”

“Oh, right! I’d forgotten what a favor you were doing for me!” she cried, prompting me to make kissy faces at her before we burst into giggles.

--

“Hang back a few seconds. I want to say hello to Harry before you make your entrance,” Bri whispered with a snicker as she pulled her keys up and unlocked Alex’s front door. “Hi, Harold!” she called in a singsong voice as she floated into the apartment, and I could hear Harry’s half-assed groan of a reply.

“Merry Christmas, boys!” I cried, sauntering into the room and holding up the bag with the wine. “We brought refreshments!” Alex’s face held a wide grin as he watched Harry and soon my eyes traveled to the Brit as well. His eyes seemed to have doubled in size and within seconds he was across the room, scooping me into his arms and spinning me around.

“What the hell are you doing here?” he cried, holding onto my waist as tight as he could. A string of giggles escaped my lips as I placed my hands on his shoulders, asking him to put me down.

“Surprising you, of course,” I scoffed, wrapping my free arm around his neck and pulling him in for a kiss. “Did I win?” I whispered, my lips ghosting over his. In response, he pulled me impossibly closer, slamming his mouth onto mine again.

“Yeah, I think you won,” he grinned, pulling away so he could lead me to the couch. I broke off from him though, moving to give Alex a hug and hand over the wine.

“Merry Christmas, babe,” I murmured, leaving a small kiss on his cheek.

“Merry Christmas, Jude.”

Then, without much thought at all, I had kicked off my shoes and skipped back over to the couch, where Harry was already sitting on the end. I flopped sideways into his lap, pulling my legs up so that the backs of my ankles rested against his thigh. His arm snaked around my waist, pulling me closer as his thumb rubbed small circles into the fabric of my shirt.

“Hi,” I whispered, turning to him with a grin.

“Hi,” he mimicked, raising his eyebrows slightly.

“Are you mad at me?” I couldn’t fight the smirk though, and he was soon rolling his eyes.

“Well, it was rather naughty of you to lie to me.” His voice had lowered even more as his thumb rubbed my side just a bit harder. I swallowed loudly, praying that I wasn’t flushing, but a part of me knew I was. So I tried my best to play it cool.

“Sorry, you can’t be the bad one all the time.” My cheeky grin wasn’t as cheeky as I had hoped, and I knew right then that he was going to come back with something that would definitely make me flush.

“So you want to be bad, then? Because you know, bad girls get punished.” There was a wolfish grin on his face as his emerald eyes glittered in my direction. And there was that pang in my stomach again. Damn him. Thankfully, both Alex and Bri had gone to the kitchen at that point so they weren’t seeing this whole thing. I tried to hold his intense gaze for as long as I could, but he could tell I wasn’t very good at this sort of stuff. Finally he broke, a small giggle passing through his lips before he pulled me close to place a small kiss to my forehead. “You’re cute, Jude,” he murmured, a genuine smile touching his lips.

But I didn’t want to be cute. I wanted to be sexy. For him. I’m sure he had had his share of sexy girls, and damnit, I wanted to measure up. Yet here I was in a shirt that buttoned all the way up my neck and a chunky sweater. Yeah, Jude, really sexy. Still silently scolding myself, I slipped off his lap and hardly noticed the pout he shot me as he watched me go.

“Where are you going?” he whined, his hand reaching out for me.

“I’m just gonna go see what we’re doing for dinner,” I muttered, ignoring his confused looks and padding into the kitchen. Bri and Alex had just pulled apart from what looked like a heated make out session as I crossed the threshold, and Alex was quick to busy himself with flipping through menus. “I am so stupid,” I whispered, throwing myself against the counter next to Bri.

“Why, what happened? Where’s Harry?” she whispered back, her eyebrows furrowing. I nodded offhandedly to the living room, my eyes not meeting hers. “Jude? What’s going on, babe?”

“Why am I so horrible at flirting? I just totally floundered out there. He’s just so- good at everything. What do I do?” My eyes were wide as I finally brought them up to hers and she couldn’t keep the small smirk off her face. “Don’t laugh at me,” I whined, slapping my hands over my face. A giggle did escape her lips though before she pulled my hands away.

“I’m not, I’m not. You’re just so cute, Jude-”

“No! That’s what Harry said! I don’t want to be cute. I wanna be flirty and sexy and-”

“Okay, calm down. For starters, take a deep breath. You’re thinking about this way too much. Harry likes you, that’s half the battle. You just need to let go. You over analyze everything and second guess every move you make. Sometimes you just have to go for it, throw caution to the wind, y’know?”

“Yeah, yeah, I can do that! I’ve got this.” I cheered to myself, my demeanor instantly changing.

“Try to keep it to yourself while you’re here though, yeah? I’m sure he’ll invite you over later. Make your move there?” I nodded to myself, taking in everything she was saying, but then the fear set in again. My hands quickly grabbed at hers, causing her to smirk again.

“What do I do, though?” In all honesty, I was kind of terrified. But Bri just gave a small shrug.

“Idunno, whatever feels right. If that means making a comment, make a comment. If that means palming him through his jeans, then hey. Palm him.”

“Do you think he’d like that?” God, I sounded like a child. Bri even sent me a pointed look.

“Seriously? He’s got a cock, he’ll like it. Now stop stressing! It’s Christmas, have some wine.” She pulled away from me, moving across the kitchen to grab a couple wine glasses and the bottle opener.

“I thought you hated him,” I pointed out, meeting her at the kitchen table as she uncorked one of the bottles. She gave a small shrug, filling the glasses with a generous amount of wine.

“He’s not my favorite, but he makes you happy. So I guess that’s enough for me for now. Cheers?” She asked, tipping her glass to me.

“Cheers,” I echoed, clinking my glass against hers before taking a huge slug of the liquid.

“Greasy Chinese food okay?” Alex called, spinning on his heels and holding up an off-white menu just as Harry walked into the kitchen. A small moan escaped my throat before I could stop it, and Harry was quick to notice, his eyebrows shooting up as he watched me.

“Greasy Chinese food is my favorite, yes please!” I cried, tossing back another large sip. Everyone else seemed to agree and soon Alex was calling to place the order. Bri was checking something on her phone while he called, so Harry took this opportunity to sidle up next to me, lifting the bottle up and studying the label. Deciding he liked it, he grabbed one of the empty glasses and filled it partially before turning to me.

“You disappeared rather quickly, didn’t you?” he murmured, his eyes studying me over the rim of his glass. I shrugged as nonchalantly as I could, saying I was starving and wanted to know what was for dinner. He licked his lips though and moved closer, his hand coming to rest on my waist and giving it a gentle squeeze. “Sure I didn’t just make you nervous?” His eyes never broke contact with mine and I shivered slightly under his gaze and touch.

“Nope, not at all,” I answered as bravely as I could, biting at my lip. He smirked though, seeing right through me before placing a quick kiss to my lips.

“Whatever you say, babe.” A sigh escaped my lips as he moved over to Alex, pointing at random things on the menu in an attempt to mess him up while he was on the phone. He did get him once, causing a small laugh to escape both of their lips before Alex shoved him away.

“Okay! Should be here in forty minutes. Do we start a movie now or wait?” Alex clapped his hands together as he spun to face the group of us once more.

“Now!” Bri and I called in unison, shooting each other small smiles and racing into the living room. We smushed ourselves into the middle of Alex’s average sized couch, leaving the boys with either end. For some reason, the boys decided they wanted to watch Finding Nemo and soon they were tossing themselves on to the couch as the opening titles started. Realizing just how cramped it was, Harry quickly moved his arm around my shoulders, granting us a bit more breathing space. But I couldn’t keep the blush off my cheeks as he pulled me into his side and started rubbing circles into my shoulder. Bri and I, being the assholes that we were, decided to comment on everything that was happening in the movie. And by the time our food was delivered, Harry and Alex were just about ready to kill us. But luckily for them, our mouths were much too busy during the second half of the movie, so they got to watch in peace.

Once we had finished our meals and gone through another two movies and taken in a few more glasses of wine, Bri suggested we exchange gifts. So we all grabbed the few items we had left under Alex’s sad excuse for a tree before handing them to one another. I had picked up Alex some new boots that he had been looking at and a new dress and sweater for Bri. Alex got me some new vinyl and Bri had not so surprisingly also gotten me clothing. Bri received a gorgeous necklace from Alex, and she had gotten him tickets to some show in February.

“If I had known you were coming, I would have brought your gift,” Harry murmured into my ear from our curled up spot on the couch. I quickly shifted in his hold to look at him, my eyebrows high on my forehead.

“You didn’t have to get me anything, Harry!”

“Well, I did, so you’ll have to get over it.” He placed a quick kiss to my lips then to keep me from arguing and I suddenly remembered that I had received a motherfucking car that morning.

“Oh! Check this out,” I chirped, pulling my phone from my pocket and finding the picture I had taken of the car in my garage. Harry grabbed the phone from my hand, staring intently at the photo for a few seconds.

“Tell me your parents didn’t actually get you a car.”

“My parents totally got me a car,” I replied with a smirk.

“Are you serious? What did they get you?” Bri cried, hopping up from her spot on the floor and rushing to my side. I passed the phone to her and Alex and soon Bri was freaking out. “That’s crazy, Jude! You don’t even have your license yet!”

“I know, but they figured it’d be some good motivation,” I said with a small laugh.

“I could teach you how to drive,” Harry piped up, squeezing my waist a little.

“Would you?” I asked, my eyes wide as I looked up at him. A smile instantly reached his face as he nodded, just before I captured his lips with mine.

It was nearing three then, and since neither Harry nor I had gotten much sleep the night before, he suggested we head out. I was more than okay with this though, because with all the wine coursing through my system, I just wanted to kiss him for hours. So we said quick goodbyes to Bri and Alex and soon we were heading for the elevator. Both of my hands were clasped around Harry’s and I was practically skipping at his side. As soon as the doors opened, I rushed inside, pulling his body into mine and placing a sloppy kiss to his lips. His hand never left mine but soon he was pulling away and giving a small chuckle.

“Are you coming back to mine?”

“Are you asking me to?” I asked as I looked up at him through my lashes. He kissed me hard on the mouth then and I took that as a yes.

I could do this. I could be sexy. I could be brilliant.