A Single Daffodil

“Vita. I can’t feel my face.” Harry mumbled. “My face is numb.”

It took me ten minutes to help Harry get off the bathroom floor and down to the main floor of Jessica’s mansion. I wasn’t exactly sure where I was taking Harry, until I spotted an empty bench outside on the front patio.

“Stay here, alright?” I spoke loudly and slowly as I eased Harry onto the two-seater. “I’m going to find our friends and tell them we’re leaving. I’ll be right back.”

He nodded, his eyebrows crunched down as he closed his eyes and lolled his head back once more. With his approval, I ran back inside the house and searched for our gang. It was almost three am at this point, so everyone was getting sloppier and less aware of their surroundings. I struggled to jump over three sleeping guys in the hallway that led to the living room.

Finally, when I walked into the living room, I found a snickering Liam and Jayden sitting on a leather couch with an unfamiliar guy passed out between them.

“There you guys are! Listen, I--”

“Shhh!” Liam and Jayden shushed me at once.

“What are you guys doing?” I asked in a loud whisper. My eyes flickered between the pen in Jayden’s hand and the brown paste that was shaped like a penis on the unconscious individual’s face.

“There we go.” Jayden whispered, finishing off the penis on the guy’s forehead. “Nice and easy.”

“We found a Henna kit in Lauren’s bedroom.” Liam snorted. “So we thought we’d put it to good use.”

“This isn’t going to wash off for weeks!” Jayden giggled, already tracing out another penis shape on the man’s cheek. When he finished drawing the second penis, he turned to look at me. “Dude, this kid Liam? He’s awesome! We need to hang out with this British folk more!”

“I’m glad you guys are making...very good use of your party time.” I couldn’t help but noticed how detailed the penis drawing was on the man’s forehead. “But Harry is absolutely trashed. He accidentally drank Billy’s Sizzurp and is currently losing his mind. I’m gonna take him home, alright?”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah!” Jayden nodded. “Do your thang, girl. I can take everyone else home later.” He turned back to Liam. “We still have some Henna left. Want to check upstairs for any other sleeping beauties?”

“You know it!” Liam and Jayden sprung up from the couch, waving a quick goodbye to me, and once again disappearing into the abyss of the crowd.

I sighed, shoving my hands into the pockets of the sweatshirt. The kid passed out on the couch was now snoring, obviously unaware that his new face tattoos were seeping into his skin and weren’t going to fade for the next month. Without another glance at the party, I turned on my heel and stalked back outside to a delirious Harry. When I reached him on the patio, his back was already laying against the ground with his two feet propped up on the two-seater I just placed him on five minutes ago.

And he was singing show tunes. Show tunes.

“Harry.” I moaned, crouching down and pulling him up once more. “What are you doing?”

“Don’t you like my singing, Vita?” His arms flailed as I finally got him to stand on his two feet. He swayed back and forth.

“Yeah, you’re a real treat. Hey listen, I need your car keys so I can get us out of here.” I patted the front of his jeans but both pockets were empty. Just as I reached behind him, he started to giggle uncontrollably.

“Wow, Vita! Me-ow. Now we’re talking. Why didn’t you just say you wanted to cop a feel?” He wiggled his eyebrows. “Buns of steel, me lady. Look, feel them again. I’m clenching.”

“Oh my God, you better cease and desist right now before I leave you here to fend for yourself.” I exclaimed, pulling the keys to his Range Rover out of his back pocket. I reached for his hand and tugged it. “Come on. Car is this way.”

While I steered Harry off of Jessica’s property and towards the car, I realized there was no way I could bring him back to his hotel in his current state. Yes, it is the middle of the night, but I know how the Paparazzi work after observing them stalk my dad’s players. There was no telling if the paparazzi were staked outside the Four Seasons. One picture of me dragging Harry into the Four Seasons lobby by the ankles, and I’ll be hiring myself a new lawyer by the end of the week (and possibility even a new bodyguard too, considering how enthusiastic Harry Styles’s fans are.). So there was only one solution.

He was staying over my house.

It didn’t take me very long to figure out how to drive Harry’s top-of-the-line Ranger Rover once I revved up the engine. While I reversed out of our parking spot and made a U-turn on the street, Harry started getting into a very detailed story that started out in his hometown, Holmes Chapel, but somehow ended up somewhere in Ancient Egypt, and wizards were involved (“not like, the wizards from Harry Potter, no, no, these are like villains. Real, real villains.”).

I barely listened to half the stuff he said, but by the time we pulled up on my driveway, he practically talked himself horse.

“I feel dizzy.” Harry complained, leaning against the hood of his own car. I was rummaging through my bag to find my own set of keys. “What the hell is in that Zurp?”

“Sizzurp.” I corrected him, summoning him to follow me inside the house. “Yeah, unfortunately, you’ve had a sip from the Devil’s cup. It’s a nasty mixture of Codeine syrup, Promethazine and alcohol.”

“Prometheus-I-what?” Harry’s nose scrunched up in confusion. It was the cutest thing I had ever seen. “What’s all this hala-baloo you’re speaking of?”

“Cough syrup and alcohol.” I laughed, shrugging the black hoodie off and discarding it on the near by table. “I’m going to get you some water. You just...take a seat wherever.”

When I walked into the kitchen, I took a deep breathe. This was weird, ya know? Harry was the first guy I’ve ever had sleepover in this house (save for Jayden, of course. Typically, I don’t count him as a guy though.). That sounds super lame, but it’s true. I’m picky about the guys I get involved with, so it’s always a big deal when they come over. Even if they’re high off Sizzurp.

Right as I walked back out into the living room area of my house, I noticed there wasn’t a Harry in sight.

“Harry?” I called, double checking the floor in front of the couch (since that’s where he’s spent most of his night, really), and even checked the hallway bathroom.

“This has got to be the coziest bed to ever be made in the history of bed-making!” Harry’s voice echoed through the hallway that led to my bedroom.

I rolled my eyes and walked over with his glass of water. I stopped in the doorway when I saw him sprawled out across my bed, his shoes already kicked off and his face nuzzled into my pillows.

“No, by all means, make yourself at home.” I said sarcastically, leaving the water on the bedside table next to him.

He lifted his head to see the glass of water, before rolling onto his back and stretching his arms above his head. “Not only are you a princess, but you are also a scholar.”

I blinked a couple of times at him before turning on my heel and walking over to my dresser. I yanked one of the bottom drawers open. “I’m pretty sure Jayden’s left a pair of old basketball shorts in here somewhere that you can borrow-ah, here we go.” I stood up straight and threw them at Harry. “I’ll be in the bathroom so hurry up, alright?”

I grabbed an old pair of shorts and loose tank top for myself and went into the bathroom to get changed. I quickly ripped off my clothes and changed, feeling so very icky from the heat and humidity outside. I noticed my hair had almost turned back to it’s normal state of uncontrollable curls and my eye make-up was smudged at the edges. Maybe I should thank my lucky stars that Harry was completely out of it, because I was looking pretty rough.

After cleaning up my face and brushing my teeth, I noticed how quiet it was in my bedroom. I dropped the toothbrush by the sink and leaned over to the bathroom door, slowly opening it and peaking into my room. Harry’s head was completely out of sight and buried beneath all the pillows on my bed.

How romantic! This is exactly how I wanted tonight to go!

With a loud, exhausted sigh, I switched the bathroom light off and walked back into my bedroom. I stretched my arms above my head, as high as they could go, and yawned, realizing I was more than worn out. After all the adrenaline and excitement from the game and dragging a sizzurped-induced Harry around, it was safe to say I was officially pooped.

Right as I carefully pulled aside the duvet cover and jumped into the empty side of the bed, Harry stirred suddenly. His head emerged from under the pillows and slowly turned to me, displaying a quizzical brow and squinty eyes.

“You know what I was just pondering, Vita?” He asked.

I looked over at him with surprise. How was he still talking?

He took my silence as a cue to continue. “I was just pondering about how the brain named itself. Isn’t that wild? The brain actually named itself. Doesn’t that...blow your mind?”

“Um.” I said. “Not really.”

Harry watched me a second longer before groaning and turning around onto his back. “I really messed up everything, didn’t I?”

I was still sitting up with the duvet covers pulled up to my waist. I looked at Harry with a confused expression, watching him rub his eyes with both his hands. “What do you mean?”

“I mean everything!” He exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air. Before he continued, he twisted his body towards me and did something I wasn’t expecting him to do. He dropped his head into my lap. My whole body immediately tensed up with shock. My eyes widened, observing the mess of curls that now occupied my lap. I lifted both of my hands, not quite sure what to do. Harry didn’t seem to notice how panicked I was by his exertion, so he continued. “I’m so mad at myself.”

“Why?” I asked, staring at his curls with wonder. I wanted to so badly run my fingers through his mess of hair.

“Every time I try to impress you, it always backfires.” He sighed. “I mean, look at me! I’m a complete mess! And look at my track record! Every time I see you, I just keep blowing it.”

I started to smile. “Harry, that’s not tru-”

He sat up with a start, alarming me with his swift movement. He sat back on his heels, holding himself up by leaning both of his palms on his knees. “I know I’m not in my right frame of mind right now, that much I’m aware of. But I feel as though I should tell you now, before I’m sober and back to being an absolute wuss around you, that I like you.”

I pulled my knees up to my chest as my mouth split into a huge grin. Harry had a very serious expression on his face, his unwavering green eyes watching my face carefully. I wanted to reach up and pull him into a kiss (which is something I haven’t stopped thinking about all night) but he continued to speak.

“No, I mean, I really like you. Ever since the first time I met you, I knew I liked you. I knew, because the minute you left that night at the Four Seasons, I couldn’t stop thinking about you. I had to see you again.” He gulped back his apparent worry and uneasiness. “You are, quite possibly, the most beautiful girl I have ever met. I mean it. There is something about you, Vita, and I’m finding it quite impossible to stay away.”

“Then don’t.” I respond. My heart was beating so fast and so loudly, I could hear it in my ears and feel it in my head. “Because I like you, too.”

The minute I said it, I flushed scarlet. Amusement lit up Harry’s eyes. He cautiously reached over and leisurely traced his fingertips down my cheek, across my neck, and curled them beneath my chin. With one final grin, he leaned in and kissed my cheek softly.

I was certifiably bewitched.