Illuminate

Simone’s eyes fluttered open and she became confused, unaware that she had even fallen asleep in the first place. The Office DVD had gone all the way through the episodes, making the top menu pop up on the television screen. The blinds were doing a poor job at keeping the light from the morning sun at bay.

Suddenly, warm fingers began to trace small circles on her hip, making her gasp slightly. It was then that she quickly woke up and realized she was lying across the couch, tucked sideways between the back of the couch and Harry. Her head was rested on his shoulder and he had his arm lazily wrapped around her.

Simone lifted her head to see the most adorable sight of Harry with his curly hair in every direction, his full lips parted slightly as he slept. Her arm was still slung across his chest and when a low hum came from the boy, she felt his chest rumble from the sound.

“Come back, you were keeping me warm,” he mumbled, his voice deeper and raspier than usual, laced with sleepiness.

Simone complied, but her heart was now beating too sporadically to fall back asleep. This time Harry spared no personal space as he turned to face the blond, wrapping his left arm around her waist and placing his right arm under her head as a pillow.

“Goodnight, Simone,” he whispered to her, making her snort.

“It’s morning now, though?”

“Not if we don’t want it to be, love.”

“It doesn’t work like that, I don’t think,” she snorted. “Do you want some tea?”

Harry scoffed at her, finally opening his eyes to gaze at her. His green eyes were bright with amusement. “Just because I’m British doesn’t mean that I drink tea.”

“So if I were to go in the kitchen right now, I wouldn’t find any?”

Harry responded by hugging her tighter to him. “Just stay here and keep me warm.”

Simone couldn’t fight it anymore and quickly gave in, hugging around him before eventually falling asleep again in his arms.

*

“Shit!”

Kelly woke up after hearing a crash in the kitchen and Parker’s attempt at a hushed curse echoed throughout the apartment. Smiling sleepily to herself, she got out of bed and padded towards the kitchen, tugging down Parker’s shirt that hung loosely on her body.

Parker stood in the center of the kitchen with his hands over his face. At his feet were two broken mugs with coffee all over the tiled floor.

“What’s going on in here?”

Parker looked up to stare at the girl with a ‘don’t-even-try-to-act-like-you-don’t-already-know’ look, shaking his head slightly.

“Don’t move, I’ll go get a broom,” she instructed.

She slipped on her shoes to keep from cutting herself before grabbing the broom and two towels from the hallway cabinet. After she reached the kitchen she placed one of the towels away from the mess surrounding her now boyfriend.

“Step onto the towel and dry yourself off. Go put on shoes too so you don’t actually hurt yourself.”

“Okay, mom,” he teased before doing as he was told.

Kelly rolled her eyes playfully, stepping past him to sweep the porcelain pieces to one pile. She carefully swept it up into a dust pan and threw them away before throwing the towel over the remainder of the mess in order to soak it all up. Throwing the towel into the dirty hamper, she turned around to see Parker watching her with a sheepish grin on his face and his cheeks were tinted a bright red.

“You can mop now,” she smiled sweetly at him.

“I’m sorry, Kel,” he sighed. “I try being nice and romantic and shit and then I just have to fuck it all up-”

“You’re fine, I promise,” she interrupted. She walked over to him and kissed him lightly. “I appreciate the thought more than anything else.”

“We can go to breakfast?” he offered. “My treat.”

“Deal.”

Kelly wrapped her arms around his shoulders as he held her close by her waist. They stood there, kissing each other’s faces slowly, absolutely smitten by each other’s company.

At that moment the front door handle jingled before Simone attempted to quietly enter the apartment, unaware that there were already two pairs of eyes already on her.

“Why home so late, huh?” Kelly asked her, a wicked smirk playing on her lips.

Simone’s eyes widened, feeling like a teenager being caught coming home after curfew. Her gaze went to the sight of her best friend and brother in front of her, tangled in each other’s embrace. Her brows furrowed in confusion. She silently walked towards her room, not saying anything to the couple.

“Simone, where the fuck were you?” Parker asked, his instinctively protective brother side coming out.

“Maybe if you weren’t too busy arguing and fucking each other whenever I’m home then we’d be a little more caught up in one another’s lives,” she spat before entering her room, slamming the door and locking it behind her. She knew she was being dramatic but she didn’t care.

Huffing, she went over to her bed and hid under her covers, pulling out her phone from her pocket to shoot a quick text to Harry.

Thank you again for letting me crash over there last night, I swear I didn’t mean to. Just made it home safe and fairly sound.

She checked her emails and her social media, bored and desperate to keep her mind off of her two roommates who were leaving her out of the loop. Her phone vibrated, pulling her out of her auto-pilot state as she scrolled through Instagram.

Fairly sound? That doesn’t sound too convincing. Everything alright? Glad to hear you made it home in one piece though. x

She sent a quick text back, telling him not to worry and that she just had to wash her eyes. A moment later a call came through her phone.

“Hey.”

“I figured a phone call would be easier,” Harry spoke, and she could practically hear him shrugging. His voice was still sleepy, making her heart react stupidly.

“My best friend and brother are apparently a thing now and I’m not sure how to feel about it,” she murmured as she closed her eyes.

“What happened?”

“I came home and they were standing in the living room all bundled up and they started asking me about where I was as if they were my parents or something.”

“But how does that mean they’re together?” he asked.

“My brother, Parker, he’s been in love with Kelly for years. Remember when you walked me home from the movies that one night?”

“Considering that was only a few nights ago, I’d like to think I remember it pretty well,” he cheekily replied.

Simone turned over to groan into her pillow, half annoyed at his time for play and half endeared to him all the more.

“Now isn’t the time for your sarcasm, Mr. Styles,” she informed him. “Now is the time to be the most true English gentleman you know how to be.”

Harry laughed loudly into the phone, making Simone break out into a fit of giggles as well.

“Simone, babe, if you think that British men are actually how they’re portrayed in film and literature you unfortunately couldn’t be any further from the truth. They make American men look like angels.”

She groaned once more, slightly less dramatic this time, at the new found fact. “That’s really upsetting to hear.”

“I’m sure,” he hummed. “I’m the crème de la crème when it comes to true English chivalry, sweetheart. Sorry if that disappoints you.”

“Not in the slightest,” she replied, face palming at herself for being so damn honest. She heard loud laughing in the kitchen, causing her to sigh.

“What’s up?”

“They’re just laughing like lovesick puppies in the kitchen and I swear I don’t even know why it’s bothering as much as it is, but it is.”

“I have the day off if you’d like me to come pick you up. We can go explore the city if you’d like?”

“You really are the crème de la crème, Harry. I’ll see you soon.”

After they said their goodbyes, Simone dragged herself out of bed to go shower. Fortunately for her, the two were in Kelly’s room which allowed her to sneak into the bathroom without any confrontation.

As she stood in the shower washing her hair, her mind raced as she tried to find the reason as to why she was so butthurt about everything. She’s always known about Parker’s feelings for Kelly, so it wasn’t even a true surprise. But Kelly had never said anything about it. Did she lie? Why would she not say anything to Simone about it? There’s no way Kelly could lie to Simone like that, so she quickly rid her mind of that idea.

After she exited the shower and dried herself off, she changed into an old band shirt and boyfriend jeans. Simone wasn’t fond of the trend but after a trip to Urban Outfitters with Kelly, she was convinced to buy a pair that was slim fit enough for her to fall in love. She blow dried her hair, the sound being loud enough to make her mind slow down as she focused on the task at hand. Not wanting to bother with makeup, she put some mascara on and swiped some dark red lipstick on her lips before exiting the bathroom.

Entering the living room, her heart stopped and her stomach nearly emptied its contents right then and there.

Harry was sat on the couch, looking strangely composed as Kelly sat next to him and Parker was towering over the pair, his arms crossed in front of his chest with an angry look on his face.

“Harry,” she breathed as she nearly ran over to him, “I didn’t know you’d get here so soon. I’m sorry, I must’ve taken too long to shower.”

He smiled kindly at her, dismissing the glares being sent in her direction.

“S’alright, love. Based on the phone call it sounded like I was to be here sooner rather than later.” He paused to stand up, quickly glancing at Parker before turning his attention back to the blond. “You look beautiful, are you ready to go?”

She couldn’t even try to stop the furious blush that rose to her cheeks. “Y-yeah, I just need to put some shoes on real quick.”

Harry walked towards her as she slipped her favorite pair of flats on by the door. Once they were on and she slung her purse over her shoulder, Harry turned his attention back to Parker and Kelly.

“It was absolutely lovely meeting the both of you,” he flashed a bright smirk at them, a dimple apparent on one cheek. Parker’s glare only increased in severity and Simone began to fear that he’d burst into flames right where he stood. “Try not to get too crazy while we’re gone.”

Simone opened the front door, desperate to leave the awkward situation, and as she did Harry pulled her close to her side and bent down slightly as he pressed a kiss to her hair. As they exited the apartment and closed the door behind them, Simone let out a breath that she wasn’t aware she was holding in.

“What was that?” She squeaked, staring at the British Adonis with wide eyes.

“Consider it payback for the distress they caused this weekend,” he flashed another deadly smirk before releasing his hold on her and switching to grab a hold of her hand to tug her forward. “Now let’s go get breakfast. All that interrogation worked me up an appetite.”