Strong [h.s]

I s i s

     "The pizza should be here in about twenty minutes," Niall calls out from the living room.

     "Pizza! Pizza! Pizza!" Randie chants, hopping around on the floor.

     Harry chuckles when he sees her, shaking his head at her nuttiness. I notice how tired he looks and how disheveled his hair is from running stressed fingers through it. He must feel my eyes on him, because he turns back to me and stares right back.

     I see Aideen inching her way out of the kitchen through my peripheral vision. "I'll just. . . Go check on Niall." With that she's gone, collapsing onto the couch next to her fiancée.

     "You okay?" Harry asks, moving towards me.

     I'm all too aware of his proximity as he takes another step closer. "I'm fine," I answer, "you?"

     One more crucial step, and we're only inches apart. His scent is an intoxicating mixture of mint, a little bit of body spray and just. . . Harry. "I'm tired, but glad to be home." His hands trail from my elbows down to my wrists, lifting my arms to wrap around his neck.

     "Rough day?" I question, my fingers playing with the collar of his flannel.

     He chuckles dryly in response, nodding. "Brielle has the most inexperienced models I've ever met, it was terrible. One even lost balance and fell, knocking over the camera. Like, how do you do that?" He uses his hands while he speaks, resting them on my hips once he's done.

     "I'm sure you made their chaos look good, it's what you do." I realize he's doing the same to me; turning the chaos inside into something good.

     The living room suddenly erupts with cheers and clapping, which means that the boys have stumbled upon a sports channel. Harry rolls his eyes with a small smile. "Guess we should get back to the party," He suggests. I only nod, slightly disappointed when he steps back away from me. My hands drop to my sides as we head into the other room, where the boys are all watching a soccer game.

     "Who's winning?" Harry asks nobody in particular, settling himself on the floor.

     "Aldershot," Niall responds with an arm slung lazily over Aideen's shoulder. 

     I see Louis craning his neck to get a better look at the bandages on Harry's skin. "What happened to you?" He asks, "Did you make Isis mad or something?"

     I turn back to Harry just in time to see a blush rise to his cheeks. "No, I dropped something and it shattered. No big deal." He gives me a look as if to say "don't you dare say a word," and I respond with a knowing look.

     "He dropped soup and when he fell he got boo-boos!" It's Randie, shouting out the truth for all Harry's friends to hear. 

     "Bambi!" Harry groans, throwing the nearest pillow at her. The boys begin to laugh and Liam gets off the couch, pats Harry on the back and proceeds into the kitchen shaking his head. 

     

     By the time everyone leaves, it's 10:00 and Randie's fast asleep on the couch.

     "See you tomorrow!" Louis shouts to me, waving as he slides into the driver's seat of his car. I wave back and Harry closes the door once they've left the driveway.

     "That was a nice surprise," He says, glancing over to Randie. "I'll go get her a Pull-Up."

     "She already has one on, but could you get her some pajamas?" I pick up an empty pizza box, shaking another to see if it has any food left inside.