I sat at the edge of Harry's bed, knees pressed together and my hands fiddling nervously in my lap. I kept my chin tucked down and occasionally looked up through my eyelashes to watch Harry pace across the floor in front of me. He had been doing this for a good twenty minutes or so, shifting between having his arms crossed and his fingers running through his hair. I've finally agreed to talk about what happened last night with him, but the moment I told him that he had suddenly gotten anxious and began pacing the floor. Not that I was really complaining though, it was giving me enough time to prepare myself from this inevitable conversation.

But all too soon, his pacing stopped and he halted by the door. He turned abruptly to face me, his arms still crossed but his forefinger and thumb holding his chin. His eyebrows pulled together, lips thinning out as he frowned and his dimple popping out as he did. "We're going to talk about last night."

I nod slowly, my expression unwavering. "Yeah, I agreed to. Like twenty minutes ago."

He blinked at me and the crease in his forehead deepened before he dropped his hands to his sides with a light slap. "I didn't expect you to agree. I felt pressured and needed to think, but I'm good now."

"So am I."

He nods and another awkward silence fills the room. My bare-feet barely touch the ground as my legs hang off the bed, and feeling nervous I swing them slowly back and forth. Harry's gaze shifts to my legs, seeing my anxious movements and looking back up at me. His eyes soften and his shoulders fall before he's moving across the room until he's sitting on the bed next to me. He sighs loudly as he does, lifting his hand to run his fingers through his now loose hair. I can't do anything else but stare at him as he begins to push it back, running his fingers through the strands until he's holding his hair back in his other hand. I'm in complete awe with him when he grabs the hair tie around his wrist, his biceps on full display as he swiftly tied his hair back into a bun again. It came out so perfectly messy and I envied his ability to get it to look like that. Especially when I couldn't even get my buns to come out with that cute messy look, no matter how hard I tried. Why was he so perfect at everything?

He drops his hands into his lap, shoulders slightly hunching over as he slid his gaze to me. His eyebrow arched and it was then I realized I had been staring at him for far too long and I quickly looked elsewhere. "So, you remember everything from last night?" He asks after another moment of silence, his tone unsure and cautious.

I nodded slowly, biting my lip as the images of us dancing together, us sneaking into the boys restroom, Harry's hand in my underwear, and me on my knees in front of Harry, flickered across my eyelids like a fast slide show. I felt my cheeks flush at the last image of Harry's face when he climaxed flashing in my head that I couldn't restrain myself from briefly glancing down at his clothed crotch. Just as quick as I had looked, I turn away with my cheeks burning red. "Yeah, I remember."

"Everything?" He mumbled.

I nod. "Everything."

"We were drunk."

"We were."

"We weren't thinking."

"No, we weren't."

"We didn't know what we were doing."

...Didn't I though? "We didn't."

"You hesitated."

I finally turn to look at him, my eyebrows drawing together as he blinked at me. "What?"

"You hesitated when I said that."

"No I didn't."

"Yes you did.

"I didn't hesitate."

"Yeah Em, you did."

I frown at him, sending him a glare as I moved to cross my arms over my chest. Wait I'm not wearing a bra? "Why would I hesitate over that?"

"I don't know," he says and his eyes search my face carefully before he's suddenly staring at me suspiciously. "Did you know what you were doing?"

"No." I said quickly, too quickly for my liking. I silently cursed myself when his gaze narrowed in on me even more, and his tongue clucked against his cheek.

"You're lying."

"No I'm not."

He held out his pinky in a flash, offering it to me and my heart sank into my stomach when he raised his eyebrow at me as if daring me to take it. To break a pinky promise that I knew would mean breaking his trust. And I was fully aware how important pinky promises where to him. I breathed in through my nose and closed my eyes, shaking my head to decline his pinky.

"I'm going to ask you again then; did you know what you were doing?"

I didn't answer for a moment, thinking about my response carefully before I spoke. "That's a really confusing question, because at the time I did know what I was doing. But I wasn't thinking soberly. I hadn't thought of the consequences at the time, and maybe I forgot for a second when I woke up last night but I was aware with what was going on."

I peek another glance at him once I've answered to see him staring down at the floor deep in thought. His tongue pokes out to lick his lips and he nods slowly to himself. "Yeah, me too."

"You too?"

He glances at me briefly before he's staring at the door across the room. "I knew what was happening at the time but like you said, I wasn't thinking of the consequences of our actions. I was only focused on my...desires."

"Desires?" I repeat slowly and his face instantly flushes. He shifts on the bed, legs spreading wider and his elbows resting on his knees as he hunched over.

"Are you going to hold anything I say right now, against me later?"

"No." I tell him quietly and he nods.

"What is said in this room, stays here after we leave then. Understood?" He glanced at me sideways, raising an eyebrow and the way he pretty much demanded it instead of asking was somewhat attractive. I tentatively nod and he grunts, looking back at the door.

"Well then, there's no point in beating around the bush." He said before looking at me with such intensity I froze in my spot, back going rigid. "I'm still attracted to you. And if you didn't know that already well then, you're absolutely blind. I mean, did you expect me not to be? We've fucked. I've seen you at your most vulnerable state, it's practically wired in me now to think of you in that way. And I have. I do. I did last night." He confesses and I feel my cheeks burning profusely when his gaze holds mine, tongue poking out to lick his lips again. "I told you I'm okay with being your friend, and I am. But I'm not going to lie to you and say I don't want more. I always will but I'm not going to push you or pressure you into being with me. I will be your friend, Em. But being your friend is going to have its difficulties."

"What difficulties?" I ask quietly and he stares at me another moment longer, then looks down at his clasped hands hanging between his legs.

"Am I the only one who feels the constant...tension?"

My head reels back at the word, eyes wide as the very meaning of it began to fill the air between us. I moved on the bed, shifting to cross one leg over the other when Harry's eyes had flickered to the way it had left his t-shirt hitching higher up my thighs. I clasped my hands together, resting them over my legs to shield myself a little better when he finally met my eyes again. "No, you're not the only one."

He nods. "Exactly. There's a lot of sexual tension, and I've only been around you for what? A little over a day?" He laughed humorlessly, shaking his head to himself. "What's it going to turn into after a few weeks? A few months?" His eyes flash to mine and he presses his lips together, his expression seeming almost pained as he stared at me. "It's always going to be sitting there, that tension. And it's going to be really fucking hard not to act on it, but I won't touch you again Em. We can't really forget last night happened, but we won't ever talk about it again if that's what you want."

I was surprised at his suggestion, stunned into silence that I could only stare back at him. Part of me felt relieved at what he said while the other part, the much bigger one felt hurt and disappointed. Yet I had to remind myself that I was the one that asked for a friendship, who told him I would give him another chance to become that to me. At least until we could be anything else.

I nod slowly, pressing my lips together as his eyes searched my face. "Right now it's what I want. I think if we keep talking about it after today, it's just going to get weird."

He nods in agreement. "You're right. And I don't want our friendship to feel uncomfortable for you, so we won't talk about it ever again. Not unless you want to."

"What about you?"

"What about me?"

"What if you want to?"

His eyebrows pull together and he purses his lips, sucking them into his mouth right after before rolling them back out. "I'm not really concerned about what it is I want."

Something about the way he said it sent shivers down my back and my heart to beat a little quicker. I said nothing as he stared, trying my best to keep my face void of the emotions I was currently feeling. I wanted to tell him that I was concerned about what it was he wanted, but the look he held on his face had me frozen.

"Well okay." I mumbled a little breathlessly and the corner of his mouth quirked up into the smallest smile, amusement filling his eyes. I rolled my eyes, knowing he heard the way my voice gave me away and he chuckled seconds later.

"So," he said after he had stopped laughing and stood up, turning towards me with an outstretched hand. "Friends?"

I arched my eyebrow at his palm. "A handshake?"

He shrugged. "Thought it might be too soon for a hug."

I pursed my lips at the idea then nodded in agreement. "Yeah you're right." I said and stood up, slipping my hand into his outstretched hand. "Friends." I confirmed with a single shake and watched as his mouth tugged into a wider grin, green eyes glinting with the sun pouring in through his window.

"Pals."

I smiled and laughed lightly. "Pals."

His grin turned into a closed lip smile and he released my hand, letting his own drop to his side. "We're going to be the best."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

I could only smile at him as I shook my head, turning around with a sigh as I picked up my skirt and crop top off the floor of his room. I slipped my black skirt up my legs, pausing when it was time to change my shirt and looked up at Harry to find him already with his back to me. I smiled thankfully at the back of his head as I shrugged his t-shirt off of me, replacing it with the bright pink crop top. It was even more uncomfortable than it had been the night before and I hurriedly adjusted my breasts in the cups of the top until I was finally somewhat comfortable.

"You can turn back around now." I said once I was finished and Harry glanced at me over his shoulder, eyes briefly flickering down to my top before resting on my face again when I sunk down at the end of the bed, slipping my boots on.

"Do you want something to wear over that?" He pointed at my top and I looked down at it, unable to keep myself from feeling exposed and self conscious. It was one thing to wear it at night when going out and it was another thing to be wearing it in broad daylight.

"Yeah, actually that'd be great."

He nodded and moved to the other side of the room, turning his back to me as he opened his top drawer. I failed at keeping my eyes on his back and my gaze fell to his perky cute ass that was currently being covered by his tight boxer briefs. I almost, almost sighed in content at the sight but caught myself before I could and managed to tear my eyes away the moment he turned back around to face me.

"Here." He held out a plaid, red and black button up shirt to me and I quickly took it from him with a 'thank you'. He stood there as I shrugged it on, my fingers working up the buttons until I stopped at the second one. I looked down at my body once I was done, bending just slightly over to see the hem of the shirt stopped just above the end of my skirt. It was too big on me and fit more like a dress but after staring at the article of clothing for another moment, I bunched the shirt up and tucked it into my skirt instead. After adjusting it a few times until it looked somewhat decent, I dropped my hands to my sides with a sigh and looked up at Harry expectantly.

"Well?"

His eyes took me in and his lips pulled into a smirk, gaze locking with mine. "You pull it off better than me."

I could only laugh, turning my back to him before he could see my red cheeks. I picked my phone off the night stand, my finger pressing over the home button until the screen lit up with new notifications. My eyes rolled at the new four text messages I had from Liam, not even bothering to open them when I knew what they already said. He was such a pain in the ass, if he wasn't at our apartment then he was always texting me. He was like an annoying overprotective brother. And if I kept ignoring him there was no doubt he'd flood my phone with excessive calls until I answered.

"I should go." I said with a sigh, clutching my phone in my hand as I turned back around. My eyes had widened just a fraction when I saw Harry had pulled on his black t-shirt I had borrowed. The only reason I knew it was the one I had been wearing was because the shirt I had left at the end of the bed was now gone and the one he wore had a smudge of pink paint on the collar area. I couldn't stop from gawking at him, my chest stirring with an emotion at the fact he was currently wearing the same shirt I had slept in all night.

"You don't want to stay a little longer?"

I tore myself away from my own thoughts, blinking at him repeatedly until I was broken out of my momentary daze. "I can't, Liam is harassing me and if I don't go home to explain myself he will literally hunt me down."

Harry chuckled, his hand moving to tuck an escaped hair from his bun behind his ear. Why am I barely noticing how cute his ears are? "Yeah, you should probably head home then."

I nodded. "Do you have my ID by any chance?"

His eyebrows rose in memory and he nodded, looking around the room until he spotted his jeans on the floor. He sauntered over to them, picking them up and digging into the pockets before handing me the very thing I had asked for.

"Thanks." I said once I had it, embarrassingly tucking it into the bra of my crop top. Harry smirked with amusement while I rolled my eyes at him.

"Lovely place for that."

"It's my own personal pocket."

Harry laughed, shaking his head at me before turning around to open his bedroom door. I followed him down the hallway with a small grin on my face that was briefly whiped away when Brad sent me a wink and a bad attempt at a seductive smirk. Harry smacked the back of his head as we passed the couch, Brad wincing and sending Harry an expression that could only be filled with annoyance. I tried my best to suppress my giggles but I couldn't hold them off any longer when Harry stuck his tongue out at him childishly one last time right before we left the room.

He opened the door of his apartment, stepping out into the hallway when I halted him with my hand on his arm, my eyes moving down his frame in boxers and a thin t-shirt. "What are you doing?"

He arches his eyebrow at me, his words slow as he responded. "I'm walking you downstairs."

"No you're not."

He frowned. "Just because we're friends, doesn't mean I'm going to stop doing gentlemanly things for you. I'm actually going to start laying on the cuteness real thick."

"Oh yeah?"

"Fuck yeah. It's my lame attempt in getting you to fall in love with me." He joked and my lips curved into a smile. I hadn't smiled this much in months.

"Well as genius as your plan is, you can't live up to your gentlemanly duties."

"Who says?"

"Me." I say, glancing down at his boxers again pointedly until he's looking down at his attire as well. "You've got no pants on."

He purses his lips in thought, hands on his hips when he shrugs. "Eh, who cares. Humiliating myself just to walk you to the lobby door like the gentleman I am might earn me some brownie points."

This time I blushed.

I faked a laugh even though on the inside I felt all mushy and giddy. "You don't have to Harry. Seriously, I can walk there myself."

"But I want to."

He's really going to make this friends thing hard.

"You can start your genius plan to get me to fall for you tomorrow."

His lips slowly lifted into a smile and his eyes danced with a happiness I hadn't seen in a long time. "So you're saying I'm going to be seeing you tomorrow?"

"Well, you're going to the orientation aren't you?"

He nodded. "It's mandatory."

"Then yeah I'll be seeing you there."

"Cool. Sit with me?"

My stomach did a flip at the way he sounded so hopeful and cute that I faltered for a moment, needing a second to collect myself before answering. "Yeah sure. Lila will be with me though."

"Anthony will be with me too."

"Cool."

His smiled widened more than I thought possible, dimples puncturing his cheeks so deeply I had the urge to poke them. "Cool."

"Okay," I laughed and stepped outside into the hallway. "See you tomorrow then."

"Wait," he pulled at my arm, pulling me back when I had begun to walk right by him. I raised my eyebrows at him in question and he reached for my phone in my hand, not even bothering to ask me for it. He swiped his thumb across the screen only to stop when he saw he needed a passcode to get in it, and he looked at me through his eyelashes.

"Password?"

I narrowed my eyes at him. "What are you going to do?"

He rolled his eyes at me and waved his hand impatiently. "Nothing bad, I promise. Now what is it? Unless you want to put it in yourself."

I bit my lip, contemplating what he could see if I let him go through my phone but there wasn't really anything in there from him I needed to hide. "It's 1202."

His fingers moved across the screen to put it in and I tried to stand on my toes so I could see what he was doing. His fingers moved quickly over the screen and before I could even see what the heck he had been doing he was handing me my phone back with a shit eating grin on his face. "Here ya go."

I grabbed my phone from him, looking at all my messages and apps to see if he posted anything embarrassing but nothing seemed to be touched. "What'd you do?"

He hummed and the most mischievous look was in his eyes as he stared down at me with a toothy smile, his forefinger tapping underneath my chin. "You'll see Em."

I narrowed my eyes at him suspiciously but he only laughed, lifting his hand to ruffle my hair playfully. I smacked his hand away, sending him a heated glare when he leaned forward without thought and pressed a quick kiss to my forehead. He didn't even seem fazed by what he just did and acted like he wasn't even aware of it at all. He only slipped right past me, waving bye to me before he was closing his apartment door. I stood there frozen for a few minutes long after he was gone, the warmth from his lips on my head spreading over the rest of me like a secure blanket. It was such an innocent gesture and maybe I was reading too much into it or overreacting, but the fact that something as small as that could get me riled up was enough evidence to tell me I was so beyond fucked.

In more ways than one.

* * * * * *
I'm staying at a beach house for the weekend and it's so pretty I'm getting inspired and want to write a beach house chapter in the future for harrmeline. <3

Thank you to those who congratulated me on meeting Louis. :) I added the pic of us to the chapter for those of you who had asked to see it! 

Questions:

How long do you think this friendship is going to last?

What'd Harry do with Em's phone?

I'm hoping to get more writing done this weekend, but keep voting and leave a shit ton of comments and the next chapter just might come a lot sooner. Thanks for reading :)