We had finished opening presents and it was all so adorable. I spent the entire time practically in Harry’s lap and I was pretty sure that I was pissing everyone off with the occasional flashes. We decided before hand that we would all get our boyfriend or girlfriend a gift and then we would all pitch in and get Niall something special. Someone decided to put a thirty five dollar limit on all of the couple gifts, which I thought was reasonable since I had just been shopping with the girls yesterday.

I had gone with Haley to get Zayn some knew cologne and I knew that Liam was getting a new pair of sunglasses and a Jack Wills sweatshirt. I had no idea what Eleanor had planned on getting Louis until he opened it and caused us all to go into hysterics. Louis held up one of the sexy little numbers that we had helped El pick out from shopping yesterday.

“Oh sorry babe, that’s mine,” El giggled and acted like she was playing dumb.

“Well Honey, mine now.” I was still cracking up when I snapped a shot of Louis holding up the lingerie with a suggestive smile on his face. El snatched it out of his hands and gave him a seductive face and his eyebrows rose. “I guess that you can have it back,” he paused, “as long as you promise to wear it for me later.” She laughed it off but we all basically knew that that’s what they would be doing.

We were still calming down from Louis’ hilariousness when I grabbed Harry’s present from under the tree and watched as he carefully tore back the wrapping paper. I watched as his eyes squinted at what was inside of the paper. He pulled out the green book and began flipping through the pages. I sat by him, already knowing what was inside, having made it myself. I kept my eyes trained on his face, waiting for his reaction to the scrapbook. I thought that it might have been a little feminine, but what else was I supposed to get someone who already had everything?

Once he came across some of the pictures of us when we were younger, a smile grew large on his face. I was happy with his happiness alone and when he looked up at me, his eyes sparkled a full on green. I was always losing myself in Harry’s eyes. When we had held each others’ stares for an abnormal amount of time, I looked away, feeling the blood rise to my cheeks, boiling under my skin. It was suddenly too hot, but it was comfortable at the same time. I had forgotten that everyone else was in the room, but when I looked around, all that I saw were the stares of the people observing the open feelings that Harry and I had for each other.

When Harry had gone all the way through his scrap book he found the blank pages at the end. “I know that you didn’t run out of pictures because you’re always snapping that damn thing,” he joked.

“I know,” I smiled at him, keeping the mystery alive. “It’s a work in progress.” He looked at me skeptically. “Those pages are for all of the great times that haven’t happened yet.” The smile spread impossibly wider across his face and I didn’t think that his dimples could dig any deeper. I wanted so badly to kiss him, but settled with a hug, knowing that our affections were still on display to the rest of the group.

Glancing around to everyone, I noticed that Ni was the only one that was left empty handed, and Harry noticed too. We both stood up at the same time and walked into Harry’s room. When we returned, we both turned to Niall and I got the biggest smile across my face. I tried to pull the gift out from behind our backs but Harry stopped me.

“I just want you to know, Ni,” Niall looked up and furrowed his eyebrows together; “this was completely Hannah’s idea. We all pitched in to pay for it, but we put the gift idea up to her and this is what she came up with.” With that, Harry and I both pulled the guitar out from behind our backs. The look on Niall’s face was priceless as we handed it to him. I was so glad that Eleanor had taken over the camera, because she caught him with the biggest smile on his face as he held it for the first time. The big, blue bow matching his big, blue eyes.

There was one present under the tree that remained unopened, and it was the first time that Harry and I had been apart for hours. Grabbing the gift, he came back to sit down at my feet and placed the present in my lap. He took my camera and aimed it towards me. I opened the box and I caught a glimpse of what it was. My camera flashed before I took it out of the box and I gleamed at Harry, still a little bit dazed by the flash. Out of the box came a new, professional grade, camera. Everyone groaned playfully and then I looked back at Harry. His smile was just as big as mine.

“Oh my God! Harry I love it!” I left my new camera to the side on the couch and I slid down into Harry’s lap and threw my arms around his neck. His slid around my back and I felt his smile against my neck. I caught another glimpse of Niall over Harry’s shoulder and was shocked at what I saw.

Niall was always very easily affected, but I had never seen him like this. I wasn’t expecting the look of hurt in Niall’s eyes, but there was something else there too. It was something that I had never seen before. It almost looked like… anger. Still in Harry’s embrace, I had a little bit of time to observe it further. It didn’t look so much like anger as it did pure rage. What the hell?

We hung out for quite a while longer before the boys decided to disappear into the kitchen, Niall being the last one to leave. He looked back momentarily and had just enough time to catch my stare. His expression was unreadable as I turned my head back to the girls.

“That boy seriously needs a girlfriend,” Dani said in a pretty gossipy tone. “I think he’s getting more frustrated by the day.” I looked over to Haley and I found her looking towards the doorway. She looked to be in deep thought. She finally looked over to me, looking as if she was ready to say something.

“Is he always like that?” She tilted her head to the side. It was kind of mysterious, much like Zayn. Wow. There was a real connection between the two of them.

I paused and turned towards the door, hushing my voice slightly, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen him like this.” I paused again. “He’s one of my best friends, and I just wish that I could pick out what’s wrong.” I looked back towards the girls and they all had sympathetic looks.

“You’ll figure it out.” El came up and wrapped her arm around my shoulder.

Before long, every boy with a bird came out to get us. A strong aroma had begun wafting from the kitchen and they made us all close our eyes with them walking closely behind us. I assumed that we were being led into the kitchen since the smell became more intoxicating. I opened my eyes to see Niall setting out wine glasses around the table and looking up to everyone, his face falling only slightly when his glance came to Harry and I. The entire table was lined with chairs and plates and the remaining space was full of food. It was food that I didn’t even know that we had in the house. How did they do this? There was every food related to the holidays and it was all just beautiful.

Soon, everyone sat around the table and I took a look around. Harry was to my right and rested his hand on my upper thigh. I shivered under his touch and looked to see all of the boys sitting around with their birds. Coming to the seat on my left, I found it empty. Putting two and two together, I realized that Niall was the only one left without a chair. An arm came between Harry and me and set a plate full of food down in front of me. Five fingertips then traced my back just under the strap of my bra and I shivered again. Harry’s fingertips dug in a little more to the meat of my thigh, but it wasn’t out of hunger or frustration; it was more to comfort me. I turned to my left to see that the fingers belonged to Niall and I shrugged to myself, thinking that he was just being friendly.

When Harry was done with his dinner, he leaned back and thanked each of the guys for helping make dinner. All girls, including me, beamed up at them. I leaned in and kissed Harry sweetly. We pulled away and I felt my chair shift slightly. Turning to my other side, I realized that a very full Niall was resting his arm on the back of my seat. I mentally questioned what I was supposed to do about it and then I looked over to see that his other arm was in the same position over the back of Louis’ chair. I relaxed a little and my gaze shifted back to Harry just in time to see him tense at the sight of Niall’s posture. I grabbed his hand and squeezed it, trying to be as reassuring as I could. Soon, the wine was brought out and we all were poured a glass.

Harry was the first to raise his glass and everyone else followed his actions. “I would like to make a toast. There are only three women in my life that I have ever truly loved,” I looked around to see the girls near the squealing point, hearts melting with Harry’s words, “two of them being my sister and my mum. All four of us started off in Holms Chapel, but I was just lucky enough to bring one of them with me,” Harry gave my hand a comforting squeeze and looked over at me, still talking to the group, “and all I can do is pray that she never finds the will and common sense to leave.”

Happiness didn’t begin to describe me. I felt the tears of joy pricking at my eyes that were locked with Harry’s. Looking off to the side, I tried helplessly to blink them away, but a few ran over the edge and Harry was instantly cupping my face, wiping them away. “Don’t cry Hannah. You’re far too beautiful to cry.” This only made things worse, letting more tears fall over the barrier, as I looked up at him through wet lashes. He came in close and brushed his lips against mine before pressing his lips forward more firmly. Louis had said something to make everyone laugh, but I wasn’t paying attention. I was lost in Harry’s lips on mine and never wanted it to end.

I was totally at ease by the time he pulled away and I looked at my hands, fiddling with my fingers in my lap. Feeling my face turn a soft blush of red, I noticed something out of the corner of my eye. Niall’s leg was bouncing up and down and I risked a glance up to his face. I instantly wished that I hadn’t because the look on his face was one of disgust. Caring about Ni, I almost got a little bit pissed for being so unimpressed by Harry’s and my affection. Why couldn’t he just be fucking happy like the rest of us? It was Christmas.

Once we had finished sitting around and talking for a bit, I let everyone else go back to the living room. Harry’s arms wrapped around my back and I leaned into him. My stomach puffed out slightly and I realized that I had a huge food baby. I knew that Harry noticed to when he began to chuckle and his long fingers spread out over my stomach. “Wait a minute. I don’t think that should be there yet.” He drew out the word ‘yet’ and my head spun a little. He was talking about an actual baby inside of me. Harry mentioned serious things like this sometimes, and it always made the butterflies turn to lead and sink my stomach to the bottom of the ocean.

“Don’t worry, it’s not.” He let out a fake sigh of relief as we both laughed a little. We settled down and just stood there in silence. I wasn’t thinking about anything at all. My mind was clear and I was just enjoying the closeness. I could feel each individual place where he was touching me. I could feel his hot breath on my neck, and I wasn’t about to protest any time soon. Unfortunately, the water was steaming and the dishes were stacked a mile high, so I started to reach out towards the dish soap and squirted some in the sink that was filling with water. Harry sighed, probably thinking that I had lost interest, even though that wasn’t the case in the slightest. His hands became a little tighter on my waist and I could feel his mouth close to my ear.

“Don’t take too long,” his husky voice rang into my ear, “I’ve got a little bit more in store.” He pressed his pelvis closer to me and it sent tingles through my body. The closeness of him sent shivers down my spine. He kissed right under my earlobe and I stiffened a little, with his mouth so close to the ear that he had roughly tugged on the night before. Noticing my reluctance, Harry licked his lips just enough to make them moist, he nudged my ear forward with his nose and place a kiss on the back of my earlobe. I sighed at his healing touch and turned to kiss him lightly before telling him to go hang out with the others.

When I was done, I let the hot water from the sink run over my hands. I looked at the splotched of wetness that I had managed to get on the shirt that I was wearing. I noticed that it was still Harry’s from last night and this morning. Wow. I had been really lazy this Christmas.

I heard someone come into the room and I was just about to look behind me when I felt hands gentle on my waist once again. I could already feel his breath on my neck. Watching the water run over my hands from a few seconds more, I closed my eyes and turned in his arms, knowing exactly where his lips were. My hands lay wet on his chest and our lips brushed slightly at first. He was unresponsive for a moment and I was about to pull away when he leaned in further, sloppily deepening the kiss. I wrapped my arms around him and his face snuggled into my neck, but there was something missing. Something vital that was a Harry Styles trademark. Where were Harry’s curls that should have been tickling my cheek? I pulled away and opened my eyes for the first time, and I stood there shocked as the big, blue eyed boy pressed his forehead to mine with a slightly frustrated look on his face.

Pulling away, my hips crashed against the counter, trying to create space between us.

“Hannah, I…”

“Niall?” What had I done? This was exactly what Harry had done to me so many months before. This is why we had fought and the reason that we had been apart for so long. Now the look of frustration was on my face, not knowing what to do or what to say. “What was that?” I managed. I brought my fingertips up to my lips, tenderly caressing where Niall’s lips had just been. Noticing that my fingers were still damp from the water, I place them back on the counter where I was leaning.

There was no tingling, not that I expected there to be. I loved Harry. Harry was my best friend, and had been since before I could remember. Even with all of the thoughts running through my mind, I couldn’t pull my eyes away from Niall’s, but I didn’t get lost in his like I didn’t in Harry’s. I really couldn’t right now. There was no warmth or sparkle in Niall’s eyes; there was hunger, and that seemed to be all. That was all that I could see at least. The only reason that I was so captivated was because I wanted to understand. I had never seen this side of Niall and I had no idea where it was coming from and I wanted to understand desperately why he was doing this to me. There was no way that he was actually going to put me in this position. Was there?

“I’m sorry,” he finally stuttered. With that, he began walking backwards towards the door, slightly knocking the frame with his shoulder as he was on his way out the threshold.

Notes

Oh boy, shit's hitting the fan. Here we go you guys! Haley's POV is kind of a slow down while Hannah's life is about to start going haywire! Please keep your hands and feet inside the car at all times and enjoy the ride xD
xoxo Hannah <3