We're on Fire

I slowly open my eyes and groan at the intense brightness in the room. It was too bright wherever I was. Where the hell am I? I think to myself as I sit up and look around at my surroundings. I was lying on a couch, one that wasn’t very comfortable, by the way. My arm hits something and I groan at the slight soreness in my arm. I turn to find a guy lying there dead to the world asleep. It takes me a minute but I soon spot random tattoos on the guys’ arm and that’s when I realise who it was…Harry. As I sit up, I feel my head pound and I let out a tired groan from my lips, covering my eyes immediately to block the brightness as I open them.

“Mornin’ princess,” I hear a voice speak, a guy. This guy, whoever he was, had a different kind of accent, Irish, I think? His voice sounds familiar, I think, but I can’t really recall. I look over, eyes scrunched together in confusion, only to be met with a pair of blue eyes that stared back at me. I recognise it was the same lad from last night, the one who Harry first introduced me to, right after we got here. Neil or whatever his name was, Niall, I think? He stood there, blonde hair a mess atop his head.

I run my fingers through my hair tiredly and try to rub the sleep from my eyes. “M-morning,” I mumble and sit up a bit more and clear my throat a bit.

“Sorry if I startled ya babe, and woke ya,” he mumbles and motions to Harry who was still passed out to the world on the couch where I was. I am just about to open my mouth to reply to him when I feel fingertips brush against my exposed arm slightly, which made me jump. As I turn, I notice Harry shift his body a bit and let out a small groan from his lips.

“Jumpy much? Thanks for disrupting my sleep, babe,” I hear Harry’s voice in an irritated tone and move slightly so he can sit up. I slowly stand up and have to grip onto the arm of the couch to keep my balance. It was early, I think, or at least it felt like it, plus I was tired and still felt drunk. How much did I even drink last night? Why even? I didn’t even drink, first off.

“Rude much?” I retort back and move my hand up to shield my eyes from the light. It was still a bit too bright, and early, for my liking. He lets out a husky laugh from his lips. I roll my eyes before I slowly open them to look at him for a second before I look over to see Niall still standing there.

“Need something for your hangover? Can fix ya a Virgin Mary drink, helps a lot with ‘em,” he questions and motions to the kitchen. I stay silent for a minute before I answer him.

“Uh, sure,” I tell him softly and slowly nod my head before I begin to follow him toward the direction of the kitchen. I make a mental note for myself to call Liam because I have no way to get back to the flat. There’s no way in hell I was walking back with Harry. As I follow him, I feel someone trailing behind me, and I have a strong feeling I know who it was…Harry, obviously.

I walk into a somewhat big sized kitchen with an island in the center of the room with bar stools. It looked real nice with silver stainless steel appliances and such, expensive looking stuff. I take a seat on one of the nearby stools at the island while Niall goes over to fix my drink for me. I thank him before I begin to mess with the bottom of the dress I wore, the black one from last night. He mutters a “no problem” with a smile. A few minutes go by and I look up to see Harry looking straight at me, eyes wide. He was sat on the stool beside me staring at me. I jump as I see his eyes on me and shift my gaze to the floor because it was kind of awkward. Why is he staring at me like that?

“What’s wrong, Ash?” Harry asks with a small hint of a smirk on his face. I can’t help but roll my eyes at his choice of words. I don’t respond right off and stay silent while I put my thoughts together.

“Don’t call me that,” I snap at him and cross my arms over my chest, a hint of a scowl on my face. “And it’s nothing for you to be concerned about; can’t you mind your own business?” I ask as I look at the still smirking boy beside me.

“Touchy, touchy,” he responds before I notice him rise up from his seat and move over to the fridge. I let out a nervous sigh from my lips as he gets up and I notice he isn’t beside me anymore. He soon is back next to me, a drink in hand, a water bottle. Ugh here we go again.

“Here we go, love,” Niall sets the glass in front of me, a smile on his lips. “Drink up,” he tells me and looks at me for a minute before he turns and walks over to where Harry was. I then hear them begin to go on about random nonsense.

“Thanks,” I give him a small smile as thanks and grip the glass of the red liquid.

It looked sickening but apparently it did the trick, I was about to see, anyway. I grip the glass tightly with my fingertips and slowly bring it up to my lips, bracing myself for what’s to come. I scrunch my nose up at the unpleasant smell but take a sip anyway.

After I take a sip of it, I set it down on the counter. It has a bit of a bite to it and I can’t help but cough as I swallow a sip of it. Definitely strong, that’s for sure. It takes me a minute or two before I take another drink of it. It’s not too bad, an acquired taste I guess. Soon, I finish off the drink and get up so I can clean it out. I wasn’t going to just leave it for someone else. I’ve never been like that since I’m so used to doing it on my own.

“I can do that for you, babe,” I hear his deep voice behind me and I can’t help but jump again. He lets a laugh from his lips and I roll my eyes. Why does he like doing this to me? It wasn’t that funny but it was to him, apparently.

“No, I got it,” I tell him a bit of annoyance in my voice. “Don’t need your help,” I mumble. It takes me a few minutes or so but I clean it well enough before I set it on the side of the sink. Now, I was going to go call Liam to see if he can come pick me up. There’s no way I was walking back with Harry, no way in hell. I walk into the other room so I can call him.

I pull out my phone from the clutch I had brought with me. After I put in my pass code to unlock it, I go to my contacts so I can give Liam a ring. Once I press the call button, I put it up to my ear as I wait for him to answer. It rings a few times before it takes me to his voicemail. A sigh escapes my lips as I end the call. Where is he? I think to myself. Still asleep, I guess? Hell, I didn’t know. I give it a few minutes before I try him again.

By the fourth time I call him again, I have a pretty clear answer; he’s still out to the world. Looks like I have to walk back with him even if I didn’t want to. Great I think to myself and roll my eyes as I stuff my phone back in my clutch I borrowed from Sadie.

“Something wrong, love?” Harry asks as I look over to see him standing in the doorway.

“Its fine,” I snap and roll my eyes again. “Just peachy,” I finish.

“Tried calling Liam but he’s not pickin’ up. Guess that means I have to walk back with you,” I mumble and begin to make my way to the front door.

“Won’t be so bad, keep each other company that way,” he says and walks over to where I stood.

I don’t respond but just give him a slight nod of my head. It was going to be one interesting part of my day, I can’t wait, note the sarcasm. I decide to be nice and wait for him after I step outside in the semi-warm air. I hear him tell Niall goodbye before I hear the door slam shut and hear his boots hit the pavement.

“Surprised to see you actually waited, thought you would’ve left by now,” I hear him say as he walks over to where I was. I just nod my head and shift my eyes to the cement.

“Well, I didn’t,” I mumble and begin to walk down the sidewalk in the front of the house. “Kind of don’t remember how to get back to the house, anyways,” I finish and glance up as I spot Harry walking beside me.

“Ah,” he mumbles in reply. “Glad to be walking with you, babe, make sure you don’t get lost, yeah?” he questions and I notice him stuff his hands in the front pockets of the tight jeans he wore.

“Suppose so,” I reply softly.

The two of us speak few words to each other as we begin to walk back. Every so often, he would speak up and ask me something random and totally out of the blue. I would give him somewhat of an answer in return. In that time, I learned Harry worked at a bar a few nights a week, which was down from the university a little ways. He said it pays alright.

That’s one thing I need, a job, but I want to get a little ways into the school year first beforehand. A good fifteen minutes later, I look up and notice we were in front of the house. Liam’s car was parked in the driveway, and Harry’s piece of junk car was parked in front by the sidewalk. I was tired and all I really wanted was to relax today and get my stuff ready for class in a few days. I also wanted to prepare for orientation, which was tomorrow, I think. It was going to be a busy day.

Notes

Hey all - I'm sooo sorry it's been so long since I last updated - writer's block sucks! Anyways, I hope you all like the chapter even though it's kind of crappy :/

Let me know what you think, please? Comment, vote and subscribe? <3

Thanks for reading, I will update again soon! (: enjoy!