Work Text:
[Niall]
"Ni. Ni, wake up."
My eyes are slow to flutter open, still debating in my head whether or not to listen to the bloke beside me. I put my gaze on the window, noticing the stars are still present and the sky is still a dark shade of blue. What time was it, I don't think I'd want to know.
I let out a soft groan, digging my face further on my pillow. "What do you want, Harry? Are you aware that it's still, I don't know, night time?"
"I'm perfectly aware," Harry says lightly. "It's fifteen minutes past one in the morning."
What the fuck.
Instead of hissing at him for waking me up at this kind of hour, the kind of hour where I don't think anyone is alive and up yet, I ignore him and try to continue my slumber.
I feel him shuffle underneath the duvet we're both sharing, and before I can even prepare myself, I feel his long arm wrap around my bare torso, his head dipping at the crook of my neck. His palm climbs up from my stomach to my chest in a painfully slow manner, making every hair in my arms rise up and my heart to beat at such a fast speed it could win in a race. My breath hitches in my throat and I'm eternally grateful that it's dark and he can't see the light pink shade of my cheeks.
Leave it to Harry to make me so swoon and heart-eyed when he does things. It's all so surreal, what he can do to me.
I ignore his actions and clear my throat. "Harry. Just go back to sleep, yeah? I can't function properly at this time. Plus, you need the sleep. We both do."
As much as I want to turn myself around and face him, I can't and I won't, knowing it's not what's best for us at the moment. We both have a busy day tomorrow, meetings and shit, and we can't appear all tired and hazy.
"The sky's awake, Niall, so I'm awake, too."
I pry my eyes open abruptly and glance back to him, his nose bumping with my cheek. "Tell me you didn't just use a Frozen reference on me," I say, completely unamused.
Harry chuckles and I can feel the vibration on my back. "It fits well with the situation. I found an opportunity and grabbed it, so don't blame me. Blame the moment."
"I swear, you say the weirdest shit." I finally turn my body to face him, surprised to see his eyes so wide and awake that I'm starting to question if he's human at all. It's one in the morning; how could he look so. . . alive? It's crazy.
Harry lightly taps my nose with his finger, and the gesture has lead me to a giggling fit. I let myself gaze at him, staring deep into his eyes that I've seen plenty of times. It's always filled with wonder, and I adore that. When you look at them you know that you're in for a whirlwind of adventure. And he doesn't fail at doing that justice. He, himself, is one wild adventure, and he doesn't even try. The simplest things make him so unique.
Silence falls upon us but it's only for a minute, because Harry opens his mouth again. "Do you ever wonder about what other people do?"
I shrug, not really getting the question at hand. "Not really, not like it's any of my business."
"Think about it, Niall." Harry lays on his back, his eyes gazing on our ceiling. I stay put on my side, staring at Harry as he continues to speak. "There are, what, seven billion people in the world. And those seven billion people are doing seven billion different things. There could be people like us right now, talking about random things. There could be a person across the world making coffee for himself after a long day. Maybe there's someone giving birth right now, taking a test, or even having sex. It's amazing, isn't it?"
I can't help but let out a snort of a chuckle, making Harry glance at me with questioning eyes. "It is quite nice to think about sex."
"That's not what I meant, you idiot!" Harry laughs, a really loud one, and sends his palm to my face. He then goes back to his serious state, and I watch him in awe just how fast he could change moods. "I meant, the world, the universe that we live in--it's amazing. Sometimes I stare into space while at work, thinking about things like that. Then I just smile like an idiot afterwards."
"Can't say I'm surprised that happens." It happens quite often, and I know it's because he thought of a joke but can't tell me because I'll say he's stupid for even thinking about it.
"Not for the same reason, though," he states as if he read my mind. "Ask me what is it that made me smile."
"Okay, then. What made you smile, Harry?" I poke his cheek, making him turn to face me.
His eyes are glistening and twinkling, like the stars I saw when he woke me up. These are more beautiful, though, more precious. "Because," Harry starts, "seven billion people in the world--that's so many, Niall. There are a couple billion living in this universe, doing a couple billion tasks and things; I think about that then I realize how lucky I am that I have you."
I feel my heart thumping loud and fast, a very common feeling whenever Harry does something like this. It's an all too familiar feeling that I've grown to love and savour every moment of. A smile tugs on my lips and shake my head, still in a daze, still in cloud nine. "What do you mean by that?"
"There are so many people living in this crazy world, Niall, and I think about how you could be with someone else. How you could be in the arms of another person, sleeping in the same bed with another person, listening to another person ramble about their thoughts--but, no. You're here with me. Out of the seven billion people you could have with you by your side, you have me, and that's enough to make me smile, to make me happy, to make me content with life. You have me, I have you; we have each other, and there's nothing greater than that."
You can call it in the spur of the moment or it's just because it felt right to do it, but it doesn't matter because I did it anyway. I close the gap between us and press my lips against his. It's not heated, not like the ones we always have. This kiss in particular is softer, slower, more of a reassurance that we will always have each other than a want of each other's taste.
It is amazing to think about. That I always have him. The thought makes my heart yearn for more of him, make my heart ache for him.
Harry tilts his head to the side to deepen the kiss but I pull back before he can even do it. I nuzzle my nose with his, our foreheads touching, and we chuckle lowly. This feels so right, so good to be true. And I know I have to treasure it. I already do.
"You say the craziest shit, you know that?" I tease and plant a quick peck on his wet lips. "And I love you so much for it."