little talks • harry styles

2

"The stairs creak as you sleep it's keeping me awake"
"It's the house telling you to close your eyes"

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A loud crack of thunder echoed around the house and Bella hid further under her blankets. Her small body was shaking uncontrollably, she couldn't help it - the thunder and lightening terrified her.

To make the matter worst, the old stairs creaked every few seconds.
'It's just the wind, it's an old house, nothing to worry about' her mum kept telling her, but the paranoia was still there. The thought of someone just roaming around her house kept her awake at night.

Another cry of thunder rattled her windows and Bella whimpered into her pillow, trying to block the sound out.

"Bells" A soothing voice whispered, scaring her.

"Harry, what the hell are you doing here?" She cried, "It's-" the checked the time on her phone- "4 in the morning"

"Don't cry, Bells" He said softly, "I hate seeing you cry"

"Harry, what are you doing here?" She said, sitting up in her bed and moving over so he could sit beside her.

"Bells, I'm your best friend, I know how scared you get when the weather is like this" He stammered, clearly relaxing when Bella cracked a smile. "I needed to make sure you were okay"

Bella nuzzled her face into the crook of his neck, her tears wetting his shirt.

"Those god damn stairs keep creaking, I'm going to go crazy" She whined, tiredly.

"You could never be crazy" Harry said, quite harshly. "Besides, if I'm not here to tell you to go to sleep, the house will do it for me"

"What are you talking about?" Bella giggled deliriously, feeling herself fall asleep, Harry's presence being all the distraction she needed.

"It's the house telling you to close your eyes and get some sleep" Harry explained, his voice sounding further and further away as she fell asleep.

"Mhm" She hummed closing her eyes.

Harry chuckled quietly, Bella heard him speak right next to her ear before she finally drifted off.

"Go to sleep, Bells, I'm here, I'm always here"

When Bella woke the next morning, Harry wasn't there. She wondered how he always got in and out of the house without raising any questions from her mum.

She padded down the stairs on her toes, in case her mum was still asleep. She doubted she was, though. Her mum hadn't had much sleep since the divorce, Bella had found her on multiple occasions downstairs in the middle of the night, a blank expression on her face as she went through photo albums or sipped at a cup of coffee.

"How'd you sleep?" Her mum asked, startling her. Bella jumped, letting out a gasp.

"You scared me! Um, not so well, the thunder kept me awake for a while. What about you?" She asked.

"I thought you might have been awake, I could hear you talking at like 4" Her mum said apprehensively, Bella wasn't quite sure where she was going with this.