10. Three
— "Come on, I'll show you mine if you show me yours," Harry teased, grinning cheekily out at her from her iPhone screen.
Charley threw her head back and laughed at his incorrigible behaviour. It had been just over a week since they'd returned from Tahiti, the last time they'd seen each other in person, but this time they had talked nearly every day. Harry had instigated each call, causing Charley to squirm with delight that he was making more of an effort to stay in touch this time. She'd told him he didn't need to call her so often, protesting that he still had to work, but he stated that he couldn't concentrate anymore until he had his 'Charley fix'. It had made her smile, because she liked getting her 'Harry fix', too.
Harry was, right now, trying to get her to flash him, and she was blushing like mad at the thought while covering her mouth to stifle her giggles. "Harry, I'm trying to eat!" she protested weakly and heard him snort.
"It only takes two seconds to lift your top up," he wheedled as he leaned back on his sofa where he was sitting to eat his lunch. He had a huge shit-eating grin across his face.
Charley put her lunch down, spun her office chair around and turned her phone outwards.
"That's making me dizzy," she heard him complain. "Charley, I'm trying to eat." She giggled again at him mimicking her. She didn't think she'd ever giggled more in her life than since she'd started dating Harry Styles.
Turning the phone camera back towards her, she saw Harry with his hand across his eyes, refusing to watch the room spin.
"Have you stopped?" he asked, peeking between his fingers, removing his hand when he saw her face again.
Harry held his phone in one hand, and stabbed another fork-full of chicken and vegetables as he smiled at the beautiful girl on his screen. He listened to her giggle through the phone and revelled in the sound - he seemed to spend most of his time with her trying to make her laugh so that he could hear more of it. It was his newest favourite sound. There was no affectation, just genuine amusement.
"Look, I'll do it first," Harry said to her, and put down his fork to lift his grey t-shirt up to his chin, revealing his tattooed abs and chest before pulling it back down again. He grinned as Charley visibly rolled her eyes at him.
"That's
not
the same," she complained. Then she paused. Leaning in close to the phone, she lifted her eyebrows mischievously, lowering her voice. "But I know something that's much fairer."
Harry chuckled. "I am not sending you a dick pic," he said primly, making her giggle again. "Come on," he complained with a grin. "You don't have to take your bra off. It's been a week since I've touched you and honestly, I think you should be being a bit more generous."
Harry watched Charley toss her head back with another one of her beautiful laughs. Getting the chance to flirt with her was the highlight of his day. His heart was so light when he was with her, happiness filling his every pore. They'd texted every day since coming back from holiday, and he'd made an effort to FaceTime her most days, too. It was fast becoming a necessary fix, finding he slept better when he'd talked with her, heard her voice or made her laugh.
"Fine," Charley said in exasperation, and Harry lit up in surprise.
Really?
He'd thought she'd never give in. His smile widened as she quickly lifted her black t-shirt, revealing a navy blue, padded satin bra he hadn't seen which was struggling to contain her stunning breasts, and a hint of her beautifully concave stomach. The lingerie had a cute little bow with a diamanté in the centre, and it was sexy as hell on her. Too soon, she yanked it back down and glared at him through the phone. "Happy?"
"Very," he said, feeling inordinately pleased that she'd trusted him enough to do that.
Next time, no bra
, he thought with a grin. He found himself getting a little hard at the thought of her spectacular breasts nestled in the silky material, but tried to ignore it as he looked back at her. "Now, let's start working on those pants."
He laughed along with her this time and he popped some chicken into his mouth, chewing happily. He'd made the habit to call her at lunch time on Charley's suggestion so that he ate more regularly. Harry had been a bit bemused that she cared so much about his eating habits, but if it meant she agreed to video chat with him, he was happy to comply.
"What are you having for lunch today anyway?" Charley asked him as she spun her chair in a circle again. He could tell because the background blurred around her, and he smiled, swallowing.
"Portuguese chicken and steamed vegetables," he replied, spearing a piece of broccoli. "Maria has outdone herself."
"Yum, sounds good. Very healthy," Charley praised as she stopped spinning and picked up her own fork. "I'm having lamb and roast vegetables."
"Smashing our nutrition goals," Harry responded with a wink. They both ate for a few moments in companionable silence.
"This is an odd lunch date thing we have going on," Harry commented as he bit into another mouthful of chicken, watching Charley dig into her meal. "Reheated meals in plastic containers. Very romantic."
Charley chuckled as she put what looked like a piece of roast pumpkin in her mouth.
"At least you're eating and not wasting away while you're writing," she countered happily.
"Why do you care so much, anyway?" he asked curiously as he shoved a piece of chicken that was much too big in his mouth. Charley laughed at his ridiculous mouthful, his cheeks bulging, and waved her fork at him through the screen.
"If you choke, I'll tell the newspapers that you made me flash you while eating Portuguese chicken," she threatened, but all Harry could do was grin around his full mouth. Smiling, she continued with another mischievous smile. "I care because I need you to have your strength for...other things."
Harry snorted and reached for his glass of water as he spluttered and really did nearly choke on the chicken. He could hear Charley's giggles from where he'd placed the phone on the sofa next to him, her 'I told you!' floating up as his eyes watered. Hastily gulping down the water, he wiped his eyes and picked the phone back up to continue their conversation, laughing at his own situation.
"Oh! Ulterior motives! I see. And here I was thinking you cared about my wellbeing," he teased. "In case you didn't see, I nearly died just then."
Charley smiled at him with growing affection. His sense of humour ran from sarcasm to outrageous exaggeration, and he could be very witty. This last week of 'lunch dates' had made her feel even closer to him as she slowly learned ever more about Harry. This was also largely due to Charley metaphorically pulling her gloves on and starting a full 'Harry and One Direction' research slog the weekend after she'd got back from Tahiti.
She'd spent the whole two days trolling through the internet, learning an awful lot of things about the band - a lot good, some bad and some ugly. The bad and the ugly were never anything to do with the band members themselves (although there had been that odd incident of Louis and Zayn smoking weed in Peru she'd stumbled across - she'd written it off as being young and dumb and feeling trapped by fame), but the fans were something else.
The fanfiction
. It had blown her away. And 'Larry'! That had been shocking, with full-on pages and YouTube channels dedicated to supposedly 'outing' Harry and Louis being in a secret relationship, despite the boys repeatedly denying and ignoring it. There was also some 'Zarry' shipping, and she wondered if that could be something to do with the oddness she sometimes noted between Harry and Zayn. Why did it always centre around Harry, though? It made her sad for them all, but especially Harry.
Charley had asked him about it a couple days ago during one of their lunch video chats. She'd mentioned she'd finally looked him and One Direction up online, and he'd laughed and asked her what she'd found, seeming completely unconcerned. With his casual expression and open body language on screen, Charley had tentatively asked how he felt about the 'Larry' thing. He'd rolled his eyes with an exasperated smile and said it didn't bother him any more. Now he just ignored it.
Charley had been concerned, noting the 'any more', asking if it had affected his relationship with Louis at the time, feeling aghast that fans that claimed to love Harry and the other members so much could cause Harry, and Louis, so much distress. Harry had shrugged and nodded, his bright smile dimming a little, making Charley's heart ache.
The main issue had been two straight-but-close adolescent boys worrying about what others thought. Being young and new to the spotlight, it had upset them a lot back then. Desperate to stop fans from their online spiral, they'd listened too much to management and lawyers who gave advice on how things they could do to reduce the rumours. This had led to Harry and Louis watching their every move with each other for some time in public, which had eventually backfired and instead added more fuel to the fire. Harry had mused that they just couldn't win, and he and Louis eventually given up and agreed to ignore it best they could. Their relationship had never been the same again, though, and it was something he regretted.
Charley had listened to him quietly, eating her lunch, her mind spinning. Harry had had to deal with an awful lot as a teenager growing up. Thrown into the world-wide arena at a young age, then being called a womaniser by the press, being linked with famous beauties every couple of weeks. And then to be dogged by 'Larry' or 'Zarry' rumours by his own fans! She was absolutely astounded to be talking to such a seemingly well-adjusted, funny and kind young man. It seemed if anyone had any reason to have mental-health issues and go off the rails, it was Harry. And yet, here he was, grounded and down-to-earth, chatting with her about some of the biggest issues during his career with a care-free smile and matter-of-fact attitude. Her respect for him had grown a thousand fold that day.
She'd guiltily clicked on the 'womaniser' headlines, feeling bad for doing it, knowing how quick the media could create a title and link Caroline with a man she'd just met in passing or at a party. She found the famous Taylor Swift photos; he looked so young! His most recent relationship had supposedly been Victoria's Secret model Camille Rowe for a year, but only a couple photos showed them together. Charley had timidly asked Harry about that too, trying to be nonchalant, but he'd smiled knowingly and admitted he'd seen Camille for a few months on and off, but nothing serious. Their busy schedules had kept them apart, and they hadn't made a strong connection. "Not like us," he'd smiled shyly out at her from her phone, his right dimple indenting deeply. She'd felt her lips part and her heart rate increase at the way he was looking at her from under his lashes, green eyes sparkling.
He'd asked her about her own previous romantic relationships, which Charley thought was more than fair since her life wasn't laid out on the internet for him, so she explained in as much detail as he wanted about the two steady-but-not-serious boyfriends she'd had. Although she
did
