Carmen was genuinely enjoying the night. Harry was close to her, his arm wrapped lazily over her small frame as they cuddled on the couch. Legs entwined, hands playing thoughtlessly with a strand of each other's hair. She could smell his cologne, the usual Clive Christian musk that she had grown to enjoy.

They were chatting about anything and everything, a half empty bottle of champagne accompanying them on the table beside the couch. The lights were dim, the sky outside pitch black, and a certain ambiance in the room that made it feel as though their relationship was not as dark as it really was.

Harry was good company. Carmen had never been one to socialize outside of her usual seductiveness, but as the night went on, she found herself forgetting that Harry was supposed to be just another prey for her. She liked to listen to him talk, with the alcohol and slight fatigue making his voice slower and more drawled out, his lips barely parting to let out his words. His eyelids were hooded and tinted violet, his long eyelashes casting shadows over the planes of his face.

"So what did you do?" Carmen asked curiously, her chin propped on his chest so she could peer up at him.

Harry shrugged. "I fired him." He looked down at her and smiled a closed-lipped, content smile.

"You did not!" She giggled and buried her face in his chest to quiet her alcohol-induced laughter. Harry found himself laughing along with her, finding this side of her very charming. Different from the Carmen she usually was, Harry was seeing a side of her that only peeked through every now and then. The relaxed, humble side of her, that didn't seem to be caring about anything at the moment. She appeared so young when she was like this, not burdened with the weight of her emotionless lifestyle. Her eyes radiated, her skin appearing translucent and glowing like that of a woman with child. She, though he thought it was impossible, was even more beautiful like this.

"What exactly is it that you do?" she questioned after her fit of giggles faded.

"What do you mean?"

"Like, your job... I can't imagine it would be very time-consuming to run a club as successful and well know as The Wild Things." She spoke with thoughtfulness, her eyebrows knitted together as she pondered this. All the work meeting Harry said he had, what could they actually be for?

Harry shifted uneasily, but gave her an unfaltering smile to mask his discomfort. "You would be surprised. There's a lot of monetary things I have to attend to. And maintenance... Very time-consuming things, my love."

"Hmm." Carmen nodded slowly, not thinking much of it. It's not like she really cared if he was lying to her; it would at least make them equal.

"Do you have a job?" Harry asked in return, his fingers twirling a piece of her ravenous hair between them. "You seem to have a lot of time on your hands."

You are my job, she wanted to say.

"No, not really. I have a lot of money saved, so I'm fine for now." It wasn't a complete lie. She had been saving her money very diligently for years, with a sole purpose in mind. There was a reason she only sought after men with opulence to their name.

"What are you saving it for?" Harry sat up slightly to reach for the bottle of champagne, pouring each of them another glass, the cool liquid bubbling. Neither were drunk yet, their minds only slightly buzzed.

Carmen mentally cursed at herself for even bringing up the subject. Harry's trust in her was dire to how her game would play out, and the number one rule about lying, is to never do too much of it. An intricately detailed lie is hard to keep up with, especially if you've told other people things that contradicted it. Harry Styles wasn't stupid, in fact, he was very intelligent. Gullible when it came to love, but still intelligent.

Part of Carmen wished she could be honest with him. In her slightly intoxicated haze, the idea of sharing with this beautiful man all of her secrets and deepest, darkest wishes, became rather appealing. Perhaps, there was no harm in sharing just a little bit of herself to him. It's not like they would know each other for much longer.

"You're going to laugh at me when I tell you," she warned, her eyebrows raised in amusement. She wrapped her fingers around the crystalline glass of champagne, keeping her eyes on him as she brought the rim to her lips and sipped from it. She was going to need a lot more if she was going to talk about such matters with him.

"I would never," Harry gaped, feigning hurt and placing his hand over his heart. "I would never, ever laugh at you, Carmen." His words were sincere, and they made an uninvited blush warm her cheeks. "Unless, of course, you are being unconventionally charming and I cannot help it." He gave her a boyish, dimples-out smile and she had to avert her gaze elsewhere in order to keep from grinning back at him.

Carmen let out a thick breath, her eyes on the clear liquid filling her glass as she thought to herself for a moment. How do I tell him this without saying too much? she pondered to herself.

Somehow, in the midst of her thinking, she ended up back in her room, her own room. The only place that actually belonged to her. She was lying on her bed, eyes staring up blankly at the white stucco ceiling. She was alone and cold, a small pool of blood on the mattress between her thighs. She was sixteen again, and in that moment, she made up in her mind what she wanted.

She wanted to get out of there.

"I hate it here," she spoke finally, her words coming out distant, for her mind was still in the realm of her sixteen hear old self. Harry straightened up, scooting closer to her with a frown etching onto his lips. He felt her attitude shifting, and he didn't want to ruin the first moment where she seemed to be expressing her emotions legitimately to him.

The solidarity of Harry's presence made her feel comfortable and at ease. Something about the way his eyebrows were knitted together, a small crease between them, and his eyes were watching her intently; she felt like he was really wanting to listen, and she had never felt that from anyone ever before. It urged her to continue.

"I hate how familiar it is here," she explained quietly, gnawing at her lip. She glanced at him, a slight glaze of her eyes, perhaps from the chamlagne. "It's the same thing everyday, the same people. I've been in the same goddamn place since I was just a little girl. I want-" She paused for a moment, sucking in a sharp breath and laughing quietly to herself. "I want to go to New York," she finished, her voice firm with excitement.

"New York?" Harry raised his eyebrows, not at all expecting what she had told him. Get out of here? What was wrong with London? "Why New York? Have you ever been there?"

"No," Carmen shook her head. Again, her thoughts drifted to the confinements of her room, where she used to hide stacks of magazines under the mattress on the floor. Magazines filled with pictures from the city of wonder, the city of lights and love- the city that she had dreamt of ever since she could remember. It was where she belonged, not in the torn down tenement that she grew up in. She belonged with all of the stars, the people who thrived off of the same things she did. Carmen's heart ached for one thing and one thing only- to live.

Right now, here in London, she wasn't living.

"How do you know if you'll like it there then?" Harry chuckled, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. His thumb traced small circles into the skin of her shoulder.

"I just know," she whispered, as if in a daze. She still didn't know why she was telling him this, probably more for the sake of being able to talk about it rather than exposing herself to him. "I've never been so sure of anything. I've wanted this forever."

New York was the only thing Carmen felt certain of. New York for her, was like marriage to some people.

"I can take you there," Harry offered as though it meant nothing. He shrugged his shoulders. "I've never been there myself, but I'm sure it's a lot like London."

Carmen wasn't really listening to his words, her mind too fixed on other matters. She brought her glass to her lips again, taking a large sip. What had she just done?

She had revealed the truest part of herself to a man she hardly knew. Not even Stephan had ever gotten to know this much of her. It was... an odd feeling. She felt bubbly, even more than what the champagne was imposing on her; she felt like maybe, just maybe, Harry was worth opening up to. She had to be careful, though. Revealing such things to him meant letting cracks form in the thick walls she imposed on herself. If Harry found a way into those cracks, then she would get too attatched, and that's when things became dangerous.

"Do you want to know what I want?" Harry spoke after a few moments of silent thoughts. Carmen turned to him and nodded, burrowing her body into the crevice of his side. He was so warm and soft, she purred as she nuzzled her face against his shoulder. She let herself focus on him, forgetting the conversation that just took place between them.

"What do you want?" she asked in a whisper, tucking a chocolate lock of his hair behind his ear. He looked so incredibly handsome. She smiled to herself, thinking that if she had met him when she was younger, she probably would have stored pictures of him under her mattress as well.

"I want..." He lowered his head and kissed her full lips so lightly that she wanted to grasp the back of his neck to press his mouth more forcefully against hers. "I want to have you with me forever," he whispered against into her mouth, so that she could taste the desperation of his words.

"How do you plan on doing that?" she purred in response, swiping her tongue over his bottom lip, before taking it between her teeth. She held it there, and gazed into his eyes amusedly, recalling how he had bitten her lip the other night.

The bastard's teeth marks were still there.

"I want to take a video of you," he smirked, pulling back to release his lip from her bite.

Her eyebrows shot up and she scooted away from him. "W-what? A video?" Her voice shied away and she hid behind the thick curtain of her hair. There were many things that Carmen was more than comfortable doing when it came to sex, but a video... she wasn't sure if that was one of them. Did she know Harry well enough for that? She couldn't help but think back to the many times his behavior had proven to be rather impulsive; what if he sent it to someone?

"Yes, a video," he mouthed, reaching his arms out to her. His hand swept the hair away from her face, to reveal the light blush tainting her cheeks, and her lip tugged under her teeth. "I would keep it for myself, of course. I would never share it with anyone." His eyes darkened at the thought of anyone seeing the intimacy they shared. "You should know that, baby." He brushed the calloused pad of his thumb against her temple, feeling the warmth of her skin.

Surely, he had gotten her drunk enough to agree.

He hoped he did, at least.

"Okay," she spoke finally, nodding her head slowly and letting a smirk dance over her lips. She was definitely drunk.

"I trust you."

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my computer broke so i wrote this on my ipad. rip

if you haven't checked out my new story then please do so !! imma probably update that sometime this week :-)

ily