#i do need to be careful because apparently spending about a week straight reading tau fics exclusively

[hiridraws]

alcor <3

transcendence au recently popped back up and got me in a chokehold for the past week or so, and naturally i had to draw my beloved little guy <3

[hazzasgayvodka]

16 * DANCE * 16

Impact: Chapter 16

Chapter title song: Dance - POWERS

HARRY

I wake up to an empty bed and sit up, looking around the room. Where could she have gone this early? I drag myself out of bed and shove my legs through a pair of pajama pants to hear voices coming from the kitchen. I walk out to see her and Niall leaning across from each other on the counter, laughing as they make breakfast together.

I take a step back and observe, not wanting them to see me right away. It's crazy seeing Niall look this happy as he mixes pancake batter and Jess drops blueberries into the bowl. She tosses a few into his mouth, seeing how far back she can stand with him still catching them. I can't help but grin when I see them getting along, nearly in a daze as I hear her call my name.

"Harry? Come on, you want to help make pancakes?" She asks, gesturing to the hot pan in front of her.

"Oh, Harry's the best pancake flipper ever." Niall beams.

Niall looks at me expectantly and I stroll into the kitchen with a smile, taking the spatula from him with a smirk and bumping Jess out of the way.

"Let me show you how it's done, dollface." I laugh, pouring the batter into a perfect circle.

I wait for it to solidify on the one side and then back up with the pan in my hand, making sure I have plenty of room. I toss the pan up expertly and the pancake flips in the air, landing once again in the pan perfectly. I set it back on the stove and turn to Jess with an unapologetic bow. She claps, throwing her head back in laughter before shoving me back out of the way and putting the first pancake on a plate and pouring another in the pan.

The rest of the week goes a lot like this. Jess and Niall get along better than I ever would have guessed, always watching TV together or making food and dancing in the kitchen. A lot of the time I get dragged into joining them which results in a burnt batch of cookies and more playlists to be made on my phone to blast from the Bluetooth speaker in the living room.

Miles drives Jess to class on Tuesdays and Thursdays when we have math in the morning and despite hating her get in his car, I keep my cool. One night I run water down the driveway from the hose before going to bed when I see a freeze warning overnight on the news. The next morning, he nearly slipped walking to the door, his legs wobbling all the way up the driveway. Jess punched me in the arm and tried to be mad, but she was laughing at him just as hard as I was.

Being her assistant at work was the best part of my day. Sometimes she called me into her office just because she wanted to talk to me. Other times we would take turns doing dramatic readings of the manuscripts we were editing to pass the time and stay awake while reading through them. I still retreated to her office to smoke twice a day and one time she even asked to try it which lead to a coughing fit and chugging a bottle of water to get the taste out of her mouth.

Spiro's had become our regular dinner place and she was finally getting a bit adventurous with her food choices. Nonna loved her and every time we walked in the door she excitedly sat us at a booth in the back. She brought us desserts to try each time and warned us that we better tell her if they're bad. I knew for a fact that Jess would never tell Nonna that anything she made tasted bad even when she nearly gagged on a slice of prune pie.

The rumors about our relationship continued and multiple times I had to set a few people straight when they insisted that Jess was lying about us just being friends. One day after literature we were approached by a group of Omega Tau brothers that asked what she was like in bed. She dragged me away and assured me that she didn't care what other people thought before I could get a single punch in.

If we were best friends before the bet, I don't know what we are now. We spend every waking minute together. We study for math tests together, we still argue over the bathroom together, go out to dinner together, and party together. After her constant insisting to go to parties with me and Niall, I finally said she could come, but we made a pact first. She promised to only drink from bottles she opened herself or drinks I made her, nothing else. She had to stay in my line of vision, not right next to me or anything but within the same area so I could keep an eye on her. She rolled her eyes but agreed anyways. From then on, we ran every party we went to.

"It's time for pong!" Someone shouts, grabbing my attention.

I turn my head to look over at Jess across the kitchen, but her eyes were already searching for me. We lock gazes and she smiles eagerly, making her way over to me and causing me to nearly choke on my beer as she tugs me to the living room.

"Okay, okay, I'm coming!" I laugh, setting my cup down and allowing her to drag me over to the ping pong table covered in red plastic cups.

Louis and Sam approach the table confidently, but little do they know me and Jess have pong down to a science. We're a dream team.

"Well this'll be fun." Sam laughs when she realizes it's me and Jess on the other side of the table.

Jess looks up to me with her eyebrow raised, asking if she can go first. I gesture to the table, "It's all yours, do your worst dollface."

She smirks confidently as she lines up to the table with the ping pong ball in her hand. I watch as she expertly aims for a cup in the middle of the row and sinks it easily. She jumps up excitedly, grabbing my arm and shaking me as she shoves me to the table. She grabs the cup from Louis and downs the beer inside, passing the ball to me. Jesus, that will never stop being hot.

We sink a whole row in the time it takes Louis and Sam to get two down and soon enough we're down to one cup. Miles has been sitting back, watching the whole show and I pride myself on the fact that she always chose me as her partner for games. She's swaying a bit having chugged nearly half a table of beers, but she lines herself up perfectly anyways. I have my hands locked onto her shoulders, loosening up her back as she rolls her shoulders back and moves her head side to side.

"You got this babe."

She cocks her eyebrow up at me, her famous 'watch it, Harry' look and arches her arm. The ball is in the air, tapping the table once before hitting the rim of the cup, spinning around the edge and falling inside. She jumps up and screams just as a chorus of shouting sounds from the crowd around us. She turns around and wraps her arms around my neck, jumping up and down. We've won the past four games we've played together and yet every time she's still just as excited as the first. Louis passes her the last cup from the table with a laugh and he congratulates her. She smiles as she takes the cup and downs the contents, raising it in the air when she's finished. The crowd explodes again, and Louis and I pick her up, sitting her on each of our shoulders. She squeals and grins, holding onto my shoulder for dear life as we walk her through the intoxicated crowd of onlookers.

Louis looks at me with a huge drunken smile and I wonder how glassy my own eyes are. I reach my free hand to my lips and surprise myself when I can still feel my finger pressing against them. Apparently, I need another drink.

We put her down as the opening to Shots comes pumping through the speakers and the crowd around me screams in unison. She nearly trips as she stands up and wraps her hand around my waist to hold herself up.

"You okay?" I laugh, wrapping my arm around her and pulling her into my side.

"Yeah, need water." She giggles, tugging me towards the kitchen and nearly running us both straight into the counter.

I grab a cup and fill it from the fridge tap as she leans herself against the counter. She's laughing at nothing when I bring it over to her and tell her to drink up. She nods and takes it from my hand, chugging it to the bottom and wiping her hand across her mouth. Miles comes in, electing to take care of Jess instead and telling me to go have fun. I protest at first, but he shoves me towards the dancefloor with another drink in my hand and promises to make Jess drink another two cups of water.

"That's a fun one you've got there," Jackson smirks, nodding his head to Jess in the kitchen, "If she's half as wild in bed as she is at a party you're a lucky guy."

His words make my blood boil and it takes every ounce of self-control I have to not smack the suave smirk off his face. Louis eyes me from the other side of the crowd and I can tell he's heard Jackson's comment.

"I wouldn't happen to know, Jackson," I say through my teeth, "but it you talk about her like that again you won't be a lucky guy."

"Oh, come on, Harry," He laughs, throwing his arm around my shoulders, "We all know, you don't have to keep this shit up."

"You all know what?"

"That you're sleeping together, and Miles has no idea," He chuckles, "No girl stays with a guy for a month if they're not fucking, Miles is a priss anyways, I get why she sleeps with you on the side."

He doesn't even have the full sentence out of his mouth before my fist is connecting with his face and he's knocked flat on the ground bleeding from his nose. Suddenly the crowd around us is backing up, giving us space in case this turns into a full out brawl. He's holding his nose that's gushing blood as he stumbles to his feet and eyes me with furrowed brows.  

"What the fuck, man?" He shouts, shoving me but I barely budge.

"I told you to stop talking about her like that." I bark, shoving him back hard enough that he falls back on his ass.

I feel her hands on my shoulders, tugging me backwards and grabbing at me to make sure I'm alright. Her eyes are mildly angry as she searches mine for anything wrong.

"What the hell are you doing?" She huffs.

"He was talking shit." I shrug, wiping my bloody knuckles on my shirt.

"So? God, you're so temperamental." She huffs, shoving me away from her but I grab her hand and tug her back to me.

"Come on Jess, I'm sorry-"

She glares at me, ripping her hand from my grasp and continuing to the living room. She brings Jackson a paper towel and holds it against his face to help his nose stop bleeding. Once he's cleaned up she turns the music up and redirects the crowd's attention from the spectacle I caused.

"Time for another game!" Sam cheers, obviously attempting to put the party back in action.

Jess rolls her eyes and turns back to the kitchen where Miles is standing but I grab her hand and pull her back to the crowd forming around Sam.

"Come on, I'm sorry." I apologize, making her meet my eyes but she refuses to reply.

"We'll need to form a circle for this one, grab two partners and join in." Sam instructs, taking Louis's hand.

"What are we doing, Sam?" Jess groans, grabbing Miles out of the kitchen and dragging him to the circle with her.

"You'll just have to see." She smirks.

I roll my eyes as I step up between Jess and Erica, her dorm supervisor. Sam is getting a kick out of running the game, she's always been one to entertain.

"Alright, this game is called suck and blow." She smiles, producing a small napkin from behind her back.

A few grunts sound from around the circle and I see many eyes rolled as the name of the game is revealed. I'm barely bothered until I look to my right and I'm reminded who I'm standing next to.

"Oh, um, I should probably move over there." I think aloud, eyeing a spot between two blondes on the other side.

I step out of the circle and Sam stares me down, shaking her head, "No switching spots, Samuels. You know the rules."

I look at her with a murderous glare, gesturing to Jess beside me and hoping she understands my predicament. She only laughs, and Jess grabs me, pulling me back into the circle.

"Would you stop being like this? What? You don't even want to stand next to me now?" Jess huffs.

"No, Jess, you don't understand, have you played this-"

I'm cut off by Sam who clears her throat to cut me off, "For those who haven't played, I hope you've picked good partners. The game is simple, all you have to do is pass this napkin to the person next to you," She shrugs, waltzing around the circle, "The catch is, you have to do so by your lips."

I hear Jess take in a breath and then her eyes are on me, but I don't dare let her see mine. It's no big deal, so what? We sleep in the same bed every night I'm sure we can press our mouths together with a napkin between our lips and it won't be a big deal.

"If you drop the napkin while passing it to the next person, well, pucker up butter cup." She smirks, stepping back into the circle beside Louis and pressing the napkin to his lips.

He leans forward and presses his mouth to hers, gently blowing the paper to her lips. She sucks it against her own lips and turns her body to Niall who's waiting eagerly beside her. Niall takes it easily what with being a seasoned pro of the game and passes it to Katie who blows it back against his lips, letting it flutter to the ground before grabbing him around the neck and shoving her mouth against his. Everyone hollers, cheering them on and despite losing, Katie is beaming as she exits the circle.

It's Miles turn to take the napkin from Niall and turn to Jess who's nearly stopped breathing. She manages to secure it against her lips and turns to me. I bend down quite far to get to her, pressing my mouth against hers as lightly as I can and sucking in air to get the paper to stick to my lips. As soon as I have a hold of it and pass it to Erica beside me she lets out a heave of a sigh.

Once we get around the full circle and it's back to Sam, it's time to reverse. Three people have already been eliminated, making the circle the slightest bit smaller. Sam takes the napkin and turns to Shirley beside her rather than Louis, everyone turning to the opposite person and passing the napkin. Too soon, I have it again and I'm carefully passing it to Jess who nearly holds her breath as she takes it from me and turns to Miles. Miles smirks as he leans down and blows the napkin away from her lips, letting it hit the ground easily. She gasps as he leans down and presses his lips to hers and I look away, rolling my eyes when the circle around me cheers them on.

He gives her one last kiss on the cheek before waving his goodbyes from the circle and retreating back to the kitchen while we finish the game. We get back to Sam the second time and suddenly there's only a few of us left, most couples electing to drop the napkin on purpose in order to make out with an audience.

"Alright, back the other way." Louis smiles, taking the napkin and turning to Sam with a devious smirk.

He quite obviously drops it on purpose before nearly attacking her face with his mouth. Once again, the crowd cheers them on but Sam being the diva she is jumps into his arms and wraps her legs around his waist. This warrants a boom of screams and whistles from the rest of the partygoers who are now more interested in the game we're playing, a rowdy group now surrounding us.

Louis finally puts her down and wipes his mouth with the back of his hand before exiting the circle and joining Niall on another round of shots. Without Louis in the circle, Jess takes the napkin straight from Sam and turns to me. I decide then that I have to drop it this round and just get out of here already, kissing Erica won't be bad anyways, she's cute enough. At least it's not Ashlyn who's been eyeing me from the other side of the circle the entire time.

Jess leans forward and presses her lips to mine. I suck in a breath but before I can get it away from her, someone bumps into her from behind and shoves her forwards, the napkin falling pitifully to the ground. I turn around to face Ryan who looks like a deer in the headlights when my angry eyes set on him.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to, we were just dancing." He apologizes, moving several feet back towards the dancing crowd.

I turn to Jess to make sure that she's okay after the idiot slammed into her, but her eyes are wide, staring at the napkin on the ground.

"Well that's it, game over," Ashlyn groans from the other side of the circle, "Prissy Jess isn't going to kiss Harry."

"Oh, shut up Ashlyn, you're a bigger bitch than she is." Sam snaps.

"That doesn't even count," I reason, looking over at Sam, "Someone bumped into her."

"Yeah it does, she dropped the napkin, that's the rules, but of course she's not going to kiss you." Ashlyn whines.

"Who said that?" Jess finally cuts in, her eyes determined in the way that they always are when someone has the nerve to challenge her.

"Oh sure," Ashlyn laughs, "Well come on then Ms. Priss, do it then. Kiss him. I dare you."

I've barely turned to tell her that she doesn't have to do anything that she doesn't want to when she has my shirt fisted in her hand, tugging me down to her height and pressing her lips against mine. It's stiff at first, her lips puckered tight in anticipation, but she relaxes as my hands wrap around her waist and hold her to me. It's like fireworks and explosions and the tingly feeling of pop rocks in your throat. I can't believe it when she pulls away so fast, suddenly it's over and I'm no longer burning with the sensation of eating thirteen fireballs at once.

She stands away from me and wipes her mouth, licking her lips and averting her eyes from me. All I want to do is stare right into their endless depth and press our mouths together again.

"Happy?" She smirks, raising her hands and glaring at Ashlyn as she exits the circle and goes to the kitchen.

The rest of the game is forgotten as everyone stands in shock of the sight of me and Jess kissing. I'm not sure I'd stay upright if I tried to walk somewhere. God, I need a drink right now. I feel everyone's eyes on me as I walk to the kitchen and grab a beer, knocking the top off on the side of the counter. Maybe I should go grab Erica and make a spectacle in the living room just to dispose of the rumors before they start. Before I can take two steps back to the circle where Erica still stands, my eyes drift to her among the dancing crowd, her body pressed to Miles and her arms roaming his body as their mouths move together. I bring my beer to my lips and chug the rest of it down despite the bile in my throat. I contemplate grabbing Erica but the thought of it makes me sick and instead I walk to my bedroom and slam the door shut behind me, locking it, and collapsing into my bed that smells like her.

It's nearly two in the morning when there's a banging fist on my bedroom door, startling me from my alcohol induced coma. I drag myself out of bed and unlock the door to see Niall on the other side looking more than dazed.

"What the hell do you want?" I ask, looking around the apartment to see it finally empty of party goers.

"Jess, she uh, she drank a lot and Miles left and I don't know what to do she's nearly unconscious, I made everyone go home it just got too crazy." He rambles, pointing to the living room where she's passed out, her back against the couch.

I push past him before he can keep talking and kneel next to her on the ground. Her head is lolling back and forth between the back of the couch and her chest as she mumbles. Of course she does this, trades me out for Miles but he can't be bothered to take care of her when she fucks herself up like this.

"Jesus dollface, how are you feeling?" I ask her, hoping that conversation will keep her up and conscious.

She doesn't say anything, but her head leans up against the couch to meet my eyes. Hers are swimming and glossy, unable to pay attention to any one thing for too long. I brush the hair from out of her face and she glances back down to the ground, looking a bit green.

"You are totally going to be sick right now." I huff, standing and hoisting her up in my arms.

She groans in protest but swallows thickly and I know the time is coming any minute now. I grab a water bottle off the counter and shove it into her hands as I walk her to the bathroom. She drunkenly smiles, giggling as she wraps her arms around my neck to hold herself up in my arms.

"Miles is a fucking idiot." She huffs, her words slurring together to the point of being nearly unintelligible.

"You bet your ass he is dollface," I laugh, "God, I wish you would remember this in the morning."

"You know," She says thoughtfully, "You could be really good for me if you weren't an asshole."

Her words catch me off guard and I nearly drop her as I kick the door to the bathroom open, "You think so, baby?"

I sit her down in front of the toilet and her head lolls backwards. I jump in between her and the bathtub before she smacks her head on the porcelain and I wonder how she's forming coherent sentences.

"You make things difficult when you call me that." She scowls, her sloppy drunken self, squirming in my arms to get away from me.

"When I call you what? Baby?" I ask hopefully but she doesn't answer, instead she lurches forward, emptying the contents of her stomach into the toilet in front of us.

I grab her hair as quick as I can and hold it away from her face. She leans back against me, groaning and wiping the corner of her mouth with the back of her hand which makes me gag. Niall appears in the doorway, laughing as he takes in the scene in front of him.

"How's she doing?"

"Fine, she only puked once," I say prematurely as she leans forward once again, and I hear the horrible splattering sound that can only be associated with vomit, "Twice." I correct myself.

He chuckles as he leans against the doorway and she sits back up, collapsing onto my chest with all of her body weight. I grunt as my back hits against the ice-cold porcelain behind me but I don't dare move and compromise her comfort. Niall grabs a rag and wets it under the tap, tossing it to me and I hold it to her forehead. I ask him to grab her package of makeup wipes from under the sink and I wipe one around her face to rid her of the mascara and eyeliner smudged under her eyes.

She leans back against me and groans again, gagging as she turns over in my arms and I hold the wash cloth to her forehead.

"Hey Niall, can you grab me the pillows off my bed and some blankets from the hall closet," I ask, looking down to see her pouted face, "We're gonna be here a while."

JESS

I wake up with my cheek pressed to something cold and solid. I sit up from my hunched position and instantly my head is pounding, the light coming in through the window making my eyes bleary and the pain at the front of my head intensify. As I drag myself forward in a daze, I feel something shift behind me. I turn around to see him passed out, his head laying against the white porcelain tub and his legs on either side of me. His arms are still wrapped around me, holding me in his lap as he snores away, his hair a matted mess and the horrific smell of booze and vomit surrounding us.

He stirs as I pull away from him, sitting up all too fast and grabbing on to me. His eyes are wild and bloodshot from lack of sleep as he jumps up and tries to adjust to the scene in front of him.

"Morning." He grunts, rubbing his eyes and running a hand through his tangled hair.

"Why are we sleeping in the bathroom?" I ask, holding a hand to my pounding head.

"You uh," He thinks aloud, carefully choosing his words, "You had a rough night."

"Oh god," I groan, sinking back against him and covering my face with my hands, "What happened?"

"It's fine, it doesn't matter."

"I said, what happened Harry?"

He sighs, running his hand through his hair again but it only sticks up further. He explains that I drank too much and ended up vomiting but thankfully it was after everyone went home. I can't believe for a second that he actually slept here with me beside the toilet on the hard tile floor and held my hair back. He looks rough this morning with purple bags under his eyes and a rat's nest for hair but the way he's smiling at me-that warm morning smile-makes everything better.

He calls to Niall to grab me some painkillers for my splitting headache and a cup of coffee for himself. I pull away from him and wobbly stand to my feet, every muscle in my body is sore and tired. He groans as he shoves himself off the ground.

"Jesus, my ass is completely numb." He laughs, stumbling to his feet and turning on the shower for me.

He says he'll bring me clothes and instructs that I get in the shower and wash the vomit out of my hair. It doesn't take much persuading and soon enough the door is opening once again while I'm mid shower and I peak out of the curtain to see him drop my clothes and a bottle of Advil on the counter.

"Any better?" He asks, leaning against the counter.

"Yeah, showering helps." I shrug, ducking back behind the curtain to rinse my hair.

He laughs as he exits the bathroom again and I feel grossly clingy when I want him to stay and talk to me. I shut the water off and the cold air hits me like a ton of bricks. I thankfully take two Advil and slip on the jeans and hoodie Harry left for me before walking out of the bathroom and into the kitchen.

"Smells good in here," I notice as I approach Harry from behind, "What'cha cooking?"

He turns to look at me over his shoulder and gestures to the frying pan in front of him. French toast with bananas and honey sit on a plate to his left and he nods to me, telling me to eat up.

"I usually go for some greasy bacon and egg scramble for a hangover cure." I say thoughtfully as I take a seat at the breakfast bar, remembering Jace's famous hangover scramble.

"Greasy food is only good before you drink to make a base," He explains, flipping the toast in the pan, "You need potassium and rehydration after."

I notice how rough he looks, still in his clothes from yesterday with tired eyes and a hunched back from sleeping against the tub. I sigh and stand up from my seat at the breakfast bar, walking back over to him and taking the spatula from his hands.

"Go take a shower, or a nap, or both, you need it," I say, bumping him out of the way, "I can finish making breakfast."

"You sure?"

"I'm positive, now go," I say sternly, gesturing to the bathroom, "and thank you, for last night."

He perks up at this, turning back around to meet my eyes. He's grinning wildly as he makes his way around the counter, walking to the bathroom backwards, his eyes not leaving mine.

"What?" I ask embarrassedly, wishing he would stop staring at me like that.

"Only if you come." He says.

"Excuse me?"

"I'm only taking a nap if you come lay down with me."

I can't hide the stupid blush taking over my entire face. Every part of me wants to drop everything and snuggle with him all day but it feels so wrong, my stomach is flipping in a very non-friendly way.

"I have to finish breakfast and you definitely need a shower." I laugh, pointing the spatula at the bathroom.

"Yes ma'am." He smirks as he closes the bathroom door behind him and I hear the screech of the pipes shortly after.

I can't help but smile to myself as I flip his toast onto a plate and drizzle it with honey and top it with bananas just as he did mine. I make us both cups of coffee and against my better judgement, I take our breakfast to his room and get comfortable in his bed. I turn on his TV and search through the channels as I sip at my coffee until I hear the bathroom door open again.

"Jess?" He calls from the kitchen.

"In here!" I yell, hoping that he can tell where my voice is coming from.

He pushes the door open and trudges inside wearing sweats and a hoodie. He shakes his head when he sees me cuddled up in the sheets eating breakfast but joins me anyways, downing nearly half of his coffee. Once we've both finished breakfast and an old episode of Fresh Prince, he takes me into his arms and lays his head on my chest. He's asleep in seconds and I tuck the blanket around him, running my hands through his damp hair as he sleeps soundly.

I can feel the lines blurring again as I stare at his peaceful face. Twirling his damp curls around my finger and snuggling together in his bed definitely doesn't qualify as best friend things but I can't imagine myself anywhere else. I can't believe that he stayed by my side all night, holding me in his arms on the hard tile floor. My mind flickers to Miles and Jace and I find myself wondering if they would do that for me. Perhaps the lines are blurring for a reason.

I reach for my phone on his nightstand and curse myself when I realize how late it's gotten already. I can't wake him up, he's so peaceful and sleeping so soundly, he was exhausted this morning. Before I can stop myself, I'm ringing the office and tracing the lines of his face as I wait for someone to pick up.

"Yeah? Tabitha? It's Jess, sorry this is last minute, but me and Harry won't be coming in today. Yeah, could you let them know? Thank you."

I hang up and he stirs in my lap, releasing his hands from around my waist and moving his head to his pillow instead. It feels like rejection, like a stab in the gut.

"Who were you talking to?" He mumbles, his voice deep with sleep.

"Work," I explain, rolling over to face him, "We're not going in today."

His eyes peel open to meet mine and he rubs his hands against them as he wakes up, "What?"

"You heard me, now sleep." I say, standing from the bed.

"Wait, where are you going?" He asks, reaching for me.

"You moved away from me, I thought you wanted to be alone."

"No, I wanted to hold you instead." He says, grabbing my hand and pulling me back into the bed with him.

He holds me to him and I allow myself to wrap my arms around his waist, snuggling my cheek into his chest. He smells amazing from his shower, like aftershave and clean dial soap. I feel my eyelids getting heavy as I look up to see his face but he's already breathing heavily again. I let my eyes drift over his face before settling on his lips and wondering how the hell I pulled away from them so easily last night.