Ignorance ➵ h.s. au

ninety eighth

He was just right there, her grip on his collar. But she has never felt so alone more than now. Everyone around her is slowly but surely slipping away. It started with Carter, and now Louis. Sooner or later, Harry will too. And she'll be back where she started. Alone, without her brother. She doesn't know if she can make it. 

“Look at me,” He mumbled, tilting her head, her face shiny, hair sticking to her damp cheeks whilst red lines emerged from the corners of the white of her eyes. “I promise I'll make it up to you. Okay?" He moves stray strands away from her face, tucking them to the back of her ear. He was so close to losing her, and he thought he would. He almost did, Belinda's words bouncing back to him like a virus. What if she's right? What if he just does the same thing he did with her? What if he ends up hurting her too? Part of him knows he shouldn't let anything she says get to him, but a certain sense of dread remains in his stomach. He has no idea how he can possibly make it up to her at this point, after all the mess he’s done, but the lie was good enough for now. "I'll make it up to you. We'll do whatever you want next time. And I won't leave anymore."

Dani says nothing, gawking at him behind the blurriness as if examining his face for the first time, the busy streets outside the rolled down window fading in the background. She yearned to believe something would work out for once, even if it’s starting to look too good to be true, the weight of his arms on her grounding her to reality. But her heart ached still. He’s just saying that to make her feel better because even he knows the truth. He knows. She pushed through anyway even when he said he didn’t want to go. She was going to tell him the truth. Nonetheless, she doesn’t know anymore. His hand jerking away from hers stinging her fingers haunts her doubts, and Belinda's stare. What did she see in him? Did she see the same thing Danielle did? Did she think about the absurdity of it all? Does she think he's pretty?

"I hate seeing my best girl  cry, I love you." His voice vibrated through her ears, brushing his fingers against her cheek. He leans in and kisses her, a thin layer of lip gloss sticking to his mouth. "You know I do, right? You know I love you?" He says it again and again, and Danielle's heart skips again and again, but it wasn’t enough. Them pretending everything that just happened didn’t happen wasn’t going to help. "Tell me you do, babe."

"I do." She hums, and Harry kisses her again.

Belinda's dress was a bright red under the lights, and her eyes practically shined when she saw her again. And then that just disappeared, replaced by something she can’t put a finger on but she couldn’t ask. "What do you think of Blinche?" She frowned, swallowing the lump in her throat.

“What?”

“Of Belinda . .” She croaked. “And Niall.”

Harry paused, fabricating something to say. "They look like nice people." He gulped, keeping his face straight. Last time he checked, Niall seemed like he was going to burst out from his chair and beat the shit out of him. As he should. Chills ran down his spine from the thought; this entire time she's been telling him about them, and he had no idea. She once mentioned Niall way back then, nonetheless, he just shrugged it off for someone with the same name.

"They are." Danielle sighed, looking away from him and pressing her cheek onto his shirt. She wanted to cry some more, brood over the fact she wasn’t able to be there for her own cousin, but she was drained, even that was difficult to do. "Belinda is really nice . .”

Is she?

Part of him wonders what Belinda has told her. If she's ever mentioned him and what happened between the two of them. But then again, why would she? They were a secret never to be disclosed. And if she did, wouldn't Danielle mention anything about a certain Harry her friend told her about?