Memory (Harry Styles)

Chapter 41

Heey all! This is SUUUUPER late but here it is! Know this is kinda short, especially after such a long time, but that is because I plan to update in the next couple of days. It didn't seem to fit quite well if I kept it as one long chapter, so bear with me. Anyways, glad to be back :) Hope you enjoy! Xx

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Harry's POV

"Umm, can we stop for a sec?" She asks in an almost inaudible voice.

I can tell she's shaken up by my question. The way her grip on my shoulders stiffens and her body shifts on my back, I could tell she doesn't feel comfortable answering it. However, now that we are walking down the park path in no hurry to make it to the finish line of the race, and the fact that there is no one to interrupt us now that we are alone, she has no choice but to tell me the truth.

Whether she likes it of not, she's answering my damn question and telling me who this guy really is.

I stop by a small stone ledge on the side of the path just as two more racers bike pass us, and set her down to sit. At this point both of us are no longer concerned about the race we are in. Not that we were really into it before. It was just Allie, but now that she's gone ahead and probably won the race with Liam, nothing is pushing us through it every step of the way. I can finally just enjoy my time with her. Or not. Depending on her answer to my question.

"So?" I ask again as I take a seat next to her. She lets out another breath before she begins and I am somewhat afraid to hear what will come out of her mouth.

"Greg became Allie's boyfriend after he graduated high school. He was one of Niall's best friends, they were in the same grade, and Allie had a major crush on him for the longest time." She begins, though I don't really know the relevance of it. I don't care about how he got with Allie, I wanna know what's the deal with him and her.

"She was so into him, but it was one of those relationships that was always on and off again. They dated like this for weeks and it was exhausting just trying to support Allie through all their constant break ups and make ups. After one of their heated break ups, I ran into Greg and well..." She stops just before the words come out and I feel like prying them out from her lips.

"Well? Well what?" I say impatiently. Why can't she just up and front say it already?!

"Ughhh!" She screams before burying her face in my shoulder. Why do I have to say it out loud? You already know what I am going to say!"

It's true, I do. I knew it before I even asked the question. It wasn't definite, but I had an inkling-no, more like a strong feeling, about what she was going to say.

"I just want to hear you say it."

"Why? So you can judge me and say how bad of a person I am? So you can feel all high and mighty about yourself because even you, the king of jerks wouldn't do something so low to your only best friend?"

"Yes." I say, point blank. Her face contorts in disgust before her arm lifts and she whacks the side of my face with the palm of her hand.

Shit! My hands instinctively go up to the point of impact as I suck in a breath through my teeth. That actually really freaking hurt!

She gets up to storm off in her angry "Bree" way but I reach for her last minute and manage to clasp her fingertips, reeling her in a bit so I can get a better grip on her wrist and pull her to me.

"Dammit Bree, I was just kidding!" I get her to sit back in her spot and place my hand on the other side of her, using my arm as a barricade to make sure she doesn't leave. "Jeez! I forgot how hot tempered you were."

"I wouldn't be so hot tempered if you weren't such a dumb ass."

"That's what you get for calling me the king of jerks." I point out. It was pretty mean, but coming from her, I would expect it. As I recall, she called me that on an hourly basis, back when we weren't together. Or something along the lines of that anyways. I kind of miss it, actually.

She rolls her eyes before snubbing me and turning so that her body is at an angle facing away from me. I can tell she's annoyed by the hard look on her face as she stares out onto the flat lake, a scene that is suppose to be calming.

I guess the thing a good and sensitive boyfriend would do is to try and apologize her by saying some meaningless shit about how I was wrong for being so immature. Unfortunately, I'm not really one to give in to that bull crap so I just continue on with the fight, like I usually do.

"And this what you get for calling me a dumbass." I press the nail of my middle finger against my thumb and flick her in the arm. She lets out a sharp yelp before doing the same to the corner of my eyebrow.

Next thing I know, we are having a full on flicking fight that somehow develops into a tickle fight, all while confused racers on bikes pass us by.

This one actually works more in my favour; probably because she is ticklish in almost every nook of her body, and ends with her curled up in a defensive ball on my lap. She is breathing hard and I am trying to suppress my laughter at how easy it is to get her to surrender.

Eventually she calms down and we are left just sitting there, staring at the water with her head on my thigh and my hands cradling her body. I use one of them to push some of her stray pieces of hair behind her ear as she shifts her position.

"I slept with him." She says out of the blue.

I look down at her, unable to see the expression on her face as she has her back to me. I don't really know what to say. Sure, I already knew she was gonna say that, but I had no idea how I would respond after the words were said. What if she reacted badly to my comment? Would it just make her feel worse?

I decide to stay quite and continue stroking her hair gently, in hopes that she would speak again so I wouldn't have to.

"Sh-she wasn't even broken up with him and I..." Her voice cracks and she lets out a choked sob before bringing her hands up to her face.

"Hey, hey it's okay." I pull her up to face me and try to calm her down. She has wiped the tears from her face, leaving blotchy red patches in their place and puffy pink eyes. I catch the next set of tears before they leave her waterline with pads of my thumbs and hold her head in place as I look at her.

I hate seeing her like this. I mean, she doesn't cry very often, but when she does I could tell she's really hurting inside. Sometimes, I wish she would cry more often. Maybe if she did, it wouldn't be so heartbreaking when she cried since she wouldn't be bottling it all up until the top exploded.

"No! It's not okay!" She pulls away from and sits up, eyes burning. "It's not okay that I slept with my best friend's boyfriend when they were barely even broken up. It's not okay that I did it because my mind was so fucking messed up from kissing her brother a couple weeks before. And it's not okay that I've kept all of this from her ever since! It's NOT okay, Harry!" She lets out another, more tortured sob and I pull her into my chest; this time with a firmer grip so there is no room for her outbursts of anger. She just needs to let it out.

"I-I'm such an awful person. I mean, who does that?" She says, or at least, I think she says into the fabric of my sweater. It was muffled and a bit blubbery, but I'm pretty sure that's what she meant.

"People make mistakes," Is all I can think of saying. Hopefully this doesn't onset another hurricane Bree. I'm afraid every wrong word I say could set her off right now.

"Not all of them are forgiven." She lifts her head to look at me. Her eyes are glassy from the tears, but still contain the bright assuredness that they always do. From this, I know that she truly believes in the words that come out of her mouth.

A sharp pang ripples in my chest, causing me to choose what I say next very carefully.

"In time."

And for both her sake and mine, I hope she chooses to believe in my words more than she does hers.

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Just want to say a quick thank you to all of you still continuing to read and support Memory :) It means the world and I love you all x