Falling for Harry Styles

Chapter 45

“I love you too,” I sighed out in frustration; I was frustrated because we were fighting, because he was leaving again, because it took me so long to finally say something.

His eyes lost the angry look and widened slightly as his jaw dropped and his mouth formed an ‘o’ shape. “What?” he let it out a little breathily, sounding shocked.

I took a deep breath and sighed in relief, feeling a weight lifted from my chest. We stared at each other in silence for a few moments. I didn’t even know what to do next as I blinked a few times before starting to speak, “Harry…” but I trailed off as he marched across the kitchen closing the distance between us. He engulfed me in his arms securing them around my waist and sunk his face into the hair in the crook of my neck. My reaction was automatic as I wrapped my arms around his neck, latching one hand into his curls. He sighed and I swear I could feel him smile into me as his hot breath raised goose-bumps on my skin.

The position was so familiar, one we used to comfort each other whenever the need arose, yet it felt different this time. It held a deeper meaning than it ever had before; now I wasn’t just holding my best friend, the guy I love, but I was holding the guy that loves me too. I smiled as his arms tightened around me and I played with his hair. We were quiet, the only sound being our breathing, as we stood there holding each other for what felt like hours.

When we did, reluctantly, release each other he quickly snatched my hand in his and intertwined our fingers, smiling at me with a happy, playful (almost childlike really) light in his eyes. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner?” he asked in a quiet voice.

I frowned slightly, shrugging my shoulders, “I didn’t want to ruin our friendship with feelings. I would’ve rather stayed friends than tell you and risk losing you because you didn’t feel the same way. Even though everyone, literally everyone, thought we would make a cute couple.” He chuckled and I rested my hand against his chest, idly tracing shapes there as I mustered up the guts to ask my next question. “So… how long have you felt this way?”

He pursed his lips and looked at the ground, “Since that night when you first spent the night, we had gone to dinner. That was the night that Chad had… the last time he-” he sounded distressed and aggravated so I cradled his cheek in my hand, rubbing circles with my thumb to calm him. He leaned into and sighed out a breath. He smiled down at me, “How about for you?”

I giggled, my cheeks tinting and eyes dropping to the ground, “The day of the interview for my scholarship. The way it was just so… easy for you to make me feel better. Looking back that’s the first time I felt it.”

I lifted my eyes to reconnect with his and he was smiling down at me. We stood like that for a few moments before his smile slightly faltered and he barely whispered the heavy questioned we were both thinking, “What now?”

I bit my lip and looked up at him from under my lashes. We just confessed our love for one another, what else would we do? I felt my heart flutter as I opened my mouth to reply but immediately shut it again, shrugging my shoulders. I had always imagined this to go differently than it is. I do want to be with Harry, but I want him to ask me; I want to hear the words come from his mouth. Is that selfish? “What do you want now?” I asked quietly as I dropped my eyes to stare at his chest.

He was quiet a moment as his thumb traced over my knuckles and I could feel his eyes boring holes into the top of my head. His index fixed under my chin, raising my eyes to meet with his, “I would love to take you on a proper date.” I couldn’t help the smile that split across my face as I nodded. “Great,” he smiled with glittering eyes. He leaned down closer to me, dropping the hand by my chin to latch onto my hip, lips close to my ear and voice in a hushed whisper, “And it would be lovely if I could call you my girlfriend.”