Half Bad // Harry Styles

Chapter 5

♡ chapter 5 - Harry ♡

            John had passed the point of irritating. He was officially pissing me off. I don’t know what possessed him to flirt with Rose right in front of me, but he was doing just that with zero shame. We were all sitting around the bonfire, Rose perched on the log across from me with John too close next to her. I was waiting for him to slip up and get burned the shit out of, but sadly that never happened. However, Rose looked mortified to have him in her presence.

            Niall and Zayn were conversing from either side of me, but I was unaware of the topic their chit-chat was revolving around. I couldn’t take my eyes off of Rose and John. The sickening scene was like a magnetic force keeping my eyes attached. I couldn’t look away, no matter how much I wanted to.

            An elbow nudged me in the side, causing me to glance over at Zayn out the corner of my eye. He waggled his eyebrows, nodding over in Rose’s direction and clearly catching on to my uneasiness with John near her. But I just rolled my eyes at him, discretely shooting him the middle finger. I was in no mood for “teasing.” I was too pissed off for that shit.

            Ryan stood with a yawn, stretching his arms. “Well I’m going to hit the sack since we’ve got a long day tomorrow.”

            “I think that’s a good idea for everyone,” I growled through gritted teeth, John’s sinister gaze meeting mine.

            He was smiling.

            That bastard knew exactly what the hell he was doing.

            Liam seemed to grasp the pissy mood I was in, so he (bless his soul) stood and nodded towards John. “Hey, mate. Mind giving me another run down of the potions? They could come in handy tomorrow.”

            John shrugged, but winked at Rose as he stood. My nails were already indenting red marks into my palms from curling my fists so tight, and my teeth were on the verge of breaking from clenching my jaw so violently. But soon enough to answer my prayers, everyone filed inside, leaving Rose and I alone.

            Neither of us spoke for a while, but then I noticed the night was growing thicker. I looked to Rose. “Do you want to go in before it gets any darker?”

            Rose seemed confused by my soft, concerned tone as she furrowed her eyebrows. “Um, it actually feels pretty nice out with the breeze and… well, you said it yourself…” Rose paused, a small smile gracing her pink lips. She met my gaze before merely shrugging, her cheeks flushing. “I have you, right?”

            My eyes bulged just the slightest at her proclamation, my skin chilling with her words, my heart swelling a bit as I ran through her words again, not being able to believe them or wrap my head around the thought of her wanting me around.

            No one has ever wanted me before.

            But I can’t let Rose know how much those simple words mean to me. I can’t show her vulnerability or any sign of weaknesses, for she could use it against me. I’ve learned to keep feelings bottled up and tossed out the window. I can’t trust her; I can’t trust anyone. Not even if I wanted to. The world is too unpredictable to loan someone your full trust without gaining some type of loyalty from them. It’s too risky to get too close to anyone at all, and I’ve learned this from rough experiences.

            So as much as I hated to be harsh to her after her genuine statement, I faked a scoff and rolled my eyes. “You didn’t think I meant that, do you? I was just trying to get you to shut the hell up about your phobia.”