Almost Lover (Harry Styles) - Book 1

Chapter 53: Lies and Bets

-Harry's POV-

I wait till I hear the bedroom close before I open my mouth.

"What the fuck Ed!?" I throw my hands up in exasperation.

"God mate, I'm sorry I don't know what I was thinking." He frowns.

"You made it sound like I bring numerous women back here!"

"Well you sort of have." Ed shrugs his shoulders.

I narrow my eyes at him, "Some yes, but none like Ava. We were having a great time and then you have to go and properly ruin it!"

"Relax mate, she seemed fine." He tries to reassure me.

"Fine? She practically ran out of here and then barely talked to me at dinner!"

"Calm down Haz, you're making a much bigger deal out of this then it really is."

"I don't think so. She has been through a lot mate, including being with someone who cheated on her constantly. I don't want her to doubt how serious I am about her."

Ed shakes his head at me while smiling, "You really like this girl don't you? I've never heard you go on about someone like this before."

"Yes, I do. So from now on just watch your mouth, yeah?" I ask.

Ed nods and we say goodnight before I head to the bedroom. Walking into the dark room, I use the light from my phone to guide me to the bed, where I pull off my bandana, shirts, and jeans before sliding in.

I roll over towards Ava, hearing the light sound of her breathing. It's something I've gotten used to since I started crawling into her bunk on the bus, and I love it. Her back is towards me so I put my arm around her waist and slowly pull her towards me. She stirs a little but doesn't wake up. I slowly drift off to sleep trying to think of how I'm going to broach the subject of what Ed said.

When I wake up it's still dark outside. I reach over for Ava but she isn't there. I turn over to find the bathroom door open and empty. Where is she? I slowly crawl out of bed and pull on a pair of sweat pants.

Leaving the bedroom, I check the kitchen and living room for her but come up short. Glancing out the back doors I see her sitting on the beach.

I let myself out and make my way down the deck stairs towards her. She's sitting in her pajamas on the sand with her knees up to her chest and her arms wrapped around them. The breeze is softly blowing her hair away from her face.

"I was wondering where you'd snuck off to." I say when I make it to her.

She looks up at me and smiles, "I wanted to watch the sunrise."

"Can I sit with you?" I ask hesitantly. I'm not sure if she's upset after what Ed said. God, I hope she isn't.

"Of course."

I smile and sit down right behind her, placing my legs on each side of hers. I've barely sat down when she leans back against me, resting her head on my shoulder. I wrap my arms around her with what I'm sure is stupid grin across my face.

We sit there for awhile in silence. Just watching the sun slowly peek up over the ocean.

"We're okay right?" I ask, not being able to hold off any longer.

"Hmmmm?"

"After what Ed said last night... I don't want you to get the wrong idea about me or how I feel about you."

"We're fine Harry. Don't worry about it." She says with no emotion.

I hate that I can't see her eyes right now. If I could I would know exactly what she's feeling.