Holding On (A Harry Styles Love Story)

"Today, Tomorrow, and Forever."

"Charlotte?" The muffled accent coming from the bunk under me tore through the silence.

"Yeah?"

"I want to talk."

"Harry, it's 2 A.M. You have a show tomorrow. You need to sleep."

"Come down here and talk to me." He whined. I rolled my eyes, but gave in.

It was pitch black in the bus; I swung one leg after the other over the side of my bunk, and my feet felt Harry's mattress under them. I let go with my arms, my legs balancing beside Harry. The bed creaked when I sat down next to Harry. I winced, afraid of waking everyone else up. Just because Harry was too stupid to go to sleep doesn't mean they deserve to be woken up.

"Happy now?" I smirked over at Harry as I settled down next to him, crossing my legs.

My eyes were adjusting to the darkness and I could start to make out his features. "Very." He grinned, satisfied.

"What do you want to talk about?" I inquired.

"Us."

"Us?" I raised an eyebrow, my heart skipping several beats in the process. "What about us?"

He lowered his voice to a whisper before leaning over and tucking a strand of my hair behind my ear, causing me to shiver at how close he came to my face, "I have a few questions about you."

My forehead creased, "Um, ok. Shoot."

My eyes were almost fully adjusted to the dark, and I could see that he was moving in closer to me. I hadn't realized how cold I was until he wrapped his arms around me and pulled me into him. I lay my head on his chest as he stroked my hair with his hand.

"Why do you hate yourself?" He whispered.

"Hate myself?"

"Yeah. You're not happy with who you are. I want to know why."

I closed my eyes for a few moments while I tried to figure out the right words to say. Why did I hate myself? I didn't really think I hated myself. But when Harry claimed I did, I couldn't help but agree.

Silence. I couldn't think of what to say. I guess I hadn't planned on saying anything. When Harry must've noticed the stretch of silence wasn't going to end by me answering him, he started humming.

The tune was unintelligable at first, but it only took me a few seconds to recognize it. It was The Scientist by Coldplay, the song we adopted as ours. He kept humming until he reached a certain verse. He softly sang out the words, "You don't know how lovely you are."

I let my eyes close while I was pressed up to his chest. The steady bu-bum, bu-bum of his heart beat was the only thing I could hear.

I thought Harry gave up on trying to analyze me. But apparently he didn't. He broke the silence again with soft words, "I can't decide about you, Charlotte. You're stubborn as hell, yet you're the sweetest girl I've ever met. You're convinced that you're this unappealing, unattractive girl, but you're the most beautiful, most captivating girl I've ever seen. You seem happy, but I know that you're broken."

I pulled away from his arms. Once again, I decided to give in. I inhaled deeply before releasing the words that've been weighing on my heart for a long time.

"I've always been an average girl, Harry. Just average, nothing special about me. I've never been a very happy person either. And when my dad left..." I inhaled deeply, trying to fight back the tears brimming my eyes, "It just rocked my world. It really broke me. But you, you fixed me. The only time I've really been happy was when I've been with you."

"Now are you happy?"

"Yes...very." I exhaled and rolled my eyes at myself, "You probably think I'm so stupid and sappy..." I scoffed, wiping a small tear from my eye, not knowing what else to say. I felt like an idiot for confessing that to him.

"Charlotte," He lifts my chin with his hand, forcing me to look into his vibrant green eyes. "I may not have been broken to begin with, but you definitely fixed me. I see life in a whole new way since I met you. There's not a single day that I don't think of you, Charlotte. I don't think you're stupid."

I fiddled with the hem of my shirt whiled I stared blankly at the white sheets. I wanted to believe his words so badly, but it was hard. How could I possible make someone feel that way? But I remembered the way he looked at me just hours before. Priceless.

"That's deep." I grinned nervously as I tried to lighten the mood.

He tucked another loose strand of blonde hair behind my ear, and I looked up at him, "Charlotte, I love you."

I bit my bottom lip as my eyes immediately fell back to the sheets. The words I've always wanted to hear. Yet I couldn't bring myself to believe them. "How long?" the words spilled out of my mouth before I could stop them.

"What?"

"How long have you loved me?"

He caught me by surprise. Grabbing the back of my head and pulling me in towards him, our lips met. His soft lips fit together perfectly with mine like a puzzle piece. It was like we were only ever meant to kiss each other.

When our lips parted, his cool breath was an inch from my face. "A really long time. And I'll keep loving you today, tomorrow, and forever."

I didn't want to respond. I just wanted to keep hearing it over and over again. The words were sweet, and I didn't want to let them slip away; I didn't want the moment to end. "I love you too. A lot."

"You do?" A smile formed on his perfect lips. The kind of smile that could power an entire state with its electricity. The kind of smile that I fell for two years ago.

I grin, "Yes."

"Will you be with me? Officially?" He chuckled to himself, "It sounds stupid but I just want to make it off-"

"Yes," I laugh, "Definitely!"

"Wow," He looks at me with a gleam in his eyes, like he was in another world, "This is incredible."

Before I could respond, his lips smash into mine one last time, and I wrap my arms around his neck.

That night, I fell asleep in his arms. His warm breath tickled my neck, his warm arms encased me from behind.