werifesteria [h.s]

nineteen

The night was cool, just like many. Nightlife took to it's stage and showed us their talents; fireflies put on their light show and the crickets made music along with the owls hooting. Unfortunately, neither Harry nor I were intrigued.

"I'm so close, Val. I'm so close to seeing her." He said. Harry had his eyebrows in a frown and his focus laser-sharp. I bet he was thinking of his next move.

"Don't get your hopes up," I mindlessly uttered. Harry looked over questioningly at me, almost as if asking why I wasn't on his side. "I mean, she wants to know who you are but she may not be ready to see who you are."

"Why would that happen?" He asks.

"Neither of you know your pasts, and there's a reason why. What if that reason brings back something bad?" I explain.

His hard expression relaxes. "Life's full of mysteries, isn't it."

"That, it is."

Our feet dangled off the wooden surface, occasionally tapping each other. Harry had his hands clasped together in front of him, his spirits low. I had to get answers from him.

Gently, I reach for his hand and interlock our fingers. I lean my head on his shoulders.

"You'll see her." I say.

Harry's calm breathing rang in my ears. "Do I want to?"

I lift my head off and turn to him. "You've been searching so long and now you ask if you want to see her? You just said you were close."

"That was before you mentioned having a bad past, a bad reason as to why we forgot each other. What if it affects her?"

In a different life, I would be jealous. I would probably get mad at the fact that my boyfriend wanted to find another girl, and cared for her so much. But since I was that girl, I didn't exactly have a reason to be jealous.

I didn't reply him, simply not knowing how. I was internally conflicted. I don't want Harry giving up easily, because he'd done so much just to find me. But at the same time, I had to think realistically.

"You alright?" Harry asks.

I nod. "Yeah, I'm okay."

He flashed me a sweet smile, looking down at our swinging feet, then me. "You know, these past few weeks have just been about me. I feel selfish."

"Oh, no, don't feel that way. I'm happy to help wherever I can, if I can be of any help at all."

"You have, and thank you. But let's go do something else." Harry says with an excited tone. I smiled amusedly, awaiting his suggestion. "How about the fun fair?"

I hopped off Harry's car, my body being lit up by the bright lights and the carnival music filling the atmosphere. Harry appeared by my side, planting a firm kiss on my temple.

"Come on, let's go win you some teddies."

With a grin, I let him pull me towards the crowd, where the fun began. We didn't have much time to work with, since it was currently 7:45 p.m, but we used what we had.

First off, we headed to the water shooting game station. We had to shoot at a target until a water container was filled, and if you win, you choose what toy you want. And I had set my eyes on the giant floppy bunny.

Harry and I stood side by side, in our positions and the guns in our hands pointed at the target. Let's just say I had an apt for archery, so it was pretty much my win when it came to targets. I used all I had in me, and strained my eyesight till the point of blindness, because I had to win what I wanted.

And I did.

"I won myself a toy, Styles. Better up your game." I announced, skipping ahead of him. I could sense his smirk behind me.

We ventured on to the mini basketball area. We had to throw balls into the hoops that were stationed far away from our position, so it was pretty tough. Harry and I both lost terribly at that, with him shooting two goals and I shooting one. When a little girl of age seven stood on the counter and beat us both with a score of all in, we scuttled off in humiliation.

Harry won the rest of the games we visited, and I started to suspect if he let me win the first game on purpose. But then, I couldn't care less when he won me chocolates and many teddies. Then, I treated us both to ice cream cones.

And of course, we couldn't sit the ferris wheel out. Both of us loved heights, and it definitely had us fidgeting in our seats as we reached the top. The skyline was pretty, with little specks of different colored lights on each skyscraper and cars moving by. Harry took a picture of me with my bunny and my ice cream.

Harry laughed as he saw my picture. "That's cute." He says, tucking his phone away.

We got down a little while after, and Harry and I were still high from the ferris ride, and partly also because of the ice cream. I clutched his arm as we stumbled back into the crowd. We talked about which ferris ride we wanted to go to in the world, and I decided that the ones in Asia were really grand. He told me he'd bring me there.

And right then, a gentle but loud voice called Harry's name.

"Harry?" The voice said, but Harry didn't hear.

I stopped, frowning as I searched the crowd for who could have called his name.

"Val? What's wrong?" Harry asked, pulling me to him so we wouldn't get lost in the large sea of people.

"Someone called your name." I informed him.

"A lot of people have my name, sweetheart. It was probably someone-"

"Harry, oh my God!" The voice exclaimed. I looked up at him, but he only narrowed his eyes ahead of him. I turned to see a young girl, at around our age, making her way to Harry. She had dyed blonde hair with her brown roots uncovered, and her eyes were brown. She approached Harry, disregarding me and simply stared at him.

I looked between the two, feeling left out. Did Harry know this girl too? Was she his ex-girlfriend, Ellie?

My worries ceased when he asked, "Uh, do I know you?"

The girl's face fell. "You don't remember me, do you."

Harry shook his head slowly. "Do I have a reason to?"

She thought hard, desperately trying to come up with an explanation. Then, it came to her. "Here."

The girl took his hand, and I glared at her, trying to figure out what this girl was trying to do. She spread his fingers out, and placed her hand on top of his.

I had my palm on his, his rough touch under my cold fingertips.

Harry furrowed his brows, glancing up at her. She continued, sliding her hand back and then clasping her fingers around his, guiding his knuckles to bend so they would lock with his.

He smiled, though confused.

Harry's lips parted, and he snapped his head up. The girl finished their little handshake as she touched thumbs with Harry.

Our pact.

"Harry?" I softly called. "What's going on?"

The girl met his eyes, and smiled subtly. I couldn't help but think it was extremely fake. Their hands dropped by their sides, and I felt extremely confused.

"Harry."

"She..." He paused, almost not believing his words. "She's the treehouse's owner."