Keeper

Chapter 33

Watching Harry smile is honestly one of the most unconditionally beautiful things I had ever seen.

Seeing his lips curve up revealing his teeth, the edges of his electric green eyes crinkling up and causing his eyes to narrow into adorable tiny slits, to watch his cheeks grow a sweet shade of pink; it made me feel lucky in a way.

I felt like his smile was such a rarity amongst his friends and just about any common stranger to cross his path, his dastardly outer shell painting a false image of who he was underneath his antagonizing stare and pin-straight expression. Over the past two weeks I've single-handedly watched that shell peel off one layer at a time. Every day he became just that much more open to the idea of me; throwing around sarcasm and jokes, pulling me in for unexpected hugs, and even kissing me at random times without the slightest warning.

If I could go back to the first day of school when I had met him, I wouldn't even be able to guess he would be the same boy that I know today.


It has only been mere weeks that I had known him but I feel like it's been much, much longer. I know for a fact I am still only scraping the surface with him, though.


I still have to learn who exactly "Harry Styles" is, the boy who is in a sense bound to me. My mind is set on finding out what makes him tick, the things that set him off when he is angry, and his pesky little habits. I still have yet to learn whether he prefers vanilla over chocolate, orange juice with or without the pulp, his favorite month of the year; just the small, unimportant things.

Those things mean more than we think.



I hadn't even realized I had been blankly staring at Harry until he grabbed my hand in his, his freezing, rough fingers gently encasing my rather warm and delicate ones.


"Are you alright?" He asked; tilting his head to the side, scrunching his forehead up in concern.


I quickly pulled my hand from his as I came back to reality, hastily brushing my shirt off with my palms,

"Why don't we keep walking? Window shop maybe?" I asked, abruptly shooting up from the uncomfortable wooden bench.


"Oh, alright." He laughed, his giddy expression making him appear incredibly young.

My arm practically had a mind of it's own, wrapping itself securely around tight bicep. Harry's entire body seemed to relax from my touch, his shoulders seeming to slump slightly.


"Where are we going to now?" I teased, adjusting my neck so my gaze fell on his face. He kept his eyes locked ahead, his cherry red, cracked lips moistened by his tongue as he opened his mouth to speak.


"Where ever our feet take us." He teased back, a small, dimpled smile illuminating his features.


For the next three hours we strolled in and out of different shops, all ranging from clothing to toys. Harry insisted on buying me a huge stuffed animal giraffe since I had told them they were my absolute favorite, but I kindly declined, knowing it was unnecessary and incredibly expensive.

We stopped in one of the shops I had hardly ever been inside of, let alone acknowledged, Harry explaining to me how it was his all time favorite. The glass walls leading into the store were lined with random band and television series t-shirts, along with various fifty percent off signs and special mark downs. Once we walked through the open entrance heavy metal music met my ears, the volume set just low enough so you could still hear yourself think. Skimpy black lace dresses and what I assumed to be underwear lined the blood red brick walls and the smell of musky cologne filled my nostrils. I glanced up at the front counter to see a middle-aged man behind the counter, his head freshly shaven and his neck sporting a tattoo that reached right up to the side of his face. I couldn't see his face perfectly from my position a few yards away but nonetheless did I know he had multiple piercings just like Harry.


"I wanna show you something." Harry spoke beside me, his deep voice making me alert.


"Alright." I nodded, giving his arm a squeeze before he led me towards the back of the store.

As we were walking I turned my had to look the collection of CDs they had stacked by the wall, only to quickly turn my head away when my eyes met the scene of an intense make out session. The girl had hair black as night and they guy had short blonde choppy hair, obviously both dyed. Harry didn't even acknowledge them, as if he was already used to it. I could tell he was very relaxed in this store, the way he walked and the way his eyes scanned the room told me it wasn't his first time here, nor his second.


"So I was thinking," he started, his loud voice over the music making me jump.

"I was think about adding to my collection." He spoke much quieter, his voice laced with a hint of laugher without out a doubt from my reaction.


"Your collection?" I asked, coming up to his side. I bit my lip when what he was looking at came into view.

"Gauges." He spoke, making me nod at his clarification.

"You really want them?" I asked. I couldn't help the bit of confusion evident in my question.

"Was just thinking about it," He shrugged turning to me. His eyebrows were frowned.


"Why?"


"It's just...won't they hurt? Won't it be painful?" I asked, hastily folding my arms in front of my chest.


"It won't be if you're there with me." He half smiled.


I slowly shook my head

"I'm not good with that kind of stuff."

His face fell but one of his eyebrows raised in question,

"So you wouldn't hold my hand?" He asked innocently, obviously being a tease.


I couldn't help the roll of my eyes and before I could answer a voice bellowed behind the both of us, immediately making our necks snap in it's direction. It was the guy behind the counter.


"Is Styles being an ass?"

His eyes never left the table of t-shirts he was folding but I knew that it was obvious he was talking to me.


"Aren't I always being an ass?" Harry laughed, his eyes trained on me. I heard the faint sound of keys clanking repeatedly together on a chain and when I turned back around the man was standing there, but instead of a harsh scowl like I had expected he wore a genuine smile.


"Would you like to introduce me to your little lady friend, Styles?" He asked in his deep tone of voice, throwing the shirt he had in his hands over his left shoulder.


"I'm Harley." I smiled. I didn't need Harry to speak for me, I was more than capable of doing it myself.


"M'names Mason." He nodded, reaching his hand out to shake mine. I glanced down at his extended palm to see his entire arm drawn with tattoos.

"I don't bite, sweetheart." He laughed.


I didn't say anything, instead I just reached forth and shook his hand,


"It's nice to meet you." Mason added.

I gave him a small nod and he laughed,

"Harry, she with you?" He asked, turning his attention to the uncommonly silent boy next to me.


I watched Harry hesitate as he glanced over at me,

"Harley? She's um, we're here together, yeah."


"She yours?" He asked, a sly smirk widening his lips.


"Soul mates." I answered for him.


"Soul mates eh?" Mason nodded, folding his arms over his chest and annoyingly tapped his foot in thought.



A loud, obnoxious laugh left his mouth and I raised an eyebrow at Harry. He only gave me a shrug of his shoulders.


"What is this? The Beauty and the Beast?" He chuckled.


"In a sense." Harry nodded back, a small smirk too, playing on his lips.


It all became quiet for a second before i heard harry snicker,

"Hey, can you tell Kristina and Dean that it's not very professional to snog in front of the music isle?"


"Shit, I thought they left." Mason cursed, rubbing the very back of his inked neck with the palm of his hand.


"So I guess Kristina's over her ex then, huh?" Harry chuckled, taking his lip ring between his teeth in amusement.


"If she's going at it with Dean, I'd say so yeah." Mason nodded back with a laugh.


I felt Harry rocking back and forth on the heels of his feet almost impatiently,

"We'll we're gonna head out now, see you some time this weekend yeah?" Harry spoke with a click of his tongue.


"Yeah stop by any time, and bring Haley along with you."


"It's Harley." I corrected, my voice cracking slightly.

"Ah, like Davidson." Mason nodded, as if using the motorcycle brand to remember my name at a later time.




After the mall Harry dragged me back to the car and told me he had just one more place he needed to take me. He told me he wanted to, 'finish the day off right.' I argued that it was only half past twelve and we still had till three before my parents got home but Harry nonetheless ignored my every word, the only thing on his mind being the place he was taking me to and the obnoxiously loud music blaring though his speakers.

The pesky hangnail hanging on the edge of my thumb consumed most of my attention for the entire ten minute drive, the only indication that we had arrived being Harry's sluggishly slow driving that soon turned into a complete stop.


I glanced up and through the window, the wide soccer field and swing set I used to spend hours on coming into clear view.

"The park?" I laughed, quickly unbuckling my seatbelt.


"Where memories are made." Harry winked, following in my footsteps by stepping out of the car.