Lifeline (Harry Styles Fan Fiction)

Chapter 40

"Me too." She whispered back, bringing her sleeve up to wipe hastily under her eyes. "I can't believe they kept this up." She chuckled.

All of a sudden, she felt Harry's hands on her waist and turning her around until she was standing before him, gazing up into his cloudy green eyes.

The silence was powerful, something that sat heavily but comfortingly in the empty room of the beach house. Somewhere outside the ocean was crashing against the shore, kids down the block were getting drunk and passing out and somewhere else, the sun was rising.

But here they were, standing alone in a dark and empty kitchen overtaken by nostalgia as Harry leaned down and gently brushed his lips against hers.

"I love you, you know." He whispered with his eyes closed. She opened hers, just to take in the peacefulness on his face. He looked much younger, and more tired. It was a sight that made her uneasy.

"I love you too." She whispered back, this time it was her turn to close her eyes. "And I think it's the worst and best thing that's ever happened to me."

She already knew his green orbs were staring into her eyelids, as she swallowed hard and waited for him to get angry with her.

Before he could say anything, she continued. Her eyes opened, to find his deep green burning into hers as he stood inches away from her. She did not cower under the intensity of his stare.

"-I think I may be the most selfish person on the planet, for allowing myself to fall this in love with you." She tried to smile, but it didn't reach her eyes. "Because we all know how this is going to end."

She watched as Harry's eyes opened a bit wider and his jaw dropped open, and closed again, as though he was trying to say something but couldn't find the words. He took a step away from her now, running a hand through his hair as he exhaled sharply and turned to look back at her again.

"Don't say that." He pleaded with her, green eyes full of a certain desperation. It made her heart sink in her chest as she tried to give him half a smile. Harry's heart hammered inside of his chest as he stared at the girl in front of him. He was still trying his best to keep one foot out of reality as best he could.

“Maybe that’s just it though.” She smiled at him gently, but her eyes were full of sadness. “The best was saved for last.”

Harry knew this had been coming, he knew the consequences of his actions and he knew how awful the universe could be sometimes, but he still couldn’t pry his eyes away from her as his burned with tears.

“I don’t know how to say goodbye to you.”

Her smile was faint on her lips, but her eyes were full of love. 

"I don't know how to say goodbye to you, either." She whispered, the words barely leaving her lips before she closed the space between them again and pressed her chest up against his own.

He was taken aback by her moment of aggression as she wrapped her arms anxiously around his neck. His eyes widened when she pressed her lips forcefully against his once, twice, three times before she pulled away and he noticed the tears pooling in her eyes.

"So let's not say goodbye." She whispered. "Not yet."

He almost chuckled. It was funny, how some things work sometimes, he thought somewhere at the back of his mind as Katie pressed her lips against his once more. How everything eventually comes to a full circle.

She had been the girl he couldn't live with, and now she was the girl he couldn't live without. They had started off at the beach house, and now they were right back where they started.