A Moment in the Crowd

Chapter 27: I'm not going anywhere

"Can I talk to you outside?" Harry asks me quietly as he hovers on the stairs to the bus. Liam and Zayn are shifting awkwardly in their seats, pretending that they didn't hear Harry. I decide to put them out of their misery, and follow Harry out of the bus.

He's kicking the gravel of the university parking lot with his boots and his hands are shoved deep into his pockets. He looks nervous again. I don't think I can keep up with the two sides to Harry that I've seen. The one who kisses me and says he doesn't want anything serious, and the one who's nervous around me. It doesn't make any sense.

"What do you want to talk about exactly?" I ask him, rather coldly. I cross my arms but make it seem as if it's because of the cold winds.

"Look, what I said in there, I didn't mean it." He's looking at the gravel that he continues to kick.

"About not wanting anything serious?" I ask, just to clarify.

"Yes." He finally looks up at me as the word escapes his soft lips. Then he continues, "I want to get to know you Lily. I do, I just don't know how to. You have to know that this has never happened to me before." He takes his hands out of his pockets as he gives his little speech, and puts them around my shoulders.

"Okay, well I don't know about your celebrity friends, but most people just go on a date." I smile at him, I can't help it. His words do something to me and I can't control the fluttering in my stomach. 

Relief washes over his features as he returns my smile. He pulls me into a warm hug and I take in the scent that comes with his touch. His breath may smell like sweet mint, but his natural body releases a scent that I can only picture as... home? It envelops me completely as we stand there, embracing each other. My head barely reaches passed his shoulder and I press my face against his chest. The simple gesture feels more intimate than any moment we've had so far. I can't help the smile that appears on my lips as we both let go of each other.

"A date huh?" He looks down at me, his emerald eyes taking in every feature of my face.  

"A date." I state with a smile as he continues to stare at me.

Before we can say anything else, I see Niall rushing back to the tour bus.

"You two stop staring into each others' eyes will yer? I nearly got mobbed back there! Let's go Harry." He runs into the bus but turns around to ask me, "Do you have your friend Amy's number by the way?"

I laugh to myself and give him Amy's number, waiting as he registers it in his phone. I'm sure Amy will be pleased with herself once I tell her that Niall Horan asked for her number.

"Where you guys going?" I ask the both of them.

"Well we've got some time off now and I think the rest of the boys want to get going home." Niall answers.

I can feel a weight return to my chest, the pressure mimicks that of someone constantly laying on top of me. I hadn't realized it had left until now. 

"Oh, okay." I try to look away from Harry but he catches my face in his hands and forces me to look at him.

"I'm not going anywhere, we have a date remember?" I'm caught off guard by his statement, and immediately the heavy weight is lifted. He has more control over me than he knows.

"You're not?" I ask through my shock.

He flashes me a dimpled grin before turning to Niall.

"Mate, I think I'm good here for a while." Niall looks at him, but he doesn't seem surprised.

"I'll tell the other lads you said bye. Have fun you two." He smirks at us before stepping into the tour bus and closing the door behind him. 

Harry and I step back as the tour bus roars to life and begins to make its way out of the small parking lot. The wheels crunch on the gravel and I can manage to make out the silhouette's of some of the boys through the tinted windows. 

Harry takes my hand in his, and the cold air from outside doesn't seem to be able to effect our interlocked fingers. The warmth spreads straight from my hand to the rest of my body, and I can feel myself relax from his touch. 

"Why don't you show me around yeah?" He says and I nod in agreement.

We walk around campus together for a while, our hands grandually drifting apart during the walk. I like that when I'm around him, I don't picture him as Harry Styles anymore. Instead he's just someone who's as scared to start a relationship as I am, someone who works hard and plays even harder. He's slowly becoming, just Harry. 

By the time we get back to my dorm room, it's nearly 3:40 and I have to get ready for my 3 hour lecture. It's my history course that I took because I've always had a slight interest there. Unfortunately for me though, there's a damn lot of work to do.

"History was always boring, why learn about dead people?" Harry responds to my explanation of needing to get ready for the history lecture.

"Because it's what those dead people did that allows us to learn from their mistakes, airgo making sure not to make them in the future." I say while folding a few of my clothes and deciding to put on a hoodie due to the unruly winds. 

"I think you're above my high school level education Lily." Harry chuckles and looks at me as I move on to prepare my bag, filling it with my history books. 

He's on the bed again, his feet crossed and his shoes off, with his arms behind his head. He's smirking at me as I scramble to get my things together.

"What are you gonna do while I'm gone?" I ask him. I hate to leave him alone right after he decided to stay here for me, but I really don't want to miss a lecture. 

"Explore." He says and removes his hands from behind his head to gesture at window.

I chuckle at him, and he gives a light laugh that warms the entire room.

"Walk me to class Mr. Styles?" I ask him while raising an eyebrow.

"After you Madam." He says to me as he gets off the bed and bows while gesturing at the door. 

-

The history lecture wasn't as interesting as I'd hoped it would be, and I found myself thinking of what Harry could be doing the entire 3 hours. Normally it doesn't feel as long as it is, but this time, it felt even longer. When I'm finally out of the lecture hall, I rush outside where I expect to find Harry. He texted me saying he'd be waiting outside the building, but I can't find him. 

The sun is already down, but it's not too dark yet. Where the hell did he go? I almost decide to text him and ask, but my thoughts are disturbed by the sound of yelling.

"Someone go get a fucking supervisor or something!" A student to the clearing of grass on my left is shouting. I turn the corner to find a group of people huddled in a circle around something, but I can't see what.

I rush to the crowd, and when I finally see what's got them so interested I cringe. Harry is panting on one end of the circle while Miles stands on the other, clutching at his bloodied nose and bruised cheek.