Theirs: a short story [harry styles] ✓

6

4th June 2016 - 6 months and 22 days before the big day.

The front door clicked open and I nearly dropped my fork. It had gone midnight, much too late to be indulging in leftover carbonara but really, being caught in the act had been the last thing on my mind. I knew full well who'd arrived - I had counted down the hours all day; waiting for this exact moment with my stomach churning. 

I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand and pushed my bowl to one side; sucking my tongue against my teeth in an attempt to remove any residual food debris. The last thing I needed for this already likely awkward encounter, was for Harry to inform me of my poor oral hygiene.

He tiptoed down the hall, evidently not expecting anyone to be awake and his eyes widened at the sight of me seated at the breakfast bar. 

"Oh!" He said, startled; dropping his bags into a heap on the linoleum.

"Hi." I grimaced and raised my hands in an awkward, Love-Actually-esque wave that I instantly regretted. "Welcome home." 

Harry bit down on his lower lip and ventured further into the kitchen. He looked tired - exhausted even - and I felt more anxious than ever. I curled my fingers into the marble top of the breakfast bar and braced myself for whatever he had to say.

"Where's Nola?" He asked and my shoulders sagged immediately. I knew that naturally this should be his first enquiry and yet I couldn't help feeling somewhat disappointed.

"She's asleep." I told him, fighting back the topic of our unease now perched on the tip of my tongue. "She'll be excited to see you in the morning."

An awkward silence fell over the kitchen and I lowered my gaze to my half empty bowl of food. Clearly Harry hadn't changed his mind about moving to LA nor did he seem to want to address the issue. It was almost as if the time between the argument and now was non-existent, as if we were just continuing on from where we'd left it. Somehow, I had been sure that he'd come home and we'd make things right again.

He coughed and my eyes darted up to his face.

"Marnie." He sighed and his eyebrows mashed together in a frown. After a brief moment of silence again, he opened his arms.

I slid down off the stool and padded across the kitchen towards him; holding my breath until I'd slid my arms around his waist and felt his own resting against my back.

"Marnie, I am so so sorry." He groaned. "I said some really stupid things before I left and trust me - I know how much of an idiot I am."

I tightened my grip around him. "Your text messages weren't great either, Harry."

I felt his body shake with laughter. "Not my most mature behaviour." He agreed. "But Marnie, you were right."

I leaned away and looked up at his face. He may have laughed only moments before but the frown was back, paired with a troubled expression. Up close, the bags under his eyes were more like purple bruises. 

"When I put forward the idea of the hiatus, I honestly did believe it was sensible and beneficial and what we all needed. Zayn leaving was evidence of how exhausted and overworked we were. But the beginning of this year came around so quickly and suddenly the hiatus was reality and and now everything is so different to how it was before." He rambled. "And just like you said - I wanted to run away from it; run away from my own decision."

He paused and licked his lips.

"When I auditioned the X Factor, I didn't succeed as a solo artist - I didn't even make it past the second round. With the boys... we made it to the final, Marnie. We released five albums and toured four times. And now it's just me on my own again and-"

"And you don't know if you're going to succeed without them." I finished for him. He nodded and I shook my head in disbelief. "I get it, Harry, but if you think you're not going to succeed then you're mad. You're all going to succeed. You all brought something to the band and now you can use that something on its own."

"I'm excited at the prospect of new opportunities, I mean I've just been working on a film set, for goodness sake! But this all just feels really strange right now."  

"It's ok, Harry." I assured him; burying my face into his chest. "It just needs some getting used to."

His lips pressed against the top of my head momentarily. "It's not really ok." He groaned. "I was such an arse to you before I left. I can't believe I stormed out like a stroppy teenager."

I bit my lip; trying to suppress my amusement. "If Nola's as much like you as we think she is then we're going to have our work cut out for us in ten years time."

Harry grimaced. "I don't even want to think about it."

I grinned at the prospect of Harry having his hands full with a stubborn Nola. But where would we be in ten years time? 

"Harry." I almost squeaked. "What does this mean regarding our living arrangements?" 

A deep sigh reverberated through his body before he replied and I braced myself again. Even with things better between us and him finally giving me an explanation for his behaviour - there was still every chance that he hadn't changed his mind about moving to Los Angeles. I almost regretted asking; wanting to hang on to this precious moment between us. But it had to be done. 

"I love LA but of course we're not moving there. As if I could really take you away from your home! And besides, my Mum would murder me." He chuckled. "It was a really stupid thing for me to decide on your behalf - I'm really sorry." 

I released a breath I hadn't realised I had been holding. "Thank you, Harry. I do appreciate how much you love it there and we can still go for holidays."

He squeezed me a little tighter. "I guess this means we have to enrol our daughter in nursery now, doesn't it?" 

"Yep." I grimaced and my stomach backflipped. 

"Oh gosh." He said, mocking sadness in his tone. "She's growing up too fast, I want my bandana baby back."

My shoulders shook with laughter at Harry's words. "I know. I can't believe she's already three years old."

Silence fell again, leaving the pair of us standing in the middle of the kitchen gripping onto one another as though our lives depended on it. It had been a weird evening...in fact, it had been a weird few weeks. With so many grown-up decisions to be made, it was easy to forget that we were still only in our early twenties. Most people our age were only just coming out of university and finding their feet in the world. 

Harry stirred in my arms. "I missed you. Both of you."

I tilted my chin up and he kissed the tip of my nose. "We missed you too."

As he lowered his mouth to meet my own, there was a shrill, elongated cry from the top of the stairs. 

"Daddy!" 

a/n: And all is right in the world again! We are officially halfway through this story!