Paper Airplane

29

Chapter Twenty-Nine

 

 

                “I’m sorry,” he repeated, this time making a different awkward face which, I’ll admit, was as much charming as it was embarrassing. 

                Still, I said nothing, popping another fry into my mouth.

                “Lexie, I’m sorry,” he said again.  His face transformed into that of what I could only assume was supposed to be a wailing baby.  His shoulders shook with the motions of silent sobbing.

                And I couldn’t help but laugh; he looked ridiculous, which is nothing unusual for him, but this time he was looking ridiculous publicly without care.  I admired that, because God knows I do all sorts of ridiculous things publicly, and all I’ve ever wished was that I could disappear from the face of the earth when they happen.

                Harry’s eyes lit up at my response before he laughed along with me, bringing his burger up to his lips.  He paused and said, “Your laugh could cure cancer, Lexie, you know that?”  And then he shook his head and proceeded with eating his food.  I was too stunned to reply, too shocked to continue laughing.  When he was halfway through – not fully through, of course – chewing the contents of his mouth, he pointed at me, preparing to speak again.  “It was fun, though.  Yesterday, I mean.”

                I nodded, my lips tightening.  “Cool.  What’d you guys do?”

                “We just went for lunch and then I took her to see a movie, but the fun part was the conversation,” he grinned.  “You’d be amazed at what it’s like to talk to someone and what you could learn about them when you’re not arguing every other subject.”

                I rolled my eyes.  “Doesn’t sound like fun to me.”

                He leaned forward, teasing.  “Of course not.”

                Smirking, I kicked him under the table.  “I am literally all anyone needs in this world, Harry Styles, and don’t you dare ever doubt it.”  And then, pretending to be fully established and content with myself, I reached for more fries and swiped them through my ketchup before popping them into my mouth.

                To my surprise, Harry made an incredibly attention-attracting ruckus with his laughing after that, and I hunched my shoulders, fighting laughter myself as I shushed him a couple times. 

                “God,” he finally chuckled, calming down.

                “Shut up.  Okay, so about this movie premiere.  What movie is it even for?  And why don’t I know this information already?”

                “It’s for some book-to-film and you probably don’t know what it’s called because I don’t even know offhand.  Hold on, I’ve got it on my phone somewhere,” he explained, pulling out his iPhone from his jeans.

                As he searched for it, I took a sip of my chocolate shake, examining our surroundings.  To make up for canceling on me yesterday and for basically being completely unavailable whenever I texted him (which was only at night, but still), Harry had taken me out for lunch at that diner he’d taken me to what feels like forever ago, the one that’s very out of the way.  There were still security guards at each entrance, and no one could enter while we’re here.  Only current customers can leave.  Once again, it appeared that the only current customers were all older, none that would even really recognize us (and if they did they just simply didn’t care).