Picture Perfect (Harry Styles)

Chapter 15

"No, I'm in Greenwich park." I replied. 

"Why? It's freezing out." He said. 

"I'm taking pictures. It's pretty." I answered. I heard him scoff a little but he didn't comment. 

"Whatever. Okay see you soon." He said. See me soon? I thought he was in Cheshire? Unless he was coming home and wanted to see me? 

"Wait, what do you -" I started to ask, but he hung up before I could finish. I stared at the phone, before hanging up as well and stuffing the phone into my pocket. Strange boy he was.

         About ten minutes later, as I stood taking a picture of a little Robin perched on the frozen branch, two hands clamped down on my shoulders. I screamed, and the bird scattered in fright. I whirled around to see who had scared me so much and saw Harry's grinning face. I put a hand over my heart to emphasize how scared I was.

"Harry, you scared me!" I said accusingly. His grin widened. 

"You look like an elf." He said. I shot him an insulted look. 

"I do not look like an elf." I replied.

"You do." He said. I shook my head vigorously. "You do." He repeated.

"How do I look like an elf?" I asked. 

"You;re cheeks are all cute and red and you're wearing a hat." He replied. 

"Wearing a hat doesn't make me an elf." I argued. 

"Whatever. Trust me, you look like an elf." He said. I shook my head. "Nice camera." He said, changing the subject. I looked down at my camera in my hands. 

"Yeah, it is." I replied, smiling at it. "So what brought you down to Greenwich park on a lovely day like this?" 

"You." He said. I raised an eyebrow. 

"Me?" 

"Yeah you. I haven't seen you for a while, so I wanted to come down and see you." I couldn't help smiling. 

"But you don't live anywhere near here." I pointed out. He shrugged. 

"I know." 

"But you still came?" He nodded. Harry Styles had gone out of his way, just to see me. You can't say that happens everyday.

"Walk with me?" He asked, holding out his hand. I looked at it for a moment, then smiled and took it. 

        We walked for a while, hand in hand, having pointless conversation. It was nice, the park was mostly empty as it was dark now, so it was mostly just us. I took pictures every so often, and I took some of Harry. After a while he told me to put away the camera. 

"Why?" I asked, snapping a few more shots of the dark profile of a massive tree. 

"Because, I want to spend time with you. I'll have to go soon." He said, trying to take the camera from me. I moved it out of his reach. 

"Don't touch it!" I snapped. He scowled. 

"You're treating it like a baby or something. I think that's the most care I've ever seen anyone use with an object." I shrugged. 

"It's my baby." I told him. He just laughed. 

"Please put it away. You can have it again later, I just want to talk knowing you're full attention is on me, not part of it on me and the other part on the camera." He said. I hesitated, before taking the camera bag off of my back and slipping the camera in with the utmost care. "Thank-you." He leaned down to kiss me, but I turned away. 

"You made me put my camera away. Minus one kiss." I told him. He looked at me blankly, before shaking his head and laughing. 

        Eventually, I got over it and let him kiss me. We walked for a bit more, then ran and messed around a little bit. It was nice, just chatting to him in such beautiful surroundings. Finally we stopped and sat by the pond. It was mostly frozen, though cracks were visible in the thin layer of ice. 

"It's been a nice couple of hours." I said to no one in particular. 

"It has." Harry answered. I smiled and looked over to him. He looked at me too, but didn't smile. Just looked. "So, do I get a second date?" He asked.

"This was a sate?" I asked. He laughed.

"I guess so. I know it wasn't the best, but I promise the next on will be better." He said. I nodded, and he kissed me. Then it all went wrong. In the silence of the park, I heard a snap. Not a branch, or a twig. It was the snap of a camera. Someone taking a picture. I broke away instantly, looking around, searching for the person who had taken the picture. "What is it?" Harry asked, alarmed. I put a finger to my lips, a sign for him to be quiet. I looked around, trying to make out a figure in the darkness. There. A bit to our right, behind a tree. Someone running. 

"Crap!" I shouted, jumping up. But they were already disappearing. There was no point going after them. 

"What's wrong?" Harry asked, concern in his voice as he stood up next to me, putting an arm around me. 

"Didn't you hear it? The sound of someone taking a picture?" I asked. Harry's eyes widened. 

"What? Are you saying someone saw us?" He asked. I sat down, ripping off my hat so I could run my hands through my hair. 

"A picture." I repeated. "Taking a picture." 

"They could be taking it of the pond." Harry said desperately. I shook my head, letting out a laugh. It wasn't a joyful sound though, it was bitter. I shook my head slowly. 

"That's why I saw them running, is it?" I asked him, looking up. He looked so confused. I felt confused too. One minute, we were happy, seemingly perfect. Now there was a chance a picture of us would be all over tomorrow morning's magazines and papers. 

"Oh Cassidy, I'm sorry." Sitting next to me and putting a comforting hand on my shoulder.  I pulled away though, standing up again. 

"You're sorry? Sorry doesn't help! It's all your fault anyway!" I shouted. He gave me an incredulous look. 

"My fault?" He asked. I nodded. 

"Yes. You're fault." I repeated. 

"How is it my fault?" He asked, his voice getting louder. He stood up too now, so I had to tilt my face up slightly. 

"You're the one who came here! I didn't ask you to!" I spat. He gave me a disbelieving smile. 

"Really? You're going to try blame this on me? I didn't know someone was going to take a picture!" He argued. 

"I -" I stopped, and took a deep breath, running my hands through my hair again. "I know. I'm sorry, I don't mean to shout at you. I know it isn't your fault. I'm just stressed." I said. Harry nodded and pulled me into a hug. 

"I know." He replied. I hoped the picture wasn't of us, but I knew inside that it was. And I knew it would get all over the magazines. Then came the torrent of death threats. I knew that if I thought before had been bad, it wouldn't compare to now. 

"Getting death threats on a regular basis has never been part of my life plan." I whispered, repeating the words I'd said to him before, the time in the car back from the Jingle Bell Ball after-party. I felt him nod.  

"I'm sorry, Cassidy." He replied. I pulled away from him. 

"I need to go home." I told him. He nodded. 

"It'll be okay." He lied. I knew he was lying, because it wouldn't be. I was dating an international superstar now, of course it wouldn't be okay. My life before was okay. This wasn't. 

"Bye." I said. He smiled, planting a kiss on my forehead before letting me go. Date one ends in an argument. I hoped this wouldn't turn into a pattern.