Asleep {h.s}

viii - 1984

He silently waved at her while walking towards the counter. Azalea's eyes darted over to the book Harry was holding in his hand and she almost screamed from excitement. He was holding The Great Gatsby; he had held his promise!

"Hi Harry." She said, unable to hide the excitement she felt and Harry heard it. He laughed softly, relieved by her reaction.
"Hi Azalea."

She pursed her lips at the name but said nothing while Harry looked at her with mischief in his eyes. He had made it clear that he liked calling her Azalea so she knew she had to get used to it around him.

"I just finished it." Harry said as he put the book down on the counter.
"Yeah?" she smiled. "What did you think?"
"Well," he dragged the first word. "I don't have much to compare it to, but I thought it was quite good."

She lightly jumped on her seat, clapping her hands in delight. She was so happy that Harry liked it and couldn't contain it. The book meant so much to her and she had hoped that Harry would like it too.

"I'm so happy you enjoyed it!"

Harry laughed at Azalea's reaction. He really loved seeing her so animated; it was a side of her that only books seemed to bring out. He liked that she had such a strong passion for books, it made her seem smart to Harry.

He, on the other end, wasn't a big reader. When he was in high school the only books he would read were the ones he had to, but again, he wouldn't really read them, but just skim through the pages the night before the test. And more recently, with One Direction, he barely had time to read at all. But in hopes of impressing Azalea, he had read his first complete book in years and he surprisingly loved it.

"You should be proud," Harry smiled shyly at her. "It's the first book I've read in years."
"It is?" she didn't hide her surprise. "Well, I am very proud then."

She lightly laughed and Harry joined her before looking around the shop. Although he lived quite close to this place, he had never been here before. It was really calm, the store almost empty, with only a middle age woman walking through the alleys and looking at books. With Azalea here, this could easily become his favourite place to be.

"I'm not bothering you, am I?" Harry asked as he returned his look on Azalea. She raised a brow and looked around.
"Obviously not," she replied
"Perfect then."

He leaned on the counter and Azalea did the same, curious about Harry's intentions. He tried acting confident so that Azalea wouldn't see that he was nervous. He wanted to talk about the book with her, he wanted to see her excited.

"So," he started, giving her a small smile before continuing. "The whole story was amazing, but I didn't like the ending."
"Tell me why." She asked, curiosity shining in her eyes.
"I don't like the fact that Daisy and Gatsby didn't end up together." Azalea stayed silent so Harry continued. "I felt as if their love was true and it's unfair that she goes back to her husband and he dies."
"Tragic, isn't it?"
He nodded. "And he ends up alone. Everyone attends his parties, everyone worships him, but when he dies, no one goes to his funeral. That sucks."

Harry looked down at his hand frowning and Azalea looked at him. She felt as if he somehow related to Gatsby, or at least she compared him to him, mostly because of the last part.

Isn't that every famous person's fear? To be loved only because you are rich and famous. They always have to watch their back and they can rarely trust people. She wondered if Harry saw her that way, if he thought that she was nice to him only because he was Harry Styles from One Direction. She certainly hoped not, because it wasn't the case.

"It does suck," she agreed.

He lifted his gaze and sadly smiled at her and she smiled back. Without saying a word to her, he was opening up to Azalea. She knew it, because in that moment, he was like an open book. She could see the emotions behind his eyes, all of them. He trusted her enough to even let her see some of his fears and she was grateful for it.