Rewinding Time (Narry)

Chapter Twenty-Seven

By midday, I had been informed that Zayn had come to visit Harry; he unfortunately had not been told that Harry had set some time aside today to spend with Taylor.

Despite of the lack of communications, Zayn had refused to return home without at least dragging me along with him. That being said, the second that Zayn found me, he attached onto me like a leach.

"I missed you!" Zayn exclaimed, wrapping his arms around me, effectively trapping me in his grasp. I laughed and snuggled my face into his chest.

"It's been quite a while, hasn't it? Sorry that you came all the way here to see Harry only to find that he's out on a date."

Zayn propped his chin on top of my head and let out an audible sigh. "It's alright. After all, that only means I get to spend more time with you," he smiled. "You have the day off, correct? Perhaps we can come over to my place instead and have a little date of our own. What do you say? You're not expected until supper, I presume."

"Sounds good," I smiled. Sometimes I wonder why I hadn't fallen for Zayn instead; he was quite charming and very attentive. He was also the second nicest person I had ever met—the first being Liam.

❝HARRY❞

I had no idea where to take Taylor. It wasn't every day that I go into town. That being said, the only two places I ever visit are the flea market and the brothel.

"Do you have any places in mind?" I asked, placing my hand gently onto her two smaller ones. Despite the somewhat large size of the carriage, Taylor had chosen to sit right beside me. Our thighs were rested against each other, touching every now and then when the carriage made a sudden jolt.

"I was thinking maybe we could go to the theaters; the maids couldn't stop talking about the travelling troupe that shall be performing there for the next couple of days. What do you reckon?"

"Anything for you, love," I replied, squeezing her hands gently. I leaned my back against the seat and listened as Taylor went on and on about the various events that she had attended in the past week or so. Frankly, I was not one to enjoy the company of others; I preferred to keep myself to myself.

Likewise, I still felt somewhat uncomfortable around Taylor because I always felt like I was trying too hard to please her; I had to make sure that I was always polite and I was forced to be that uptight noble that I despised so much. Taylor was indeed somewhat childish, but there was still a slight pressure to behave like a proper gentleman.

"How's Niall doing?" Taylor suddenly asked. My ears perked up at the mention of the little butler. Funnily enough, the two of us always ended up talking about Niall. "I heard he sprained his ankle not too long ago."

"He did indeed," I replied, running my fingers through my hair. "The poor little thing sprained it while he was preparing the bath."

"My, what a clumsy fellow," she laughed, smiling brightly at me.

"Indeed. However, he's fine now; still got that funny limp for a while, I reckon, but his ankle is all healed up now. I wish you could have seen him with that little walking stick of his; I swear he was sporting it to attract the ladies."

"Surely his charming smile is enough to swoop any maiden off her feet," Taylor laughed. She quickly clamped her mouth shut and mumbled, "Don't tell him I said that though."

"I certainly won't," I chuckled, turning my head to look at her. I noticed that there was a strand of hair that had rested on her lip in the most unnatural manner. Without much of a thought, I gently moved my hand up from her lap to her cheek to remove said hair.  

As her gaze met mine, I couldn't help but notice how beautiful she was. Her eyes were a striking color of blue, her delicate golden hair framed her face charmingly, and her petite hands fit perfectly into mine. Despite all of this, a part of me still had no desire to marry her.

Her eyes slowly fell from my eyes to my lips. I began to chew my lip nervously as I continued to watch her; it was quite evident what she wanted me to do next. Normally, I would just go in for the kiss, but something was holding me back.

In the end, the overpowering want for another person's touch clouded my mind as I leaned in. Just like I had done the previous night, I attached my lips onto hers. I gently rubbed her jaw with my thumb in an affectionate manner as our kiss deepened. It was a slow and clumsy kiss, just like the one with Niall.

Niall.

I lightly pushed her away from me as I discreetly wiped my lips with the back of my hand. Why couldn't I stop thinking about him? It was not as if kissing Taylor was what made thoughts related to him flood back into my mind; no, I had been thinking about him since the second our lips met.

It had been so long since I had tasted the lips of another person. I couldn't help it. It was so late at night and I was not thinking clearly when it happened. It was an accident; an accident I do not regret at all.

As the night came to a close, he had fallen asleep in my arms. Instead of leaving him on the couch, I had laid him down onto the bed and tucked him in before crawling in beside him. I had lain there, asking myself why I had just done what I had done.

Time and time again, my hand would reach over him to turn off the lamp, but then I would become fascinated by the way the light highlighted his features in the dark—notably his pink lips, which were then much darker in color for obvious reasons.

Surely it was a sin what I had done to him while he slept. The first few kisses we shared were sweet yet very innocent. Everything about Niall was innocent and fragile; just the thought of touching him felt like a sin in itself.

Just one more kiss wouldn't hurt, right?

It was almost a game to see how many times I could kiss Niall before he awoken and scolded me. Much to my surprise, the most he did was flinch when I tried to sneak my tongue in.

I couldn't explain how utterly confused I was; I had never found interest in another man the same way I found interest in Niall. I never even thought of him as anything but a pesky butler, but before I knew it, he had somehow slipped into my life and made me feel all sorts of ways that I had never felt before.

Alas, these feelings are forbidden; the succession of the Styles family had been bestowed upon me and it was my duty to fulfill them. I had no right to hold such selfish feelings. I had grown to accept my fate, or so I had thought. As I had lain in bed with Niall, I knew that I had already failed.