the writer // harry styles au

chaper 21

Harry

Niall was in the kitchen stool across from me, tea steaming in front of his stunned face. He leaned back, resting his back against the back of the chair. He brought his hands up and clapped once, then again a few seconds later. This slow, agonising clap was his way of staying he was proud of what I'd done with Alexis.

About a week after I told her, Niall said to go over there again and ask her what was going on. I'd said I wouldn't do that because she would have told me something after I declared my love for her. Niall was right, though. She'd known she loved me and she hadn't said anything. I should have gone to her the week after I said I love you, but I didn't.

"What did I say?" Niall mockingly questioned.

"That she loved me and didn't know," I replied.

He laughed, repeating: "That she loved you and didn't know. Harry, man, always take advice from another man in love."

"So I need to propose to her now?"

"No," Niall said. "Wait until she's not engaged to do that."

"Right."

Niall proposed to his girlfriend recently, saying he wouldn't let her go like I did with Alexis, or as he said, "This fucker and his apparently perfect screw up." He'd been super stressed lately, running around doing errands for his girl. It's quite precious, really. His hair hasn't been styled for weeks, looks like it might be falling out, too, from all the pulling at it. He's still a smart one, though. He gives advise like Zayn, but with less metaphors and the added existential crisis. He always knew what to say in times of action, like with Alexis. He'd told me to tell her, and at the time it had been stupid, but now I can't help but think that if I hadn't told her, and just let her walk away, that maybe she wouldn't have come to me again last night.

Maybe it was immature of me, but since last night all I could think about was Alexis naked, under me, over me. I'd thought about being with Alexis so many times last night, in so many different, trivial positions I'd felt hornier than I'd ever been since I was 17.

Niall's phone rang, an ear-piercing tone rang through my house. Niall and I both jumped at the sound. Niall relaxed quickly, whereas I was still attempting to recover from what could have been a mild heart attack.

"Lena insists on setting it as my ringtone. Says I'll always hear it and never miss her call." I raise my eyebrows at him. "It's cute though, right?"

I shake my head. "Only to the poor bastard who's wrapped around her finger."

Niall flipped me off, claiming it was adorable and that I was too far up Alexis' ass to even acknowledge humour - which is false.

I was near the point of walking out the front door and to the pub down the street, ready to drink until Alexis called. Just about to throw up from the romantic banter going on with Niall's phone call, I heard my phone ring. The tone wasn't as shrill as Niall's, but it still made me jump. I picked it up to see it was Alexis calling. She'd said she would call, last night when I was in the car in front of her boyfriend's building. Man, it was a nice flat complex. She certainly hadn't down-graded since me.

I answered the call, nervous for the conversation to come. She was known to be annoyingly stubborn, little bit rude, too. Maybe a bit of a bitch.

"Hey, Alexis," I said.

"Hey," she said questioningly.

"What'd I do?"

She laughed. "It's stupid, but you usually just address me by saying 'Alexis'. There's not usually a 'hey' in front of that. I guess I'd just gotten used to it."

I'd never realised that. Never realised that I'd been so cold to her. I probably never even said hello to her.

"Well, apparently I used to be a frigid son-of-a-bitch," I said.

"Don't worry about it," she said. "I quite like it now."

I'd never seen myself as a person to swoon over another, but here I was, heart fluttering by the sound of her voice.

"You called?" I asked. I was impatient, turned on and in love. All this small talk and not getting to the point of her call was like some wicked way of torturing me.

"Yeah." She cleared her throat and I could only think about all the bad things she could say in this moment. That maybe she shouldn't be with me at all, that this is stupid, that she was going to be with Will no matter what. But I didn't prepare myself for this outcome. "I'm outside, leaning against the strange silver four-wheel drive in your driveway. It's my lunch break and I was kind of craving you."

"Uh" - I fumbled to find my keys, trying to get her in here as soon as possible because I seriously needed her - "I'm coming. You're leaning against Niall's car." Niall's car. That fucker needs to leave now. "Yeah, um, Niall - my friend - is here and he's going to need to leave. Right?"

"Does he know about me?"

I stutter a yes through the phone. Finally having found my keys, I ran to the front door clumsily and fumbled with the key to get it into the lock.

"Yeah, he knows. Won't tell anyone, though. Only his girl, Lena. She's sworn to secrecy, anyway. I write short stories for her. I can bribe her if needed."

Alexis' girly chuckle filled the phone. It had sounded exactly the same almost a year ago and still drove me to and insane happiness. I didn't notice it as much back then, though. Stupid fucker, I was.

"He could stay for a quick chat, then."

I laughed at the thought of Alexis and Niall talking. They're so similar. They'd probably end up ganging up on me and then throwing funny but still insulting comments my way.

I'd gotten the door unlocked and jumped up to see over the fence, getting the smallest of glances at her messy brown hair. I walked up to the gate, phone pressed to my ear with my shoulder. She did this little, innocent wave at me when she saw me and my heart did that flutter thing, that thing I didn't think I'd ever feel.

"Alright, got to go. There's this good looking lad waving at me and I'm pretty sure he's up for a fuck," she joked.

"Tell him I say good luck. You know I'm the best you'll ever have."

Her smile grew so wide on her face that I was sure it would stay there forever, which wasn't a bad thing. She looked gorgeous when she was smiling.

"Give it a break. Have a shitty day, Styles," she said before the line cut off. She slipped the phone into her pocket, getting ready to walk over to me.

I slipped my phone under the waist band on my pockets and started walking towards her. I just needed a kiss. A deep one. Just to get me through the Alexis-Niall conversation to come.

She did a girly run up to me. Slipping her hands around my neck. I pulled her close to me and my lips touched hers in a hard press. Just enough to get me through the next half hour.

She pulled back from my lips. "Alright, let's meet this Niall guy."

(A/N: Hiiiiii!! I was listening to the song State Hospital by Frightened Rabbit while writing the end of the chapter and, the accent aside, it was really sweet to listen to !! Just for your heads up, I imagine Suki Waterhouse with brown hair as Alexis!! Suki looks awesome with brown hair. It's sick. Don't forget to vote and comment! xxx)