Catch Me If You Can {Harry Styles AU}

Chapter Ten

February 14th

Ten days. Harry has been ignoring Lorelai for the last ten days. Every text she sent was left unanswered. The few phone calls she dared to make went straight to voicemail. Lorelai even considered asking Xavier if he'd heard from Harry, but thought better of it. From seeing him everyday, and then suddenly not having any contact whatsoever with him, it worried Lorelai. It worried her a lot, even more so with the way he'd left her flat the last time she'd seen him.

She had spent the better of the last ten days feeling sick over Harry and his well being. Her stomach had been riddled with anxiety. Some nights, she'd wake up in the middle of the night and not be able to fall back to sleep right away because her thoughts were on him.

But right now, right now all she felt was anger. It was nearing ten in the evening and Lorelai had just finished getting ready for bed. She was only moments from shutting all of the lights off when a sturdy knock struck against her front door six times. She knew it was Harry instantly, but only because she could hear his quiet mutterings to himself from the other side of the door.

Lorelai opens the door with one hand on her hip. Harry's head whips up to face her when she finally comes into view. His eyes are bloodshot and he reeks of alcohol. His smile is a little too wide as he stares at her, like he doesn't have proper control over his mouth. The suit he was wearing is filthy like he'd fallen over a couple dozen times while traveling to Lorelai's flat. He holds a single red rose in his left hand, while his right is placed against the wall right next to the door to keep his balance.

"What are you doing here?" Lorelai asks, trying to keep her voice as calm as she possibly can.

"It's Valentine's Day," Harry replies while raising the rose towards her.

Lorelai only stares at it. "And?"

"I wanted to-" He cuts himself off with a hiccup. "Was gonna ask you to dinner."

"It's too late in the day now."

Harry blows out his cheeks before slowly letting the breath out of his mouth. He then frowns. "I know. Meant to do it last week," he lets his eyes drift shut before opening them up again at a snail's pace, "but I freaked out after the last time I saw you."

"You've been ignoring my messages."

"I told you, I freaked out," Harry's voice is barely above a whisper now.

"Why?"

Harry sighs and puts more pressure on his hand against the wall to ensure that he wouldn't tip over. "I'm not good at sharing things. And I told you something that nobody knows. Not even my mum and sister. I got scared and I ran away. But I like telling you things."

Lorelai stands there in silence for a while. The entire time, Harry watches her with hooded eyes. He sways on his feet and he's still holding the rose towards her. She finally sighs and takes a step towards him.

"Come inside before you catch a cold." Lorelai lets him wrap the arm with his free hand around her shoulders. She struggles to carry most of his weight as he leans into her. He seemed to be drunker than Lorelai had initially thought. Slowly, Lorelai gets Harry to her couch even though he'd been dragging his feet for the entirety of the short walk.

As he's sitting down, his eyes start to droop. Lorelai kneels in front of him to take his shoes off, and then stands to take off his jacket. His heavy limbs are reluctant to comply with her, but she eventually gets the task done.

Lorelai isn't sure what to think. Harry was obviously bothered by what he'd said the last time he was here, and to deal with it he'd decided to go to a pub. The rose is clutched tightly in his fist, like he was scared of losing it before he could hand it over to her. Lorelai takes the free seat next to Harry.