Perfect | Harry Styles

Chapter Two

Harry rushed in to hug me, squeezing his arms around my entire body while grabbing each of his elbows with the opposite hand. No feat for my size 14 frame. My feet lifted off the ground a little and I held onto his arms even tighter for support. With my face nuzzled in his chest, I noticed how long his hair has gotten. As he set me down gently, I twirled a tuft of it between two fingers.

"What do you think of it?" He asked. His eyes twinkling with anticipation for my answer. "I personally think I can give you a run for your money."

Harry brushed the ends of my tightly wound raven coils with his fingertips. They bounced underneath his touch before landing on my back. He was the only person who was allowed to get remotely close to my hair.

I'd never seen his hair longer than his ears. This new length cascaded just past his shoulders in beautiful deep brown disarrayed waves. Only Harry could make disheveled look acceptable. I called it his rock star quality. His skinny black jeans and boots only further confirmed it. I didn't understand how he could wear boots during any season.

"I love it. I really do," I commented before noticing the apron on his arm. "Did you come out from the back? Are you working here without me?"

I feigned shock and surprise. I didn't mind, but he could have told me.

"Yeah, I got back last week," he shifted his weight and threw the apron over his shoulder. "I know it was our summer tradition to work here in high school, and I wanted to help Nan out for old time's sake."

As if on cue, Nan walked from around the corner and put the pink box in my hands.

"That's so sweet of you," I replied, handing Nan more money than what the food costs. "Please keep the change."

"El--."

"Please, Nan," I insisted, cutting her off from her humble refusal.

"If you insist then," Nan happily skipped back to the register and punched in something before it dinged open.

I focused my attention back to Harry who seemed to be fidgeting more than usual.

"Why didn't you call me, El?" He furrowed his brow in question before running his hands through his hair to push the curls out of his face. He reached down and plucked a half eaten donut hole out of my hands with his teeth.

I playfully swatted his arm before wiping the leftover icing from my fingers on his apron. No matter how long we go without seeing each other, we never miss a beat. Our 7th grade emo phase evolved into an unbreakable bond over the years. After high school, he left for college to Colorado and I picked Nevada. We hated to be apart, but we went wherever our full scholarships took us. The last time we saw each other was exactly a year ago and it feels like a lifetime. Both of our spring and winter breaks were spent apart. He stayed in England to visit with his family and didn't come home until after I'd already left.

"I wanted it to be a surprise," I headed closer to the door and cocked my head to the side before I continued. "You're not mad at me, are you?"

"Never," Harry hurried and closed the gap between us. "It's just I--"

"Elodie Moore?"

I've heard my name more times than I wanted to today. I turned my attention to the tall blonde girl now speaking to me. She also came from the back wearing the same signature red and white apron that she began to untie. I made a mental note that I really wasn't coming back here for employment if she worked here.

"I like surprises, El, but I could have changed my plans to spend your first night back together," Harry whispered before the blonde came over within earshot. His British accent made the words seemed rushed.

"Christa," I replied flatly before giving Harry an annoyed look. He glanced away without meeting my eyes.

I knew that look. He was hiding something.

Christa Barnes had given me crap every day from middle school until the day we graduated. In the beginning, it was because I bloomed through puberty before everyone else. When boys no longer cared about just her pretty face and gave me attention for the curves I desperately tried to hide under my baggy clothes, she made sure I felt her wrath. It eventually evolved to her just hating my general existence. Christa went across the country for college and I knew I had escaped her forever. I knew she was the overachieving type who wanted a cushy job in a metropolitan city. New York could have kept her forever. She always wanted to outgrow this beach town and hated me even more because I adored it.

My grade school tormentor now stood directly in between Harry and I. They were almost the same height. I'm not short by any means, but I strained my neck up to look at both of them. This wasn't how the evening was supposed to go. If a wrench hadn't been thrown in the plans then it wouldn't be my life, right?

"I haven't seen you in forever," Christa reached out to touch my shoulder. "Are you back here to work for the summer with us?"

Us? I instinctively took a step backwards. I remembered my first summer working here with Harry. Christa and her minions would come in every Friday and make it a point to remind me that I was never leaving this place. Also to remind me that all the donut holes I loved to eat were going straight to my budding hips.

"No," I hold up the box of baked goods. "Just came to get these for my family and head out. I actually didn't know Harry would be here."

Christa reached her perfectly manicured hand up and coiled it around the back of Harry's neck, pushing his hair to the side. She stroked his skin affectionately. The bile rose up in my throat as I realized what was happening. She looked in my eyes as if she was testing me for a reaction. I broke contact with her to look at Harry. 

"This is why you wished I would have called," I nod my head at Harry. His guilty eyes cast down toward the floor.

Why couldn't he have told me this? How long had it been going on? My head swirled with questions. We texted incessantly, but somehow he didn't feel the need to bring this up. It takes a few minutes to say "Hey I'm your best friend, but I'm canoodling with our oldest enemy. Soz, love."

"It's not like that," he pleaded to me before he turned to Christa. "Wait for me in the back and I'll be out in a few. I'm going to walk El to her car."