Letting Go (Harry Styles AU)

Chapter 10: Unanswered Questions

This is dedicated to tastelikestars for her comment on the last chapter :) Thanks girl!

Harry Styles

Her left wrist was still held tightly in my hand as it slowly dawned on her where we were. 

"Calm down there feisty." I teased quietly.

I figured that she might stalk off or give me the finger, but I had never thought that she would actually try to punch me. Besides, what I said wasn't all that bad. It's just college. Who cares? She could probably get into whatever one she wanted, she seemed like the academic type. But there was something there. Last time I mentioned it she stalked off, this time she went for a punch. Now I was curious. What was her deal with college? 

Her gaze finally met mine, sending me a glare while ripping her wrist out of my grasp. She was definitely pissed, but for once she seemed to be at a loss for words.

Luckily, I have plenty to spare. 

"A red head with anger issues and a college drop out with tattoos...these parents are going to love us." I smirked. 

Natalie fumed, her face turning red. "Do you ever run out of snide remarks?"

"Nope."  I grinned smugly. In fact, her reactions were only encouraging them. I could do this all day. 

"I'm going to my table." She huffed, stalking off behind us where two young girls were sitting awkwardly. 

Just as I was about to make another comment to get under her skin, a figure stepped out in front of me, blocking my view.

 "Harry." Ben spoke, gazing at me intently. 

"Sir?" I asked, trying to measure his expression. Ben was a hard man to place. He always emitted a friendly air, but there was a certain complexity in his eyes. The blue hue hid a mixture of emotions that I had yet to decipher, making it almost impossible to tell if I was in trouble or not. He was only three inches taller than me, but suddenly that made all the difference in the world as he stared down at me.

Did he find out about last night? I searched his blue irises for any signs of anger or disappointment, but his features were unreadable. I racked my brain, trying to think of anything I could have missed. We had cleaned every trace of alcohol after the bonfire, throwing all of the containers into the large bin at the head of the driveway. I even watched as the truck came by early this morning to empty it. It couldn't have been that, so how would he have found out? Was Tyler still hung over or did Natalie change her mind and tell him all about it? I immediately went into defense mode, coming up with a few decent excuses that might get me out of this. I was pretty good at talking my way out of trouble. 

"Son, are you trying to scare all my campers away?" Ben finally spoke. His arms crossed over his chest and he frowned down at me as he observed my apparel. 

So that's was this is about. I immediately grew agitated. What was with all the judgment today? Just because I have tattoos, doesn't mean I'm going to shave the kids' heads and send them home with drugs. I mirrored his posture. "Listen sir. You've known from day one that I have a lot of tattoos and..."

I was interrupted as Ben's stern demeanor dissolved into light laughter, his eyes no longer glaring into mine. His arms fell to his sides and he appeared to take on a mischievous demeanor, like I was the butt of an inside joke that he found hilarious. Ben placed a hand on my shoulder, shaking his head slightly as the smirk on his face grew wider. Without a word, he continued past me to talk to Natalie. 

"What the hell just happened?" I whispered to myself. 

"What did you do?" A familiar British voice asked to my right. I turned to see James, hair in his usual quiff, wearing a sleeveless shirt and a torn up pair of denim shorts.