Stranded with the Rockstar (Rockstar #1)

26. Harry

The man is just standing there. With his blonde hair, and fair skin. In his low top trainers, and khaki shorts, and button up denim shirt, sleeves rolled up to his forearms, he just stands there.

Until he speaks. "Sorry, mates. I didn't mean to scare you."

Well at least he speaks English, albeit with an Irish accent. Harry steps in front of Sunny. "Who are you?"

He takes a step toward them, and Harry takes a step back, accidentally pushing Sunny backward. She catches her footing and grabs onto his arm. "Stop being stupid, Harry. He could help us."

"I'm Niall," the stranger answers.

Sunny takes over questioning, and now steps in front of Harry. "How'd you get here?"

"My boat. There was a wicked storm last night—"

"A boat?! You have a boat?"

"Well, yes, but it's not sailable. Huge hole on the side. The rocks around here are not a joke. Do I know you from somewhere? You both seem really familiar."

Sunny glances back at Harry before responding. "I don't think so."

Then Harry sees it. The moment when recognition hits. He's seen it millions of times in his life. "Oh...my...God. You're Harry Styles! And you're..." he turns to Sunny. "You're Roma Whittle! I didn't recognize you. You look a lot different."

Harry and Sunny turn away from the stranger to look at each other, evaluating themselves through the stranger's eyes. They are both very tan, more tan than an average person, for sure. And Sunny's hair has become a tad bit tangly without the use of a brush for so long, now reaching well past the middle of her back. She's just wearing her sports bra and Harry can see all of her ribs, and her protruding hips bones, and her arms look like he could encircle them with one hand if he wanted to.

He knows his hair is past his shoulders—longer than it's ever been. He needs to shave, which probably means most of his face is covered. Looking down, he sees his T-shirt has at least a dozen small holes and is hanging off of him, probably two sizes too big now. His usual six-pack is long gone. Sunny's sweat pants have lately needed to be rolled up two or three times at the waistband to keep from falling down.

Both of them look practically feral, and he hadn't given any of this a second thought. It's amazing what becomes un-important when a person has real problems.

"How do you know my name?" Sunny asks. No point in asking how he knows Harry.

"Are you kidding? You two have been all over the news for months! People searched high and low for you."

"Past tense? They aren't any longer?" Sunny moves closer to Niall, and Harry wishes she wouldn't.

"Well, you've been gone awhile now—"

"Six months."

"Right. Six months. I think most people assumed..." He doesn't finish the sentence. "But anyway, you've been here this whole time? Amazing!"

"You try it," Harry snaps. "And see how 'amazing' it is."

Niall had been looking around, taking in his surroundings, but stops when he hears Harry tone. "Right. Sorry."

An awkward silence follows until Sunny breaks it. "Can we see your boat?"

Niall nods. "Yeah. It's a hike, though. I've been walking around this island for hours looking for...something."

"I think we can handle it," Harry says under his breath as he follows Niall into the trees. He looks back at the forgotten fire behind him.

He's not exactly sure what it is about this person that is irritating him. He just knows that he had one the best moments since landing on this island when he started that fire, and now it feels like it's been ripped away.