About (Harry Styles)

53.

Elaine's POV

Shouldn't she be angry? Wouldn't she be even more angry since Harry was her friend? If she wasn't angry, shouldn't she at least be more irritated that we're basically lying to everyone around us?

It's unsettling how composed she is about this. I think I'm more afraid if she's like this. I rather she hate me with me knowing rather than hating me behind my back.

"Can we talk?" I sheepishly ask her.

Maybe if I try to explain everything to her, she'll see it from my side of the story and maybe she'll have a heart and not tell anyone about it.

The only person I'm really afraid of being exposed to is Anne. She doesn't deserve this. Even though Harry and I are together now, if Anne finds out our initial relationship, she won't approve of us.

She nods. I stand to leave first. And although I'm not looking back, I can feel Harry's eyes on my back, watching me walk out of the grand hall.

When we're out of the room into an empty narrow hallway, I suggest we take a walk outside and she obliges. It's too stuffy and someone could possibly overhear us in such a vulnerable place.

We walk around a large, cobblestone fountain behind the building for a few minutes before someone says something.

"When did you know?" I ask, folding my arms across my chest. She looks up towards the sky as if to search for the answer in the clouds.

"Before you knew, I guess," she tells me. "Harry tells me everything, Elaine."

So he told her about his plans a while ago. Why does that bother me more than it should?

"Aren't you going to ask me why I'm not mad at you?" She asks me, her eyes cast down to her black flats as we continue to circle the sprouting fountain.

"You're not?"

"I was, initially. I blamed you for his unhappiness."

Unhappiness? Harry was unhappy?

Imagining Harry being unhappy, it brings me back to the time his face fell when I spit those harsh words at him. I felt like the biggest jerk on earth after. I don't want to see that ever again.

"He wasn't happy. That's why he rarely ever comes home," she continues, a sigh falling from her lips. "What I'm trying to say is, he wasn't like that because of you. It was something else that was the root of it."

"Is something wrong with Harry?"

"No, but I don't think it's my place to tell you," she utters candidly. Even Alice is just as thoughtful as Harry. For this, I'm glad Harry can have such a reliable friend. "I'll just say that Harry's the kind of person who doesn't share much of himself. Sometimes even to people he trusts. He just doesn't want his problems to burden those he cares for, so he bears all of the responsibility on his own shoulders."

Her words cause me to hinder my walking. She walks a few paces ahead before realizing that I had stopped.

What kind of problems does he hide behind that smile of his?

I didn't expect there to be any sort of problems. Anne was a kind mother. Robin was a good - standing step father who participated in charities and Harry seemed to get along well with him.

Des. As far as I'm concerned, Des cares a great deal about his son. The way he spoke about Harry and how good of a son he is. He even remembers how Anne would crave nothing but cereal during her pregnancy with him. But Anne did tell me that Harry's relationship with Des isn't all butterflies and sunshine. My only reasonable guess is that Des is the source of all this burden ...