The Short Stories of Harry Styles

Shards of Glass: Part 4

"Niall," your friend peeled his eyes away from the screen to look at you and you took a deep breath, "what information can you find on Harry Styles?" His eyes went wide and then narrowed with uncertainty.

"Theron...I know you're worried about Harry but he cleared the background checks. He's a detective and a good one at that...you can't possibly think that what is going on with his dad is going on with him too." Niall was smart, always had been. He was the very best at reading people and you knew that he knew what this was really all about. You were trying to get more information on Harry by seeing what was really going on with his father and now Niall knows by the scared look in your eyes that something else is going on.

"Niall...he's been acting so strangely for a year now...I-I don't know what to do to help him."

"Maybe, just be there for him. D.I.D. isn't hereditary anyways. Just because his dad has it doesn't mean he does. It stems from trauma, not faulty genes." You nod, taking what seems to be your first inhale of breath all day. He's right. D.I.D. isn't genetic and you are almost embarrassed at your recklessness. You had always prided yourself on your research capabilities and here you were falling into the usual uninformed trap.

"You're right...I don't know what I was thinking. Just....send me that stuff when you get a chance?" Niall smiles softly at you and nods before turning his attention back to his computer.

"What is it exactly that young Harold is doing to make you think he has D.I.D. anyways?" You halt in your tracks and turn slowly to face your friend who is now peering at you clearly amused.

"Uh....he's uh...well," you scratched the back of your head completely embarrassed, "he's been hitting on me."

Niall sputters and dies laughing.

"Oh for fuck's sake Theron! The poor guy takes a liking to you after all these years and you think he has a mental illness?!" Your friend dies laughing and you take that as your cue to leave. You've had enough embarrassment to last you a lifetime now.

As you head towards your car, you can't help but shake the feeling that something else is going on here, something bigger but another part of you is making you stop these thoughts. Harry has had a hard time, he is clearly struggling with his father's illness and you have to be understanding. If you were being honest with yourself you'd admit that his sudden change of heart towards you has always been exactly what you wanted from the beginning anyways so why was it sending warning bells into your head every time he flirted with you?

Your mind continued to whirl as you made your way back to the precinct but you ended the thoughts with an understanding with yourself.

You were here to support your partner and you needed to be his rock, not reading into his every word like he were a suspect.

~~~~~~

When you arrived at your desk you expected your partner to be sitting at his usual spot and giving you whiplash with his words but you found his seat empty and found no sign of him.

You figured he must have gone out for lunch while you were off galavanting around trying to uncover his secrets and a major part of you felt horribly guilty for doing so. Had you really thought so poorly of your partner to think he was mentally unstable? Had you really been so insensitive to his pain over his father? Did you really think he might somehow be hiding something from you after all of these years?

Your mind falls into self-disappointed chaos when a bouquet of blush toned peonies are set delicately onto your desk.

Baffled, you bring your face up to a very shy looking Harry, who now has his hands resting behind his back, unable to maintain eye contact with you.

"I-uh....I'm sorry for my behavior earlier. I...I'm not sure what came over me but I wanted to erm...I'm not good at apologizing so please put me out of my misery and accept these." He rambled with a low tone and your heart swelled at the gesture. Peonies were your favorite and blush colored ones were hard to find. You stared up into his bashful face that was tinged the slightest bit pink and reached for one of his hands that were cracking nervously behind his back.

"They are beautiful. All is forgiven. You just startled me, I um...I thought you didn't like me in that way so it sort of threw me off." Harry's hand is warm in yours and holding your hand back as if it is fragile, barely gripping it.

"Ah yes....I did turn you down, didn't I?" He gives a giant eye roll that sends you laughing and his eyes widen just the smallest of fractions at the sound.

"It's okay. You don't date coworkers. It makes sense. Its a good rule to have."

"It's a dumb rule and I want to break it." He seethes and you feel his hand in yours squeeze lightly before releasing your hold. You feel your heart picking up its pace in your chest as your partner leans down with one hand placed flat against your desk and the other against the arm of your chair. His gaze travels across your face as if analyzing it before landing finally on your lips.

"How about dinner, tonight...my place..." you suck in a sharp breath and feel that box in your chest where you'd locked away your feelings for him begin to unravel.

"Are-are you sure? I'm just....completely confused. Where is all of this coming from? Why now?" Your breath catches in your throat as his hand that was placed on the desk shoots up to your cheek at the same time a blush rises to the skin there. He looks down at you marvelously with a gleam in his eyes.

"I've waited such a long time for this moment...," he whispered, his warm breath fanning against your skin as his hand traveled down to your jawline and then ghosted a finger against your neck, "let's just say that I have denied myself of you for long enough and I've decided rules are meant to be broken." You audibly gulp and it brings a devilish grin to his mouth that has you practically salivating.

"O-okay then."

"Dinner...my place?"

"Yeah, dinner....tonight....your place." You manage out and he just chuckles lowly before pushing himself away from you and rounding the desk to his usual spot.

"7 o'clock...don't be late little lamb." He purses his lips before smirking at you again and with one last glance he turns his attention to his desktop.

Your entire body is on fire and you feel the need to jump into a cold pool to calm yourself down. The way he was looking at you was fueling the feelings you'd harbored for so long inside of you and you wished you knew the reason behind his sudden change of heart.

You only prayed that you could survive the day across from his sultry stares so that you could figure out whether he actually felt the same way about you that you did for him, or whether this was all just some stress induced escapade that would land you in a terrible bout of heartbreak.

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Author's Note:

What do we think???

Give me thoughts and questions you want answered in the next few parts!

:)

-Balletclutz