warning: this chapter needs to be rewritten. I'll work on it and as soon as I repost it, I'll let you know.
19.
●•Harry•●
A smile spread on my lips as soon as I briefly saw those female little shoes from under the lowest of the shelves. Not much was visible at first, but sooner she came closer and I saw her long blonde hair falling to the side as she peered to where I was, revealing those deep eyes of her and that warm smile, truly happy for seeing me. I put the CD on my hands back to its place, and once Angel made sure I wasn’t busy anymore, she ran towards me, jumping a little above my waist, and I had to be careful not to let her fall while she tightly wrapped her arms around my neck.
“Hey, Harry! I finally came,” she said while I placed her back on the floor.
During the past few weeks, since her birthday party, Angel had invited me to her house. Lana had to talk to Nathan, who gave her my phone number, and then she called me, basically begging for me to show up for a few hours, since Angel couldn’t stop talking about me and how I’d gotten her a firefly. She was the most adorable little girl I’ve met in my whole life, to be honest.
Since the day Lana called me, I tried to see the blonde girl at least once a week, usually going to her house after work, for something like half an hour before going to uni. The first thing she did was lead me to her room and show me her favorite things: the music box Kirsten had given to her, the teddy bears on her bed, the Phil Collins’ posters on the ceiling and specially her collection of his discography. That was definitely something new for me; a 10-year-old addicted to Phil Collins. Not usual at all.
She knew all his songs by heart, and each day I went there to visit her she made sure to let me know something more about his life. The best moment next to that sweet girl though was when I told her I could actually play one of his songs on the piano, if she wanted me to. No words can describe the glow in her eyes when she took in my words completely. I could swear the girl was nearly floating.
Other days she just talked about Kirsten and for how long they knew each other. It scared me how curious and excited I got everytime she mentioned her name, and I just couldn’t help but pay all the attention I could to not miss a single thing she said. Everytime she tried to drop the subject and move on to something else, I asked something stupid, and Angel just kept talking about Kirs. Though I didn’t find out much about her; they met each other a few years ago at the hospital where Lana works as a nurse (not a doctor, as I thought before), and when it happened Kirsten was already dating Tyler. I also found out they lived together, but that was obvious from the first time I walked into her house. There were too many things there that couldn’t belong to Kirsten, like the aftershave bottle in the bathroom. I doubted it was hers.
Other than that, I only knew she was Leroy’s sister. Not much, but it made me feel like I knew her a bit better now. And I couldn’t deny it, for some reason, it satisfied me. I had thought of her a lot since that day at the office, ‘cause for some reason she had caught my eye. She was pretty, of course, but it wasn’t because of that. Something on the way she acted that day, not only at the office, but also at the mall, told me there’s so much more behind that constant annoyed look. I was curious to know what it was.
That’s why I’d told Angel where I worked, and I’d also told her to go there with Kirsten, ‘cause I was sure she wouldn’t be able to say ‘no’ to the little girl she loved so much. Of course that telling Angel that I could get her the LP that was missing on her collection helped a lot to make her mind. Though she was quite excited with the idea of seeing me and the several rows of DVD’s even before I mentioned her idol.
And there she was. After weeks she finally convinced Kirsten to go with her to the store, and the girl seemed completely shocked to see me there. Why everytime she saw me she looked at me with that disgusted look and so much hate on her blue eyes? I still couldn’t understand it. And I also couldn’t understand why she’d said ‘yes’. She’d said yes to my purpose of taking them both to a cupcake store; reluctantly, but she’d agreed with the idea.
As I finished helping my last customer, I watched Kirsten and Angel sitting on a loveseat in a hidden place of the store, where people usually went to put on the headphones and listen to a few of our CD’s. The little girl was on her lap as the older one fixed a strand of her hair behind her ear, saying something I quite couldn’t understand. Kirsten kept playing with Angel’s hair until I stood next to her, forcing her to peer up at me and sigh.
“Leggo? I just gotta get the car keys and I’ll show you the best place ever,” I said and I could tell Kirsten was fighting hard to hold back an urge to roll her eyes at me.
“I have a car,” was all she said, but Angel pouted at her objection.
“Can I please go with Harry, Kirs? His car is so cool.” This time Kirsten didn’t hold anything back, she just puffed and rolled her eyes while standing up, and I couldn’t stop myself from laughing at her reaction.
“Whatever. As long as you don’t disappear, I’m fine with it,” she wasn’t fine with it, but there was no way she was going to deny something to the blonde girl.
“Okay. Angel, c’mon. Need your help to find my keys,” I said and she giggled, nodding excitedly while pressing her LP against her chest and taking my hand to walk with me.
That girl was literally an angel.
--
“You change your mood quite often,” I noted as Kirsten bit her cupcake, trying to avoid my gaze. She constantly looked at Angel, who was not sitting with us; instead, the little girl had rose to her feet in a blink of an eye as soon as she saw that huge Golden Retriever outside the store. She just kneed on the floor and caressed his head while talking to the lady who kept holding its leash. Kirsten couldn’t keep her eyes off of her, though I knew she wasn’t really paying attention to the scene. As I said, she was just avoiding me. “I like you better when you’re working,” I joked and the girl’s head turned to me so fast it actually scared me. She’d taken it the wrong way. “Wait, I didn’t mean it like that.” I knew she was thinking that I had referred to the way she dressed, and the look of shock and disgust on her face confirmed that.
“Shut up.” She didn’t even bother to be nice; she just rolled her eyes (as I started to notice it was a habit) and took another bite of the cupcake between her hands, turning her head at Angel again and letting a small smile appear on her lips.
“Don’t know why you hate me so much, I’m a nice lad, ain’t I?” I teased, but apparently she didn’t like the way how I tried to make fun of the situation. Everytime I smiled, or laughed, the hatred in her eyes seemed to increase. Maybe I should stop doing that.
“Look, I don’t know what’s wrong with you, but you should probably know that whatever the compliments girls throw at you, they’re not real at all. So you better just duck this whole ego thing ‘cause it’s truly annoying,” Kirsten looked deep into my eyes to say that, and even though I wanted to stop smiling, I couldn’t. My mind focused at the part of her sentence where she admitted she thinks I get lots of compliments from the opposite sex.
“Why do you think I get compliments from girls?” I uttered the words before even trying to stop them; it just came out naturally from my mouth, along with a grin that pissed her even more.
“I don’t-“ she cut herself off, her cheeks turning into an almost imperceptive tone of red. Almost. I didn’t think the question would embarrass her so much, but I can’t lie and say I didn’t like her reaction. She was uncomfortable ‘cause she didn’t want to admit she had found me attractive. Not that I really care about it, for the past few years I haven’t cared about any girl’s opinion on me, but she was different. From the very beginning she hated me; she still does, I guess.
“No problem, I do think you’re attractive as well,” my eyes widened open as soon as the words left my mouth, and I couldn’t believe I had just said that out loud. I should’ve kept that inside my head, or maybe not even that. The girl had a boyfriend. A shitty one, but still.
At first she widened her eyes as well; the red on her cheeks getting a bit darker, but as soon as she noticed my own reaction she amusedly smiled.
“Yeah, I can’t believe you said that either,” she read my mind, or maybe she just read too well my expression. And I was betting it was the second option; I didn’t know how to be subtle. And that was probably because I hadn’t flirted in a really long while, which scared me. Not because it’s been too long since I hadn’t flirted with someone, but especially ‘cause I’ve just realized I was flirting. With someone who was taken. Where can I please hide my face?
Fortunately, she dropped the subject, finally finishing eating her cupcake. Once it was done, she focused her gaze completely on the little girl that was still outside. This time she totally focused on her, smiling brightly as a proud mother would do. Those two had really a special connection.
Kirsten then slightly shook her arm, rolling up the sleeve so she could check the non-existent watch on her wrist. When she realized she was using none, she slipped her hand to the back pocket of her jeans, but before she could check the screed, I unlocked mine and answered her probable question.
“Still 6:45p.m.”
“Thanks,” she nodded, letting a subtle smile show up on her features. “Maybe we should go. It’s getting late and I gotta drop Angel at home soon.”
“She’s having fun outside. Let’s wait until she comes back then we can go. I’ll just pay for these and I’ll be back in a sec,” I said, pointing at the several cupcakes – or at least what remained from it – on the table. I earned another small nod from her before standing up and walking to the counter, still not averting my gaze from the thoughtful girl. Was it a good sign that she hadn’t complained about me paying for everything? Usually people would at least try to disguise, say I shouldn’t do it, but she didn’t even bother.
Not that I was complaining about it; since I’d invited them, I should pay for it, and I’d probably do the same even if she was the one who had suggested the small walk to the cupcake store. That was not the point whatsoever. As I got the change back and put it in my wallet, I walked back to where I previously was, asking myself what was so intriguing about Kirsten that got me thinking of her since the first time we met.
“You should probably stop staring,” she mentioned without turning to look at me, and I quietly asked myself if she was really talking to me.
“Uhn, excuse me?”
“You got the message. Just stop it, I’m no showcase for you to stare,” her eyes were locked on mine, that glimpse of annoyance and discomfort back.
“Sorry,” I didn’t even try to deny it, ‘cause for some reason I knew it was pointless to argue with her. It would be pointless trying to deny something I was actually doing, ‘cause I sucked at lying. And still, I couldn’t stop! Not that I really had a choice. There was nowhere else I could look at. Not my fault.
“Just don’t do this, Styles.” Her voice was serious and scary deep. How could she know I was staring at her? How could it annoy her so much?
“Don’t do what? I’m doing nothing!” I stated, my voice not as sure as I was trying to sound.
Kirsten sighed, shaking her head slightly while playing with her intertwined fingers that rested on the table. She looked at me again, trying to say something with her eyes, but I quite couldn’t understand what.
“Don’t fall in love with me… I’m too damaged for you,” and with that, I bursted out laughing. Was she serious?
“Oh well, look who’s the one who has to duck the ego now?” Still laughing, I tried to focus on her again, maybe expecting she would be laughing as well, taking all of that as a huge joke. I truly expected she was indeed joking, but she was still dead serious. With that, I felt obligated to agree with her, and maybe that would make her relax a bit. “Don’t worry, I won’t.” I assured, smiling one last time before watching Angel coming in and walking towards us.
I was screwed. I didn’t know that yet, but I was screwed. Because maybe I wasn’t going to stay true to my own words.
--
●•Author's Note•●
dedication goes to: @sammy_jz :) Thanks hun, so glad you like this.
next update: Friday (June 21st, 2013)
Best comment on this one gets a dedication on next. Love you all lots, Dani xx