{Chapter 20}
Katie shrugged on her old grey High School hoodie, pulling her long brown hair from out from the sweater and to one side of her shoulder as she smiled at Harry.
"No, Haz." She said sternly, lifting her finger and pointing at him. "It's my turn to decide where we're going."
They had been in an argument for 15 minutes about where to go for the night. Harry had suggested going back to that beyond-fancy restaurant he had taken her to for their 'date'.
Katie shook her head, not wanting Harry to go to all the trouble of paying for the expensive food that wasn't even that good. She didn't want to spend her last night at the beach house, trying to impress other people.
Harry chuckled as he reached into his open drawers to pull out a fresh t-shirt. She was sitting on the edge of his bed, waiting for him to get ready.
"Where does little miss princess want to go than?" Harry smirked, grabbing his Ramones shirt out of the drawer.
Katie watched, mesmerized as he reached from the hem of the shirt he had been wearing and pulled it up over his torso and over his head.
His muscles in his stomach flexed and a defined set of abs were prominent as he pulled the shirt over his head and discarded it to the floor.
Katie realized she was sitting on the edge of his bed, mouth gaped out and trying to find her words without sounding too distracted.
He smiled down as he pulled the Ramones shirt over his head, giving Katie the chance to run her gaze over his prominent set of V-lines that lead down to his-
"Kat, are you evening listening to me?" Harry laughed, pulling her out of her revery. She shook herself from the images she had formed in her mind and pushed them away, hoping her face wasn't too red as she looked up and met his green orbs.
"I want to go to the diner down the road." She shrugged. "We haven't been there yet and I hear they're closing down in a week or two."
Harry chuckled and shook his hair in the mirror. The pop-star had to get it just right.
"I'm offering to take you to a 5-star restaurant, and you want to go to a family owned diner down the road?" Harry asked, turning to her with a playful smile on his face.
She shrugged. "I'm not hard to impress, Harry."
He didn't speak for a second, before looking back down. His fingers played with the bracelets on his wrists as she watched his eyebrows scrunch together and his dimples pierce his cheeks as he gave a faint smile.
"But that's just it." He mumbled, speaking almost to himself. "You are."
Something churned in her stomach but before she could comprehend his words, he looked back up at her with a new sense of excitement. He flashed her his famous smile.
"Okay than." He said excitedly and gestured towards his bedroom door. "Get your lazy ass off of my bed and let's go. I'm starving!"
-
Harry shoved his hands into his pockets as Katie kept up with his slow pace beside him. He had never noticed before, but when she walked, she always had a tiny bounce in her step.
"You're positive you don't want to go to a fancier restaurant? I don't mind paying for-"
But in Katie's stubbornness, he couldn't even finish his sentence.
"Nope." She said, smiling as they rounded the corner and the neon pink and blue lights flashed on the sign that read 'Angel's Diner' came into view. Her smile stretched even further. "I'm excited to eat here."
Harry chuckled and rolled his eyes as he reached for the door handle on the shabby restaurant and held it open for the brunette who skipped through.
Walking through the doors, he felt like he had suddenly spiraled back in time to the 1950's.
The floor was a checkered black and white pattern and a juke box sat in the far corner. The counter stretched around the kitchen, where a shorter busty woman stood in a coral pink uniform with a white apron.
"Just sit where ever you feel like sittin', love!" The woman bellowed at them. Katie flashed her a huge grin before skipping down the line of booths until finding the one that deemed the most acceptable.
Harry sank into the booth across from Katie, taking in the smile on her face.
"How great is this?" She bubbled, looking around. All over the wall were old black and white photos of famous celebrities such as Elvis and Marilyn Monroe.
Harry looked around the restaurant, noticing that they were the only ones in the joint.
"Well hi there." The busty woman with deep red hair walked over to their table. Harry glanced up at her, noticing the age in her face. She must have been over the age of 50. She placed two menus in front of each of them before reaching into her apron and pulling out a pad of paper.
"And what would you like to drink, lovies?"
"I'll just take a water, please." Harry said, looking back up at the lady. She nodded and jotted it down before turning to Katie.
Harry watched Katie as she intently scanned the menu with her eyes before landing on the 'Milkshake' section. He chuckled when her chocolate brown eyes lit up in excitement.
"Oh! A strawberry milkshake please!" She bubbled, looking up at the lady who smiled back just as excitedly and jotted it down on the paper.
"Okay, I'll be right back." The lady smiled once more before turning to walk away.
Katie watched her walk away as Harry watched Katie.
"How great is this place." Katie gushed once again, turning back to Harry. He couldn't help his chuckle at her excitement. She was like a little kid on Christmas.
"You're crazy." He smirked. He watched as her cheeks burned red and her eyes dropped to her hands in her lap. Why did she have to be so fucking adorable, Harry wondered.
"Harry, listen-" She started. She didn't look up from the gaze she held on her hands in her lap and he knew by the tone of her voice that this wasn't going to be a conversation about the weather. "-You should have gone out tonight, it's your last night too. You didn't have to stay with me. You could still go out if you-"
But he cut her off mid rant by shaking his head incredulously. He wondered if she would ever stop caring so much about other people, over caring about herself first. She looked up at him now, her doe-brown eyes searching his in confusion as he chuckled.
"You are crazy, Kat." He laughed before meeting her gaze. "I wouldn't rather spend my last night any other way, than in a shabby 50's diner with you."
Her smile never faltered but the crimson red rose to her cheeks once more as she looked back down at her hands. He wanted to lean over and grab her chin, he wanted to meet her eyes.
Before anybody could say anything else, the waitress returned with a glass full of ice water and a larger glass, filled to the top with a strawberry pink milkshake.
Katie's eyes lit up as the waitress placed it in front of the girl.
"Thank you!" Katie and Harry mumbled at the same time as the waitress smiled in return. She reached for her pad of paper before asking what they wanted to get.
"Oh! Can I have the 'Angel's Burger'? With fries, please?" Katie smiled up, handing the waitress her menu. After the lady had jotted it down she turned to Harry who ordered the exact same thing as the brunette.
When the lady turned to leave, Katie turned to Harry with eager eyes he hadn't expected. She leaned forward on her elbows towards him and gave him a hint of a smile.
He didn't know what to expect before the question fell from her lips, as though it had just been a simple thought that had crossed her mind.
"Do you believe in Heaven?"
The question caught him off guard for a second as he searched her face. It had never been something he had questioned before, something that never seemed to preoccupy his thoughts.
He looked down at his water before looking up to meet her patient doe-brown eyes.
"I don't believe that there is a place that's pearly white, with the big golden gates somewhere in the clouds." He spoke gently. "I don't know if it's real or not, but I do believe in a type of heaven."
Katie's eyebrows furrowed as she considered his words and before she could question him, he continued.
"It's different for everyone, you know?" He gave her a crooked smile. "Someone's heaven could be in some coffee shop in Paris on a winter's day. Someone's heaven could be on stage, or under their favorite tree."
He watched her cautiously, finding the proper words to speak. "My heaven, my heaven is in the bed at the beach house with you laying beside me."
He was hesitant to look up at her expression, but when his shy eyes met her face a small smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. She sat in front of him in some kind of awe with her mouth opening and closing, almost as though she was about to say something.
"Harry-" She started, but he immediately cut her off.
"I know what you think of me, Katelyn." He smiled sadly. "I know you think I'm some kind of guy who goes around and says pretty words to girls to get them in bed for the night, but honestly Katie, even the most beautiful words can't describe how much you've begun to mean to me."
Her eyes glistened as he took a deep breath. Their food hadn't even arrived yet and he had started into the soppy speech he wished he could have saved for later.
Her eyebrows furrowed gently as her eyes scanned his, her mouth parted but closed again before she could get a word out.
He wondered if she was about to say something. Maybe she was about to say that she actually did love him, or maybe she didn't want anything to do with him, but he'd never know.
"That's why-" He started, preparing himself. "That's why I think we should be friends."
He could have sworn he had seen her smile falter and the eagerness in her eyes die a bit, but he brushed it off because she covered it up well with a careful smile.
She reached across to his hands that were folded on the table and gently laid her hand on top of his. Her touch paralyzed him.
"The best of friends?" She asked with a smile.
He nodded, whether his heart was breaking or swelling, he didn't know nor did he want to know.
"Yeah, Kat." He smiled back. "The best of friends."
They finished their food in no time, resulting back to small talk, whether it be about the weather, One Direction's future or Harry's past.
When they had finished, Harry offered to pay the bill. Leaving the waitress a hefty tip before they said their goodbyes and walked through the diner's front door, which chimed goodbye behind them.
The sun was just starting to set over the ocean that they admired as they walked down the sidewalk that edged close to the beach. The waves crashed into the shore, reminding Katie of the night her and Harry had gone for that swim.
"You promise you're going to call me every night, Styles?" She asked, gazing out into the distance as the sun dipped behind the horizon. It casted a red-orange glow over everything as the warm summer's breeze ruffled the hair around her face.
Harry walked beside her, watching his feet with his hands shoved deep into his pockets.
"Of course I will." She could tell he was smiling from his words. "I don't know what I'll do without your crazy antics."
Katie smiled, still looking out at the ocean that seemed to stretch out forever.
It was a funny thought, knowing that somewhere on the other side of it was her family who had absolutely no idea that she had a handful of life left in her.
Her phone vibrated in her pocket. She reached into the pocket of her jean shorts to pull out her phone to find a new message popped up onto the screen.
Jordan: Hey gorgeous, could I maybe see you before you leave? Let me know xx
Katie didn't bother replying, before shoving the phone back into her pocket. She felt Harry's eyes on her so she turned to look up at him, to find him with a tight lipped smile on his face.
"What?" She asked.
"Are you going to go out with Jordan later?" He asked, trying to keep the straightest face he could as he stared forward while they walked.
Katie shrugged. She didn't really want to go out tonight, she was too excited to curl up on the couch and watch movies with Harry all night.
"I'm not sure." She sighed. "I should probably see him before I go though..."
She trailed off without noticing the scowl on Harry's face as they rounded the corner and finally reached the beach house. He didn't say anything more to her as they climbed the steps and walked through the front door.
Katie kicked off her ratty white Toms at the front door and followed behind Harry who walked into the kitchen and grabbed a water bottle from the fridge.
"So," She started, biting her lip thoughtfully. "Do you want to watch a movie tonight, or something?"
He didn't bother looking at her as he finished taking his sip of water and dropping the bottle back down onto the counter before shrugging his shoulders.
"Don't care." He said. To her surprise his tone was very uncaring and half-hearted. She was even more surprised to see him turn around and stalk out of the room, leaving her staring after him in confusion.
"Harry!" She called after him as he stalked down the hallway towards his bedroom. She slid on her socks down the hallway after him in frustration. "Harry, where are you going?"
When he refused to answer her, she ran after him now down the hall, reaching him just as he opened his bedroom door and walked inside. She didn't care if he slammed the door in her face, but to her surprise he didn't so she followed him inside his messy room.
"What's your problem?" She asked, putting a hand on her hip as she stared at the back of his head in frustration. When he didn't turn around to look at her, or even bothering to answer her question she groaned in annoyance.
"You know what Styles, you are so bipolar sometimes. One second you're all fine and dandy and then the next you're mad for absolutely no reason. Sometimes you make it very difficult to be friends with you."
At her words he turned around, with a distant look in his glazed eyes and a scowl on his face as he threw his hands up in frustration.
"Maybe it's because I don't want to be friends with you."
Once again, the words of Harry Styles had caught her off guard. Maybe he was bi-polar and his emotions were all over the place, because to Katie, she sometimes found it very difficult to keep up with him.
He stared at her with worn out, tired looking green eyes as he let his hands drop to his side. He stared at her in some kind of desperation as she brought her arms to cross over her chest, self consciously as she stared down at her stocking feet.
"But I thought you said- In the Diner- You said you wanted to be friends..." She mumbled.
He groaned loudly, bringing a hand up to run through his hair in frustration.
"That's because you have Jordan, that's because I'll always be your second choice. I wanted to be friends with you because I had to have some kind of reassurance that you would stick around. I know how you feel about me, and that's why I wanted to be friends with you, because that way I have at least some of you."
Katie found her brain and her mouth running to different thoughts. Her brain told her to run away, to get out. She couldn't do this to herself, to Harry. She couldn't string him along when she knew exactly what the outcome would be.
But her mouth, had a mind of it's own.
"You don't know how I feel about you." She found herself saying as his head snapped up at her words.
"What?" He asked, cocking his eyebrows and slowly closing the space between them with each step.
She remained staring at the ground as she spoke. "You've never been my second choice. You'll never be my second choice."
She hadn't even noticed how close Harry had become, but she looked up to meet deep green orbs that stared down at her, mere inches away from her face.
She could feel his hands, hesitantly but cautiously grab her hips as her mouth parted open gently.
He was so close to her, she could feel the linger feeling of his lips on hers from the last time they had kissed. It was something she had missed dearly.
His breath ruffled the stray strands of hair around her face as he spoke huskily in front of her.
"Katie, I think- I think-"
What he was about to say, she'll never know.
Before he could get his words out, she pressed her lips forcefully against his. Her lips were urgent, desperate, rough but soft at the same time. His lips collided with hers just as urgently.
She found that kissing Harry, was liking kissing him like it was the end of the world.
He never pulled away, he never did anything but dive deeper into the kiss. His hands on her waist tugged desperately at her hips, pulling her closer into his body.
One of his hands worked their way up to her throat, where it lied gently and slid behind her hair to her neck as he kissed her.
She put both of her hands against the fabric of his navy blue long sleeved shirt and gave him a gentle push as she walked towards the edge of the bed.
Before the back of his knees hit the mattress, he spun her around so that she hit the soft comforters with her back as Harry crawled on top of her, never once breaking the kiss.
Katie grabbed at the boy's curls as he tore away from her lips to take a breath. Katie's breathing was heavy as his face hovered above her. His green eyes were glazed over and the darkest shade of green she had ever seen.
"I want you." He whispered huskily, his lips hovering so close above hers that his words tickled her lips.
At his words, she pulled his head back down by his curls as he began peppering her neck with kisses that trailed up and down her neck.
His palms pressed against the edge of her jean shorts, pushing upwards, under her baggy sweater until his fingers glazed across the bare skin of her stomach.
She squirmed under his touch and Katie could feel the smirk hidden in his kisses.
"Harry-" She moaned as he pushed his hands farther up and under her sweater. She fought for her dominance by finding her hands and tugging at the hem of his navy blue shirt.
"I want this off." She murmured, and he didn't hesitate before pulling away from her and tearing the shirt off over his head.
Katie hadn't found the time to admire his bare chest before he dove back down and started kissing her lips again. His hands found their way back up underneath her sweatshirt as his palms pressed gently against her warm stomach.
"Harry-" She muttered again, willing him to pull off the sweater completely. She felt as though he could read her mind before he pushed the sweater higher and pulled it over her head.
She flushed a crimson red as she realized she had never put a shirt on underneath of her hoodie. She was in nothing but a pair of jean shorts and her fancy baby pink laced bra.
His lips found hers again as she reached up to grab his palm and pressed it eagerly at the fabric of her bra. She smirked into the kiss when she noticed he rose his eyebrows at her desperation.
He didn't need any more coaching before his hand started messaging her breast over the clad material of her bra. His lips found her neck once more and began trailing kisses down to her collar bone.
He nipped the sensitive skin there gently, making her squirm even more as she exhaled deeply and grabbed a handful of his curly hair.
"Katie-" He moaned into her neck as his hand found it's way around her back. She felt a flick of his fingers and her bra loosen around her chest.
Suddenly she felt a churn in her stomach and she realized it was nothing but nerves fighting against the butterflies she felt. It was something she always felt around Harry.
"Katie-" He murmured into his kisses against her neck. "Tell me if you want me to stop, because if we get any further- I don't know if I'll be able to."
She could feel the tightness in his jeans pressed eagerly against her jeans shorts as she swallowed a lump of nerves.
"I don't want you to stop." She found herself whisper.
Accepting the permission, Harry removed his hand from behind her back and her pink bra came along with it. He tossed it aside before lifting his head to hover over her once more.
Katie's face turned a shade of deep red as she lied in front of Harry, completely exposed from the waist up. She had never been so exposed in front of a boy. Harry stared down at her with eyes full of something she had never seen before.
She had never felt so open or terrified of loved under Harry's gaze.
She self consciously brought her arms up to cross over her chest, but Harry caught her wrists before she could cover up.
"No." He said gently. "Don't."
She could feel the heat creep up her neck and to her face as Harry stared down at her, looking at her as though she was something too precious, that had to be handled with care.
"You're so beautiful." He whispered, whether it had been to himself or out loud for her to hear as well. Without any more hesitation he dipped his head back down to her and kissed her gently on the lips.
His hands worked their way to the hem of her jeans shorts and he toyed with the buttons.
"Are you-" He began to ask, pulling away from her lips.
She gave him a shy nod of her head before he looked down at her in surprise.
"Oh." He said, almost in some kind of bewilderment. Suddenly he pulled further away from her, he was suddenly flustered as he stared down at her in anxiety.
"Katie, I didn't know- Did you want it to be special? We could stop here? I don't know, I just assumed you weren't a-" He started, furrowing her eyebrows at her. "-If you don't want to, I understand. You probably want it to be special, or maybe you were saving it for someone else-"
Katie couldn't help but laugh at Harry's flustered words.
"Harry!" She laughed. "This is special." She smiled up at him.
His necklace hung just above her chest as he smiled back down at her. His arms held him up, placed on each side of her head. She wondered how people could go their lives without seeing something as beautiful as Harry Styles right at that moment.
Maybe that was the thing with life. It could fuck you over all it wanted to, but it always tried to make it up to you in some other way.
Katie must have been considered one of the luckiest girls in the world, she realized.
And maybe she was.
"I wouldn't want this to be with anyone else but you, Harry." She whispered.
Somewhere in the world, a girl was sitting in her bedroom admiring pictures of Harry Styles on her bedroom wall, perhaps somewhere across the ocean, Katie's mother was wondering just how Katie was holding up and somewhere down the street, Jordan was sitting by his phone waiting for her to respond.
Everyone went on with their day, going un-noticed of the moment the world stopped spinning for a single few seconds.
And that moment was when Katie's words hung heavy in the silent dark, bedroom and Harry Styles leaned down and pressed a bitterly sweet kiss to her lips.