CHAPTER 44
Claire's point of view
Without opening my eyes, I can feel his gaze on me. I hear his steady and light breath, and I feel his hands stroking my hair. I keep my eyes closed as I sigh blissfully, stretching out on the bed.
I move closer to his body, sliding my palms over his chest, to around his back. I pull him close, snuggling up close and squeezing tightly. I hear his strained laugh as I hold way-too-tightly.
"Morning," his raspy voice sends tingles through me.
"Morning," I respond, finally opening my eyes to look at his puffy eyes.
"Last night was amazing... you were amazing," he says, making my mouth widen into a proud grin as my senses slowly awakens.
"You too, I... loved it, and I love you," I return, and he smirks without opening his eyes.
I hear his thumping heart.
I smell his cologne.
I feel his skin pressed up against mine.
I see his eyes, melting me.
We lay there for about 20 minutes, slowly but surely waking up as we warm each other.
"Ready for the day?" I ask, looking at his closed eyes, a never ending smile on his face.
"Mhhh, no," he grunts, childishly never wanting to leave the bed. I lean my head down, laughing.
"Can we just stay here?" He asks, opening his eyes. And I see that he is almost serious.
"Aww I would love to Harry, but we both have things to do today and it's already one o'clock," I nudge him, and he groans with a smile. He throws the duvet over us, and pulls me close. He kisses me, moving his hands down to my lower back, arching my back. The light coming from the window lights up the room, even under the covers.
"Stop, we have to get up," I laugh as I push him back, but he refuses to let me go. He drags me back over to him.
"Oh no you don't," he breathes and kisses my neck. I put my hands on the back of his head, running my fingers through his hair. I back away, looking into his eyes and silence takes over. I trace my index finger across the outline of his butterfly tattoo, as he stares intently at me.
"Stop staring at me," I nag with a laugh.
"I won't, I want to look at you all the time," he says, reminding me of the time he came home to Louis drunk, nearly unable to walk.
"What is that look?" I ask, noticing a gleam in his eyes I've never seen before.
"I'm happy," he shrugs, kissing me again.
"Me too," I smile, looking intently at the two swallows on his chest.
"I'm getting you a surprise for tonight," he says, stroking my hands as I trace the tattoos.
I grunt, cringing at the word surprise. I've really had enough of those the last month. Plus, I don't know how to react when someone surprises me with something. I always am super awkward when receiving gifts.
"What's tonight?" I ask curiously, still clinging on to his body.
"I thought we could go out," he suggests with a smile, kissing my forehead.
"Not anywhere public though," he frowns, and I'm reminded of the last time went out. It's where I met Zayn.
Just thinking of his name makes me shudder and feel sick. They still haven't caught him.
I don't know if his name will be released to the public, but it's hard to think that it won't leak. As long as he is a free man, I will never feel safe.
"I would love to," I say, shaking the thought. His nose touches mine, and he kisses me again.
"Ok, I think we have to get out of bed now," I urge, pulling the covers off of us, sitting up on the bed. I get up, and walk around it when I see Harry leaning over the edge, rubbing his eyes.
"Get back here," he says, taking my handing puling me back into bed. He embraces me from behind, holding me tightly. I laugh when he kisses behind my ear, tickling me.
"Harry, seriously!" I laugh and he finally releases me.
"Fine, fine, but next time I won't let you off so easily," he says when I once again get out of bed, as he watches me as I make it to the bathroom. I brush my teeth, and he finally gets up as well and follows me and gets up behind me. He puts his arms overly shoulder, resting his chin on my head. We are both wearing nothing but undergarments, but he took his phone with him from the nightstand. He takes picture of us, and stares at it.
"Look at how cute we are," he tells, putting the screen right in front of me and pointing at the picture.
"Mhm," I mumble, still brushing my teeth.
•
•
"You sure you don't want me to come with you?" he asks for the hundredth time.
"Yes... I need to do this alone," I breathe, looking at myself in the side mirror.
"Wait for me?" I ask, looking back at Harry.
"Always," he winks at me. I offer a smile before getting out of the car, ignoring the crippling nervous feeling.
I walk idly to the door, and knock.
"Claire!" Louis says when he opens the door. With wide eyes, he hugs me.
"Are you okay?!" he almost shouts into my ear.
I called him before the interview went on TV to inform him of what happened. He wanted to know much more than what I told him, but I didn't have time to talk much.
"I'm feeling better, yes."
"But that's not what I'm here to talk to you about," I admit, fourthly walking into the house.
"Oh ok... can I get you something?" he asks as we walk into the living room. I shake my head.
"So whats up?" he asks as we sit down, a concerned look on his face. I'm so afraid of how he'll react.
"It's about Harry..." I start and he immediately roll his eyes, then turns to stare at me with worry.
"What did he do now?" He asks. I notice then that his plaster is gone. It still seems sore and red, but he looks healthy. Liza, his nurse comes into the living room. But she is not wearing her nurse outfit.
She is wearing one of Louis' shirts.
"Oh I'm sorry, am I interrupting?" she asks, and I look back at Louis. Really? The nurse?
"Don't worry about it babe," he brushes it off and walks to her. He gives her a kiss and mumbles something, and she leaves.
"Nice to see you again Claire!" she says loud enough for me to hear.
"You too," I raise my hand in the air as she walk out.
"Babe?" I question him with a laugh, and he shrugs.
"What can I say? I like her a lot," he smiles.
"Anyways, what did Harry do?"
"Nothing! L- Louis I'm trying to tell you something," I say, annoyed.
"Fine sorry, go ahead," he says cluelessly. He really has no idea where I'm going with this. I take a deep breath, preparing myself.
"I love him," I say, and his one eyebrow raises.
"And I'm going to love him, whether you like it or not," I say gently. I don't want to seem spiteful or defying. I just want to let him know.
"And I am going to be with him," I reveal, nodding my head along with my words. And it's true, I've waited so long to say those words and actually mean it. Even though I have finally sorted out my priorities, making sure Louis is okay is one of the top things I want to make sure is dealt with.
He exhales, processing as I sit there extremely uncertain.
"Claire, if you're trying to get my blessing..." he sighs as he furrows his eyebrows. He leans his elbows on his knees rubbing his eyes.
"You won't get it," he says when his palms slide off his face.
"He has hurt you over and over," he stares at the table. I get why he doesn't want me to be with him, but I've realized; I've got to do what feels right for me.
"I know I can't stop you, and if that's what you think is best..." he builds, looking at me with a squint.
"I'll try my best to make peace with it. With time."
I didn't realize the TV was on before I hear his name. My body tightens and freezes at the sound of his name.
"Zayn Malik, the man who allegedly sexually assaulted Louis Tomlinson's sister," the reporter speaks, next to a photo of Zayn. Plastered on the screen, he still looks utterly terrifying.
"Oh my god, Claire," Louis breathes before sitting next to me, offering a hug.
"I'm okay," I say, choking back the wave of emotion that almost flushed over me. I desperately grab the remote and turn the TV off.
So his name has been revealed. I guess he won't be too happy about that. I feel faint of fear when I think about when he ordered me not to tell anyone about it. And then I did.
"Louis, I have to go," I excuse myself from the situation, and head for the door.
"I understand," he says, and hugs me as he catches up with me.
"You can always talk to me, about anything," he tells me, and I nod into his neck. I back away, and smile.
"Thank you Louis, I love you," I say and walk out
"Love you too," I hear before the door closes. I breathe heavily as I make it to Harry's car.
"You okay?" he notices my distressed face as I get in. I nod, and he starts driving.
Telling Louis didn't go exactly as I had hoped it would. But he said he would try. And that's good enough for me.
•
•
"We're almost there," he says excitedly, staring at the road ahead. I'm still in the dark on where we are going. I am wearing a blue dress, that goes down to my knees. It's snug around the waist, but loose and wavy at the bottom. We have been driving for about an hour, increasing my curiosity tremendously.
"Ok just to the right here," he says lightly, turning that car and pulling over. There are just a bunch of trees and dirt, and I don't know where he's going with this.
"C'mere," he says as we get out of the car. He walks over to me and pulls me close, kissing me.
"You look stunning," he breathes over my lips. He takes my hand and leads me through the trees. I really should've worn sneakers instead of heels. He walks in front of me, pushing away the branches and finally stops. He looks back at me, then pushing one final branch out of the way, revealing the view.
The whole city is lit up by the thousands of lights. Gleaming and glimmering as I blink, witnessing the unbelievable view. I am left without breath for a few seconds, before he takes my hand again.
"You... like it?" he asks, leading me to the bench, perfectly placed to enjoy the view.
"Harry... It's gorgeous," I say, unable to look away from it all. He grins and puts his hand on my lower back, looking at it with me. I take a second look, and the place is filled with outside lamps I mistook for city lights. He lays out a carpet on the grass, and we both sit down.
"I can't believe this," I breathe, gazing at him. He smiles, satisfied.
He brings out a bottle of champagne, and two glasses. He pours it into both and hands one of them to us.
"To us," he speaks and I laugh at the big cliché mess. But I don't care, this is lovely.
"Forever," I smile with him, and we clink our glasses together.
"Now about that surprise," he starts, and he searches in his pockets.
He brings out an envelope, and hands it to me.
"Claire," he turns to me.
"I know I've said this a hundred times, but I love you, and I don't want to spend a second without you," he says, warming my heart. What is this surprise? I smile as he points the envelope.
I open it and take out to papers - not papers, tickets.
I find the words that reveals it all; "NEW YORK". My mouth falls agape as I stare at the words.
On Saturday. That's two days from now. I look back at him, where I find an uncertain squint.
"Look, Claire, this is just me telling you what I want for us," he explains.
"I know we have talked about this before, but with everything's that has happened... I wanted to formally ask you... Do you want to move to New York with me?" his uncertain smile makes tingles run through me. We have talked about this before, but it still feels like he asks me for the first time. Because its the first time I really feel we are... real.
"If you don't want to, thats o-"
"Yes," I breathe.
"What?" he says wide eyes, genuinely not expecting my response.
"I- I want to, of course I want to," I say, surprising even myself. I move closer, kissing him, meeting a surprised yet happy face.
"Really?" he exhales, with a wide grin. He raises his eyebrows.
"Wow I love you," he breathes, holding me with strong hands, making me feel completely safe.
I know this is crazy. But it has been from the day we met, so why stop now? I know this... him... will make me happy.
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A/N: Ahh god can't get over the fact that it's over soon:((
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