"I thought you said you'd shut up if I agreed to dance with you."
Harry rolls his eyes. "That was before I knew how awful of a dancer you were. Earlier, I thought it was your nerves or something. Now, I'm not so sure."
"Hey! I am not an awful dancer!"
"You are too." Harry gives me a pitying look. "I'm just trying to teach you how to lighten up a little. Get loose and enjoy yourself. Feel the music."
"Maybe I don't want to," I say stubbornly. Or maybe the last time I did, things didn't go so well, I think, but don't say out loud.
"That's truly sad," Harry shakes his head. "You're never going to have any fun if you don't get out of your comfort zone and just let go of everything for once. Stop being so uptight and just live a little."
"I live plenty."
"Of course you do." Harry says sarcastically, as if he doesn't believe me. "How about I go over there and dance with Dalia and you just let me know when you're finished being stubborn."
I glare at him and cross my arms. I know I'm just being more stubborn and giving his statements truth, but I don't care. I'm not going to dance if I don't want to.
Harry raises his eyebrows at my response and then nods before turning around. "Okay, have it your way." He starts to walk off.
I clench my jaw and will myself not to say anything. Just to stay strong. "Wait... um... so, what was that move you were trying to teach me?"
Damn my traitorous mouth.
Harry stops and turns on his heels, just stands there for a moment, and gives me a grin. "Just a simple moon walk. I can teach you some more if you want."
I hesitate before nodding. "Okay."
Harry starts walking back to me. "Okay, here's how this goes..."
* * * * *
"This is amazing! Who knew dancing could feel like this?" I shout over the music as I dance with Harry. Well, I'm more like hopping up and down to the beat, but still, everyone else is too. Who knew that Harry's whole family loved to dance crazily? I certainly didn't!
Harry grins at me over my shoulder. "Told you so."
I turn in a circle and stop when I'm facing him once again. I grin and take a step towards him, feeling daring, but I don't get far before Anne shows up and taps on Harry's shoulder.
Anne says something to Harry which makes him hesitate, biting his lip. He responds shaking his head a little but not looking too sure. Anne takes on a pleading expression as she says something back and Harry seems to give in because he sighs and gives her a resigned nod. Anne gives him a hug, a grin lighting up her face and gives me a grin before waltzing away back to her husband.
"What was that about?" I ask, taking a few more small steps toward Harry.
He looks over at me and gives me a shy smile. It surprises me because I've never seen him look anything but completely confident. "She want's me to do something for her. I'll be right back. Just stay here."
I am about to respond when he turns his back on me and walks away. I frown and tug at my hair, looking around at everyone else dancing. After a few moments, I start start to doubt that he'd come back at all. I mean, I don't know what to expect from Harry anymore. He's full of surprises at every twist and turn. I never know what he's going to do next.
When Harry returns a few minutes later, I let out a relieved breath I didn't even realize I was holding. "Hey," I say.
Harry smiles back. "Hey."
My response is intercepted by the DJ. "Okay, time to slow things back down. Grab a partner and sway a little to some Elvis Presley sung by our very own Harry Styles."
I startle at his words and look at Harry, eyebrows raised. That's when I notice the small microphone placed by his mouth that I didn't see before. "Really?"
Harry smirks and holds out a hand to me as the music starts. "Really. I mean, my mum practically begged me to. How could I say no?"
"You looked like you were saying no at first." I give Harry a hard look, knowing that he was fibbing a little.
Harry shrugs, "Okay, but I changed my mind. Now shh and let me sing for the crowd. They're staring."
My eyes widen in response and I glance around frantically. Surely enough, all the couples had stopped dancing and were eyeing our interaction both curiously and impatiently. Harry's voice had been broadcasting through the microphones. My cheeks blush on their own accord and I give everyone a wobbly smile.
Harry chuckles and shakes his head, nudging my chin with his finger to get me to look back at him. He gives me an amused grin and then nods to the DJ. "DJ, my man, start the track before everyone grows old and dies."
The DJ grins back and points to him. He presses a few buttons on his laptop and whatever else he has over there while narrating. "Okay, slowing it down with some Elvis Presley karaoke style. I give the floor to Mr. Harry Styles, everyone."
The music starts and I know the song right away.
A smile makes it's way onto my face as Harry pulls me closer and we start to sway to the flow of the music. He seems to stare right at me as he sings, which causes me to look away in order to hide my blush.
Tonight, Harry has shown a different and very rare side of him. It's really hard to continue to hate him when he's been the perfect gentleman for the past few hours to me.
I start to feel guilty and uneasiness pools in my stomach as I think of all the awful things I've said to him and how I judged him before I really knew him. I pried into things that were sensitive subjects to him, like his tattoo, and then judged him about getting defensive about them. I was awful to him and classified him as a jerk without giving him a chance.
And yet he's still here and he's still being kind to me after everything I've done.
Though, whilst I've done some awful things, I will not forget the things he's said and the things he's done. But it's not all his fault and it's not all mine. The only fair thing to do is to forgive him and give him another chance -- or any chance at all because I don't even think I gave him a shot to begin with.
And that was it. Harry wasn't as bad as I made him out to be. He was just a person, misunderstood and lost. That made him who he was and I could forgive him for that.
He deserved happiness and he deserved a real friend. And that's something I'm now willing to give him because he's been here, even if his presence isn't always welcome, through everything so far. And he gave me a place to stay when he clearly didn't like the idea of giving up his privacy, and that means a lot to me. He could try to be rude all he wanted, but I know that deep down, he's a good person with a kind heart that not even he could completely hide.
And so I look up
and I meet his eyes
and I don't look away.
"Wise men say
Only fools rush in
But I can't help falling in love with you"
* * * * *
A/N: Wow, 2016 truly has sucked. I'm so sorry for continually taking long breaks in between chapters. So much stuff has happened and I've been so moody lately. I've had more emotional break downs this month than I've had in the past 2 years in all.
While I was gone though, Roommate Agreement continued to grow and is almost at 4.6K votes! I want to just thank you all so much for sticking with me since the beginning. I love to read all your comments as the story goes on and my heart just swells more and more with each notification of a new vote on this story I get. Your dedication to being fans of Roommate Agreement and your patience with me are greatly appreciated. You all are the only reason I haven't given up on everything and I owe everything to you.
Now, if you're still reading, please check out my new story Selfishly Possessive. It would mean a lot to me! I spend 8 months writing it and planning it and now I've finally worked up the courage to show it to you! It's completed so you only have to wait a week (maybe less) in between updates which can keep you occupied in between these sporadic RA updates.
Honorable mention to @foreverharlena for adding Selfishly Possessive to her reading list! Thanks for your continual support!
QOTC: This has nothing to do with the chapter, but what would you like to see under your tree for Christmas??
Please do vote, comment, share, and add this story to your reading lists :) xx
.
word count: 1,585