The room was deadly silent and all eyes turned to stare at me. I shrank in my seat and was thankful for Harry’s hand which I now had in a death grip.
“This is your doing!” James Lemoyne shouted, pointing at me.
“My baby was killed because of you!” Avril whimpered and began crying. Her husband gave Harry the most chilling look before he took his wife out of the room. I saw them through the window, Avril collapsing against her husband before the detective closed the blinds. “Officer Dover, can you take them into my office?”
I was speechless, not knowing what to say. I felt wracked with guilt.
“It’s not your fault, Miss Archer,” Detective Heywood said softly.
I nodded, doing my best to hold in the tears. “Harry, you need to tell him,” I said.
My Aunt looked just as confused as I did when he pulled out his phone and showed the detective the picture of him with Carissa. But when he explained the stalker tendencies and the restraining order from Kendall Jenner and overload of stalking on the internet it all seemed to make sense.
“Thank you for that, I really think it’ll help the case and give us a more solid background to finding this woman. I’ll have my detectives pull up the case from Ms. Jenner and we’ll review the case with her and see if there are any connections with any other celebrity stalking cases. Most of the time, these fans just have a deluded sense of reality but they can sometimes get out of hand. This woman is clearly unstable and we are going to do everything we can to catch her and put her away for a long time. I’ll be in contact with you over the weekend.” He stood up and showed us the door.
“Detective? What is the connection between Cost and me and Harry and Carissa?” I asked, afraid of the answer.
“I don’t know, honestly. I think he just got in the way, to be frank. It’s a good thing the paparazzi was there though or else they wouldn’t have caught the car driving away from the house. I’ll have to investigate further to see why they were there to begin with. I’m sorry, but that’s all the information I can really give right now. Thank you for your coorperation so far.”
We all left and drove back to my house in silent. Harry made a few phone calls when we arrived back at my house and my Aunt fixed some salads for us while I showered and changed. I came downstairs dressed in shorts and in Harry’s grey hoodie. It smelled like him, minty and clean. And it felt safe.
“I’m going to have to head back tomorrow morning, Annaleise,” he said, coming into the kitchen. He had changed back into his dark jeans and donned a grey long-sleeved Henley he had picked up at the store earlier. He sat down and helped himself to some of the salad. I moved the leafy greens around in the bowl in front of me.
“What time?” I asked.
“I have a flight booked for 10:30, love, I’m sorry.”
“Harry, I understand. It’s okay,” I said softly still playing with my food.
“I’ll leave you,” My Aunt said. She wrapped her arms around me and hugged Harry before she left the room, salad in hand.
“Annaleise, I really am – “ he said.
I cut him off. I looked over at him. “I know, you have prior commitments: you’re part of a world famous band on tour and you can’t just drop everything just because some girl in your life is going through a tough time. It’s fine.” I didn’t mean to sound so bitter, but it just came out that way. I drew the hood up and slouched in the chair.
He dropped his fork and turned me to face him. “This isn’t about you and this isn’t about us. This is about the both of us taking care of our responsabilities so we can be together. If things were different, I would be with you twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, three hundred and sixty-five days a year for the rest of time. And I plan on that starting in a few weeks once my tour is finished and then we can start the rest of our lives together, Annaleise. I thought you were on board with this?”
“I am, Harry. I am. I’m just scared.”
He kissed me passionately, his desire growing apparent as he traced his tongue along my bottom lip. When he pulled away, his bright green eyes stared deep into mine. “Don’t you think I’m scared too? There’s a psychotic woman out there who killed my girlfriend’s ex-boyfriend and for all I know she could be after me too. I’m going to be sleepless the next two weeks worrying you, wishing I was here with you every minute I’m not. It’s not just you whose affected by this situation, so am I.”
I sighed. “I don’t mean to be so selfish, I’m sorry.”
He pulled me onto his lap. “You’re not being selfish. Honestly, I’m selfish because from this moment on I want nothing else than to spend every waking moment with you. I don’t ever want to have to share you with anyone else.”
“You won’t, Harry, I’m all yours.” I turned and kissed him deeply.
“Can we go get tacos, though? I’m starving and this salad is not what I want to eat right now.” He said, pulling away from our kiss.
“Of course! That’s probably the best thing I heard all day.” I grabbed my aunt’s keys from the counter.
“What? You mean my declaration of love wasn’t the best thing you heard? Christ, Annaleise, I’m going to stop making these passionate declarations of love to you if you don’t even appreciate them.” He pouted, pretending to look miffed.
I rolled my eyes and called up to my aunt that we were using her car for a while. I turned back to Harry and got down on one knee.
He looked at me, slightly amused, slightly horrified.
“Harry Edward Styles,” I said. “Would you do me the honor of accompanying me to quite possibly the best Mexican food you can find outside of Mexico?”
He gasped and placed his hand in mine. “Of course,” he adopted a high pitched voice. “I would be so honored.”
We laughed and headed out to the car, I tossed Harry the keys and we slid into the Silver Audi and headed into downtown Los Angeles. Thirty minutes and $50 later, we had ordered at least two of everything on the menu and sat in the parking lot, eyes bigger than our stomachs, but mouths watering at the smell of the delicious food. Harry delved into the bags and pulled out some sort of burrito and bit into it.
“Oh my god, amazing. I love American food,” he said, cheese falling from his mouth.
I laughed and searched in the bag for something. I agreed with him and we wolfed down whatever we could before we both reclined back in the seats, our laps covered in taco wrappers and crumbs. I took a sip of the soda and burped loudly.
Harry gave me a surprised look and countered back with one of his own, even louder.
“Harry Styles, I am not having a burping contest with you!” I exclaimed. I drank a bit more of the soda and let out an even louder belch than the one before.
He wrinkled his nose. “Good, because you would’ve one. Don’t think I’m kissing you with that taco breath, either.”
I laughed and crawled over onto his lap, adopting my best seductive look. “You would really deny me?” I pursed my lips, pouting a bit.
His lips crashed into mine and I wound my fingers in his hair. He bit my bottom lip with his teeth and pulled me closer before ducking away and groaning.
“I retract what I said about American food. I feel disgusting.”
I laughed and slid back into my own seat. “I second that.”
He rubbed his stomach and I laughed at him again. “Most unattractive thing you’ve ever done,” I teased.
He laughed at my reminder of how he mocked me after my own action after we had the burgers a few nights ago. My mind raced back to the thought that that event had only been a few days ago. I couldn’t believe how much had happened. I closed my eyes, trying not to be pulled down my the reality of the week and just enjoy the few hours I had left with Harry before he had to leave again.
“Let’s go to the beach,” I said.
“Aren’t you supposed to wait thirty minutes until after eating to swim? Plus it’s nearly midnight,” he said.
“It’ll take us about that to get there. Please?”
He started the ignition and I directed him back onto the highway as we headed towards Malibu. When we finally pulled into a deserted parking lot, it was close to 1AM and we stepped out of the car, ditching our shoes once we hit the sand. The waves crashed gently against the shore and the moon illuminated the carved out cove I had taken us to.
I loved this place. The beach at night was my favorite. The water left and returned every few minutes, drenching our toes which were dipped in the cool Pacific Ocean. The night sky was clear and we could see millions of star glittering in the night sky. It was so peaceful. I rested my head against Harry’s shoulder and we sat in silence for a long time.
“Certainly not like the beaches in England,” he finally said.
“It’s certainly not.”
“Do you ever miss it?” He asked me.
“I do. But I also haven’t been back in six years. It gets easier as time goes on, I suppose.”
We sat in silence again, feeling seaweed touch our feet every so often which elicited a squeal from me.
“Fancy a swim?” I asked. I stood up and began to undress, stripping the hoodie and t-shirt I had on, along with my shorts and bra. I didn’t wait for Harry’s response before I raced into the slightly chilled waters.
“Aren’t you cold?” he called.
I screamed when a wave hit me. “You get used to it!”
He undressed himself, joining me in the water and we splashed around, riding the waves and dunking each other until we were both freezing and ran out to find our clothes to dry off. I dressed quickly and climbed on top of Harry, demanding him to warm me as he struggled to button his pants with me sitting on his lap.
He checked his phone in his pocked. “Holy shit, it’s nearly 5AM, Annaleise.”
I laughed. “The sun is rising soon. Let’s watch it.”
He shrugged, agreeing and pulled me in for a swift kiss. I ran my hands through his wet hair, tangling in the curls that started to form. His breathing increased as I placed kisses from his lips to his cheek to his neck and licked and tugged softly at the skin with my teeth. He let out a groan and pulled me back.
“You’re going to end up giving me a love-bite,” he whispered.
“That’s the plan,” I said before returning to my work. I sucked on the area, pulling slightly with my teeth. He breathed out deeply before flipping me over. We were partially dry and covered in sand. I sank into the sand with the weight of his body against mine and he pressed hot wet kisses alongside my cheekbone before mimicking my actions and tugging and sucking on the skin on my neck. He unzipped the hoodie and continued the trail down my chest before stopping above the line of my t-shirt. He unzipped the hoodie all the way and pulled my arms out of it before removing the shirt underneath from me as well.
The sand was rough underneath my back, but I ignored it, helping Harry slip the t-shirt off of his own back. He returned his attention to my chest and slipped a hand into my bra, feeling for my piercings, rolling my nipple between his fingers. I moaned at his touch on the sensitive area and he took it as a signal to continue. He freed my breasts from my bra and teased one nipple between his fingers while his mouth worked on the other, sucking and gently tugging with his teeth. He went back and forth between both, torturing me with his mouth before he slipped a hand inside my shorts.
“No panties, very naughty,” he whispered huskily in my ear. His fingers found their way in between my folds and he began to stroke my clit while his mouth continued to pleasure my nipples. I felt him slip a finger inside of me and I cried out at the sensation once began to move slowly in and out, one finger moving slowly on my clit. “You’re always so fucking wet for me, Annaleise.”
I arched my hips against his hand, begging him for more. He added another finger and moved them in and out as he watched my face contort with ecstasy from the pleasure he was giving me. He unzipped my shorts and slid them down, off of me, before rolling over. He unzipped his pants and pulled them down slightly freeing his erection that was begging to be touched. He spread the hoodie underneath him before he laid down, gesturing for me to get on top of him. I heard him remove a foil packet from his pants and he slid a condom over his length before I slowly lowered myself onto him.
We both cried out at the sensation of him being inside of me. I began to move slowly, languidly, almost teasing him as I moved up and down his shaft. His breathing got heavier as did mine and he moved his thumb to stroke my clit as I worked myself up and down him, coming closer to my orgasm with each flick from him.
“God, I love being inside of you,” he murmured before flipping me over so he was on top and burying himself inside of me. It didn’t take long. Our built up, intense foreplay had done both of in and once he worked up a rhythm of thrusting inside of me deeply, he cried out as came, falling on top of me. I felt myself tighten around him with my own release and panted, wrapping my arms around him, both of us hot and sticky and covered in sand.
After a few moments he rolled off me, removing the condom and throwing it off to the side. The removal of his body heat from mine instantly chilled me and I hurriedly put on my clothes before snuggling up to him.
Pink wisps began to show in the sky, signaling the sun was rising.
“Harry? Can I tell you something?” I asked.
“Of course, love, anything,” he said softly.
“I think Cost is dead because of me,” I said.
“What? Annaleise, don’t let what his parents said get to you,” he exclaimed, turning my chin to look at his.
“Harry, the reason the paparazzi showed up at his house was because I had asked my publicist to call them and tell them I was there fighting with him. Maybe somehow Carissa heard that I was supposed to be there and went there thinking I would be there too and it was just Cost and she got angry and killed him.”
“Why did you ask her to call the paparazzi?” he asked, softly.
“So I could go see you,” I said. “They were camped outside my house and I was so distressed about them following me when all I wanted to do was go see you and tell you how I had felt.” I began to cry and he pulled me close to him, not saying anything, just holding me.