When Hayley's brunette hair came into view, I launched myself towards the arrival gate and wrapped her in the biggest hug possible. She laughed and wrapped her arms around me too. "Hey, C." She said, as I pulled away and helped her with some of her bags. "This is all you brought?" I asked, looking stunned. Hayley owned thousands of things, I found it hard to believe that she only brought two bags all the way from New York.
"The rest of the stuff is coming on a truck. Should be here by next week, hopefully." She smiled and I nodded my head in understanding. That made more sense. We walked over to baggage claim to collect her checked bag and then walked outside into the California sun. "Now I could get used to this." Hayley smiled, squinting joyfully in the sunlight. "How are we getting back to your place?" Hayley asked, knowing full well I didn't have a car here. I turned and smirked at her.
"Oh, I should have fucking known." Hayley shook her head as she laid her eyes on the Range Rover. The passenger window rolled down and Harry sat there smiling. "Hey girl," he said in the most ridiculous and high pitched tone ever. I rolled my eyes. "I forgot you lived here. I'm just gonna catch the next flight back." Hayley turned around but I grabbed her arm and she laughed. "I'm just kidding. I'm here for you, he's just annoying." Hayley scoffed before climbing into the backseat.
I couldn't shake the feeling of knowing Ryan was somewhere here too, working with my parents to somehow win me back. And I hadn't told Harry about this either. It was the last thing he needed to be worrying about. The very last thing. And I intended to keep it that way.
"I'm really sorry about Ryan, Chloe." Hayley said, after we had been driving for about five minutes.
Well, there goes that plan.
"What about Ryan?" Harry asked, looking over at me confused. I slouched in my chair and tried to keep my calm. I turned around and gave Hayley my best "What the fuck?" face before facing Harry. "My Dad hired Ryan, so he just moved here as well. It's some sort of plan my parents have. They're trying to get us back together." I explained. I saw Harry's jaw clench and he gripped the steering wheel tighter. "And do you want that?" He asked, not looking at me. "What? Harry, no. Hell no. Not in a million years." I couldn't even believe what I was hearing.
"It's my parents attempting to control my life, once again. Except this time, I'm not going to do what they tell me. I'm an adult that can make decisions on her own. Gone are the days that they do that for me, especially when it comes to relationships." I said honestly, staring at Harry, but he kept his eyes on the road. "Good for you." Hayley said proudly, looking out the window, but I wasn't too concerned about what she was thinking at this particular moment.
Harry was quiet for the rest of the ride to my apartment, and after I showed Hayley inside, I came back out to talk to him. Luckily, he hadn't driven away yet, but was sitting in the driver's seat looking out the window, deep in thought. When he noticed me walking toward him, he slipped his sunglasses back on and looked down to his lap.
"Harry?" I asked, placing my hands on the door. He looked up at me but due to the sunglasses, I couldn't see his eyes. "You don't have to worry, okay? Nothing will ever happen between Ryan and me again, and I mean that. He hurt me one too many times. I'm never going back." I said honestly, and Harry just nodded.
"It's just that, I'm kind of sitting here waiting for you to be comfortable enough to try our relationship again, and it seems like you're not even thinking about it. Am I wrong?" He asked softly and I could hear the hurt in his voice. "I don't know. I thought we were just being friends. I didn't know you were waiting for me." I said, a bit stunned by his revelation.
"I don't know what I'm doing. It feels like I'm waiting for you. But maybe this won't happen again." Harry said, and his voice cracked. "Tell me the truth, Chloe." He said again, finally slipping off his sunglasses. I swallowed the lump in my throat and tried to speak, but I just couldn't say anything. "I thought so. Look, if you just want to be friends then, that's fine. I just wanted to let you know that I'm heading out of here tomorrow to do some writing in London for a week with a few friends. So, I guess I'll see you when I get back." He said, putting his sunglasses back on and starting the car.
"Harry, no." I whispered and he looked back at me. "Please just, be patient with me. I'll be ready some time. Don't give up on me." I said, a stray tear falling down my face. I didn't want to fall out of touch with him like I did after he left New York. Harry looked in my eyes trying to figure out if I was telling him the truth.
"Just think about things while I'm gone, okay? I get that you just want to take things slowly right now, but I don't want to wait for you when you have no intention of trying this again." Harry gestured in between us and I slowly nodded. "Have a safe trip." I said, trying to hold back tears. He just nodded and pulled out into the street. I sighed and walked upstairs. I had to help Hayley unpack and think about this situation with Harry.
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"What the fuck? He just casually mentioned that he's flying across the world like a day before he does so?" Hayley was sipping a cup of tea from the island and I casually shrugged my shoulders, trying to distract myself by sorting through Hayley's things. "One minute I think he's cool and maybe acceptable for you, and the next he's acting like a complete asshole and has got me hating him again!" She sounded exasperated, and I took this as my cue to finally cut her off.
"I've got a lot to think about. I don't need you bashing Harry while I'm trying to do that, okay?" I said, finally putting down what I was focused on and collapsing onto the couch. Hayley's face looked sympathetic as she walked over and sat in the chair next to me. "I'm really sorry, Chloe. You deserve an amazing guy." She said honestly, and I covered my face with my hands, sighing in exhaustion. "I want to take this slow. I want to have a normal friendship with him. But, at the same time, the thought of him dating other people or having to hang around a possible girlfriend of his makes me sick. What am I supposed to do?" I sighed.
I didn't want to keep Harry from being happy. He was going to be miserable waiting around for me. I didn't want that .
"Well, you know how it goes." Hayley said, and I frowned in confusion. "If you love something, set it free. If it comes back, then you better not mess it up again." Hayley laughed. "I don't think that's exactly how the saying goes, but I get where you're coming from." I looked down to the floor. As much as it would hurt me to see Harry date other people, it would be necessary, for his happiness.
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I knocked lightly on Harry's front door and attempted to calm my nerves. It was a bit late, so I was hoping he didn't have an early flight in the morning. The door opened and there he stood, looking perfectly perfect, as per usual.
"Come in." He stepped aside to let me through and I walked into his house, trying to control my emotion. "What are you doing here?" He asked, following me into the living room. "Harry, I want you to be happy." I started, and I could see in his face that he didn't want to hear this, but he said nothing. "I don't want to be the reason why you're not dating around. You deserve to be able to meet people and get to know them, instead of waiting for me. Please, just go and be happy. Be young. Go meet someone. Do what makes you smile." I said, trying my best to hold it together. I was proud of myself for managing to get it out in a complete sentence.
I waited for Harry to respond, but I got nothing. He didn't even look at me. He was just staring out the window. I was starting to wonder if coming here in the first place was a mistake. What if I had just made things worse? What if he was already dating around and found me pathetic for thinking otherwise?
"I see your point." His voice finally relieved me of my thoughts.
"But I don't agree with it." He said firmly. My eyes darted around in confusion, and I tried to speak, but I honestly didn't know what to say.
"Did you ever consider that maybe I don't want to date around? Maybe I don't want to go out and get hammered every night and hook up with people that I'll never see again. Maybe I want to wait because I don't want to try be with anyone else. Maybe I just want you." He said seriously. I still didn't know what to say.
"So, don't try telling me it'll be better for me to go around and date other people. That would be unfair to both of us. Tell me that it wouldn't bother you." He said, staring me in the eye. "It would." I admitted. "Then why are you doing this? Don't push me away." He said, taking a step closer to me. "You want to be just friends for now? Fine. It's going to be fucking hard for me, but I respect you and the fact that you don't want to jump into this right now. God knows you've got enough going on. But don't let me go just because you think it'll cause both of us less pain. It's only going to make it worse."
I sighed. "What happens if you meet a girl and end up really liking her? What then?" I asked, trying to find my way around the common sense I was trying to avoid. "That won't happen." He said firmly. "How do you know that?" I pressed further. "Because the girl I like is standing right in fucking front of me!" He said, his tone revealing a sense of frustration. I blushed at his words and looked down at the perfect marble floors.
"Look, I'm not saying I'm going to enjoy just being your friend. I truly wish we could be so much more than that. But I'm not going to push you away. I'll be fine. I don't need to date anyone else. I don't want to date anyone else. Understand?" He said, and I gently nodded my head. I didn't want to date anyone else either.
"So we can agree that until you're ready, we're going to be friends?" Harry said, holding my hand in his. "Yes." I said, feeling a thousand weights lift off my shoulders. He broke out in a smile. "Cool. Now, I hate to do this love, but my flight leaves at 6 AM tomorrow morning. Either you leave or I'm taking you up to bed with me." He smirked and I swatted him in the arm before wrapping him in a hug.
"Thank you Harry." I whispered in his ear. "Have a great trip." I smiled and he nodded his head, pulling back to look at me. "I will. Have fun settling down with Hayley. I'll be back in a week, then I was planning on having a little house party, you two are definitely invited." He winked and I laughed before waving and walking out the door, with a much clearer head than I walked in with.
_________
I woke up to someone hitting a pillow over my head. I groaned. "C! Wake up!" Another hit to the head had me sitting straight up, glaring at Hayley, who sat at the foot of my bed, drinking a cup of coffee innocently. "You have to tell me what happened!" Hayley smiled slyly and I just shook my head. "We agreed to, well, be friends. Until I was ready." I said, a smile falling over my face just thinking about the conversation we had.
Harry wanted me. He didn't want to date anyone else.
"Ready for what?" She asked, taking another sip of her coffee. "Ready to get back together and try again." I felt myself blushing. "You went over there to tell him he could be free though? What changed your mind?" She asked. "Nothing. I told him what I wanted to do and he rejected it. He said he had no interest in dating anyone else. He just wanted me." I felt my heart rate increase at the words and I even saw Hayley smile a little.
"Well, isn't that just beautiful." She said sarcastically while heading to get more coffee, but the smile on her face told me she was genuinely happy for me.
I glanced down at my phone and saw a couple messages from Harry.
Just boarded the plane. I'll let you know when I land. H x.
The only snack they have on here is fucking vanilla pudding. PTSD.
Niall said he'd enjoy spending lots of time with you while I'm in England. Please move to a different apartment and don't tell him? Thanks. x.
The last two made me laugh sincerely and I bit my lip. If my life wasn't so complicated, my relationship with him could be so amazing. But, if this is the way it has to be, then I'm willing to wait until the end of time, just as long as I get to be with him.
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awwww charry is in full effect and its so cute.!!!
hope ur enjoying the story :) please let me know if you are.
all my love,
haileexoxo