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Kris Jenner is the most terrifying woman I've ever had the pleasure of knowing. That woman could slowly take over the world and bend everyone to her will without anyone realizing before it's too late. Not only did she get us hidden parking within the stadium to conceal Kendall's iconic purple car, she also hooked us up with security who will guide us in safely and seats rights between the stage and the barricade similar to how One Direction's family members got to watch the final show in Sheffield.
And she managed to do all of this without Harry, Jeff, or anyone on his team knowing.
Like I said... terrifying.
Once Taylor, Kendall, and I have been escorted in and taken to our spots, I start to get flashbacks to the many nights I'd spend in this exact spot watching the members of One Direction act like fools on stage. I'd be lucky if I escaped the night dry with the way they liked to throw water, but I oddly miss it, so I guess the nostalgia is running a bit high tonight.
Whether no one has noticed yet or not, the moment fans start screaming isn't because Taylor Swift and Kendall Jenner are standing in front of them, it's because the lights go out and an animation of Harry's constantly ringed fingers trying to solve a Rubik's cube lights up the screens. I know the point of it is to count down to his inevitable entrance and build anticipation, but I honestly don't think I can wait any longer as the excited pit in my stomach grows.
I always imagined I'd be more nervous to see him, but oddly I'm just ready to watch his face fall when he notices the three of us standing here looking as good as we do. In fact, we look so badass all matching in pink that I already pitched a Charlie's Angels themed music video to Taylor.
Finally the cube is solved and the screen starts to glitch, going black all of a sudden.
"About damn time," Kendall yells in my ear from where I stand between her and Taylor. A small laugh leaves my throat at how true her statement is.
"Should we just search romantic comedies on Netflix and then see what we find?" The familiar voice from the beginning of Woman rings out, only sending the audience into more of a wild frenzy. The elation in the Forum is only matched by that of a One Direction concert, but somehow it's even higher because this is the final show of what I'm assuming has been an iconic tour.
It's not like I've been paying attention.
Just like that, the dwindling screams pick up again, this time joined by my friends and I when the angelic beginning of Only Angel blares through the arena, bouncing off the walls left and right to the point where I start to wonder if this is what the ascent to Heaven sounds like.
"Oh my God! Taylor!" I hear someone not far behind us screech followed by more people as the sight before them becomes clear.
"Kendall, I love you!"
"Belle! Oh my God!"
An extremely loud girl starts to screech with an already raspy voice, "Why are they here? Holy shit! The power! My queens! We love you!"
This sends Taylor, Kendall, and I into a laughing fit, leaning against each other for stability so we don't fall over from the stomach wrenching giggles. I almost feel myself tipping over in my white heeled go-go boots, but catch myself on Taylor.
The blonde turns to the audience behind us and places a glittery nails over her hot pink lips. "Shh. We want to surprise him," She purrs mischievously with a wink, only turning back to look at the model and I when Kendall starts hitting both of us in the shoulder.
Along with Taylor, I squint into the darkness to find who Kendall is glaring at, but then I notice the blonde head staring right back at us, snarl reciprocated, and it becomes all too clear. Harry's new girlfriend is standing a few yards away from us, and she is not happy to see her boyfriend's exes together at his show.
Honestly, I'd be pissed too, but she has nothing to worry about tonight.
Him on the other hand...
"Just smile and wave ladies," I mutter to Taylor and Kendall as I shoot Harry's girlfriend a sarcastic grin and wave my fingers at her.
Taylor follows my lead, but Kendall turns back to the stage, taking a sip of her champagne that she insisted on us stopping to get when we got to the arena, and states nonchalantly, "I'd rather not."
When I turn my eyes back to the stage, I notice the screens have lifted, and there he stands, basking in the glory of it all. How could you not if you were standing on a stage in the middle of a sold out arena with thousands of people screaming your name? It's maddening.
The beat drops and the lights come up, allowing me to fully see who used to be my green eyed boy in all his glory. His suit pants are fitted to his legs with a glittery gold stripe going up either side to match the mass amount of sparkles on his jacket. Chestnut curls have grown much longer since the last time I saw him, but his face is no different. During the two years we've been apart, I've changed in so many ways, physically and mentally. I lost the baby fat in my face and cut my hair that's always been waist length, but Harry hasn't aged a day. He almost appears as if he's aged down!
As he skips around the stage waving to everybody and blowing kisses, I wait impatiently for him to notice me, but he never does, instead noticing Camille and shooting her a stupid grin. Harry sashays up to the mic, closes his eyes, and starts bouncing to the beat as he belts, "Open up your eyes, shut your mouth and see, that I'm still the only one who's been in love with me!"
Kendall, Taylor, and I start dancing along to the song, each of us eyeing him mischievously as we wait for him to spot us, so we can easily sink our teeth into him.
"Broke a finger knocking on your bedroom door, I got splinters in my knuckles crawling cross the floor."
I scream out the words and get lost in the music, running my hands through my brown hair and down the front of my tight hot pink dress. I make a knocking motion with my fist then proceed to rub the knuckles as I dance in line with the lyrics, eventually arching my back and moving my hips as if I'm crawling across the floor.
Taylor Swift screams at the top of her lungs next to me as if she has a point to prove, the fans behind us who I assume are waiting with bated breath for tonight's chaos to unfold all start applauding her as she screams the lyric that hits home for her, "Couldn't take you home to mother in a skirt that short, but I think that's what I like about it!"
Harry finally pulls the mic free from the stand and whips the chord around as he prances towards our end of the stage. His shoulders shimmy in rhythm with Mitch, Sarah, and the rest of the band's expert playing, yet his wild eyes seem to land everywhere but on Kendall, Taylor, and me.
All his unknowing avoidance does is amp me up for the moment he does notice, hands brushing my hair from my face as he meets with the mic stand again to sing the next verse. The entire time, Kendall has been singing along quietly to a song she claims to be about her, but I can tell she is just as high strung as me, practically tossing her alcohol into my hands when Harold motions for the crowd to sing louder. "Hold my shit," she nearly growls.
"Told it to my brother and I told it to you-" The raven-haired beauty screams almost angrily, changing the lyrics to fit the song as if it was from her point of view instead of his. "That I'm gonna be an angel just you wait and see!"
So much for Taylor and Kendall saying there's no bad blood.
Somewhere during her singing, she took her glass back from me and downs a large amount of it, while at the same time I notice a smug Camille Rowe staring at us, smirk only present because our mission is failing, but not if I have anything to say about it.
Moving slightly closer to the stage, I push my hair back from my shoulders so the pearls around my neck catch the light, and I scream the next lyric that resonates with me so loud that Jesus himself can probably hear me all the way in Heaven.
"Well it turns out I'm a devil in between the sheets, and there's nothing I can do about it!" I take a page out of Ken's book and change the words to fit me, also pointing at myself for more emphasis.
And just like that, his eyes are on me. For the split second that gold meets green for the first time in years, I make sure to send him all the cockiness I can, shit eating smirk so large and confident that I can practically feel myself glowing. He deserves to know all the pain he put through. He deserves to see how much I've grown, none of it possible if it wasn't for him. I know I'm behaving badly, but why's it feel so good?
Harry Styles, always the most confident man in any room he walks into, fumbles on his words upon not only seeing me, but Kendall and Taylor close behind making it obvious we're here together, especially when Kendall raises her glass to him, blowing him a kiss that may be even bitchier than the smirk I sent.
As the fans sing the words he missed, H throws his head back for a moment, mouthing what looks like a prayer for mercy that won't be answered, because while we may all be angels, tonight the devil has us in a chokehold. When he throws his curly head back up, he watches us momentarily with so much fear taking over his face that I almost feel bad... almost.
He is squirming like a bug under a microscope, and I can't help but enjoy it. We all can't.
For the rest of the song, Harry tries everything he can to avoid us by trying to only watch Camille, but when that doesn't work he switches to interacting with fans. However, he realizes soon that he's only waving at one side, because the other contains his worst nightmare, so he moves to dance with Mitch and Adam, then comes to the conclusion that he simply can't stop staring at the three of us while we dance with hands in the air, grinding on each other as we laugh.
"Wanna die, wanna die, wanna die tonight," Harry starts muttering the mostly unintelligible part of Only Angel's bridge, more stress lacing his voice than he probably hoped for, but it makes me happier than when Harry Potter found out he was a wizard and would get to leave his evil aunt and uncle behind to go learn magic.
As the opening number comes to a close, Harry seems to gain some of his haughtiness back by dancing around like the wild man he's alway been. Eventually, the ending chords are extended for dramatic effect, and Harry revels in it all, throwing his hands to the side and sticking his tongue out goofily. The crowd only screams louder, the blonde girlfriend continuing to glance over and raise her voice level as if it's a competition.
It can be, but I can assure you she won't come anywhere close to winning.
Deep purple lights darken the stage for a moment, Harry disappearing into the darkness until the distinct piano from Woman ripples through the room. Taylor freaks out next to me, but I keep my cool even though I'm reacting the same as her on the inside. I may be the only one in this room, in the whole world even, that knows the truth behind the odd sound in the song that some believe to be a duck while other's hope it to be Harry. Tonight, I'm going to use that knowledge to my advantage. I'm gonna make him sweat.
"I'm selfish, I know, but I don't ever wanna see you with him," Harry nearly grunts into the microphone, voice going several octaves deeper than usual and green eyes flicking over to me for such a short amount of time that I wonder if it really happened. "I'm selfish, I know. I told you, but I know you'd never listen."
This time there's no question whether his eyes find me or not, because now they linger, grazing up and down my body as a smirk lines his lips. Being his usual cocky self, he sends me a wave that I don't reciprocate, just continue standing with my arms crossed and a dark grin curving up my full lips. I gulp slightly to try and push down the odd butterflies dancing around my stomach.
Each time a moan sounds in the song, I make sure to keep my eyes that twinkle with amusement glued to him, reveling in the moment when he notices I'm opening my mouth each time to form a moan. I even go as far as to screw my eyes shut and make it look slightly more real, but anyone with any ability to understand even the slightest bit of sarcasm would be able to tell what I'm doing.
Harry seems to find a massive amount of delight in my actions, because his dimples appear as he starts to laugh, barely missing a note when his breathy chuckles interrupt his singing.
I find myself giggling a little too, but stop myself when I feel both blue and brown eyes of Taylor and Kendall. I apprehensively look between the girls seeing them both with a knowing smirk on their lips.
"Don't look at me like that," I snap but already feel the smile coming back to my lips as I bring my line of sight back upon Harry.
Bright lights wash out the purple and make it easier to see faces in the crowd, several more people now letting their wide eyes move from Harry to my friends and me. Screams raise to drastic heights but set off even more when Harry waves at the crowd, smiling brightly.
"Welcome to the final show," he states nonchalantly, but I can tell by his bouncy body language that he's anything but nonchalant. Green gaze slides from Taylor, Kendall, and I, all the way over to Camille who is looking through her lashes up at him. Harry brings a hand to his face and rubs the gleaming skin, eyes widening dramatically as he blatantly states, "It's a little warm."
"Um, we have three special guests here tonight-"
The crowd begins to scream as I'm sure word of our presence has passed from the front of the pit to the back and all over social media.
"I had no idea they'd be here, so forgive me if I'm caught a little off guard, but I guess that was the point wasn't it?" Harry chortles which only makes the fans shriek louder. His joking tone of voice continues as he exclaims, "But our motto here is to treat people with kindness, so I would like to warmly welcome Kendall Jenner, Taylor Swift, and Belle Granger."
Treat people with kindness, huh? Should I ask when I'll be receiving my cut of the merch sales?
Kendall instantly whips her entire body around to wave at the crowd with a massive gleaming smile on her face, eating up the attention she's always loved to bask in while Taylor simply turns her head over her shoulder and gives the fans a close-lipped smile the screams nothing but humble confidence.
All I can think to do is shyly smile at everyone and wave at a girl who seems really excited to see me before instantly facing the stage again with my eyes trained on the floor, fingers nervously running along the pearls on my neck. I can already feel the bright red heat flushing to my face and down my neck, so I nonchalantly move all of my hair over to one side of my neck to help cool myself down.
"By the way, whoever let them in here is fired," Harry deadpans as he saunters down the stage, the wire at the end of his microphone dragging behind him. My eyes widen and find the kind security guard that brought us in, his face completely void of all emotion as security guards usually are, but I can tell by the way he rubs his hands together that he's sweating bullets.
Harry stops suddenly and starts talking with his hands, humor lightening his features. "I joke, I joke." The rockstar starts his long strides again, meeting with the mic stand and sliding the microphone back into it. He presses his pink mouth into a thin line and shakes his head before whispering, "I'm not joking."
I crack a smile at his comedic behavior that captures the entire room, every single person entrapped in the palm of his hand. Even Taylor and Kendall find themselves laughing at the man they used to call a boyfriend.
"Anyway," he continues. "My name is Harry. It's an absolute pleasure to be in this room playing for you tonight, and I thank you all for coming out. Thank you all for choosing to spend your evening with us. Thank you very, very much. This is uh, the final night of our tour, so it's gonna be a special one. We have one job tonight, and that is to entertain you. I promise you that we will do our absolute best. You also have one job, and that is to have the time of your life. If you want to sing, you wanna dance, if you wanna harass me," his eyes fall on my group, and Kendall puts both of her hands in the air, middle fingers raised jokingly as she bites down on her lip.
"Please feel free to do whatever it is that you would like to do in this room tonight. Please feel free to be whoever it is that you would like to be in this room tonight. This is Ever Since New York," Harry finally finishes his beautiful speech that has Taylor clapping proudly next to me.
As the show continues, my heart rate that's been beating with nothing but revenge has slowed, my body unwillingly swaying to each song. I find myself feeling somewhat thankful that Ken and T pushed me so much to listen to the record before coming, because now I can enjoy the experience instead of having my heart pound out of my chest with shock. At one point during Ever Since New York, I oddly find myself singing along despite only hearing the song once, but I suppose that's just a testament to how amazing it is.
During Two Ghosts, I allow my eyes to wonder around the room to take in just how many people are here for Harry, so many memories coming back of how he could never seem to fathom something like this, never having the faith in himself that he could draw this without One Direction. After always second guessing his own abilities, it's quite heartwarming to see him succeed, and it looks like I'm not the only one to think so, because my eyes randomly land on Taylor, and the look on her face says it all.
When she knew Harry, he was still just a boy with so many life lessons he still needed to learn. He hadn't come into his own as a musician yet, and was still fairly new to the world of fame that Taylor knew so well. I can tell just by watching her and vaguely hearing her beautiful voice as she harmonizes the words with Harry, that she is extremely proud of the man he has become.
Even when Harry glances down and sees her singing, he has to do a double take before his brain will fully register what he's seeing, a disbelieving smile forming on his face before it relaxes, his strumming picking up.
Then a familiar tune begins that enacts my fight or flight reaction.
"Oh, fuck me," I groan, throwing my head back in frustration. I was hoping he wouldn't play this song, but it's too good for him not to, so of course he'll sing Carolina. What irks me even more is how much I love this song, but the moment it reminds me of is literally ranked in the top three worst of my entire life.
Coming in at number one is my mother's death... obviously.
The number two spot goes to my break up with Harry.
Townes opening up that door when I went to make amends with Harry comes in easily at number three, even winning out against the time Bennett Cameron beat the shit out of me, and that's saying a lot, because the way my heart felt after Harry almost said my name when calling out to her caused way more pain than Bennett's puny fists ever could.
"What's wrong?" Kendall leans over and yells into my ear.
"This song is about her," I drawl with a slow roll of my brown eyes.
"Her as in..." Taylor hesitates.
"Yeah."
"Oh, hell no!" Kendall screams when her and Taylor both realize that I'm referring to Townes, yet neither of them ever knew her name, because I never told them. The model shoves her nearly empty drink at me for the second time tonight and raises her eyebrows as she persists, "Drink. Trust me, you need it."
My eyes search her face for a moment as I wonder if I should or not, because truth be told, I seriously hate alcohol, only ever being desperate enough to drown myself in it once. I glance down at the drink and mull the idea over, already finding myself completely against it until Harry sings, "She's a good girl," voice deepening when he sings, "She feels so good."
Without realizing, I place the glass to my lips and tip it back, the strange liquid already burning the back of my throat. Handing the now empty cup back to Kendall, she sets it on the ground as I cough and wipe at my lips. "Shit," I choke.
"You okay?" Taylor asks while rubbing my back.
"Never better," I gasp. Reaching down, I take their hands in mine and pull them close. "C'mon, ladies! We didn't come here for nothing!" I shriek, already starting to feel better.
Throughout the entire song, we sing and dance until the very end when Harry starts dancing and lets the crowd take over during the la, la, la's. On the final round before he starts to sing again, the three of us keep our hands clasped together as we lean into each other and dramatically moan out the last three as loud as our lungs all allow.
Harry manages to hear us and whips his head around, curls flying, shock prohibiting him from continuing, but I don't understand why he's so surprised.
It's nothing he hasn't heard before.
"Sing it," he gasps into the mic as he starts fanning himself with his sparkly jacket, shaking his head at our antics that aren't anywhere near completion.
"She feels so good," Harry recovers, cocky eyes glancing down to Camille.
"Oh, she feels so good," his eyes move right over me before returning. "Yeah babe, you feel so good."
I simply roll my eyes at him.
As the concert continues, Harry's energy never falters, only rises with each passing second. Eventually, he plays Medicine, and even though it pisses me off to no end that he neglected to put it on the album, I still find myself dancing along like an idiot, mouth wide open and eyes swelled at the sight of him going absolutely wild, grinding on the mic stand like there's no tomorrow.
The boy goes so crazy that his thick curls bounce and grow kinkier from the sweat, white shirt popping open from all the movement and revealing the butterfly that I've always adored. Part of me suddenly wonders if he still has the red line tattooed around his pinky or if he's had it removed already, because I just can't seem to do the deed myself. Then I find myself squinting as hard as I can to see if the rose ring is one of the many around his fingers, but I'm unable to tell.
During Sign of the Times, the unity within the arena is like nothing I've ever felt. Kendall, Taylor, and I all wrap our arms around each other and sway, all of us almost at the brink of tears, but when the song finishes and Harry disappears, I know it isn't over.
The arena stays dark, but Harry's silhouette is clear. Mitch starts to strum something I've never heard before, peaking my interest. I look from Taylor to Kendall, both of them appearing to know the song as does everyone else in attendance.
"What song is this?" I ask in confusion with a scrunch of my facial features.
"From the Dining Table," Kendall whispers seeing as the thousands of people in the room are all dead silent.
Instantly I know this is the final song on the album that I have yet to hear, and something about that unsettles me.
Harry has stepped up to the stand now, gripping onto the mic for dear life as he takes a deep nervous breath and squeezes his emerald eyes shut.
"Woke up alone in this hotel room. Played with myself, where were you? Fell back to sleep, I got drunk by noon. I've never felt less cool," his deep voice sings out, but I can barely hear as my eardrums start to echo. Spots form in my vision that cause me to stagger back, gripping onto my stomach.
"Belle?" Taylor reaches out worriedly, but I shrug her off.
"I'm fine!" I bite. "Just let me listen."
Both girls stare with wide worried eyes before meeting their gaze with one another. They seem to reach a mutual agreement to leave me alone which I'm thankful for. I need it.
"We haven't spoke since you went away. Comfortable silence is so overrated. Why won't you ever be the first one to break? Even my phone misses your call, by the way."
Tears blur my vision that I thankfully find the strength to hold in from all the years of practice I've had, but nothing can hold back the rushing waves of pain that constrict my body. I'm doing everything I can to keep from folding in on myself and hyperventilating, but nothing seems to work.
He opens his eyes, line of sight immediately set on me as if he somehow knew this was my first raw reaction to the song, however he seems shocked at what he finds. What's worse is that I swear his voice starts to shake, voice cracking a bit. He backs away from the mic a little before his mouth moves again, no sound coming out, pink lips appearing to say 'I'm sorry.'
I question if I'm seeing things, but I know that isn't the case when Taylor and Kendall whip around in pure astonishment.
Two years is a long time to move on, and when his eyes watch me sadly, almost waiting for me to tell him everything is okay, and that I forgive him, I start to wonder if I really have.
It may have taken up until two hours ago when I first sat down to listen to his album, but I know now that I have forgiven Harry Styles. We've both grown and become different people, and I think it's for the better.
Besides, just by hearing this song, I now understand that he was in more pain than I could have ever imagined.
While he may not be my green eyed boy anymore, I don't see why we can't be friends like we used to.
However, I know that I will always love him no matter what.
Moving forward, I wrap my arms around Taylor and Kendall, the two reciprocating my actions as I lean my head on Kendall's shoulder. She leans her head against mine, screaming, "Shut the fuck up!" When someone, who sounds a lot like Camille Rowe, cheers and disrupts the silence.
Shooting Harry a small smile, I nod my head forgivingly at him just as he sings the last line of the song, "Even my phone misses your call, by the way."
Finally it's time for Kiwi, and he doesn't just do it once... he performs it three times!
Harry starts off on stage like any normal performance, but when he signals to the band to start again, the fans go wild, especially when the rockstar runs down into the crowd, continuing to scream out the song with no regard for hitting notes, only in it for the fun.
I'm almost just as out of breath as Harry is from all the dancing I've been doing, not stopping for anything. Sweat beads at my hairline and drips down my back, but I couldn't care less as I howl along with Kendall and Taylor who have been just as high on ecstasy as me.
We cheer loudly, our original intent of scaring the shit out of Harry Styles achieved but now forgotten, all three of us applauding him as he falls to his knees from exhaustion, chestnut curls flopping.
As he thanks everyone for coming, I watch in awe, feeling happier than I've felt in a long time with the weight of hatred for the man I used to call my best friend in the entire world now gone. Yet, just before he departs he walks over to Kendall, Taylor, and I, bending down to speak to us and making my heartbeat skyrocket.
"Are you guys coming backstage?"
I open my mouth to speak even though I didn't think I'd have the confidence to, but Kendall answers quickly.
"Wouldn't miss it."
He grins at us and nods his head sharply before vanishing into the darkness along with the band and Camille, a security guard approaching us to bring us into the back.
Where I expected to find nerves, I actually find nothing but excitement about finally being face to face with Harry again. Taylor and Kendall joke about things that happened during the show while I can't seem to wipe the smile from my face. The closure I need is so close, I can practically feel it.
"Are you shitting your pants yet?" Kendall leans over and whispers to me when we are led into a room and left to wait for Harry and whoever he chooses to bring with him.
"No, actually," I beam.
This only earns a proud smile and pat on the back from Taylor and a knowing smirk from Kendall as she blows air through her nostrils.
Suddenly, the door is slowly opening, and I can hear the end of a conversation that is being spoken in French.
A distinct female voice complains, "Bébé, devons-nous le faire? Je ne veux pas les rencontrer. On ne peut pas simplement partir?"
Then the door is fully opened to reveal Harry who has removed his sparkly jacket, now just clad in pants and the white button up, and Camille, who I now match with the female French speaker, following close behind with her hands clasped around one of his.
Harry opens his mouth to say something, but I beat him to it, eyes narrowed at the blonde woman's blatant rude behavior.
"Ne changez pas votre culotte, mon amour. Si j'étais ici pour te pendre Harry, il serait déjà à moi," I sarcastically bite with a smile, making the girl widen her already large eyes in shock at the fact that I can fluently speak French, but her shock quickly disappears, face twisting into a sneer.
"What did she say?" Taylor quietly asks me.
"She was asking H why she has to come back here and meet us."
"Awww, honey. Don't worry, I don't like you either," Kendall speaks at full volume directly to Camille with a pitying pout of her full lips.
"Kendall," I jab her in the side, eyes flitting to Harry who's covering his mouth as he tries not to laugh much to my surprise. Meanwhile, all Kendall does his shrug, feeling no ounce of remorse.
Awkward silence plagues us all for a moment, no one's eyes quite meeting those of anyone else until my eyes accidentally meet Harry's.
"I read your book," he blurts, voice just as deep and velvety as I remember.
I don't really know what to say to that. I guess I could ask what he thought, but instead I remark, "I heard your album."
"Well, yeah. A lot of people just did. I take it you like it?" He asks with a small smirk that brings out his dimples that have always made me blush, and I can only hope no one notices.
"Considering more songs were written about me than these two," I motion between Taylor and Kendall who are both already rolling their eyes, "I'd say yeah. It's pretty good."
"Good to know," he breathily laughs, running his finger under his nose like he always does to conceal his contagious smile.
Camille smirks at me before nuzzling her nose into Harry's neck and quietly speaking, "Baby, we're gonna be late for the party."
I find myself scrunching my nose in slight disgust at how hard she's trying to make her accent sound stronger than it really is.
"Okay, oka-"
Harry's voice catches in his throat when his eyes move from Camille's pretty face to the pearls around my neck. I honestly believed he already noticed them from the stage, but when I realize that I'm devastatingly mistaken, I instantly shy away and start rubbing at my neck to cover them. Now that my reason for wearing them in the first place seems so unimportant, I feel the urge to rip them from my neck and throw them away.
"You know what?" Harry turns back to Camille and holds her at arms length. "Why don't you take Kendall and Taylor and introduce them to everyone. You and Kendall get along right? Didn't you work together a few years ago..."
"In the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show?" Kendall buts in.
"Yes!" Harry beams, spinning around to face Kendall as he holds up a victorious finger.
The group keeps sharing less than pleasant conversation while I completely zone out, worry taking over as to why Harold would want to talk to me. As I twist my pinky ring, I gulp down all the bad thoughts, only looking up when I notice that everyone has left the room and I hear Harry standing in the hall yelling, "I'll catch up with you later?"
"Okay, Lover Boy," Taylor and Kendall yell in unison, obviously peeved at having to go with Camille, but I'd honestly take going with her any day than being left alone with Harry. This is not something I was prepared for, so all excitement is gone.
"You still hate attention, I see," Harry speaks with amusement as he strolls back in, leaving the door open.
"Huh?" I bleat when I fully come back to, pinky rubbing raw from my nervous twisting.
"Earlier during the show," he gulps, continuing to rub under his nose anxiously, green eyes dark with angst. "You got all red and sweaty when the crowd was applauding you. You always get like that when you get any sort of attention."
"Oh," I blush, biting down on my bottom lip as I refuse to meet his gaze.
"Yeah."
More silence.
I've practically been rehearsing every outcome this scenario could have, planning every witty comeback I could ever need for the moment I'd undoubtedly be faced with Harry Edward Styles again, but somehow it's all been blown from my brain from the tornado ripping my coherent thoughts to shreds.
"Listen, um," he speaks abruptly. "Do you want to maybe, um... like, go somewhere. I'm not really in the partying mood, and if you're up for it," the star holds his hands up apprehensively. "Only if you're up for it, I'd really love to get out of here and catch up."
Well, I didn't plan for this at all. I expected maybe a small hello and that would be it. I expected to be ignored. I even expected for him to be so angry that he would yell at me for coming and making his girlfriend mad. Hell, I even imagined a scenario where we would be invited to the afterparty, and I'd light up the dance floor to show him what he lost, even finding a cute boy to maybe fall in love with.
But never in my wildest dreams did I imagine he would say the words he just spoke.
I am fully prepared to say no.
I should say no!
But when I notice a ring, the ring, still snuggly fit around his finger, and I gasp out, "Yes."
"Yes?" He asks in elated disbelief.
"Yes."
And just like that, like two naughty school children running through the halls of school after hours, we're racing out with giddy laughter escaping our lips as if it's 2011 again, the summer we first met, and there's not a single worry in the world.
Just a naive girl named Belle Granger and a courageous young boy named Harry Styles.
And all the boys, they were saying they were into it. Such a pretty face, on a pretty neck. Driving me crazy...