10 Hours Away | Harry Styles AU
chapter 34 - home with you
Harry offering the key to his residence was a bolt from the blue.
I had never been in a relationship, let alone come close to being given a key. I may not have a lot of experience when it comes to dating a guy for months, but I didn't think this belonged to the early stages of dating.
My heart was heavy, and my throat ached with fear. Was this too much? Was I ready to accept the key to his apartment? A key that could've belonged to Daisy in the past?
I knew he was eagerly waiting for an answer. And I did, too.
"You don't want it, do you?" he asked quietly; almost impossible for me to hear.
"I am not sure, Harry." I breathed. "This is new to me."
"You don't have to take it." he reminded me. "Even though I really hope you do."
"Can I think about it?" I asked him in a brittle voice.
"Yeah, yeah, of course." Harry answered me. "Take your time." and the smile that crossed his face was warm and reassuring everything was fine.
But I was perfectly aware of the fact that the answer I had given him was not what he had wanted to hear. I understood why it made him unhappy because it made me dispirited, too.
It verily worried me that I couldn't say yes and be on cloud nine. I was unable to burst of exuberance, all because I had stumbled upon a stupid piece of paper. A note that messed with my head more than I wanted to.
My decision didn't affect our meal together. We continued talking while stuffing our mouths with the delicious pancakes. I was thankful Harry insisted on ordering our late-breakfast at his favored diner.
Later that day, he had to return to his apartment. Harry had to go over tomorrow's schedule together with his crew; to be sure the new recordings for his project would go through in the afternoon.
I wasn't ready to say goodbye to his gorgeous face, but I knew it was necessary to let him go.
Standing in the doorway of my apartment, he had my face cupped in his soft hands. His thumbs brushed against my cheeks smoothly as his lips claimed mine, making me feel feverish.
"I didn't scare you when I showed you the key, did I?" he questioned under his breath.
"No, Harry. You didn't. I promise." I said. Being thoroughly honest.
"Tell me when you've made up your mind."
"I will." I promised him.
Harry kissed me once more. And I already got excited about our future kisses.
"I can get used to this." Harry spoke against my lips. "You. Me. Kissing endlessly and sleeping together."
Harry mentioning last night events caused me to blush instantaneously. I tried my hardest to hide the shade of red that crept onto my face. Luckily, he was unable to see the bright color of my cheeks in the dark hallway – the lights were off, which usually were turned on at this time of day.
"So it was good?" I asked gently. Trying to find out if last night reached his expectations.
"Good?" he repeated my words and laughed. "It was perfect, Liz." Harry confessed. "It couldn't have been better. Now get your head back in the game and write a best-selling novel."
One last time, his lips met with mine and I smiled through the kiss.
"Call me tonight?"
"Definitely." Harry proclaimed.
Seeing Harry walk away was never easy. Spending time with him was what I looked forward to the most. He made my darkest days brighter, and my brightest days even shinier.
Closing the front door behind me, I figured it was time to get behind the typewriter Harry had purchased.
It took me a while to prepare my brand new writing equipment, but within an hour I was completely set. When I sat on my desk chair, I looked proudly at the object that was right in front of me. Harry had given me the chance to write the much-anticipated novel that could give me the recognition after all these years.
But before my fingers would put magic onto paper, my eyes fell on the screen of my cellphone. Not only had Harry texted me saying he couldn't wait to hear my voice tonight, but I had a voicemail. I probably hadn't seen it when I dialed Mia this morning because it was from an unknown number.
With a frown on my face, I studied the caller ID. However, I had never been the type to memorize phone numbers therefore a name didn't pop up in my head.
Because I didn't want to wait any longer, I listened to the voicemail I received last night.
"Hey, it's me." the sound of her voice – the familiar voice – made its way through my phone; transforming my body into stone. "Uhm . . . you probably didn't expect me to call you. You probably don't even want me to call you, which I totally understand. I.... Well... I assume you are still mad at me for what I have done. I don't blame you for it because I have a hard time forgiving myself for my actions, too. I ruined our friendship. I shouldn't have been so reckless. I should've kept my mouth shut or talked to you whenever I was fed up. It was anything but mature of me to talk so negatively behind your back. And I am unbelievably sorry for the hurt I have caused. It should never have happened. But, at that time, I didn't think it through." a heavy sigh escaped her mouth. "Not only did I call you to say sorry for my stupid behavior, but I am also calling you to wish you a happy birthday, Liz. Happy twenty-third birthday." she stayed unusually quiet, which wasn't like her. "As we both know, the initial plan was for me to be with you in New York, which obviously didn't work out. Even though I can't be there, I just can't let this day pass by without wishing you a great day. I hope you have a good time in the Big Apple. I hope you're surrounded by amazing people. But, knowing you, you have already made a bunch of friends. And I am sure they respect you more than I have done during the last months of our friendship." this was the first time I heard her admitting to her mistake. She was the reason behind the broken friendship. "If you ever want to talk, I am just one call away. I miss you, Liz."
The line went dead, and the voicemail had ended. I felt nauseous after listening to her, which bruised me evermore. Why did she think dialing my phone would make me want to call her back? Make me forgive her for what she had done? Not only once, but a multitudinous amount of times had I been the subject of her conversations in which she portrayed me with disgust. Something a best friend shouldn't do.
Being on the other side of the world, I had given myself enough time to rethink our friendship. Mia had spoken up about the situation, and so did Harry. It was clear she wasn't worthy of my friendship, therefore I needed to let her know this was the ending of it all. We were never going back to the old days.
I could've called her, but she didn't deserve seconds nor hours of my time. That's when I decided to send her a quick but clear text-message.
Liz: Thank you for your call. But I think it's best if we don't contact each other anymore.
I was positively stunned by my actions. I had managed to put the drama with my former best friend aside to focus on the masterpiece I wanted to create so badly. I had been extremely caught up in my story that I was removed from my imagination by the sound of my phone; Harry was calling me.
"Hello, you." I said with a smile.
"Hi, beautiful." he replied. The sound of Harry's voice weakened me.
"What are you doing?"
"Thinking about you." Harry told me, and I already pictured him smiling at me.
"You're getting better and better at making me feel all weird inside." I pointed out.
"That's what counts in life." he answered me. "So I just talked to Dylan, and he can't stop mentioning how much fun he had last night."
"We owe it all to you, Harry. If you hadn't refused to listen to my wishes, we wouldn't have had a surprise party." I commented and smiled. Memories of last night played in the back of my mind, and I couldn't wait to experience the euphoria again.
"I mean, it was quite the success."
"Don't get too high and mighty." I said.
"Mmmm, I wouldn't dare." he whispered smoothly, and I bit my lip. Whenever he lowered his voice, something in me changed. "But, coming back to Dylan, he wants to get together again."
"When?"
"Tonight, preferably." Harry said.
"Tonight?!"
"Yeah. Both of us don't have plans, and since it Saturday we figured you guys might be free as well." he explained.
"Well, I have to talk to the others first. I don't know their schedules."
"Please, do. Dylan and I are quite stoked to hang-out with all of you." he responded, and I could hear the excitement in his tone of voice. Harry was clearly looking forward to another evening with the entire group. And it made me smile from ear-to-ear knowing he enjoyed spending time with my friends.
"I'll make sure to go to their apartments and ask if they are free. I will call back as soon as possible, okay?"
"Yes." Harry agreed. "But if they can't make it tonight, do you want to come around?"
The way he asked me the question, made me overjoyed.
"There's nothing more I want to do than spend time with you, Harry." I claimed.
And I meant every word with my whole heart.
After our call, I rushed to my friends' residences. I knocked on their doors, to find out if they were home. Isaac, Mia, and Carter were all inside their apartments and ready to leave them behind for tonight. Having them saying yes to Dylan and Harry's invitation was perfect. So we agreed on meeting downstairs in an hour because the boys wanted to have a brisk shower first. With haste, I called Harry to tell him we were coming over and he was thrilled to see us.
Before heading back to my place, I stayed with Mia. She needed an update on what happened earlier today.
"I didn't ask him about the note." I said.
"Why didn't you?"
"I didn't want to cause a scene. Also, I didn't know what to say."
"Well, it did make you say no to the key of his apartment." Mia said. "Would you have said yes if it wasn't for you finding the note?"
"Probably." I replied and she eyed at me immediately. "Okay, I'd have definitely said yes."
"If I were you, I'd bring it up. Just tell him you've found Daisy's note. And then you can claim the key and hang-out at his apartment whenever you want." Mia encouraged me and shot me a quick wink.
Then I followed her into her bedroom, since she had to find a suitable outfit for tonight.
"Can I ask you a question about Rick?" as the words left my mouth, I felt horrid for bringing up his name in the first place. I knew his name could bring a myriad of memories back, and I didn't want to upset her. But Mia was my only girlfriend here in New York City, and I needed her perspective on this situation.
"Of course you can, Liz." Mia responded. "You can always mention him."
"Okay, okay." I breathed out. "You guys lived together, right?" I asked, and Mia nodded in confirmation. "But what was it like before you lived together? Did you have the key to his place? And did he owned keys to yours?"
"Yeah, we did. I had his keys, and he had mine." she answered me and dropped the jeans she had chosen on her bed. "I know where you're going with this, Liz."
"You are?" my voice was rather quiet.
"You're trying to figure out if Harry isn't rushing into this by asking me how my relationship evolved. But let me tell you one thing, Liz; every relationship is different. Some people move in together after ten years, some people after ten days. No timeline tells you when you should take your relationship to the next level. You have to trust your heart and listen to it." Mia explained. "If you're ready, then you're ready."
"I'm just so new to all of this, it sometimes makes me wonder if I'm making the right decisions." I opened up.
"And that's perfectly fine, Liz. Every first time is hard. We want to do it right. We don't want to look back and regret saying yes, but you've got to understand that you have to try first to figure out what works for you and what doesn't." Mia said. "With the time of your stay in the back of your mind, I'd enjoy every moment you can have with him before it's too late."
Being reminded of my stay was never pain-free. My time was limited. Extremely limited. There would come a day I'd kiss Harry for the last time. And we would part ways. For forever.
After our talk, I went back to my apartment. I packed a bag with my necessities, seeing that I probably would stay the night at Harry's place. Seeing we had slept together last night, I wondered if we would do it again tonight. Just thinking about it, awakened me.
Before I took the stairs to the ground floor, I quickly texted my parents about the surprise party. I wanted them to know I had a good time with my lovely friends in New York City
Mia, Carter, and Isaac were already downstairs when I reached the entrance of the building.
"Look who's ready for a sleepover." Isaac sang.
"Shut up." I said and I hugged him from the side.
"The Uber should be here in a minute." Carter said.
"You've got the booze, Isaac?" Mia questioned him.
"Absolutely. We're all set, baby girl." he responded.
...
A/N: hi friends! sorry for the long wait! the next chapter will contain more harry content :) also, you'll read more about the note..
please leave a vote and comment <3 love you all xo
p.s. this book turned 1 year old two days ago 🥺❤️ time flies