3 days later.
Harry's POV.
A clink was heard as our glass cups came in contact with a slight clink. I smiled and pressed the rim of the glass to my lips before tilting my head back and letting the cool wine run down my throat.
My chest seemed to tighten and my heart seemed to stop as I stared at the beauty sitting across from me. She set down the glass of wine and made a sour face as she gulped down the rest of the bubbly substance. She is so damn cute.
"I shouldn't have chugged that." She pressed two fingers over her lips as she let the alcohol course through her.
"I warned you already!"
"You didn't say shit to me." She snapped, the harshness in her tone masked by the beautiful smile spread across her soft features.
"Whatever." I rolled my eyes and realized that I could not stop the smile from creeping it's way to my face just by the way she makes me feel.
She stared at me, and I stared back at her, both of us in some sort of trance as we just lost ourselves into each other's eyes. Her small hand was placed over mine across the white clothed table and her thumb gently ran over the beautifully inked cross on the meeting of my thumb and pointer finger.
"We should have invited Niall or something." Ariana said, breaking the silence and breaking me from the current trance I was in.
"What, why?" I asked.
"Because I haven't seen him in a while." Ariana shrugged and sighed, probably thinking back on Christmas Day.
"So?" I snapped, my tone coming out harsher than I intended it to. Jealously crept it's way to me at the thought of her missing anyone but me. Although I should not feel this jealous, I am. It's just Niall, I am simply overreacting.
"He's my friend, Harry." Her voice was smooth and the feeling of her thumb running over the skin on the back of my hand slightly smoothed me.
"Oh."
"You're jealous, huh?" She teased, a smile already making its way to my face.
"Never."
"Admit it, Harold. You're jealous because I miss Niall, your best friend." She pushed me further and I only let out a gasp of a laugh. Obviously offended for accusing me for such a thing. I am not jealous... okay maybe a little, but she doesn't have to make me say it.
"Stop." I ran my hands over my face and laughed to myself. Our blissful moment of happiness was cut short, though, as the male waiter approached us with two menus tucked beneath his arm and a small notepad in his other hand, his finger rapidly clicking the end of the pen as he looked down at us.
My breathing stopped for a moment, and I blinked multiple of times to clear my vision. No. Fucking. Way. Ariana seemed to recognize him too as she shot up from her seat and squealed in excitement, earning a few glances from the middle aged couples around us.
"Liam!" Ariana squealed, wrapping her arms around Liam's neck before he could even recognize who we were. Liam was taken back at first but quickly wrapped his arms around Ariana's back and smiled widely as he finally recognized us both.
"Ariana! Harry! No fucking way!!" Liam shouted, his expression filled with joy and excitement. Liam reached out to me and I stood from the cushioned chair to wrap one of my arms around Liam's torso and the other around Ariana's waist as we were pulled into a group hug.
Seconds later we were sat in our seats again with wide smiles spread across our faces.
"What are you guys doing here!" Liam's face is full of disbelief and complete happiness which made a familiar warmth return to chest.
"We're just..." Ariana said, sending me a quick wink as she continued. "on a date."
Liam smiled widely, wrinkles appearing on the sides of his eyes and his nose nose crinkling a bit as he giggled. "I figured." He set both of our menus in front of us and set a more serious face on as he looked around to check if any of his managers were on duty. "What would you guys like on this wonderful night?" Liam's voice dropped deeper and quieter as I watched a woman, dressed your usual manager clothes, pass behind Liam and flash me a generous smile when she noticed me staring at her.
"What the hell was that?" I asked, my voice dropping to a whisper as the woman disappeared into the back of the restaurant.
"The managers here are on full fucking patrol all day and night, if you do something wrong, you're out of here in a heartbeat." Liam explained, keeping his voice low as he nervously looked around the place for anyone else.
"Well yeah," Ariana said, "this is one of the finest restaurants in town."
"And that's why they fire you if you make one mistake, all they care about is making money. They never want their precious place to shut down, so that's why they keep everything in perfect shape."
"Damn." was all I managed to say.
"Anyway, what would you guys like to eat?" Liam clicked his pen open and prepared to write down our orders.
"Um, I think I would like the... lasagna." Ariana said as she flipped through the menu. "Extra cheese, though."
"Alright..." Liam scribbled her order into the note pad and looked at me. "And what would you like Mr.Harold Styles?"
I laughed and didn't even bother to correct him on my name. I guess a lot more people than just Ariana called me by my real name. "I think I would like the... steak." I clarified as he shot it down onto the notepad.
"How would you like it, sir?"
"Medium, and make sure to add the delicious sauce on the side." I ordered and Liam nodded.
"Yes, sir." Liam sarcastically grinned and took our menus and disappeared back into the kitchen.
I uncomfortably shifted in my seat as I felt her eyes on me. A smile made its way to my face as I finally looked up at her, our eyes meeting for the second time tonight. "What?" I laughed and felt a blush creep it's way to my cheeks.
"You're incredible."
"What? No I'm not." I denied and shook my head. How could she think I was incredible? I was no better than anyone else in the world and I do not see how she did not see that. If she thought I was half the man she wanted me to be, I felt sorry for her. I was nowhere near incredible actually.
"Yes you are." She smiled and I felt my heart swell just a bit. Fuck, I love her. I really fucking do. I don't know why I don't have the fucking guts to tell her already. I fear that she does not have the same feelings for me and even if she does not, it is a fucking privilege to fall in love with a woman like Ariana and I know I'd be damned if I didn't have her in my life. "I don't know how you do not see how incredible you truly are."
"Stop." I covered my face with my hands to prevent her from seeing my face splashed with a color of bright pink.
"But, Harry," She pulled my hands away from my face and laced our fingers together. "I want you to know that I am here to remind you how incredible you really are until the day I die." Her sweet words bring an insane amount of happiness to me and fill some of the emptiness in my heart. I don't know why she has been telling me this whole time that I am incredible; I am anything but incredible. She is truly incredible. She is a lot more than just incredible, actually. She makes me feel like me. She makes me feel complete. And for that, I am forever grateful. So if anyone here is "incredible", it is simply her.
"You're the best thing that has ever happened to me, baby." I said, my voice laced with dangerous emotion. I leaned forward and pressed my lips to hers momentarily and detached seconds later. She smiled widely and kept her hand in mine, her cheeks splashed with a bright color of pink.
"And you're the best thing that has ever happened to me, Harry." Ariana replied and filled her glass cup with more wine before pressing the cup to her lips again.
"You look lovely tonight." I compliment her and she rolls her eyes, smiling from ear to ear.
"Please." She sassily remarks and flips a wave of hair over her shoulder. "Dresses aren't really my thing but since I am on a date, I needed to look somewhat decent."
"You always look decent."
"You're so romantic."
"It's called being nice, babe, not romantic." I corrected her and she rolled her eyes with a giggle.
"Can you just accept a-" Ariana began but was interrupted when Liam arrived with our food in a tray along with another bottle of wine we didn't order.
"Lasagna for the lady," Liam placed Ariana's plate in front of her and she smiled down at the plate, ready to devour every piece of that lasagna. "And steak for Mr.Styles."
My plate of steak was plated in front of me and I felt my mouth water as I smelled the steaming food. He placed a bottle of this red colored champagne in the center of the table and Ariana shot her eyebrows up. "We didn't order this..."
"I know. It's just a 'happy new year' gift from me because I missed you guys." Liam used air quotes with his fingers as he spoke.
"Cool." I spoke and Liam flashed me a generous smile. "I didn't know you worked here, Liam."
"Well, yeah. How else will I pay my apartments rent?" Liam laughed and so did Ariana.
"How's your girlfriend?" I asked him and he smiled even wider at the mention of Sophia.
"She's great. She works here actually, but she is taking the day shift tomorrow so that's why she's not here." Liam sighed and looked around the area before pulling up a chair and sitting on the left side of the round table.
"Won't you get in trouble for interrupting your customers?" Ariana harshly whispered, leaning into Liam so he could hear her clearer.
"Yea, but if they don't catch me then there's not a problem." Liam whispered and I deeply chuckled. "Anyway, where's Niall? I haven't seen him in ages!"
"He's probably with this girl he has been seeing for quite a while now." Ariana laughs and Liam's jaw drops.
"So he is finally sticking to one woman, huh?" Liam laughs and ran a hand through his facial hair on his jaw and cheeks.
"I guess so."
"Well, it was lovely having dinner with you all but I think I need to assist some other tables." Liam stands from the table and pushes the chair he just used, beneath the table and flashes us a generous grin before walking off to a table nearby with an awfully adorable elderly couple.
"Alright.." Ariana rubs her hands together and grabs her fork with one hand and a knife with the other. "Lets dig in.
-
"So," Ariana hiccuped, gulping down more white wine from the bottle then passing it to me. "Do you think your mom would ever approve of us dating?"
"Um.." I blinked multiple of times, trying to think out the question straight as I felt the alcohol buzzing through my system. "I think she would, unless you gave her a reason to hate you." I slurped down more of the wine and set it down on the table.
"I want to meet your mom!" Ariana said a little too excitedly.
"No." I denied and her face falls.
"Why noooot?" She slurred.
"Because she lives in England, were not going to England just to visit her, baby."
"It would be fun!"
"We're not going." I snapped and she only laughed, which triggered my laughter. "What about your parents?"
"What about my parents?"
"They live here right?"
"Of course they do, Harold, just not in the same city." Ariana hiccuped and tried to stop something that she could not control.
"Then why haven't you seen them in... 2 years?" I asked, my mind not caring if she gets upset at the mention of her parents.
"Because," She whined, annoyed with the topic of our conversation. "all they care about is the money and what other people think about them. They don't give a shit if I ran out of my house at 17, they didn't care that I moved in with Elizabeth as soon as I was out of high school. All they cared about was their money and if I went to college or not. So here I am, already my third year second year in college and I haven't done shit with my life. If I didn't keep my grades up, they would have stopped paying for my apartment and my college classes in a heartbeat." Ariana sighed and drank down the rest of the wine with an upset grin set on her face.
"This is why I haven't seen them in so long, I pretend that I am always so busy with after class activities and regardless of all this college bullshit, I am never in the mood to see them because of all of the bad memories we shared when I was growing up." She said, her gaze fixed on me as I just simply stared at her. She searched my face for any sign of judgement but there was none. "So there you have it, I am the carefree, wild ass bitch I am today because of my parents. They spent their whole life worrying about what their peers thought about them and didn't spend enough time to think about themselves. They revolved their whole life on other peoples judgement and I thought that was complete bullshit; so I guess you can say they were a major influence on the way I am today." Ariana breathed, her lips pressing into a tight line after her confession as I saw that she was clearly upset.
I stayed silent though. As much as I wanted to hold her and comfort her, I couldn't bring myself to it. She was upset, and I had no idea what to do at this moment. I could not help her because the words would not come out of my mouth. I could not hold her and tell her it was going to be alright because we were in public and I felt completely frozen. I could not help her, and it hurt my whole fucking body from inside and out.
"Please say something," Ariana said, her voice coming out more of a whimper.
"I'm sorry." I breathed and she stayed silent, as if she were processing the words I just said. Fuck.
"So am I." I felt my heart hammer against my ribcage as she stood from the table, collecting her things and storming out of the building. Shit. I am so fucking stupid.
I stood to my feet and wrote Liam a quick "Thank You" note on the receipt and tossed about ten dollars onto the table before storming out of the building in search of Ariana. I felt stomach churn violently in my abdomen as I saw her walk out of the front doors with a single tear staining her cheek. My feet carried my to her and my fingers wrapped around her wrist as I finally approached her. She shoved at my chest and shouted at me to let her go as I brung her to my chest and wrapped my arms around her. She stopped protesting when she realized that I would not give in and finally wrapped her arms around my waist.
"Don't ever do that to me again, Harry." She said, her tone harsh. I understood if she was angry at me, I deserved it. She is always behind me, fixing me, forgiving me, and helping me when I am feeling upset but now when she is feeling upset, I did nothing to help her whatsoever. I stayed frozen. And I know that I do not deserve a woman like her, she is far too good for me and the world.
"I won't." I promised and leaned down to press my lips to hers. I felt my heart swell and I realized that I missed the feeling of her warm, soft lips pressed against mine to create a feeling I never knew existed before. My hands gently cradled her face as our lips worked together so perfectly. Her small hand wrapped around the tie wrapped around my neck and her free hand bunched up my black coat in her hand to pull me closer to her. The place we were in made this a more risky and easier to get caught, which only intensified me further as I slowly walked back and pressed her against a hidden wall where a shadow hid us from any of the cars driving beside us.
Her back gently collided with the brick wall as our lips never detached. I felt my knees weaken as she finally, for once, let me take in control of this kiss as I dipped my tongue into her mouth. I heard a soft moan escape her lips as I took her bottom lip in between mine and gently suck. Her lips were so soft, so fucking smooth as they moved against mine and her lips tasted of the sweet white wine we just consumed. "I'm so sorry," I mumbled in between kisses. She only nodded, accepting my apology and focusing on the way our lips formed so perfect around one another's.
My hands stayed cradled around her face as she leaned up and slipped her tongue into my mouth, and at this moment I felt as if nothing could break us apart. I felt as if we were inseparable and nothing could ever ruin what we had, not even Jai could ruin what Ariana and I had. I felt as if she loved me, I felt as if she was filling the emptiness in my heart with every simple kiss she gave me, I felt my heart burst and my stomach flip multiple of times as we both could not stop the smiles spreading across our faces in between kisses. I felt as if I had reason to be here. And I fucking knew I was so damn in love with her, I was undeniably, irreversibly in love with her.
She parted her lips from mine momentarily only to connect her swollen lips to the curve on my neck. I felt every slow movement of her lips on my neck, which sent sparks flying through me. I felt every swipe of her tongue on my collarbone and the way her lips sucked on the sensitive skin on my neck and the way a deep moan broke through my lips, it rumbled deep within my chest was louder than I intended it to be.
"Take me home, Harry." Ariana whispered against the shell of my ear. I nodded and stared into her eyes full of lust.
She began to walk down the street and smiled widely as she walked past my car and walked a little more out into the open view of the city. It was all so beautiful. The cities lights aligned perfectly and shined brightly, lighting the dark of the night.
"This is so beautiful!" Ariana shouted from the top of her lungs out into the city. I laughed and stared at her in awe, she was just as beautiful as the city was actually.
A brilliant idea occurred to me as I slipped my phone out of my back pocket and called out to her, she turned around with a wide smile spread across her face and some of her hair being blown into her face. I held my phone up and snapped a quick photo of her before she could even notice. She blinked multiple of times and realized what I just did.
"Hey!!" She walked towards me and tried snatching my phone out of my hand but I held it over my head, her height no match for mine. "Did you just take a photo of me!"
"Maybe." I cheekily grin and lock my phone before slipping it back into my pocket. "Now let's go home." I pulled onto her wrist and pulled her into my car.
I hoped into the drivers seat as started my car to let it get warm while we situated ourselves. Ariana frantically searched around for something beside me and cursed beneath her breath.
"What?" I asked as she continued to search for something like a maniac.
"My sweater. I think I left it at our table." Ariana said and hoped out of the car. "I'll be right back." Before I could even reply, she shut the door and I watched her as she walked back into the restaurant, her dress flying in all directions like her hair.
I laughed to myself and buckled up and waited for her to come back. As I was waiting, I heard a dull vibrating coming from the passengers seat and it took me a few seconds to realize what it was.
Ariana's phone.
I lifted her purse and found her phone beneath it, the screen lighting up as it vibrated with a new text message.
I felt my heart stop. I felt all the air being knocked out of my lungs. I felt my stomach violently churn in my abdomen as I read his name on the text message. Being the nosy man I am, I peeked and read the text message he just sent her.
*See you Friday at six, don't be late.*
The text message read and a pang of jealously and anger hit me as I reread the message over and over. The phone vibrated in my hand again and another message popped up into the screen.
*Come alone, we have a lot to talk about darling ;)*
I reread the message and already knew Jai was talking about me. What the fuck? Ariana has plans with Jai? What?
As I am about to unlock her phone to read her previous messages, I see her from a distance as she approaches the car with her coat in hand.
I felt my head spin as a million thoughts raced through my head all at once, I felt betrayed. I felt my heart slowly breaking into two. I felt as if my whole world was slowly crumbling down and as if all of our memories were complete lies. She had tricked me. She had played me. She had been leading me on and seeing Jai when I did not notice. I watched her as she got closer to the car and I felt my upset heart beat dully in my chest. I set her phone back onto the passengers seat and waited for her to approach the car, leaving my bloody pulp of a heart by her feet in the dirt where it belonged.
-
ANOTHER CLIFFHANGER IM SO EXCITED
btw the photo attached is the photo harry took of ariana im crying.
btw im sorry for updating a little late I was literally on writers block for about two days and I got to write this whole thing in the other two days so *pats myself on back*
WOW THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR 9k READS THATS FREAKING AMAZING IVE NEVER HAD THAT MUCH IN MY WHOLE LIFE AND I NEVER THOUGHT YOU GUYS WOULD ACTUALLY LIKE THIS STORY AND I REALLY ONLY THOUGHT I WOULD ONLY GET ABOUT 1K READS ON THIS LET ALONE 9K IM SO SO SO DAMN GRATEFUL FOR EVERY READ. YOU ALL MAKE ME SMILE SO MUCH WITH YOUR COMMENTS AND VOTES AND HOW MANY READS I HAVE AND HOW MUCH LOVE THIS STORY RECEIVES 💘 it really does mean the world to me because I am just doing what I love (writing lol) and you guys say that you love my story which makes me so happy because I thought my writing sucked and it probably does but you guys still love this story regardless <33
okAY HARRY's BIRTHDAY IS SOON SO IM NOT READY FOR HIS ASS TO TURN 21 IM CRYING
ANYWAYS I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH AND I HOPE YOU HAVE A GREAT WEEK AND A GREAT DAY AND I HOPE 2015 IS STILL TREATING YOU WELL xx
all the love *muah!* 💋💓