//all you had to do was stay//

Chapter 12

Her sharp voice cuts trough the music in his huge headphones-

"Harry!"

-and his head snaps up just in time to see her leap across the room. She flings herself into his arms. He staggers back a couple of steps. "Harry..." she murmurs.

She's still holding two Louis vuitton bags, her arms are thrown over his shoulder and he feels their weight as they dangle in her hands.

"Paige," he says, tries to sound pleasantly surprised instead of terrified "you're back."

She nods into the crook of his neck. "We finished earlier than expected. Decided to surprise you!"

She starts to pull away, but he tightens his arms around her waist and pulls her closer. It's easier to say the words when she can't see his face. "I've missed you."
Call his lie.

She shivers with joy.

He'll pay for this. He'll rot in hell.
"Me too baby," she runs her hand trough his hair, only letting her fingers stop when they've reached the nape of his neck "I've almost died missing you."
He shudders. There's definitely not a place in heaven reserved for him.

He's supposed to polish a song for his upcoming album, work, but she's sitting on his desk talking about New York. Not that it's completely effortless (it's exhausting) to look up at her with lovesick smiles....

She tells him about all the wacky stunts her body double did, and how fucking cool the movie will be. Her eyes widen as she starts saying something about a cab.

Apparently the driver didn't take her directions right and she winded up on the wrong road, surrounded by fans, and ended up coming five hours too late for the shoot.

The guilt of what who he was doing while she did all those things is killing him.

So he listens, nodding his head once in a while and throwing in a sentence here and there to be polite.

------

He doesn't know how to tell her. He's actually been looking forward to it, itching with anticipation.

"Tay..."

She's cooking pasta, her back is turned against him as she moves a spoon around. She stops and reaches for herbs.

He smiles. She's cute like this.... all housewifely.

"I'm ending my marrige with Paige, again."

She goes rigid.

Fuck, he should've waited until he could see her expression. Happy? Shocked? Uneasy?

"Oh"

Oh?

He'll throw his plate on the floor; the porcelain will splinter into thousand of pieces, a few seconds later when she goes from oh to why.

She doesn't run after him when he slams the door shut, she doesn't bang on the windows of his car and tell him that he's in no condition to drive. He hates her.

-----

"Paige?"

She must be sitting in a café. He can hear the soft murmurs of people around, their mugs that cling.

"Harry?""

"I love you."

It isn't a lie, that second he does love her. Because she'd never do this to him. She'd never claw his heart out.

Then again, she can't.

But her lips are soft and forgiving and she keeps him from suffocating in sorrow. So he pushes the doubts away. So what if his heart isn't racing out of his chest? Maybe broken hearts don't know how to flutter.

Guys I'm so so sorry, I'm kind of not feeling this story anymore... I'll delete it in a few day. But thank you so much for reading it! It really means a lot to me.