STRIP

15.

Clementine Adams

We've been at Harry's apartment for over thirty minutes now. It's been almost an hour since we've spoken and that was when he distanced himself from me and went to talk to Jack. 

After I told Iris we were leaving we walked down to the entrance and waited for Harry. As soon as he walked out I told him I was going to drive myself so he didn't have to bring me to my car in the morning and he didn't say a thing about it. Maybe I should have just driven myself home. 

Iris didn't say anything when we got back to the apartment, she just walked right into her room and I followed Harry into his. He's just been sitting silently in bed. He turned on the tv but I think that was more for white noise rather than to actually pay attention to. 

I don't want to be the first to speak because he's the one that has to talk. I've asked my questions already and he didn't want to answer them. I've looked over at him a few times seeing his facial expression remaining the same as if he's so deep in thought he can't multitask enough to even move his face. 

"I think I'm going to go." 

"No, no, please don't leave," he interrupts me. 

"Well forgive me for feeling unwelcome at the moment," I reply quickly. He doesn't get to sit here and pretend he needs me here but at the same time won't speak or touch me. 

"I told you, you're always welcome here. I'm sorry, lovie, I just have a lot on my mind, a lot of things that I just don't know how to explain," he frowns. 

"Then just start talking to me, I don't care what you even fucking say, or if you ramble or even if you say I don't really want to talk right now but we can later and then we talk about something else. I can't stand the silence, Harry, I can tell you're stressed about something but you aren't speaking, and earlier you moved me off of you like you needed to get away from me so I didn't want to try again," I explain. 

He scoots himself down to fully lay on the mattress before grabbing me to pull me down towards him and wraps his arms around me. 

"I'm not good at relationships," he admits. I go to open my mouth but he gets there first, "I like you a lot, I know I've told you that already, but Niall reminded me how much I fucking suck at relationships but he also said he hasn't seen me this happy which made me realize I guess I look as happy on the outside as I feel on the inside. I want this to work, whatever the hell we are doing, I'm not looking for a one-month, two-month, three-month-long fuck buddy, I'm looking for someone who makes me happy, and you, baby, make me happy. I want a relationship." 

"Is that what's bothering you so much?" I ask. 

"That, among other things, so before you think about a relationship, I want to tell you some things I've done in my life, I'm still not ready to talk about everything but I'd like to start at least." 

"Okay?" I frown extremely confused at what he's talking about. 

"You told me you were proud of me, just the other day. That meant a lot to me because well, no one has been proud of me in a long time," he admits as I watch his eyes start to water. 

"Oh, Harry," I wrap my arms around him and rest my head into his shoulder, cuddling into him. 

"Trust me, baby, I don't deserve the comfort, and I definitely didn't deserve for anyone to be proud of me," he sighs. 

"What do you mean?" 

"I dropped out of college when my parents passed away, but I was on the verge of being kicked off campus anyways. I was on academic probation for failing my classes, I'm not stupid, I just didn't care. I'd skip classes, I'd skip exams, I wouldn't turn in my assignment, I was uh, too busy," he stops talking and pulls me even further into him.