When Boy Meets Girl

Chapter 14

"He's cheating on you," Harry repeated, quieter this time.

"With who?" I felt like crying, but I was too angry.

"I don't know. I just wanted to see what he wanted for dinner and I went into his room and him and this girl were-."

"Stop, just stop. I can't take this," I told him.

After speeding all the way home, I had forgotten that Harry was even with me. I accidentally slammed my flat door in Harry's face.

"Sorry," I mumbled. I had broken down and I was crying loudly now. I tried to hide my face from Harry who nodded and gave me some space. He was being a good friend, but that's not what I needed right now. I wanted someone to hold me, I wanted Harry to hold me. I wanted him to tell me that he would never hurt me like Niall had.

Harry was sat down at the couch, looking around uncomfortably. I decided to join him since he did come all the way to London to tell me about Niall's affair in person. I laid my head down on Harry's shoulder and he didn't object. I remembered the kiss we had shared before. I took his large hand in mine and played with his soft fingers.

"Harry, do you like me?" I asked. He was silent.

"I don't know," he responded, slow and shy.

"Harry, you're special, you know that right." He didn't say anything. Didn't even move. The only thing that told me he was alive was the rising and falling of his chest. "You deserve someone just as special."

I don't know why I said it, but it felt right. As I got up, Harry spoke.

"I like you a lot." And he meant it. This wasn't like when Andy claimed to love me. I'm pretty sure I loved him too at the moment, but looking back at it, I think it was just the alcohol talking. Harry didn't say love though, but somehow that made it all the more real. It was sort of childish how we were all acting. You know, the quiet guy with the secret crush on the girl with a popular boyfriend. I knew where I fit in the story. I was too afraid to admit it. I would be the skank who slept around with all the guys. Who wanted attention and everyone just took advantage of her. That was me.

"Why are we all like this?" I asked Harry.

"Like what."

"A mess. Imperfect. Despicable. Impulsive. Needy." I was just describing myself.

"I don't know." It was the answer I expected from him, but surprisingly he continued. "I guess we all just want to be loved. We all want to find that one person and we do stupid things to find them."

In those two sentences, Harry had just explained my life. Once again, Harry fell silent. I nodded.

"Do you like me?" Harry asked unexpectedly. I didn't answer him. It was too soon to tell. My heart was still broken. Harry was adorable but I couldn't move on that quickly. I shrugged because I knew it would drive him crazy.

"Do you?" he asked again and I walked away.

-----

"When are you going back to the U.S?"

"I don't know."

"Well you can't just stay here forever."

"Why not."

"Because you are in a band. You have expectations to meet and fans to please!"

"Do you want me to leave?"

"I mean, no, not really but-."

"You need me."

I knew he was right. If he hadn't been here when I heard about Niall I would have gone insane. But I couldn't keep Harry forever.

"You're band needs you."

"But, what about Ni-."

"Pretend you don't know. Don't worry about me. I'll be fine."

And a few days later I was saying goodbye to Harry and returning to my lonely life.

-----

There was an incoming Skype call on my laptop. I accepted it without thinking and Niall's face suddenly filled up my screen.

"Hey babe, why haven't you called me yet?" He sounded hurt, but I knew he was just acting.

"Well guess what I found out the other day?" I leaned in real close to the computer so he could hear what I said next loud and clear.

"Go. To. Hell." I heard Harry's laughter in the background and a grave look swept over Niall's face. Beads of sweat were forming on this brow and his face was turning red. Harry gave me a thumbs up behind Niall's head and I tried to suppress my smile.

"Bye babe, have a nice day," I said sarcastically as I hung up on him. His face was absolutely priceless and after that I couldn't stop giggling. I felt so strong and independent now. It was as if that call had filled me up with some inner power that I didn't even know existed.

"I'm going to go do something that I want to do," I said triumphantly to no one. I did a double fist pump in the air, grabbed a coat, and headed out.

I had finally come to the conclusion that if he didn't need me, I didn't need him and he was just wasting my time. Life's too short to waste time.