The Encounter |H.S|

52

I knock on Harry's door, feeling a bit more nervous than I probably should. After a lot of running back and forth in my house and a lot of words of encouragement from Louis, I finally left home.

I didn't feel well leaving Hazel at home while I have a date with Harry, I know she's just a baby and won't remember this but it felt wrong to leave my daughter with Louis just so that I could go out.

I don't even know what we're going to do besides dinner. Are we supposed to talk with each other in the most awkward way possible until one of us makes a move to end it? 

The door opens before my thoughts could go any further, Harry standing there with a charming smile while stepping aside so that I can walk inside.

"Good evening ma chérie, how are you?" 

He closes the door once I'm inside, helping me take my coat off and hanging it by the door before turning to look at me with an amused smile.

"Does it really matter how I feel?" I press my lips while staring at him, looking down at his navy blue suit before focusing on his face again.

"Of course it does, why wouldn't it?" He sets a hand on my lower back, guiding me to a room with a big dark wood table that had a few candles on it and everything necessary for dinner, "I know it's a big table but perhaps you can sit next to me?"

I simply nod, watching as he sets his hands on a chair and waits for me to sit down with raised eyebrows and a grin on his lips. I take a seat and he does too, sitting next to me as he mentioned before looking at me with narrowed eyes. 

"Is there anything specific you want to eat?" He asks, furrowing his eyebrows while I arch my own out of confusion at his question.

"No?"

He hums while getting up once again and leaving the room, leaving me sitting confused by his table alone. I take the chance to look around the room, glancing up at the chandelier on the ceiling before looking at the various decorations in the room.

Harry comes back not long after, setting a plate in front of me before sitting down with a plate of his own, glancing at me as I stare at my food. "I feel like you took this too far, I said it was to hang out."

"Well, what do you suggest I cook next time?" He asks, bringing his fork with pasta to his mouth while I cut my own so I don't make any unnecessary mess.

"Lasagna is good." I smile at him, hearing him chuckle while I bring food into my mouth, chewing slowly while looking around and he reaches over to hold my hand.

"I don't think repeating the food of our first date would be a good idea, taking into account how it ended." He snickers, causing me to let out a laugh at his words while blushing at the memory of it.

"It was embarrassing." I hide my face in my hands, Harry's hand slipping away from mine in the process and I immediately feel his hand grabbing onto mine and pulling it away from my face, intertwining our fingers.

"I think we've been through worse, don't you?" He asks, tilting his head while I narrow my eyes at him before bringing my fork to my mouth again.

"Like what?" He smirks at my question and I frown at his actions, watching as he looks around before replying with a smile on my lips.

"Our first kiss."

A FEW YEARS AGO…

I sit down on Harry's bed with pressed lips as he writes on his notebook with furrowed eyebrows in concentration. We've been going to each other's houses to keep working these past few days but things have been more awkward than usual.

Don't get me wrong, we never stopped acting awkwardly but lately, it has been extreme. Harry barely speaks to me and when he does it's either about our essay or words that just don't make sense.

Yesterday he asked me if I think whales eat sunflowers.

He looks up at me and raises his eyebrows as I stare at him attentively. "How can you write without a hard surface underneath?"

"It's all about concentration." He mutters, adjusting the pillow underneath the paper while I furrow my eyebrows questioningly.

I peek at the paper and contain my laughter at his badly written words, everything looking messier than usual as he sticks the tip of his tongue out in concentration.

"Do you want help?" 

"No! It's fine, it's okay there's no need because I'm already doing it so– just no." He scratches the back of his neck and I slowly nod while looking down at my hands.

A few moments of silence go by before he pats my hair softly, causing me to look at him as he sets the paper aside with furrowed eyebrows before sighing.

"I'm sorry, I've been weird lately and I really don't know how to explain it without embarrassing myself." He crosses his arms over his chest and I tilt my head with a smile as he attempts to avoid eye contact.

"That's okay, I understand."

"I already told you that I don't wa– wait, what?" He furrows his eyebrows, crisscrossing his legs just like I did not long ago while keeping his eyes on me.

"It's fine, if you don't want to talk about it then obviously I'm not going to force you." I frown when he seems to freeze, not moving for a few moments before shuffling closer to me with clasped hands in front of him.

"But what if I'd be happier if I told you?"

"Then do what makes you happy." I smile amusingly as he bites his lower lip while thinking, taking a few glances at me before breathing in a little bit too dramatically.

"I really really like you, like, romantically and not just as a friend." He breaths out, slapping his hand over his mouth as if that wasn't the way he wanted to say it before hiding his face in his hands.

I reach over to grab his hands, chuckling while pulling them away from his face and smiling at him. "Would you be happier if I'd tell you that I've been feeling the same way?"

He widens his eyes, staying still for mere seconds before nearly throwing himself at me which causes us to fall off the bed harshly, our foreheads bumping in the process and we both let out a groan at it.

With both of my legs on the bed and my back on the floor, Harry grins down at me while straddling my waist before leaning down. He stops when his lips graze mine and my breath hitches in anticipation as he brings his hand to tuck a loose strand of hair behind my ear.

My heart was beating so fast I couldn’t get a decent breath as I felt his breath against my lips and my eyelids flutter nearly instantly, then close. Just as I set my hands on his shoulders he presses his lips to mine, cupping my cheek gently and I smile into the kiss.

Before I could think about anything Harry seems to lose balance somehow and nearly falls, setting his hands on the floor next to my head before chuckling nervously.

"Way to ruin it." I tease, watching as he raises his eyebrows before shaking his head in disapproval while smiling down at me.

"At least I tried."

I hope you enjoyed the chapter!♡