The Encounter |H.S|

75

"I sort of related hazelnuts with love somehow." I shrug, feeling their stares on me as I finish speaking and Louis pretends to gag.

"That's the sappiest shit I've heard." He furrows his eyebrows while Zayn lets out a mocking laugh, causing me to cross my arms with a huff when Louis decides to join in his laughter.

I side glance at Harry, only to catch him already looking at me with furrowed eyebrows while tilting his head in the slightest.

"Oh come on, it's cute!" Megan argues while they keep laughing, their exaggerated laughter causes Hazel to laugh as well as she sits down next to Megan and faces them.

"Even Hazel's laughing!" Zayn points out as if it went by unnoticed, me, Harry and Megan staring at the two of them annoyingly as their laughter begins to die down.

I roll my eyes frustratingly, suddenly feeling Harry's hand on my thigh after I reach forward to brush Hazel's curls away from her eyes. I turn my head to look at him, but he avoids it while turning his face away from me.

"Oh for fuck's sake Harry, just tell her." Zayn suddenly groans, looking at Harry with dread over his features as everyone looks at him out of confusion.

"Not the time," Harry replies dismissively, sending a warning look at Zayn before I shake my head with a frown, grabbing Harry's hand.

"You're not going to say something like that and then not tell us what it is about," I state, taking Hazel in my arms after she crawls towards me with a grin on her lips.

"Well, I just said it's not the right time to say anything," Harry says, running a hand through his hair and Zayn rolls his eyes before getting up.

He taps Louis on the shoulder and takes Hazel out of my arms with a grin on his lips. "We're all going to the kitchen so that Harry tells you what he's been whining about the whole week."

Megan laughs before they all leave the room, leaving Harry and I by ourselves sitting on the couch. I look at him before patting his hand with a smile, watching as he lets out a breath.

"Harry, if it's something you're not comfortable with then you don't have to tell me." I attempt to reassure him, smiling lightly when he brings my hand to his lips, pressing a gentle kiss on the skin before shaking his head.

"Zayn's right, I've been talking about this for about a week now." He mutters, turning his body in my direction to face me while closing his eyes and taking a deep breath.

"But if you're n–"

"I love you."

I freeze on my tracks, staring at him with widened eyes and parted lips as he scratches the back of his neck. "I never really stopped, I was just scared it'd take you more time to feel the same."

"Harry…" I grab his face, crashing my lips against his while setting my hands on his shoulders and soon feeling his touch on my hips to pull me closer to him with a hum, "I love you."

"Wait, you do?" He pulls away only to frown at me, one of his hands cupping my cheek as I arch an eyebrow at his question. It was never a thought that kept me up at night, it feels natural and most likely an obvious feeling to develop.

"Hazel reminds me so much of you, at the time, even if I was mad, all I wanted was to have you back," Thinking about those times makes me want to sit in a corner and cry, they weren't good for anyone, "Her name, not only do I actually like it a lot, but it reminded me of the time we were together and it was sort of a reassurance that maybe you still loved me. I never stopped loving you, Harry."

He lets out a relieved breath before his lips land on mine, his fingers on the back of my head while his other hand closes around my hip in a way to be closer to me. 

"Hey! We don't need another Hazel out of this moment." We break apart to look at Zayn, who's standing by the doorway holding Hazel close to his hip.

"Also, you still haven't told us what happened yesterday!" Megan exclaims from the kitchen, Hazel's laughter being heard right after at Megan's loud tone.

I get up to take Hazel out of Zayn's arms with a playful glare, walking towards the kitchen where Megan and Louis are standing with a cookie in each hand. I decide to not question anything and sit Hazel on her high chair as she babbles loudly.

Harry had followed me and he sits down on a chair and Zayn settles next to him with his chin resting on his hand, all of them looking at me while waiting for an explanation.

I tell them everything since the moment Harry left my side, not forgetting to mention what I was thinking at the time and once again feeling regretful of it, stupid as well. How did I think he would ever apologise?

Midway through the explanation, Harry grabs my hand and intertwines our fingers, causing me to stutter a little and my heartbeat fastens, his earlier confession still fresh in my mind.

"Finally!" Zayn sighs when I sum up the story with the fact that Carter is now fired, crossing his arms over his chest disapprovingly, "I can't believe he did that to you."

"To be quite honest, he had been giving everyone trouble for a while now," Megan informs us and I look over at Harry before taking a seat next to him.

"I want to kill him," Louis blurts out, running a hand through his hair before continuing, "do you have his address? I'm going to egg his house."

"I'm just glad he's not going to be a problem anymore, it's better if we just forget about it," I assure them while glancing at Hazel as she grabs Harry's other hand with a giggle, causing him to beam at her.

"My offer still stands." Louis shrugs and Zayn chuckles before patting Hazel's head gently and she attempts to slap his hand away with narrowed eyes and a smile on her lips.

The day had gone by a bit faster than I wished, we pushed the Carter topic out of the way and instead focused on Hazel since it is indeed her day. 

Hazel seemed to have fun throughout the day, and the opening of her gifts was amusing since she discovered the way of unwrapping them by herself, which caused us to clap each time she did so.

Although we all had fun with her, Harry seemed to be a little more clingy with her towards the end of the day, sitting on the floor with her and playing with her new toys along with her, sending a faint smile my way every time he caught me glancing at them.

Harry and I didn't speak about our confession until late at night, the both of us in bed and ready to sleep, the house silent and dark while it seems we are the only ones awake.

"I know all of that was a bit abrupt. I wanted to tell you at the right time and place." Harry whispers, looking at the ceiling as if somehow avoiding eye contact with me and I raise my eyebrows.

"Harry, at this point I don't care about time or place," I set a hand on his chest, his heart beating rapidly against my palm as I do so before I kiss his cheek faintly so that he looks at me, "as long as it's you, everything is perfect."

"You're so cheesy it physically hurts."

"Oh please." I laugh as quietly as possible and he grins at me before cupping my cheek with his hand and connecting our lips slowly, my hands moving to his curls almost immediately and messing up his hair in the slightest.

"Can I pretend this is the first time I say I love you? It sounds more romantic than the fact that Zayn made me do it because he was tired of hearing me talking about it."

I kinda don't like this but I really hope you do!♡