To Begin Again (narry)

persuasive

"Do you 'forget' your phone on purpose or do you just like to piss me off?" Curtis questioned, he's quite angry at Harry for not answering his calls.

"No, I've just had a lot on my mind." Harry frowns, he's never seen Curtis this bothered by something so small. "I had my business phone on me, you could've called me."

"No, Harry. This isn't about me." The blond breathes out, trying his best to keep his calm.

"Oh," He furrows his brows not really understanding. "Who is it about?"

"Niall," Curtis watches him closely, notices the way his eyes sadden at the mention of the Irish boy. "He called you."

"What did he say?" Harry picks up the pen and starts to write down a few reminders and notes on his journal.

"Nothing, he didn't call to talk to me." He steps closer to Harry's desk. "Are you going out with Andrew tonight as well? Should I cancel the dinner you have scheduled with Paul Smith?"

"No," He notices the way he says it, almost like he was annoyed. "It's an important dinner, I can't cancel on Paul. I'm surprised you're even asking me that."

"You're quite unpredictable. I didn't want to assume anything." The blond glances down at Harry's journal. "You're going to the cinema tomorrow with Andrew?"

"He invited me." Harry opens his laptop to check a few emails.

"Rachel told me you haven't been sleeping at your house for a few nights now," Curtis slowly sits down on the chair. "And there's been a lot of photos of you two-"

"Are you going to assume I'm spending the nights with Andrew?" He lifts his brow at him.

"No, not at all." He scowls. "I was just saying, the public thinks you two are back together and they're making up stories about you."

"Stories?" Harry lets out a chuckle. "They're always making up stories about me, it's nothing new."

"Well yes, but you're also dragging other people into this mess." Curtis glares, placing his hand on top of the desk. "People who don't deserve to be talked about."

"Who are you talking about?" He stops typing to give him his full attention.

"Harry," He sighs. "While the world is over the moon to see their favorite couple back together, people are being really nasty towards Niall. They're calling him so many awful names, making up different stories about him."

"Andrew and I aren't back together, we're just friends." Harry is quick to clarify. "We both agreed on staying friends."

Curtis widens his eyes in surprise. "Friends?"

"We don't really know what's going to happen between us, but we both know taking things slow is the best way to go." Harry couldn't just get back with Andrew and forget Niall. He couldn't.

"Sorry, but it's hard to believe you're only friends when there's photos of you two hugging and kissing each other's cheeks. Surely, you've seen the photos, Harry. You two look deeply in love." He feels his face heat up when he sees Harry's intense stare. "I'm sorry, that was very unprofessional of me."

"Any person I'm seen with, I'm dating, according to the media. You and I both know that it's all rumors. I'm not understanding why they're dragging Niall into this, let alone talking poorly about him." He angrily slams the pen hard on the desk, angry at people for being mean towards someone as sweet as Niall.

"Everyone thought you two were a thing just last week, now there's photos of you and your beloved ex and people think they can talk badly about Niall." Curtis sees the anger in his face, he sees the way he's clenching his jaw and flaring his nostrils. He knows Harry is beyond angry. "I don't usually pay attention to articles like that but, Niall isn't a public figure. He's a friend. He doesn't deserve that treatment."