Ripped Away (A Harry Styles Fan Fiction)

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Seventeen

Harry stirred awake to hear Gerard Way belt out the last few notes of “Famous Last Words”. He had Crystal’s iPod on shuffle for the entire flight and had fallen asleep listening to the familiar tunes.

Rubbing his eyes, he sat up in his seat and turned towards the window. It was dark out, but he could still see clouds beneath the plane. He wondered how much of the flight he’d slept through.

He leaned back and looked around. Most people had conked out, but there were a few watching TV, on their phones, or listening to music. Niall was seated next to Harry, watching Fast & Furious while eating a sandwich. Louis and Zayn were seated across from them, both sleeping, while Liam sat nearer to the front, busy on his laptop. If he didn’t know better, things would almost seem normal.

A few hours ago, they had flown to Calgary before heading back to London. Harry wanted to visit Crystal’s apartment one last time. He needed to retrieve any belongings he had stored there for the times he would stay over, and Crystal’s parents allowed him to take any keepsakes for himself that they hadn’t already collected.

As he gathered his clothes and toothbrush, he noticed something was jutting out from under her mattress. Upon lifting it, he found something that he’d never guess she’d ever keep.

A diary.

She wasn’t one to spill her every thought, in fact, she kept mostly to herself. A diary was a direct path into her mind. He was intrigued by the idea of knowing what she really had to say, or what she decided to keep from the world. There was no doubt in his mind that she was honest and faithful to him, but there are many things that she could have locked away from him within her mind.

Packing it away in his suitcase, he decided it was best to wait until he got home to read it in private.

Now, as they landed, Harry was more anxious than ever to discover its contents. He didn’t tell anyone he had it, just in case it contained information she wouldn’t want getting around.

Driving back home, Harry noticed Louis was watching him closely. He tried to ignore it, but Louis had a way of reading him, and probably saw in his face that he was hiding something.

Sure enough, once they got home, Lou followed him into his room and shut the door behind him. He turned towards Harry and crossed his arms. “What is it?”

Playing innocent, Harry replied, “What do you mean?”

Louis rolled his eyes. “You know something, I can see it. Tell me.”

Sighing, Harry sat on his bed. He knew he couldn’t keep anything from his best friend. He reached into his suitcase and pulled out Crystal’s diary. “I found this in her flat. I didn’t want anyone to know because I’m not sure what could be inside.”

Lou’s eyes softened. After a moment, he whispered, “Are you going to read it?”

“Is that wrong?” Harry didn’t want to violate Crystal’s privacy, but he so badly wanted to know.

“I dunno… If I were you, though, I’d certainly want to.”

Harry nodded, looking down at the small purple notebook. It didn’t really matter what was inside. Crystal was completely open and honest with him. There wasn’t anything to hide.

Still… The curiosity lingered of what exactly she had written – what she would only allow her eyes to see.

“I’ll leave you to it, then. And don’t worry, the secret’s safe with me.” They exchanged smiles before Louis stepped outside.