Love Save the Empty

Twenty One

“I don’t know why you insisted on having a barbecue, Louis. It’s fucking snowing outside!”

Bella could hear tiny bits of conversation through the wooden door her and Harry stood in front of. Harry pounded his knuckles once against the door, but withdrew and winced immediately after he realized that he was using his injured hand.

As soon as he was about to knock again, the door flung open, revealing a slightly confused Louis.

“Wow. You actually came, Harry.” He spoke, somewhat surprised.

“Yeah, yeah. Don’t get too excited. Now where’s the beer?”

Harry immediately disappeared into the house, leaving Bella still standing at the door. Louis attention then landed on her.

“Hey, Louis,” she shyly said.

“Hey, B.” he responded with a smile that warmed her insides even in the cold. “Come on inside.”

Louis lead her through the hallways and into the living room. The fireplace was going, heat radiating through the entire room, warming Bella up. It definitely wasn’t big, but everything looked damned expensive.

The fireplace was made up of stone, different shades of the rocks contrasting each other. A 36 inch flat screen was installed into the wall, and a cabinet with what looked like 3 different play stations, a Wii, and an Xbox sat right under the massive television. A coffee table sat in the middle of the room with different beers and plastic cups scattered on it. Two boys she vaguely recognized from another time sat on the couch with two Xbox controllers in their hands, eyes glued to the flat screen while another boy that she remembered as Niall sat in the leather recliner sipping on a beer. Harry was nowhere to be found.

Niall spotted Louis from the corner of his eye. He was about to ask him for another beer until his eyes landed on Bella.

“Oi, Bella!”

It was when he fully faced her when Bella realized that Niall’s black eye and a cut on his upper lip. She didn’t know why she was surprised. He’s friends with Harry for heaven sakes.

“How ya doin’ babe?” he asked, wrapping his large wingspan around her small frame. As warm and comforting the hug was, she couldn’t help but feel a bit uneasy in his arms, afraid of what Harry might think if he walked into the room at this very moment.

Frankly, she didn’t have to wonder for very much longer.

“Getting comfy with my girlfriend, eh?” Harry growled from the kitchen doorway, “My fist is about to get comfy with your face if you don’t let go of her.”

Niall was back in his chair in the living room before Bella could even protest.

Bella saw the scowl on Harry’s face as she turned to look at him.

“You didn’t have to be so cold, Harry.”

He scoffed, “Please. He wants in your knickers, Isabella.”

Bella sighed in exasperation, and in attempt to release some of the anger that was building up inside her. Here comes another one of Harry’s famous mood swings. She mentally made another dash on the list.

“And why do you seem so sure of that? He might have just wanted to be kind.” She said, folding her arms and popping out her hip.

Harry let out a low chuckle. Not the chuckle that would make your heart melt or make you do anything to hear it again. Not even remotely close to it. This laugh was something you would hear from an evil villain in a movie, or from the mentally unstable man holding a gun to your head. It was so cold, so distant. So not the Harry that Bella knew or had fallen for.