Prove It (H.S)

Chapter Fifteen

Harry's POV~

Louis and I walk across the field towards the rest of the lads. Liam is laughing, his foot resting on top of the football and Niall and Zayn wave at us. "Hey mates, ready for a late game?" Zayn asks, patting me on the shoulder. "Yeah, except I'd like to have a word with you, Zayn, if that's alright?" I say, glancing at Louis who is giving me a warning stare.

Zayn nods, and Louis sighs, joining Niall and Liam. "So what did you wanna talk about?" Zayn asks as we walk towards the same tree Claire and I watched the rain under. I clear my throat before saying," It's about Aubrey."

My friend's eyes dart into mine, his body tensing, jaw clenching. He rubs his thumb and index finger down his beard. "What about her?" I can tell he's on defense mode, and I should be cautious, but my mouth keeps running. "I'm pretty sure she's into me-" and before I can finish Zayn gives me a blow to the nose, knocking me onto the grass.

"Zayn! What the hell?" Liam and the other boys come running over. "You son of a bitch!" Zayn's face is red and Niall steps in front of him as Liam pulls him back. I lift my fingers up to my nose, retrieving blood that's now falling down my chin and collecting in the back of my throat.

Louis helps me to my feet. "What did I tell you?" I ignore him and stare at Zayn who is glaring at me, his eyes shooting bullets. "You have some nerve, Harry, saying shit like that! Talking about my girl! Who the hell do you think you are?!" He begins to scream at me again and Liam pins him against the tree.

"Come on mate, let's get out of here," Louis says, nodding to Niall and Liam. As we walk away towards the dormitory, Louis is silent. My hands are cupped under my nose, catching the blood. I begin to worry about his reaction to what happened so I speak.

"It had to be done. I had to say something." Louis turns to me, annoyance clear on his face. "No, Harry, you did not. You could've left it alone! Zayn is one of your best friends! And tonight you probably ruined that! You would hate if any of us accused Claire of that!" He's pissed, really pissed.

I think about what he's saying. He's right in a way, I would hate that. I would hate that so much, yet again he isn't right. I saw the way Aubrey was looking at me, and the way she acted when she caught Claire and me backs it up. "I know, Lou, but I really thought I was doing him a favor, letting him know." Louis just shakes his head and walks ahead of me the rest of the way.

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Claire's POV~

I'm sitting in the dining hall, lap top open and sandwich in hand when a familiar hand grazes my back. "Hello, love," the thick accented voice is like music to my ears. I look up at the green eyes above me as he takes a seat. My attention is immediately drawn to his nose.

"Harry! What happened?" I say, lifting his chin to get a better look at the swelling and cut there. He wraps his hand around my wrist, lowering it away from his face. He must see the concern in my eyes because he sighs and look at me, his emerald eyes full of guilt. "Oh no, who did you fight?" He chuckles slightly, shaking his head.

"I sort of confronted Zayn about the whole Aubrey liking me thing..." He trails off, running his ringed fingers through his brown locks. I frantically smack my palm to my forehead. "And Zayn got upset and punched you?" He nods and pulls a small smirk. "He's lucky I didn't hit him back." I glare at him and he wipes away the smile.

I push my plate away and close my lap top. "Why in the world would you do that?" He looks up at me, capturing me into his seductive stare. I look away for my own good. I have to be stern. "I thought that's what you would have wanted." His honesty sends butterflies through my stomach and I can't help but look at him.

His eyes are glued to mine, his lips pink, his jaw clenched. "Harry, if I wanted something done about it, I would've done it myself. It wasn't your place to confront one of your friends like that." He nods, rolling his eyes. "So I've heard." He looks at me again and brings his bottom lip between his teeth.

"I want to be the one to fight your battles for you." My insides turn in a good and bad way at his words. Harry can't expect me to rely on him for everything. I need to be at least somewhat independent. "No, I need to fight my own battles, for the most part anyway," I say, giving him a reassuring smile before leaning over to kiss him lightly.

When I pull away, Harry's eyes are closed, and he slowly opens them. "I love you, Claire."

Even though he's said it once before, I seems so definite now. Like it was just practice before. Now that I've heard it again, I know it's real. "I love you, Harry."