Smoke Me Love || Harry Styles

chapter 3

For a brief moment, Liv actually sat and thought about Harry's offer. It sounded like a good deal, but the more she thought about it, the more she knew she couldn't do it, so she eventually shook her head.

"I can't do that," she told him, "and I'm not just some project for you."

She laid the towel next to her on the couch and stood up, seeing in the corner of her eyes how Harry immediately stood up too, but didn't move.

"You can't just use me as a way to try and look like a hero, like that police officer is to you," she told him as she walked to the hallway and grabbed her coat off the coat rack. She did hear footsteps now, as Harry was following her.

"And I don't need a new dad figure either, if that's what this is."

"Olivia."

As she was zipping her coat, she felt Harry's hand on her arm, trying to grip it.

"Don't touch me," she told him as she shook her arm away from him, walking over to the front door to open it. "Can you tell me the way back?"

"Come on, Olivia. You're not a project or a way for me to-"

"Stop saying my fucking name," she cut him off, feeling how tears started to well up in her eyes. "You don't know me, and I don't need your fucking help."

Harry was visibly caught off guard by the way she was talking to him, as it was something she hadn't done before. But something in her just snapped, realising he thought he was good enough to just 'fix' her like that.

"So you'd rather have me report you?" Harry asked her as Liv was just standing in the doorway, her back facing him, and the doorknob in her hands. By the tone of his voice, she could tell he wasn't even planning to report her. He didn't even sound angry; it sounded more like a sad and pathetic attempt to make her change her mind.

He didn't get what he wanted, though.

"Sure, go ahead."

It was silent in the hallway for a moment, but Harry's sigh broke the silence and she heard him walk out of the hallway to grab his stuff out the living room. She just waited for him, her back still facing the hallway. She couldn't go anywhere without him telling her where to go, and she knew the walk would be too long anyway.

It took a while until he was back, but he quickly grabbed his blazer off the stairs and told her "Come on then, I'll bring you home."

The drive back was just as silent as the drive to his house, but there was a lot more tension in the air. It made the silence feel even more awkward, and looking out the window trying to take in all of her surroundings didn't help Liv with distracting herself from it.

Somewhow, Harry knew exactly where to drop her off, which told her he had been doing research about her the day before. It also explained why he didn't buy her lie when she told him someone was picking her up; he knew she was close to her house.

After Harry stopped the car in front of her house, which luckily wasn't an actual police car because her mum wouldn't suspect much like this, Liv unbuckled her seat belt. She hesitated a moment, her hand on the door handle, not knowing if she should say something to him.

Finally, she just sighed and opened the car door. Harry must have had the same hesitation, but he gave into it and quickly grabbed her coat before it was too late.

"Wait," he told her, holding the side of her coat so she couldn't just get out. Liv turned her head to look into his eyes, her jaws clenched together.

"You aren't just a project to me, alright? I really wanted to help you."