Harry Styles, a secret service agent working for British intelligence is tasked with finding the killer after a series of brutal but calculated murders across Europe. His mind is sharp, he's smart, arrogant and works with a precision that leaves no...
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Winter
The small restaurant buzzed with the slight hum of conversation, clinking glasses and the occasional burst of laughter coming from another table. Soft light flickering from the candles in the centre of each table reflected off the frosted windows, casting a warm glow over the area we were sitting.
I took a sip of my wine, my fingers tapping on the stem of the glass. When I glanced up, Pearl and Zayn were watching me intently, their expressions a mix of curiosity and concern. I really hated when they were concerned about me. It had been like this for the past hour. After they'd suggested we go out for dinner. It had been a while since I'd seen them and it was unusual to go too long without even going over to their flat for an hour or so. It concerned them that I was becoming distant. But it wasn't intentional, my mind just constantly wandered off and thought only about one man. The same man that I hadn't seen in five days.
I hadn't seen Harry since he left in a hurry to go to work. Five days ago. I hated myself because I'd thought about him for every moment since then. He said we'd see each other soon, but I didn't know how soon 'soon' was. Having a new person in my life, trying to figure out how to act around him, what was normal and what wasn't made my head hurt. I didn't know why he was in my life, and I was thinking of ways to get rife of him. To go back to normal.
But I'd thought about calling him, although that felt wrong too.
It felt wrong to see him if there wasn't a reason, if there wasn't something wrong. That was the thing that unnerved me, that made calling him feel like completely uncharted territory. Other than the New Years party, we only saw each other when something bad happened. As if he was my emergency contact. I showed up at his flat when I was hurt, cold, alone and he'd invited me in every single time. Showing up with no reason felt too foreign. I'd been silently hoping he would be the one to reach out to me. But again, I had no fucking idea why or when he would. 'Soon' could be three days, or two weeks. How was I meant to know?
I didn't want to seem interested in seeing him, but I also didn't want him to think I wanted to ignore him.
Harry was making me lose my mind. I was absolutely fucking sure of it.
"What's going on with you, Winter?"
"Huh?" I snapped out of my thoughts, so my eyes refocused on Pearl on the opposite side of the table from me. "What?"
"You've been so distracted recently. So unlike yourself. It's worrying me." her voice was gentle but probing, curious.
"I'm fine." I took a straw between my teeth, taking a sip of whatever fruit-flavoured wine I'd ordered off the menu.
Zayn leaned forward, his arm loosely around her hips. He was clearly not buying what I'd said. "Is it about Aaron? Has he been bothering you?"
It was the reason—oneof the reasons they'd said we should go out for dinner tonight. They knew about what happened a little while ago. They knew that Aaron had been pissed with me and that I finally fought back. I'd not told them any more than that. Not about me going to stay with Harry a few times, not that Harry had also beaten the life out of Aaron, saving me again. It wasn't a situation I wanted them thinking about, because they'd do exactly what they were doing right now—worrying.
