Graphite || h.s

Chapter 8

Chapter 8

"Morning," Harry's deep voice grunted as he entered the kitchen, his wild curls even more so than usual.

"It's three thirty in the afternoon," I angled my head towards the clock, and Harry's eyes followed. He wrapped his arms around my waist, and I felt the deep rumble of his laughter vibrate against my body.

Being held in his arms was settling. The warmth from him seeped into my skin, and his arms created a sturdy barrier that felt as though they blocked out the rest of the world. For a moment, I forgot about the ever-looming crossroad.

That was, until I noticed the college brochures lay on the counter. I reluctantly detached myself from Harry's grasp, and picked up the pile. I scanned through them; nothing really caught my eye. The colleges seemed average, there was nothing all that special about any of them. Besides, nothing catered to my needs. Not one college offered a fine art course, the course I was determined to do.

If I couldn't find a college that offered the course, I'd be forced to take drastic measures and reconsider my options. That would mean leaving England entirely and searching for a college that held my course. I'd go anywhere. Anywhere. Either that, or I'd have to choose another course and steer completely away from the route I wanted to take.

I really was stuck.

Unbelievably so.

"Sadie?" Harry asked.

"Mhm?" I replied. The brochures were placed back onto the worktop, and I reached over to flick on the kettle.

"Can we go to Costa? I really want a latte and a muffin."

That little sod.

In my mind, I was mentally throwing every curse word I could think of towards him.

The kettle was still bubbling away, steam spouting from the top. I'd just wasted a whole lot of electricity, heating up water that in the end, I'd have no use for.

He knew that the only drink in my cupboards was tea, and that because of this, if he wanted anything else I'd have to take him out. That cunning, sly little sod.

His face said it all. A broad grin was spread smugly across his rosy lips.

"Come on then Styles," I said through gritted teeth, clasping my car keys from the side and heading into the living room. I slid my leather jacket over my arms, and adjusted the collar to my liking.

Harry followed suit, and was adorning himself with his own bomber jacket. He wedged his feet into a pair of scruffy, white converse. The white converse clashed a little with the dark skinny jeans, but he still managed to look effortless.

"Ready?" I questioned.

"Ready." He answered and we both stepped out of the door together. He wrapped his jacket around himself a little tighter, and we climbed into the car.

When we pulled up outside of the little coffee shop, a light drizzle had began to fall. We sat in the car for a few minutes, both of us trying to figure out how to approach the rain.

We left the shelter of the car, and sprinted towards the shop. Harry was a lot quicker than me, probably due to the length of his legs, compared to my very short ones.

The moment we entered through the door, a small bell rung out. The fine rain had only dusted our jackets.

"Go find a table, I'll order," Harry instructed, pulling his wallet from the back pocket of his jeans.

I began to head for an empty table by the window, but Harry caught my arm.

"What do you want?"

"I'll just have a cappuccino."

I sat at the table, and looked out of the window. The sweet aromas of the coffee filled my nostrils. I was so transfixed, that I didn't even notice when Harry seated himself opposite.

"Here you go," He said quietly, pushing a steaming cup in my direction.

"Thanks," I muttered, enclosing my hands around the mug. The warm surface of the china radiated against my hands.

"You seem distracted," He ran his index finger along the rim of the mug, repeating this in a continuous circular motion.

"Do I?" I hadn't realised that I was distant, and that the table had been quiet for around five minutes.

With a resounding sigh, I lifted the mug to my lips, allowing the piping hot liquid to pour into my insides and fill me with warmth.

"Yeah, you do," Harry answered after another brief period of silence.

He tousled his curls, shaking them so that they were placed to his liking.

"You know, sharing is caring," He grinned, resting his elbow onto the table and leaning in closer, "care to share?"

"Not right at this moment," I spoke quietly. He placed his hand on mine, squeezing it gently in assurance. "It's complicated."

"Okay." He smiled, and it was dropped at that. There was no probing, no quizzing. In fact, it was the opposite to what I'd been expecting.

I'd been expecting questions.

Outside of the window, the whole world was moving by at such a quick pace, that I struggled to keep up. Manchester at this time of year, was an awfully busy place, the hustle and bustle of the city never slowing down. Something about the place though, had an alluring sense of charm, a sheer beauty that I'd never found anywhere else.

They say home is where the heart is. I guess they're right.

The buzzing of my phone deep in my pocket tore my gaze away from the window.

'From: Cara

Have you found anywhere yet?'

I quickly tapped in a reply and pressed sent.

'To: Cara

No luck yet, talk later though.'

My eyes flickered up from the phone and lingered at Harry's own jade-coloured ones. He was watching intently as I'd replied back to Cara. His face broke out in a smirk and he leant back into his chair with ease.

"Who was that?" He folded his arms across his chest, and placed his right leg over his left.

"Cara." I replied, hastily shoving the phone into my pocket.

"The girl that was in our art class, sat behind you?" He laughed.

"Yeah, that's the one." I confirmed.

"She's nice," He finally said after a momentary pause.

Nice, but crazy.

Though there's nothing at all wrong with being a little crazy.