It's you

Chapter 3 "She had it coming" (Harry POV)

*Harry's POV*

"Hey guys, I'm gonna go take a quick shower before dinners ready. " Niall said leaving the kitchen.

"Don't have too much fun in there Horan" Louis joked. "How about we join the others on the balcony?" he asked facing me.

I nodded and we headed to the balcony. I opened the heavy glass door and watched Louis sit next to Eleanor on one of the black wicker chairs. Zayn was sitting at the head of rectangular table. The tempered glass top, held up by a matching cylindrical wicker base, was covered in stains and ashes

"Hey people! What are you up to?" Louis said reaching for Eleanor's hand.

"Nothing much... Just talking" Irene answered as I sat next to her. "How's the food coming? I'm kinda hungry" she continued.

"The chicken's almost ready. It'll be another 20 min or so. We already set the table and cleaned everything up so we decided to come here and check out what you guys were doing" I explained, taking London's beautiful skyline. I did prefer the view of London by night. The lights of the city lit up to gently welcome the dark of the night, patiently awaiting for the new day to come. In some way they made me feel infinitely small, lost, yet not alone.

As my mind wandered, my nostrils filled with the smell of smoke. I turned my head to the left and she was smoking once again. "Irene! You're having another one? How many fucking times do I have to ask you to quit this stupid habit of yours! It's bad for you and you know it. I don't understand why you would do it to yourself. " I said. I didn't care if I sounded rude, she knew how much it annoyed me. I hated the smell of cigarettes but mostly I hated when she smoked. I had been asking her to quit for quite some time, or at least reduce it when I was around; not for me, but for her, for her own good. Her grandmother, a smoker herself, had died of lung cancer 5 years before, so I though it really reckless of her to go down the same path. Especially because of the genetic predisposition to lung cancer running in the family. But no matter how many times I asked her, she just wouldn't bother doing anything about it. It felt like she didn't care, like it didn't matter she was putting her health in danger; and this drove me insane. Sometimes I just wanted to hurt her for hurting her own self. Like pin her to the wall and not let her go until she decided to start loving herself as much as she should, as much as -

"Harry, I am 22, I know it's bad for me, but I don't really care. We will all day anyway, so I might as well enjoy life while I can!" she snapped, cutting through my thoughts.

"You don't fucking care?" I growled back standing up in front of her. The air blew through her caramel coloured hair and the scent of her perfume inebriated me."Irene, you don't fucking care?". I repeated as I shook her gently. I was getting worked up by her carelessness.

"Harry. Why do you care?" she said faintly.

I let her go as I tried to figure out the reason of her question. I loved her more than any other person in the world. I cared about her and all I wanted was to protect her, from any kind of harm. And in her case, it came mostly from within.

I tried to reach for her hand and hug her, but she had already entered the house.

"What the hell Harry!" Eleanor said concerned.

"Oh c'mon. She had it coming "I said exasperated.

"Harry, she's just arrived. You can't go full police officer on her. Let her be. " the brunette continued.

"She's old enough and smart enough to make her own choices Harry. I feel you, but she can decide for her own. You two should really stop arguing over this" Louis added calmly. He was right though, we did.

" I'll go check in on her and bring her downstairs. The food will be ready in 6 minutes" I said after checking the timer on my phone.