Panic Attack - H.S. AU

Chapter Thirteen

-Harry-

When we pulled away from each other, we fell into an awkward silence.

I looked at Valerie, but she wasn't looking at me. I could tell she was nervous by the way her eyes focused on her shaky hands.

"It's okay. You can say it." I told her

She slowly lifted her eyes to mine and said, "That can't happen again."

"I understand," I sighed.

To my surprised she added, "Not when I'm still engaged."

I parted my lips to ask her to elaborate for reassurance, but then I decided against it and kept my mouth shut.

"I should go." She forced a smile.

I nodded my head and reluctantly walked her out the door. Nothing happened afterward. We merely waved at each other and went our separate ways.

I later learned that Valerie was girl that was full of surprises.

The next day she showed up at my apartment with two cups of coffee in her hands. She smiled at me and happily greeted me just before showing herself inside.

And for some strange reason, she continued this pattern for the rest of the week. We hadn't talked about the kiss and for the most part, we avoided awkward moments. It was confusing and strange and new, but that was Valerie too.

The more I spent time with her, the more I wondered about her relationship with that other man. After some time I noticed the little things that Valerie tended to do. For one thing, she never revealed this other man's name. When she spoke about him, she'd simply refer to him as her fiancé or her boyfriend. I also noticed that she was always careful to avoid detail. Instead of describing the situation itself, she'd talk about how it made her feel. Even when I tried asking for details, she'd be vague and say something along the lines of she'd been with him for what felt like forever so she couldn't remember.

Valerie was an open book, but one could only turn the page with her permission.

"Look at what we have here," Valerie spoke up suddenly."

She had been looking through my things as she always did when she got bored and she has obviously stumbled upon something relatively interesting. My eyes widened once I realized she was holding a photo album in her hands. She deviously smiled at me before rushing over to the couch to sit next to me.

"Oh no you don't," I said as I snatched it from her fingers.

She furrowed her eyebrows at me and took it right back. "Well now I have to see it!"

I rolled my eyes as she opened it up while wearing the biggest smile on her face. The first few pages were harmless photos of some of my family members. I pointed out crazy uncles and cheek pinching aunts along with my mother and sister.

As she flipped through pages, she stumbled upon a particular picture.

"Harry is this you?" she asked as she pointed at a toddler with strawberry blonde hair and green eyes.

I shook my head at her.

"He's adorable! Is this your nephew or cousin or something?" She pushed.

"That's Hayley's son actually" I told her.

She raised a brow in confusion. "You have a son?"

"No, Hayley had a son." I corrected her. "His name's Alex. She was younger when she had him. I think she was seventeen or eighteen. Her ex-boyfriend bailed on her as soon as he found out. It's funny because she told me about him when we first started dating. She didn't want it to seem like her son should be some sort of secret and I was glad she told me when she did because I never really minded that he wasn't mine. I liked the little guy so Hayley let me keep a picture of him."