"Can I talk to Stella alone?" Harry asked, his gaze never straying from my face.
Liam and Zayn exchanged uneasy glances. "Sure..." Liam muttered, chewing on his bottom lip. "We'll try and find Louis before the show," he said as he nodded over his shoulder for the other two boys to follow him.
I tried not to look at Harry for as long as possible. I watched the door slowly swing shut and then I let my attention settle on the screen saver playing on Harry's open laptop. A slideshow of photos of him and the other boys. But when a picture of young Harry and Louis, from their x-factor days, hugging each other and grinning fondly came up, it was too much too bear. A new wave of sickening guilt washed over me and I finally met his eye.
"I'm sorry," was the first thing that came out of his mouth. It was so completely ludicrous because if anyone should be apologizing, it should be me. I was the one who had gotten in between one of the world's biggest "bromances" and had ultimately ended their friendship, according to Louis at least.
"Why are you apologizing?" I asked as I took a seat on the couch.
"You shouldn't have had to see that, or get in the middle. Believe it or not, this isn't about you. Louis and I have so much tension and history and its obvious from that, he still hasn't fully forgiven me."
"What happened?"
Harry ran his hand over his face. "Stuff went down. I wish it had happened differently. And it kills me, having had any part of hurting Louis. It wasn't my fault, and I really believe he knows that. Being angry with me just became easier for him than dealing with his pain. So I took it all. I dealt with all the fighting because I'd rather see him angry than depressed. But I figured it'd get better... And I mean, I guess it has a bit. Until..."
"Until me?" I finished for him, feeling tears prick my eyes.
Harry inhaled deeply than focused his gaze on the floor. He nodded once and muttered "yeah, until you."
I didn't know what to say to that, so I just sat their numbly, picking at a loose thread in the couch to distract myself.
"Stella..." Harry said, and his voice broke a bit as he said my name. "I really like you. I had such a great time with you yesterday, you're different from any girl I've ever met. But... We both know that Louis obviously has strong feelings for you."
I nodded, still starring at the ugly couch pattern.
"And I can tell there's something between you. I know you have feelings for Louis, too. I'm not saying you don't like me, just that there's definitely something there between you two. And I think the two of you need to figure that out together, whatever it is. If it turns out there's nothing there, then maybe someday we can actually give us a go. But Louis is my best mate, and that's more important than anything. I have to fix things with him."
Tears were spilling over now and I inhaled deeply to choke back a sob. Harry was so perfect. Part of me wished there was no article or anything so I could just let myself fall for him. It wouldn't be hard; he was handsome, charming and so, so sweet. But he was right about one thing, part of me, did care about Louis in a way I couldn't even comprehend. Somehow a small part of my heart now belonged to Louis. Harry was a great guy, but be wasn't Louis.
"I'm sorry, Harry," I mumbled through my tears. I wanted him to really understand how truly sorry I was. I should have never let him into this in the first place. Even though I couldn't tell him why I was sorry, I just wanted him to understand.
