Butterflies (A Harry Styles Love Story) [COMPLETED]

Chapter 8 - Laughter & Feeling Positive

I wandered around the streets of Chester, my hands buried deep inside the pockets of my hoodie. It had suddenly got a lot colder, the weather reports stating that this winter was set to be one of the coldest. I found a small passageway which led me to an almost deserted street. The shops were all tiny; there was a quaint little tea room with a pastel green front to it. Next to the tea room was a small charity shop with a somewhat sparse window display. It was only as I passed this shop that a store on the other side of the street caught my eye. Dashing across the road I examined the window display, adorable ornaments adorned several shelves, necklaces and bracelets hung on tiny hooks, glistening in the later afternoon sun (which unfortunately was not making the weather any warmer) It was then that I noticed a bracelet which had fallen onto the floor of the display, it was silver, delicate chains hooked together, the clasp was in the shape of a heart. A charm bracelet, I had always wanted one, but I would find it impossible to choose charms. It was then that I noticed the tin price tag stuck to the bracelet that I so badly wanted. £108. Yep, I was never going to afford that, sighing and pulling up my hood I resumed my search for a nice restaurant for my birthday meal.

I walked out of the small Italian restaurant, pleased that I had managed to find somewhere that wasn’t over popular or far too quiet. The staff seemed very friendly and had penned my reservation for the 20th October into a neatly organised green file. Feeling satisfied, I decided to buy myself a hot chocolate from Starbucks, clutching the cardboard cup in my hand, I began my walk back to campus. There weren’t many people around, the cold weather probably keeping many shoppers locked away in their warm homes. I turned around when I heard laughter; I recognised one of the laughs as belonging to Gemma. I saw her, her arm liked through Harry’s, she was clutching his arm, trying to stay upright as Harry’s head was chucked back, a deep laugh escaping his lips. This was the first time I had seen Harry look happy, something about him looking so joyous made my heart melt. Maybe it was that when he looked like he did at that moment, his walls had all seemed to tumble down, his tattoos and piercing no longer made him look unapproachable, they looked more like a form of art. A way of expressing himself, of expressing memories, of personal anecdotes. He looked so happy and it was at that moment that I saw the true Harry. The Harry who, when his laughter subsided and he looked towards me and made eye contact with me before offering me a small but genuine smile, gave me butterflies.

Harry Styles gave me butterflies.

I smiled back at him and Gemma gave me a small wave. I didn’t want to go and talk, they looked like they were having a good time and I wasn’t going to interrupt their sibling time in which Harry looked so happy. I took another sip of my hot chocolate before continuing on my way back to campus. The image of Harry laughing, of Harry smiling at me, replaying n my head. I probably had a foolish grin on my face, but that small gesture of a genuine smile had honestly made my day.

The next week passed in a flash, after witnessing Harry laughing with Gemma in the street that day, everything seemed to be better. The black and white world I was previously living in had been coloured in. I was closer than ever to Niall and Laila, Liam had found a girlfriend, Danielle – she works at a local dance school and Liam assured me that he would introduce us very soon. Gemma had got herself the job she so desperately wanted at a small pottery painting studio in the heart of Chester, not far from the tiny street I had found on my travels the week before. Gemma had not stopped going on about how much she wanted to work there. Since being a child, she had always loved painting pottery, she told me that her mother had a cabinet of everything she had painted (along with a few of Harry’s I’m told) at home. But ever since she moved to secondary school and joined various sports teams and clubs, she hadn’t painted. When Maddie came running into the lunch hall where I was sat with Gemma, clutching the Job Vacancy pamphlet in her hand, shoving it in Gemma’s direction. Gemma got the job straight away. It would seem that she was the only applicant, after all they only put up one small notice in the post office and Maddie had torn that from the wall to show Gemma.

Tonight we were going out for a meal at a pub – not the Dog. The pub we were going to was called The Four Bells and was a short car drive away. Maddie said that the food there was excellent so we had all decided to go. It was to be the first group outing since the pub quiz weeks ago, only this time there was an addition. Harry was coming. Since last week I had bumped into him a couple of times, once when he came onto campus to give Gemma her jacket that she had left at his house, once in the town centre, we passed through the door at Starbucks, I was exiting as he entered and the last time was on one of my now regular jogs in the park, he was there walking a small Labrador puppy, straining at his lead. Each time I had seen him, he smiled at me, not smirked, he smiled. He would say a small hello which I made sure to return and that would be it.

I straightened my brown/red hair before doing two waterfall plaits from the front of my head which met at the beck, securely placed with a few hairgrips and a light cover of hairspray. I then got out my white lace skirt and black crop top along with a gold necklace and some black vans. I had applied a small amount of makeup, some foundation and a tad of bronzer, a thin lining of black eyeliner over a light coating of gold, shimmery eye shadow and a tiny bit of mascara. Happy with my appearance, I grabbed my black handbag, putting my purse, room key, phone and coral lipstick into it before spritzing myself with some perfume and leaving my dorm, going to meet Niall, Liam, Maddie and Laila outside. We were all travelling in one car, Liam the designated driver, whilst Harry and Gemma travelled separately as harry would pick Gemma up after her shift at work and come straight there. When I got outside, only Liam was stood there, he was on his phone, a silly smile plastered on his face as he tapped away, meaning that he was undoubtedly texting Danielle.