Crazy Little Thing Called Love

Apologies Or How Harry And I Shared A Jacket

Hi everyone, just a short chapter because I really couldn't let you wait long after the last chapter. :) I hope you all like the chapter, you should prepare yourself for the next chapter, though, which I might write as soon as this is published, we'll see, but it will definitely be up some time this weekend. All the love, as always, Summer xxx  

Ps. I would like to thank five special people who have been incredibly supportive so far:   LesBH15, Elll1234, eml1002, sara9551 and last, but not least ConstantStar. You five are the reason why I am writing this story and I cannot thank you enough for being so incredibly supportive.

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After a few seconds however, the person opened their mouth, making my head snap up. "Aren't you cold out here?" a deep voice asked beside me. When I looked up, a pair of green eyes were looking down at me with concern and a few seconds later my whole world came crashing down on me.   

Without hesitation, Harry pulled me into him, letting me sob into his chest. I was holding onto him as if I was drowning and he was my lifeline. He opened his jacket and pulled me into his lab, closing the jacket around the two of us, just holding me while I was finally breaking down. "Shhhh, Claire, just let it out, it's okay, just let it all out." I felt him press a light kiss on top of my hair and soothingly stroke my back. When I could think a bit more clearly again, I vaguely wondered how Harry was here in that moment, but I still wasn't able to speak. After a few minutes, my tears slowly stopped flowing down my cheeks, and my sobs died down, leaving me a red-eyed mess in Harry Styles arms.

"I'm sorry." I croaked out and I immediately felt him shake his head. "No, no, no, you have nothing to be sorry for, okay, love? Absolutely nothing. I am the one who is sorry, that I couldn't be here earlier." He pressed another kiss to my head and rested my cheek against his chest. "I am sorry I ruined your sweater, though." My voice sounded hoarse and reflected very much how I felt. Harry's chest vibrated a bit and I could hear him chuckle. "Only you would apologise for something like that right now, God, I missed you, you little weirdo." I blushed a bit and was very glad he couldn't see me. "How are you feeling?" he asked me quietly and pulled away a little bit, as much as it was possible with his half-closed jacket around us anyway, to give me a concerned look. "Numb."

I didn't meet his eyes and instead concentrated on his lips, which wasn't a very good idea either, but everything was better than looking him in the eyes right now. A long finger gently pushed my chin up, forcing me to meet Harry's green eyes. "It's okay not to feel okay, alright? I obviously can't understand what you are feeling right now, but please don't shut me out, Claire, okay? Please don't do that." His gaze was very intense and I tried my best to ignore any feelings I had buried inside of me, good and bad. "I'm okay, Harry. See, I already cried, okay? Now I just gotta help my mum with the funeral and..." My eyes went wide and tried to jump up, but Harry's strong arms and his jacket held me in place. "My mum! I need to go and see her! She needs me, I need to look after her, I...!" But Harry placed a finger on my lips and effectively shut me up. "Claire, calm down, love." But I didn't listen and tried to free my arms to somehow open the jacket. "Hey! Claire, look at me." I stopped in my tracks and looked up at Harry, suddenly aware of how close his face was. His eyelashes seemed endless and his lips were even pinker that close.

"Your grandma is looking after your mum right now okay? She is being looked after and the only thing you need to do right now, is look after yourself, do you understand me?" he asked me and I nodded, but opened my mouth to protest. "But-" I started off, but Harry cut me off again. "No, no but. If you won't let me help you, then at least let someone else help you, Claire, like Lily or Louis. But bottling it all up is a very bad coping mechanism. Isn't that what you wrote in the letter? Or was that just something you wrote to make yourself feel better about yourself?" He sounded a little bit bitter and I felt my eyes tearing up again, feeling the guilt and all of the other feelings threatening to overwhelm me. "God, I am sorry, I didn't mean that, Claire!" Harry apologised at once. "Shit, I am the worst friend ever. I am so sorry, love, I snapped. You apologised and I already forgave you long before I read your letter, shit, I am sorry." He rambled on and gave me a crooked smile, which always managed to get to me, and I took a shaky breath.

"I really am sorry, you know?" I asked him, suddenly really shy, and hid my face behind my hair which was framing my face, the band that had held it together long gone. I felt him shift slightly underneath me, before he replied. "I know, and I am sorry that I snapped at you, love. I was just very worried about you." His voice was suddenly a bit hoarse and he cleared his throat, before he lifted his hand and almost automatically brushed my hair out of my face. His fingers lingered on my cheek for a moment, before he cleared his throat again and reached behind me, carefully unzipping the jacket surrounding us.

The cold air hit my back and I shivered a bit, automatically cuddling closer into Harry, who chuckled a bit. "I think we need to get you inside, love." I nodded, but didn't move. I felt completely exhausted and emotionally drained and tried to push any feelings to the back of my mind, unable to deal with them right now. He moved a bit underneath me and a few seconds later I was lifted up into the air, making my eyes snap open again. "What are you doing? I can walk!" I insisted and tried to move, but Harry was holding me bridal style and made it basically impossible for me to move. 

"Stop moving around, or I'll drop you. You are exhausted and I am just taking you to my car if that's okay with you?" he asked me and I nodded. "I don't want to go back in there." I whispered almost inaudibly and leaned my head against his shoulder while he carefully walked around the building towards the car park. "I know, I'll just take you to the car where we'll warm you up a little bit and then we'll talk to your mum and see what happens next, okay?" I nodded again and closed my eyes, suddenly overcome by a wave of tiredness.

Before I slipped into unconsciousness, a thought popped up in my head and I opened my eyes again, Harry's green ones already looking down at me. "How are you even here, H?" I asked him and a light smile flashed across his face at the sound of the nickname. "Your mum texted me earlier because she thought you might need someone when you were sitting in the visitors' room, but I didn't get here fast enough and then she texted me again saying that you had gone missing and asked me to look for you and here I am." He smiled down at me, his eyes twinkling a bit, and I blushed and quickly closed my eyes again. "Thank you for always being there for me." I thanked him quietly and hid my face in his chest. "Anything for you, love." were the last words I heard before the darkness embraced me, leaving me asleep in Harry Styles arms. 

A.N. Be prepared for our favourite Donny lad to make an appearance in the next chapter to take care of his girl ;)