Crazy Little Thing Called Love

A.M. Or How My Life Is A Mess

Hi everyone, here is the chapter you've all been waiting for (or maybe not, what do I know). I hope you like it. All the love, Summer xxx

After the second movie was over as well, Harry and I were lying together on the sofa, my legs resting on his. "Can I ask you a question?" I asked him quietly and felt him shift next to me. When I looked up, I saw his green eyes looking down at me. "Sure." He gave me an encouraging smile which did little to make me feel any less anxious about what I was about to ask. "Louis... gets jealous whenever I'm with you." I started off and he hummed as a sign that he was listening. I hesitated before I asked the next question. "Does he... does he have a reason to be jealous?" I asked him, unable to look him in the eyes.

There was a long silence before Harry spoke up again. "Claire?" he asked quietly, but I was too embarrassed to look up. "Claire, love, look at me. Please." The tone of his voice finally made me look up and I saw that he had a very pained impression on his face. "I have liked you since the moment I met you. You're this incredible woman who it's very difficult not to fall in love with." He chuckled and gently cupped my face with one hand. "But Louis is my best friend and I would never even think about making a move on his girlfriend. Maybe things would have been different if we had met first. God, I probably shouldn't have wasted as much time as Louis did and should have just asked you out on a date after you still talked to me when I messed up your hair." I smiled a bit at the memory of his exquisite branding skills. "You will always be one of the most important people in my life, but no matter how much I feel for you, I would never want to destroy what you and Louis have."

I gulped and looked up at this incredible man who just confessed his feelings for me, but who was to noble to make a move on his best mate's girlfriend. His expression was unreadable and for the first time since I had met him, the light in his eyes seemed to gone out. "You're way too good for this world, Harry, you have no idea how amazing you are." I smiled up at him, my heart pounding in my chest. "I... I don't know what to say right now. I never thought that someone seemingly perfect like you could like someone like me. I'm a mess, Harry. A broken mess." My voice broke at the end of the sentence and I opened my mouth to continue, but Harry gently placed a finger on my lips. "Shhhh, first of all: you're not a mess and you're not broken. You're one of the strongest people I've ever met and I have met a lot of people. And I am nowhere near perfect, not even close. I'm just me, just Harry, the boy from Cheshire who used to work in a bakery and somehow managed to live his dream." He chuckled dryly and I managed a weak smile. "Listen, you don't have to say anything right now. I don't expect you to break up with Louis for me; I never did. But you asked and you deserve to know the truth." I looked up at him with tears in my eyes, threatening to spill over. With a sigh, he pulled me into his chest and I felt him press a light kiss to my forehead. 

Taking a few deep breaths to calm myself down, I sat up and carefully untangled myself from Harry's embrace. "I, um, I think I need some time to think." I told him quietly and the look on his face broke my heart. "You can't leave right now, it's 1am in the morning!" he protested, obviously concerned, but I ignored him and kept walking towards the front door where I quickly slipped into my coat and boots. "Claire, I understand that you want to leave now, but please don't walk around London in the middle of the night. There isn't even a bus going right now and who knows what's lurking in the dark." he tried to convince me to stay. "Harry, I appreciate your concern, I really do, but I can't stay the night, I am sorry." I buttoned up my coat and took another step towards the door. "At least let me pay for a taxi, I don't want you get hurt because of me." he begged me and after a couple of seconds I nodded. Letting out a sign of relief, he called his usual taxi company and they promised him to arrive within five minutes. 

He hung up on them and then looked over to me, unsure of whether or not he was allowed to hug me goodbye. I gave him a weak smile and opened my arms for him to which he responded with a wide smile. He pulled me into a tight hug and I could hear his steady heartbeat, which was entirely different to mine in that moment, my cheek pressed to his chest.  "I am so sorry for throwing this at you, I never planned to tell you." he apologised again and I pulled away so that I could look him in the eyes. "Harry, there is no reason for you to apologise, okay? Absolutely none. I asked you a question and you gave me an honest answer and I am very grateful that you did. I just need some time to sort out my life right now, okay?" I reassured more me than him, but he seemed to buy it. He nodded and I leaned in and pressed a light kiss to his cheek, before stepping out of his arms and into the night.

When I turned around to look at him at the gate, I saw him standing in his doorway, watching me protectively until I was sat safely in the taxi. I waved a bit, before I closed the door and just barely managed to make out his face in the darkness, framed by a mess of tangled curls. He raised his hand and waved, but before I could react in anyway, the taxi had driven around a corner and Harry disappeared out of sight. Numbness overcame me and I just blindly stared at the headrest in front of me, while the taxi drove through the empty streets of London. 

"Are you okay, Miss?" I jumped a bit and looked up. The taxi driver was watching me through the rear mirror with a concerned look on his face. I brushed a lose strand out of my face and that was when I realised I was crying. "I, um, I'm fine, thank you." I assured him and he focused his attention back on the road, obviously not completely convinced. Embarrassed, I hastily wiped away my tears and leaned my head back against the head rest. What the hell was I supposed to do now? I needed to talk to someone. Suddenly, the choice was so obvious that I nearly cried again. I took out my phone and looked up when the first train or bus would be leaving for Norfolk tomorrow morning. I was going home.