Fragile (Uncontrollable Desires 3) -ON HOLD!!!-

Chapter Three

Chapter Three

Harry drives in complete silence. The radio isn't turned on and he doesn't attempt at conversation. Part of me wishes that I had chosen to sit in the back of the car, maybe then things wouldn't feel as awkward. I just shut my eyes and lean my head against the window. I have no idea where Harry is taking us, but I have to be grateful that he's choosing to get back into some of the habit of his old life. His old life where he and the boys are actually close. 

After a good twenty minutes of silent driving, the car comes to a stop and I sit up, opening my eyes to see a large fountain in front of me. The building behind it is an obvious fancy restaurant that I have never eaten at. The walls are made of glass and bricks, giving it a modern look. The large archway has vines grown into it, not in a way that makes it look unkempt, but purposefully. Beautiful. 

One of the valet people comes around and opens my door. Harry climbs out himself and hands the man the car keys. I can't stop staring at the awesome foutain. The center piece is of a couple made of stone. The man has his arms around the woman, dipping her backwards so that her head almost reaches the water, but not quite. There's a ghostly smile on both their faces. Their hands are entwined and even though it's made of hard stone, I can feel the love connection between the two. 

It's stupid, but I feel envious of statues. 

"Ashlyn," Harry says my name so blandly that I almost mistake him for a stranger. I look over at him, expecting to see him hold out an arm or a hand in my direction. But he keeps his hands in his jacket pockets, completely out of sight. "They're waiting inside," he tells me.

I nod and walk over to Harry. "Okay." 

We walk with a good foot of space between us. It feels like every step I take towards him, he takes two away to counter it. I feel so pushed away that I have half a mind of waiting in the car. I don't want to break down and cry in front of him or any of the boys. Especially not Niall who will get very defensive very fast. 

The boys wave us over as soon as we enter and the hostess lady nods for us to go on in. The boys had already paid for our entrance apparently. My eyes take in the fancy chandeliers hanging from the ceiling and the high heels on almost every woman's feet. I glance down at my converse and overly large sweater and suddenly wish I didn't change out of my maroon dress. I'm not dressed for this type of setting. 

"Harry, I don't look decent enough for this," I whisper to him. My gaze catches onto a woman with a dark red dress on. A string of pearls sits around her neck and the sharp edge of her chin tells me that she does a lot of sticking her nose up. "I'm definitely not fit for this." 

Harry looks down at me, a slight crease between his eyebrows. "Put your hair down. You look fine," he says and I wait for a smile to appear but it never does. He looks away from me quicker than I would have wished. 

I grab the hair tie in my hair and pull it out right before we get to the table. The boys stand as we approach them, their manners kicking in in a place like this. Niall grabs the back of a chair for me to sit, but Harry stands behind the other empty chair, his hands on the back of it. I don't need him to say anything for me to know that he wants me to sit in that specific chair. 

I sit in Harry's offered chair knowing that going with Niall's would have just created another disaster. "Thank you," I mutter to Harry and he just nods. Niall immediately steps away from the chair and goes back to his own. 

Every one sits down and I try my hardest to sit straight in the chair. At times it gets hard to maintain good posture. My back gets tired easily. A man comes by with champagne and glasses for the table. I eye the alcohol as it's handed out.