Ariel (Harry Styles)

Chapter 3

"Hey... Are you okay? Can you hear me?" I heard a deep voice ask from somewhere above me. I opened my eyes, blinking and confused as they adjusted to the bright sunlight. "Oh thank God, I thought you were dead." A boy nervously laughed from beside me. I turned my head over and felt my stomach drop. It was the boy I saved from drowning. Harry.

"Umm I'm Harry. Are you okay? What happened? What's your name?" He nervously fired questions at me. He had an accent different than what I assumed my voice would sound like. It was different than my fathers and sisters. Confused, I tried to sit up from where I was lying in the sand but my head spun in a weird way so I laid back down. "Here, I'll help you." Harry offered. One hand held my arm and the other slid under the sand to push my back up. Once I was in a sitting position, Harry narrowed his green eyes at me like he was thinking about something.

"You look really familiar... Have we met before?" He asked. Almost against my will, my head nodded. Yes. His eyes lit up and he clasped my right hand in his. "I knew it! You're the girl! The girl who rescued and sang to me! What's your name?" He asked gleefully. I opened my mouth to speak, but nothing came out. I patted my throat then shrugged my shoulders. "You can't talk?" His eyes lowered. I shook my head no, regretfully. Harry looked sad. "Oh. Then you can't be the girl I was looking for." We both looked regretful now.

He shook his head and let his curly brown hair fall about messily. I felt the urge to run my hands through it, but resisted. "Anyways, are you okay? Do you want me to take you home?" Harry asked, looking around the beach. I looked around too. Both ways I looked, I couldn't see the group of rocks that lined the shore to my backyard. I'm definitely far away from home.

I looked back at Harry helplessly, shrugging my shoulders once more. He frowned. "You don't know where you live?" I shook my head. No. "Do you know where you are?" I shook my head again. No. "Woah, you know you're in California though, right?" I shook my head yes this time, rolling my blue eyes at him. He grinned back sheepishly, "Just checking." There was an awkward silence before Harry stood up and said, "C'mon, I'm taking you to my house. You can stay with me."

He held out his hand and I graciously took it, thankful he helped me stand because I probably couldn't have done it alone. He started walking up the beach, and I stumbled behind when I saw a mound of golden hair, lying motionless a few feet away. With a silent cry I stumbled through the sand over to Flounder, dropping to my knees next to him. A slow rise and fall of his chest showed me that he was alive- for now at least.

As I ran my fingers through Flounders fur I noticed a deep bite mark on my forearm. My sweet dog must have dragged me to shallow waters. Although my arm stung badly now that I had noticed the mark, I had never been more grateful to my dog for biting me.

"Is this your dog?" Harry asked, coming up from behind me. I nodded my head, eyes still locked on my puppy. "Oh, ow, your arm." Harry winced. "Here move over, I'll get him. We can have your arm looked at once we reach my house." He nudged me over, then slid his hands under Flounder's side and lifted him off of the ground. "Follow me." Harry grunted under Flounder's weight.

I obeyed, following them up the beach. I realized just how far away from home I really was once I saw that there wasn't a forest lining the edge of the beach. Instead, I could see huge mansions a little ways off in the distance. I began internally panicking. What would I do without the comfort of my small beachside house and my father and sisters? What if I never saw them again?

"Wow your dogs heavy. What's his name?" Harry asked, distracting me from my thoughts. I didn't answer, and it took Harry a second to realize why. "Oh yeah... I forgot. You can't talk." He said, glancing at me. We were walking side by side up the sandy hill. Harry was struggling with Flounder's weight. I can understand that; Flounder's not a puppy anymore, he's a big dog.

I would have gladly offered to carry Flounder if I was strong or tall enough. I'm really tiny, and my head barely passes Harry's shoulder. "Oh, he has a name tag on his collar. Is your address or phone number on it?" Harry asked. I shook my head no, feeling shameful that I didn't even remember my own address anymore. I hadn't left my property in a long, long time so what was the point in knowing it? And my house didn't have a working phone anymore. After my mom's death, my dad was the only one working, hence the only one providing the family with money. We live in a small house, I know we're poor. The phone was one of the first things to go once our financials starting going south.

"Okay... No address, no phone number. How are we going to get you home?" Harry muttered under his breath. Normally, I would have felt terrible that I've imposed on him like this, but I was under the impression that Harry genuinely just cared about my well being and my wanting to go home. I really wanted to go home. Harry makes me really nervous. Well, everyone makes me nervous since I'm painfully shy. But I also just want to kiss him, which makes no sense because we've only just met, and I've never kissed anyone before.

But the moment I saw his face when I was singing to him on the beach, I felt like what Ariel must have felt when she first saw Prince Eric. There were butterflies in my stomach and when I was in bed that night, I kept looking out my window, hoping he'd be walking by. I had wanted to see him again.

"I'll have to figure out your name you know." Harry glanced at me with a smirk on his face. I nodded back eagerly. I really wanted him to know my name, Ariel. "Okay let me guess... Alex?" I shook my head no, smiling. "Rebecca?" He tried again, shifting Flounder in his arms. My dog still hadn't woken up, but his breathing was becoming stronger and regular. I shook my head no once again. Harry was smiling before he even got the next name out of his mouth. "Mildred?" I rolled my eyes and grinned.

"Okay so I'm guessing its not Mildred. Give me a hint, please!" He begged, turning his big green eyes on me. Thinking, I touched Harry's arm lightly, indicating I wanted him to stop walking. We were off of the beach now, and soft grass was underfoot. The big mansions were getting closer and closer, and the ocean farther and farther.

We both stopped walking, Harry looking at me expectantly. I picked up a lock of my red hair, pointing to it. "Ginger hair..." Harry whispered. Then I turned around and pointed toward the ocean. His gaze followed my finger. Then I moved closer to Harry and Flounder, and ran my fingers along Flounder's fur. I went along his collar until I found the bone shaped name tag I had gotten him when he was a puppy.

I showed Harry the tag. "Flounder, the ocean, ginger hair... The Little Mermaid?" He said, putting the pieces together. I nodded happily, finally! "You're a mermaid?!" Harry asked in awe, mouth dropping open. I laughed silently, shaking my head. "Oh... I knew that, I was just joking." Harry brushed it off, and started walking onward. We walked in silence for the next couple of minutes, reaching a sidewalk that was lined with beautiful mansions.

I was admiring a particularily pretty one, with a large bay window and old style pillars when Harry startled me out of my thoughts. "Your name's Ariel?" He asked, his voice deep and husky. I nodded, trying to ignore the butterflies in my stomach. "That's pretty. I like it." He said with a small smile. I timidly smiled back at him. I like your name too, Harry.