hazel-grace.
"my mom's not home, but i can find the recipe. it's in the kitchen."
when harry didn't move, hazel-grace said, "come on in."
"okay." he shuffled into the kitchen behind her, looking shy.
she rummaged in the drawer till she found her mother's recipe book. flipping through the pages, she said, "here. the recipe for red velvet cupcakes."
harry peered over her shoulder, and she could feel his breath tickling her neck. hazel-grace kept very, very still, like if she moved he'd run away from her. he murmured the ingredients aloud, then reached his arm around her, his fingertips brushing her hand as he flipped the page.
"the next recipe is for brownies," he pointed out.
"i can see that," hazel-grace said, fully concentrated on how close they were standing.
like honestly, the next recipe could've been written for an explosive poison and she wouldn't have questioned it.
"we should make brownies."
"no."
"but-"
"no, we came here for the recipe. now we go back to the clinic."
harry mumbled something under his breath.
"harold styles, let's go."
he blinked. "you called me harold."
"yes. it's your name, right?"
a smile twitched at the corner of his lips, a devilish little grin. "no. my name's pablo."
hazel-grace groaned and buried her face in her hands. "you're impossible."
"you'll have to be clearer than that. i'm impossible to what?"
"talk to."
"you're talking to me right now."
she grinned. "i do the impossible."
he leaned in a little closer, his smile matching her's. "i'm not impossible, by the way. i'm pablo."
hazel-grace punched him.
"ow."
"that's what i thought."
"you're violent, for a counselor."
she rolled her eyes. "hurry up and copy the cupcake recipe. we have to go."
harry scribbled down the recipe, mumbling to himself as he did. hazel-grace watched him amusedly, trying to hide her smile. "done," he finally professed. "i'm gonna make some cupcakes tonight," he said. "at like, midnight."
"why midnight?"
"because otherwise my mom will kick me out of the kitchen."
hazel-grace laughed, turning to put the recipe book back in the drawer. she almost missed what harry mumbled next: "it's weird, you know. i normally don't like any of my counselors."
"harry, do you like me?" she teased.
he furrowed his brow, pretending to think. "well."
she put on an offended expression. "but i gave you a cupcake recipe!"
harry chuckled. "you're okay."
and hazel grace thought: okay? okay.
and then she thought of harry as augustus. and her, well, she was already hazel-grace--always had been. and even though it was girlish, she thought she would melt at the vision; it was so cute. she could picture it already, all the cute little moments from 'the fault in our stars' and-
"but yeah, even when i make these cupcakes, won't give you any. you'll get fat."
that was so not part of hazel-grace's daydream. she frowned at harry, wanting to scold him for being unromantic. instead, she socked him in the arm. again. "you have to give me cupcakes. i gave you the recipe."
"yeah but it's your mom's recipe."
"so?"
"so."
hazel-grace threw up her hands. "you make a horrible augustus."
blinking, harry said, "what?"
"nothing."
"who's augustus?" he asked, and he looked a little nervous for a second.
"no one."
"yeah but-"
"no one."
"you said his name so he's obviously someone."
hazel-grace was surprised at how insistent harry's tone was. why did it even matter? "are you jealous of augustus, harry?"
harry tensed. "no. he's no one."
and that reaction surprised her too, because she'd actually only be teasing; harry had no reason to be jealous of anyone. but now it almost seemed like-
"is he your boyfriend?" harry blurted.
"huh? who?"
"augustus."
hazel-grace burst out laughing. "no, harry. augustus waters is a character in a book."
harry kicked at the kitchen floor, eyeing the scuff mark with childish satisfaction. "oh." his face grew red.
"yeah."
"i knew that."
"sure you did."
harry scowled. "i don't like this augustus person."
okay, so harry wouldn't exactly make a good augustus. that was okay; she was silly to imagine it anyway. hazel-grace sighed and rolled her eyes. "augustus waters."
"huh?"
"that's his full name. he's in this book i'm reading, and the other main character he falls in love with is named hazel-grace."
"ah. so he's like, a fictional crush." harry seemed very relieved to hear this, and she wasn't sure why.
"ye-ah."
he frowned, looking past her in distraction. "what's that?"
following his pointing finger, she spotted the weathered, unused instrument he was indicating. "that? that's a guitar. it belonged to my grandfather, but after he died, we never use it anymore. none of us can play."
awestruck, harry walked over and tentatively ran his fingers along the curve of wood.
hazel-grace smiled. "d'you play guitar, harry?"
"a- a little bit."
"and you sing too, right?"
"my mom calls it 'making noise'."
picking up her grandfather's guitar, hazel-grace placed it in harry's hands. "here."
his eyes widened in shock. "r-really? i don't know, hazel-grace. i'm not very good."
beaming at him, hazel-grace sat down in a chair across from him and nodded. "sing, harry. please?"
clearly nervous, he strummed a few chords on the strings, adjusted the tuning, and tried again. he seemed about to sing, then paused.
"did augustus waters play guitar, hazel-grace?"
"no."
he seemed strangely satisfied. and then hazel-grace completely forgot all about augustus waters, because harry styles was singing and playing guitar.
and wow, was he good at it.
