Clutch.

|nine|

Harry's POV

I was blown away, to say the very least. Zoe was the most beautiful girl I'd ever laid my eyes upon, without a doubt. I took her petite hand in mine and led her to the car. We drove out to the restaurant, her mainly asking me where we were going, in which I responded with a simple shrug. She was getting frustrated with me but it was so damn cute. It was a bit crowded when we arrived, mostly paparazzi. They always knew where I was, all the time, around the clock. I wish shit like this wouldn't happen 24/7. I know it makes the girls uncomfortable and I did not want to scare her away for any reason.

We stepped out of the car, instantly being blinded by flashes and microphones shoved in our faces. I lightly placed my hand on the small of her back and sighed quietly to myself then led her directly through the restaurant to a secluded and very private table outside, in the back of the bistro. Just as I had politely requested earlier today.

"I'm sorry." I whispered softly before pulling out her chair for her and then waking over to my own. She smiled and shook her head a bit, which was really reassuring, I guess.

"It's no problem. Stuff like that happens when you guys go anywhere in public, I get it. I'm on a date with you, after all. I kind of expected it to happen at some point." She said very sweetly, grabbing the menu sitting on the end of the table for herself. Those words made me so happy to hear. The ones about her being on a date with me, I mean. The other ones were whatever.

She seemed like such a strong and confident girl. Due to the conditions of her past, with her dad leaving and everything, she had a lot of reasons to give up and count on other people more than herself, but from my understanding, she was pretty independent and resilient.

I had asked the waitress for a specific table and decorations to set the mood. We had a table outside of the restaurant, facing the glowing building and city lights and entire gorgeous city of London. It was truly a beautiful sight. I had set up tiny white candles on the table and twinkling lights around the ceiling hanging from strings. The way her eyes reflected against the shimmering lights surrounding us... God, it was just unbelievable.

The waitress had brought us our ice waters and knew we needed a while to talk and get conversation going. We had ordered a few drinks and calamari as an appetizer to start with.

"So what do you think?" I asked, hesitantly. I wanted to make sure I didn't go overboard or something. Was this even her thing? Like, did she like dates like this? Fuck, now I was just getting apprehensive.

"Harry, everything is perfect." She smiled, taking a small sip of her water.

And that was enough for me. Nothing else mattered at this point. I felt myself sigh softly in relief at her words, feeling like I accomplished something now. I could hardly explain to myself how badly I wanted this girl. I was not going to let this just slip under the rug, I would do everything in my power to get and keep her. I'm better than last time, way better...

"How did you manage all this in one day?" She giggled with immense charm.

"Babe, did you forget who I am?" I leaned back in my chair, casually putting my hands behind my head.

"Oh no, don't play that pop star card, Styles." She shook her head, crossing her arms as she let her eyes flutter over and look out at the view.

"I just wanted things to be perfect." I finally admitted.

"Why?" She asked, now giving me her full attention again as she began leaning her head on her hands and putting her elbows on the table.

"I just, I don't know. I-I really like you. And I wanted it to be a special night, that's all." I said sincerely, coming her actions.

Her cheeks turned a tad bit pink under the sparkle of the lights but I could still tell.

"Well, you succeeded. It's already a wonderful night. And I wouldn't want to spend it with any other British man." She chuckled, loosening up a little.

"Not even Lou?" I exclaimed teasingly.

"Not even Lou.But don't tell him I said that. He'll be so jealous of you." She winked playfully and sat back in her seat.

We both laughed at the mere joking of our friend and decided it was time to order once the waitress passed by again. The restaurant's specialty was Italian so we both ordered heaping piles of spaghetti and garlic bread.

The night was full of enough laughter to last me my entire lifetime and stories upon stories of the most random things. And did I mention we had just.. A great connection? Was that the right way to say it? Nothing suited it better. The night came to a closure with pistachio and vanilla gelato, but there was still one more stop before home. I paid the bill and we had the car brought around to the back of the cafe by the lovely waitress who definitely understood the nasty predicament we were in. Anyway to avoid the paparazzi was fine by me. We got settled in the car and I shortly began driving further away from London, the exact opposite direction, actually.

"Do you mind if we make one last stop?" I asked quietly, turning the heat up slightly in the car. It was a little chilly in the night, still.

"Uh, sure. Where?" She asked curiously, setting her hands in her lap as she looked over at me.

"If I told you, I'd have to kill you." I winked out of the corner of my eye as I focused on the road.

"Wow, kidnap me then kill me? Okay, can I just call the cops now?" She laughed quietly, sitting back in her chair as she looked out at the road along with me.

We drove out, listening to the CD I had in my player, The 1975. Classic. I pulled up eventually nearing a tiny old rackety bridge further into the countryside of England. I stopped the car and turned the ignition off in the middle of a field close by it and went to the back of the car to grab a blanket I brought from home. Zoe hesitantly stepped out of the car once I did.

"Come on, don't be afraid, seriously. I'm not gonna kill you." I held my hand out and led her through the dark field to a flat not so muddy spot, then laid the blanket down on the grass. I sat down and patted the spot right next to me. "Sit."

She sat down on the blanket, stretching her long legs out in front of her. I smiled and laid back, crossing my arms behind my head as I stared out at the stars lingering brightly across the black sky. She glanced at me then joined a few second later and laid down.

"This is one of the few places near London where you can actually see the stars at night." I said in a soft lull, sighing contently to myself.

"It's gorgeous.." She whispered faintly.

We stargazed for almost an hour, just enjoying each others' presence and the mere silence and peace outside of our busy lives.

"Sometimes, I just come out here to get away from it all. Not even the boys know I come out here." I murmured.

"I can see why. It's truly unbelievable.." She sighed and turned over on her side to face me. I turned to my side as well and faced her, barely being able to make out the outlines and sketching of her face in the dark of the night sky.

"Harry, I'm glad we met." She said quietly, hardly erupting the stillness of the nightfall.

"I'm more than blessed to have met you, Zoe." I smiled genuinely, even though she couldn't really see my face.

"Now I know your secret spot. If you ever run away, I'll have to come check here first." Zoe replied, placing the gentle and soft palm of her hand on my cheek. "Thank you for one of the best nights I've ever had, Harry Styles. Nobody's been this caring for me." She whispered.

I was wrapped in a tight, in breakable cool around this girls' finger now. She could tear me off in an instant, and I'd just spring right back.

Please let this be real. I wouldn't bear to take it if it was too good to be true.

(You guys are great, honestly. And I bet everyone thinks I have too much time on my hands to update 2x a day but I already typed most chapters up to a certain point so I just upload them hahah. Leave comments and stuff, it gives me so much motivation tbh. Can we have a goal of four comments for this chapter? Love always. xx)