Afraid (Harry Styles)

Chapter 9

I quietly walk out of Harry's room and into the hallway. The door on the other side of the hall is slightly cracked open. I take a deep breath before I walk in.

The room is pretty basic, a couch, a queen sized bed, and a dressing table to the side. There's something about this room that gives off the feeling of emptiness. Harry is sitting on one of the dusty couches with his head in his hands. I know I probably shouldn't be confronting him like this, but for my own sake, I do it.

"Why don't you like me?" I ask quietly when I'm close enough for him to hear me. I figured if I ask him quickly, out of the blue, it would be a clean break for me.

"Shut uff" Harry slurs. The alcohol still hasn't left his system so this might be bad idea.

From my experience with alcohol, I know that it takes the filter away from your mouth. You either say things you don't mean or things you would never say out loud.

"No, what have I ever done to you? Or did you just decide that I'll be the next victim of your abuse? Because if it is, fuck you. You can choose another innocent person to annoy because I'm not going to deal with your pathetic crap anymore!" I yell, my voice rising towards the end.

He needs to get through his head that I will not be the victim here. I'm supposed to be starting new and this is the exact reason I left London.

"Do you want a drink?" Harry asks with a sickening smirk.

Before I can reply, Harry walks out of the room and I hear him walking down the staircase. I can't decide on whether I should be pissed he completely ignored my rant or amused at how easily he can change a subject.

What do I have to lose?

I walk down the long staircase and into the kitchen to search for Harry. All the appliances that were on the kitchen counter when we arrived are now clean and put back perfectly throughout the kitchen. When did Harry have time to do all that? And more importantly, where are his parents?

I'm alone in this surreal house with Harry, a boy I know nothing of. Does he even live with his family? Yes, of course he does. Why else would there be a master bedroom with a dressing table and makeup all over the place. Surely, Harry wouldn't have needed that.

"Lost?" Harry asks from behind me, making me jump.

"When did you have time to clean up the whole kitchen?" I ask, solely from curiosity.

"Let's go to the bar," Harry says, once again ignoring me, "We have white wine, Raspberry flavored wine, and even Tequila."

"No..I can't. I don't..uh..drink wine. I thought you meant water.." I stammer, embarrassed by my own stupidity.

"What, wine isn't good enough for you? You're above that as well?" Harry says with a mocking smile.

Why does everything have to lead to a fight when it comes to him?

"No, I'm seventeen. In case you aren't aware, the legal drinking age in the states is twenty-one." I say with a satisfied grin. I'm usually not as fast at making excuses.

"Oh, I'm so sorry Bella. I didn't realize we were committing a crime. We'll probably get a life sentence if the cops find out. How could I be so stupid?" Harry says dramatically.

"I figured you would refuse the offer, you're polished and grey..and you're a stuck up bitch too," Harry adds with a laugh.

I don't know how or when it happened, but for some unknown reason, Harry's approval means a lot to me now.

"White wine. If you can afford it.." I order. By the look on his face, I can tell that I've fallen into his trap, but I could care less. I need to let go, just for one night.

Harry pours the wine into one of those crystal wine glasses they serve at clubs. I hate to admit it, but i'm impressed. I didn't think Harry would have white wine or any of this fancy shit..but of course he does.

Harry watches while I bring the glass up to my mouth. I haven't had wine in ages so I don't really know what to expect.

The wine tastes sour and stale, I don't like it. But after a couple more slow sips, the taste is no longer foreign to me.

"What..?" I ask self consciously. He's been intently staring at me the whole time I was drinking the wine.

"You're a natural drinker.." Harry says with awe.

I wonder why.

"Just pour me another glass," I say exasperatedly, "And aren't you going to drink or are you drunk enough for the night..?"

Harry grabs another wine glass and pours wine into both glasses. Before I can grab my glass, Harry stops my hand.

"Let's play with shots.." Harry says with a creepy smile.

"I'm good," I'm not dumb enough to become a typical teenage stereotype who plays drinking games.

"It's easy..we ask each other questions and every time you refuse to answer a question, you can't take a shot."

The last think I want is to have Harry interrogate me with all types of personal questions but there's so much I want to know about Harry. I can't pass up a chance to ask Harry as many questions as I can. Who knows how long this carefree Harry will last?

"Fine"

A/N

This update took forever but I suck with schedules. I'll try to stick with my one week routine but it's really hard during the school year. At least track's over now :) Anyway's thanks for reading and thanks to the people who recently added this to their reading list, it really encourages me to write faster.

*Also thanks soo much for 1000+ reads. When I started writing, i was just hoping for 50 reads at most!!*