You Still Remember (Harry Styles)

7. Happiness Returned

Alicia's POV

“Wait…” Harry took a sip from his drink before continuing. “You told her to get lost? Just for wishing you a happy 18th?” He looked very surprised.

“I know, I know. It was wrong of me-but I was moody, OK?” I said.

“I would’ve preferred it if you were happy on your 18th.”

“Well, I know that there’s someone who would like to see you happy on this day, and I don’t mean someone from your family.”

Jessica’s words repeated in my mind like a broken record.

“I know.” I said quietly.

“Are you alright?” He started to look concerned.

I smiled at him. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

He smiled back, and his eyes dropped down to my hand, which was resting on the table. He picked it up and placed it against his, comparing the sizes. His smile grew a little when he saw the difference.

“I see that you still have small hands.”

I chuckled. “That never changed. And if I recall properly, you said that you liked it.”

“I did, and still do.” He turned my hand over. “Hey-you stopped biting your nails.” He nodded approvingly at my long fingernails painted with black nailpolish.

“Yeah. I always painted them, and the nailpolish tasted gross, so I left them alone. That’s how I stopped.”

“Clever.” He gently put my hand on the table and then looked back at me. “How’s your family?”

“Well, mom’s working too hard, as usual. Dad recently got promoted, so he’s happy. And Fiona, well, she’s still a bitch.”

He laughed at my last words. “I’m not surprised.”

I laughed too. Harry didn’t like Fiona either-because she always annoyed him by flirting with him when we were kids and stuff, and he never liked how she just jumped from one guy to another too quickly.

“Anyway, despite how annoying she is-she’s got a boyfriend.”

Both his eyebrows rose. “Really? Who? Is one of your parents paying him to date her?”

I laughed again. “No. He wanted to date her. His name’s Tristan. Although, he did try to ask me out, and he was still with her.”

I thought I saw a small spark of jealousy in his eyes-but it was probably my imagination.

“I give it a week.” He said.

I smiled. “I give it a day.”

And then we both laughed. Harry finished up his drink. “Well, I think that’s our lunch done. Shall we go?”

I pouted. “I don’t want to go home yet! It’s boring! My roommate works for 8 hours 5 days a week. I don’t have a job yet, and I need someone to hang out with. Don’t drop me off!” I begged.

He burst out laughing.

“I wasn’t going to drop you home yet, silly. We still have way too much lost hang-out time that we need to make up for. 6 years worth, in fact.”

I sighed in relief, making him smile. I waited behind him as he finished paying for our lunches. However, when I took a glance at his wallet, I thought I saw a glimpse of the colours at the playground in Holmes Chapel.

“Harry?” I called quietly after he finished paying.

He turned to me. “Yeah?”

“Can I…see your wallet picture?”

He smiled and opened his wallet so I could see the picture. I gasped as I saw what it was.