Just keep breathing

Chapter 18

"Mel have you seen my car keys?? " I yell out to her from the kitchen.

Shit shit shit. It's Saturday morning, and I have to be at work in... thirteen minutes to open the pub, and for the life of me, I cannot remember where the hell I've left them.

"MEL! " I call again when she doesn't answer me, a little louder this time.

"What?" She asks from directly behind me, making me jump.

"Jesus, I thought you were upstairs. Have you seen my car keys? I'm SO late, and I can't fucking find them." I ask as I continue to move piles of letters and magazines around on the coffee table hoping that my keys will mysteriously appear even though I've already checked here twice in the last ten minutes.

"Have you checked your bag?"

"Of course I have I remember having them in my hand last night when I... Shit."

"When you what??" Mel asks, raising her eyebrows at me.

"When I picked up my bag off the passenger seat of the car... I put the keys down next to it. Shit" I say again and sprint towards the front door.

Mel follows me in a daze and stands watching as I stare in horror through the car window.

"Seriously? Again?" She says, laughing. I should be insulted, but as this is the third time in the last year and a half that I've managed to lock the damn keys in the car, I don't have a leg to stand on.

"I'll get the coat hangar," She says, with a slight note of exasperation, turning back towards the flat.

"Can you grab my phone as well? I better call Mark."

By the time she returns I am feeling all kinds of stupid, I quickly call Mark and explain what I've done and thankfully he says he can open up for me so that I can try and sort the car out, there's plenty of cover today, so I'm not to worry if I can't make it in.

Which is kind of him, but I really could use the money, especially as its probably going to cost me a small fortune to break into my own car.

I start attempting to bend the metal coat hanger into more of a helpful shape before Mel gets frustrated and comes and takes it out of my hand.

"You have the upper body strength of a toddler." She chastises me playfully. "I've got to get going, got this college outing today, you going to be OK? " She asks, handing me back the now straight hangar.

"Sure, I'll be fine. Thank you. Text me later?" I call as she starts to head down the street.

I try in vain to force the hangar down the side of the window to reach the door handle, but soon I realise all I am doing is ruining the rubber seal that runs around the frame.

Cursing loudly, I step back and flop down on to the curb and put my head in my hands. I stay that way for a couple of minutes, trying to pull myself together when suddenly a shadow crosses in front of me and I look up.

"Hey, pretty girl."

"Harry!!!" I exclaim, jumping off the curb so fast that I lose my footing and he has to reach out an arm to steady me before I fall headfirst into my car.

"What are you doing here? Aren't you meant to be in Italy? I thought you weren't due back until tomorrow.."

"I got an earlier flight. My shows were all done and, well I erm, I wanted to see you." He says warily.

I think he's trying to gauge my reaction to his sudden unexpected appearance outside my flat when I hadn't even agreed to see him again at all.

He looks effortlessly beautiful in ripped black jeans and a beige jumper. I run my hands through my hair feeling, as always, that I am nowhere near pretty enough to deserve the look in his eyes as he stares deeply into mine.

I don't know how it happens, who instigates it, or if either of us even consciously decided to move at all, but before I know it, his arms are wrapped tightly around my waist, pressing me close to him so that I can feel every inch of his toned body pressed up against mine.

His face is buried in my hair, and I can hear him inhaling deeply. My arms are around his neck, and I realise that my feet have entirely left the floor, he is holding me a few inches above the ground with his strong arms.

All at once, all the concerns I have about being a part of his world vanish into thin air. I place my feet back on the ground slowly and gaze up at him, searching his eyes... he came home early, for me?

I reach up on my tiptoes to press my lips against his, and the fire between us ignites again, will it always be like this? I wonder before his tongue slips through my parted lips, and all thoughts are banished from my mind.

"Get a room! " I hear a group of teens shout as they ride past us on their bikes and I break away from Harry, giggling and trying to catch my breath and regain some composure.

"God, I missed you." He says planting a small chaste kiss on the corner of my mouth. He steps back to a more suitable-in-public-distance and bites his lower lip.

The action sends an ache shooting down from somewhere in my stomach to the long-neglected parts of my body.

"I missed you too," I admitted shyly. "And you have excellent timing... I don't suppose any of your pre one direction youth was spent breaking into cars?" I nod towards my bright yellow 2004 Skoda next to us.

"Erm, I've made my way into a couple of venues without strictly having the keys... But cars? Afraid not. Why? " He asks raising an eyebrow in confusion.

"I seem to have locked my keys in my car," I admit sheepishly, looking down at my feet.

Before I have a chance to explain any further, Harry's barking laugh erupts from his mouth, no doubt disturbing my neighbours as it echoes down the long road, the group of teens on their bikes crane their necks around to find the source of the abnormally loud noise.

I can't help the bubble of giggles that escape my mouth in response, his laugh is infectious. We stand giggling on the side of the road for several minutes before either one of us can manage to speak again.

"I can give you a ride? Do you have somewhere you need to be? " Harry asks me. And I notice his gleaming black Land Rover across the street.

"It's ok, I was meant to be at work half an hour ago, but my boss got my shift covered," I reply.

Harry holds out his hand to me and starts to lead me back down the pathway to my front door.

"It sounds like I got lucky then, as now you have nothing better to do than spend the day with me." He says casually as we reach the front door. "May I come in?"