Remember? A Harry Styles Story

Chapter 5

Soft jazz music and hot sizzles were the only sounds in the house as we stood next to each other and cooked. Me cooking the chicken and Lia making the curry pasta. We kept bumping elbows, but somehow that would just make us giggle. 

I glanced to my right, seeing her at least a whole hand shorter than me. Her dark brown hair was tied back into a plait and she just looked so tranquil. She looked up to me, “What?” Her nose scrunched up. “Quit looking, get cooking.”

I burst out in laughter and shook my head, “You’re surprisingly funny.” 

She smiled, continuing to cook. “So, would you like to hear some memories?”

I nodded excitedly, “Please.” I turned my body towards her, "You said you'd tell me about our sex life."

She gasped, "No." Her smile broke out of her surprised expression, "I said I'd tell you about some of the best times we had sex, not our whole sex life."

"Oh well," I shrugged, "Same thing." 

"Well…" She thought out loud, "Oh, I remember a good one!" Her elbow nudged mine and she bounced on her heels. "I think we hadn't seen each other for three weeks at that time. You were in Australia, I think..." She paused, "Not sure though. Doesn't matter.

"You had been sick, too. Like the flu or something. So I told you that when you came home, I'd have some chicken noodle soup ready for you." She paused to set some plates on the table. "So you get home and to my surprise, you have no flu, you're healthy, you were energetic, and you literally swept me off my feet." Her cheeks blushed.

I could feel myself being drawn to her. Everything she did ... I just fell into such a deep infatuation with it. 

"We kissed from the front door to the bedroom and must have been midnight or one in the morning when we finally stopped. I didn't know how either of us lasted that long." She laughed, "But I seriously could not walk the next day." Lia said, smiling to herself.

She carried the pans to the table and plated the pasta and chicken for me. I sat down and poured the both of us a glass of wine.  A silence hung over us as dinner came to a finish. I grabbed our plates and brought them to the sink. ”Let me help.” Lia grabbed the dish soap and a sponge. She silently cleaned while I leaned against the counter, arms crossed over my chest.

"Can I ask yousomething?" I spoke up.

She nodded.

"Do you feel anything for me?" I set a fork down into the sink and looked at her, silently begging for an answer. 

Lia inhaled slowly, “Yes.” She looked at me, “Regretably, yes, I do." Her hand grabbed mine and she squeezed it gently, "I know this must be so weird for you to be here and have no idea who I am as a person, and-“

I shook my head, “It must be just as equally weird for you to have been in a relationship with me while I don’t know a single thing about you anymore.” 

Lia closed her mouth and pressed her lips together. “Yeah.” She whispered, defeated. "I loved you-wait. I love you, I do. I care about you loads." She breathed, "I want to go back to how we were, like cuddling on the couch, playing footsie in bed, holding hands, all of that. But it's too much for you and I don't want to pressure you." 

"Well, It’s just that…" I exhaled,  "We’ve been getting along really well and I like that." I admitted. "I love being here with you."

Lia nodded, “So do I.” She placed her hands on the edge and stood with a pondering look across her face. 

I continued, feeling like this conversation wasn’t getting me the answers I needed. “I mean, I knew we were in a relationship and we were so serious about each other but now it’s like we’re…”