Figuring Out Emma (Harry Styles)

Chapter 26: What Do You Want

Harry

I stood there watching her go until she disappeared completely from sight. Nothing stopped me from running after her other than knowing that she would want to be left alone right now. It killed me not to though. Every ounce of my willpower was being used in order to keep me where I am.

I need to hear her say it, whatever it was she stopped herself from saying even though I have an educated guess as to what it might be. But Emma needs space, even if all I want is to chase after her. So I will give her some space... an hour should be plenty right? I don't know. I really don't.

Needing a distraction, I walked in the opposite direction from the way Emma had left. My feet trudged in the sand as I slowly made my way. Digging my hands in my pockets, I looked up and sighed heavily. Don't ask me why, but I had this feeling in my gut that everything was going to change between Emma and I tonight, and maybe not in the way I want it to.

If I were twenty-one, I would head to a pub but sadly I'm not yet. Stupid American law. So I made do with hanging out in the outskirts of the crowd that had formed for the concert. Local bands were performing, some of them turning out to be more talented than I had expected. I didn't stay long before traveling up the boardwalk towards the part of town where Emma and Natalie's flat was located. With the amount of time I spent watching the bands and how long it will take me to get to her place, Emma will have had over an hour to herself. Normally I would wait for Emma to come to me, but something tells me that if I don't chase after her now, she won't come back to me on her own.

When I finally made it to her doorstep, I barely had to knock before she opened the door. Her eyes were pink and a trail of tears stained her inflamed cheeks.

"Go away Harry," she mumbled, avoiding my gaze.

"No," I replied sternly.

Emma visibly stepped back, her hand on the door knob, beginning to close the door in my face. I pressed my hand against it, stopping the door from shutting.

"Harry, no. Leave me alone."

"Not until you hear me out," I told her as I stepped into the doorway.

Emma squeezed her eyes shut, fighting internally over what she was going to do; let me in or kick me out. I hoped she'd choose the first option.

She took another step to the side and opened the door up wider. "You have five minutes before I shove you out of my appartment." I followed her to the living room where she fell onto the fluffy couch. I sat down beside her and turned her body to face mine so she would hear me when I spoke to her.

"Ever since I watched Natalie tackle you to the ground at the bowling alley and I helped you stand back up to your shocking full height, I've been hooked. You're taste in music and tv shows isn't what I expected, it's better because it's a mix of everything imaginable. But that's all of what I knew about you until recently. You were such a pain in the ass when it came to sharing anything that was bothering you. You weren't really willing to trust me. I practically had to pull teeth to get you to share anything personal."

"You had your charming ways..." she whispered softly, an imperceptible smile pulling up the corners of her lips.

"You were quite the charmer yourself."

"How? All I ever did was try to push you away."

"It was your laugh, or the way your eyes lit up when you talked about surfing or some new song that sparked your interest, the way you could sit and read for hours without moving to do anything else, the way you stood up for me when people were being asses. It was you being you, that's how you charmed me. By being a real person who was down to earth and accepted me for who I am, not the person that people say I am."