Beautifully Flawed | Harry Styles [One Direction]

Chapter 1

-- 2 years before --

The morning was as gray and as cold as a summer morning could be in London. Romeo was already desperately running down the sidewalk, eagerly waiting to get to the park so we could start jogging as we played with his ball for a while. I ran behind him, loosening the leash a bit so he could run further ahead of me. 

When he was getting to the corner, I called his attention. “Romeo, stop!” I said and he obediently waited for me. I pressed the button on the post and while we waited for the traffic lights to change, I stroked his gorgeous golden hair. “Let’s go, come.” I told him excitedly and walked with him across the street towards the park. Once we got there, I unhooked his leash and I watched him running away from me almost desperately.

“Romeo!” I called and started jogging behind him. He started running faster when I was finally about to catch up with him. I swear this dog knows he’s messing around me. I laughed and kept my steady pace along the lane.

The morning was calm and there was nobody around. That’s the beauty of exercising at 5am on a weekday. I never really liked crowds anyway, or dodging people for that matter, that’s why I avoided coming here later in the morning. Apart from that, I enjoyed hearing the birds chirp and fly over my head, and if I was lucky enough, I could even catch the sun rising above the city. Not this morning, though. It was too gray and I doubted the sun would come out from behind that grey veil in the sky.

Romeo was by my side when I stopped to tie my shoelaces quickly. I started jogging again, taking a sip of water every now and then, throwing the ball to Romeo so he could fetch it.

No, I wasn't obsessed with my figure and I definitely didn't exercise all the time. The doctor suggested I started jogging. He thought I was 'too stressed' and needed to 'relax a bit'. Even though I am relatively thin and tall, I’ve never had the body of a supermodel, though. Still, this never ever stopped me from wearing anything I liked or dating attractive men.

Dating. Hm. Let’s just not think about that now.

“Romeo!” I said when I realized I hadn’t seen where my dog had gone. “Romeo, come here!” I yelled and stopped dead on my tracks. “Romeo?” I called again. “Fetch the ball, Romeo!”

Silence.

I looked around but I didn’t see my dog anywhere. “Shit.” I mumbled as I covered my face with my hands, trying to think straight. I couldn’t have just lost my dog – I just couldn’t. I’d never lost him – ever. He’d never run away either.

“ROMEO!” I shouted totally frustrated and started walking to where I was coming from.

Now, the apocalyptic version of me wasn’t thinking that she would have to go home and make posters with pictures of her dog, offering a reward to see if anyone returned him: she was thinking that Romeo wouldn’t ever return and she’d have to spend her time alone in her big ass house until she decided to get a new dog.

But I don’t want a new dog! The whining brat inside me said as I crouched and yelled in frustration. Romeo was all I had. Well, not really. I did have some friends in London but Romeo lived with me. He was my only company when I got home dead tired after work, wanting to do nothing but lie on the sofa and watch some crap TV show.

“Excuse me,” a hoarse voice said behind me. “Is this your dog?” I quickly turned around to see who was talking to me and I saw Romeo running excitedly towards me and jumping, making me lose my balance and fall flat on the mudded ground.

“Oh Jesus! Thank God you’re here! I was just so scared! Don’t ever go away like that you naughty dog!” I exclaimed without breathing as I stroked and hugged Romeo.