nerd.

vingt-six

Monday Afternoon 

.

.

.

Mason Richards

I kick the pebbles within the reach of my shoes as I continue my walk home from school. Since it was nice out today, my mother had insisted that I walk to and from school rather than "polluting the precious environment" by taking my car. I had tried talking to Arielle today, but she was giving me the cold shoulder, and I have no idea why. Maybe she found out about the Ashley thing...? No, that's crazy. How would she find out? 

 I hear footsteps behind me, but when I turn around, no one is there. I shrug the thought away, thinking that it is just my imagination, and I continue walking. I hear them again, and I make the stupid mistake of not turning around this time. Before I can even tell what is going on, there is a tall, muscular body colliding with mine from behind. I shout, but a hand is quickly slapped across my mouth. I wince from the sudden pain and try to turn around to see who is attacking me. They must be pretty stupid if they're gonna do it in broad daylight. 

"H..Harry?" I stumble back when he shoves me. 

"You little ass! I can't believe you would do that to Arielle! You promised you wouldn't, dammit!" Harry screeches. He punches my jaw, and I back away from him, confused. 

"What did I do?" I notice my jaw is starting to swell, and it actually hurts to speak. 

"Don't play all innocent with me, Mason! You know very well what you did, so don't try to play games!" Harry shouts, landing another punch, this time to my arm. 

"No, Harry, listen to me." I protest, and to my surprise, he actually listens, stopping his punches to catch his breath. "I honestly have no idea what I did to upset Arielle." He puffs out a breath of annoyance and yanks his phone out of his pocket, unlocking it and clicking something on the screen. When he shows me what is displayed, I suck in a breath. It's a picture of Ashley and I kissing from when I took her to the park a few days ago. 

"Get it now?" Harry hisses, his jaw clenched. "And your father, I swear, Mason, if he comes near Arielle again, both of you will be dead." 

"Wait, what do you mean? He came after Arielle?" I ask, shocked to hear this. 

"You really are clueless, aren't you? See, if you were at least a half-decent boyfriend, you could have at least protected her from him! He actually tracked her phone to find out where she was, and here you are, kissing another girl instead of protecting the one you have!" Harry yells. 

"I didn't know." I sputter. To say the very least, I was beyond upset; with myself, and with my father. 

"Shut up, Mason. I'm warning you, if you even try to come near Arielle again, you're done." Harry snaps before storming away. I stumble back, unable to process what just happened. Shaking my head in disbelief, I pick up my backpack and continue to walk home. 

*

Harry Styles

I told Arielle I would meet her at my house at 4:30. I check the time as I sprint there, noticing that it is already 5. I wipe away the sweat from my forehead and push my curls back with a bandana before pushing the front door open and stepping inside. Arielle and Marcel are sitting at the kitchen counter, munching on chips and lemonade. I plop down next to them, and Arielle gives me a confused look. 

"Where were you?" she asks. 

"Just taking care of some stuff." I answer simply, and she raises her eyebrow but nods. Just then, her phone buzzes, and I suck in a breath, praying that it's not Mason. She glances at the screen, then up at me, concern filling her features. "Harry, you didn't." she says hopefully. I grimace but nod. "Harry!" she screeches. "Why on earth would you do that?" 

"How did you know?" I stall. 

"Mason texted me with at least a thousand apologies all in one text." she gives me a weak smile. "Couldn't have just said something, could you? You just had to go and beat the kid up." she says, and I can't tell if she's serious or she's joking. 

"Uh..No?" I guess. 

"God, you're amazing." she whispers, wrapping her thin arms around me. I hug her back, and I can feel her wet tears on my shirt. 

"Hey, why are you crying?" I ask, pulling away and using the pad of my thumb to wipe away her tears. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Marcel winking and smiling before leaving the kitchen and running upstairs. 

"No one has ever done that for me before." she answers, and I can feel my eyes start to brim with tears as well. Man, she's got you whipped, my subconscious says. You never cry, douche. 

"You're so beautiful." I whisper, and when her expression changes, I want to smack myself in the forehead for ruining the moment. Looks like Niall put some of his Irish luck in for me today, because her reaction is the exact opposite of what I was expecting. 

Arielle gets up on her tiptoes and kisses me. 

*

Arielle

I have lost my mind. I just got out of a relationship with Mason, literally a few minutes ago, and now I am kissing Harry. He doesn't seem to mind, though, and I certainly don't. We finally pull away after what seems like forever, and Harry sighs contently. 

"You have no idea how long I've been wanting to do that." he grins. 

I smile. "So, what are we now?" 

"What do you mean by that?" he asks. 

"Well, I mean, I just got out of a relationship, but I don't know if you're my boyfriend, or if you're still my best friend, or.." 

Harry cuts me off by pressing his lips to mine once more, and he pulls away shortly after. 

"I think I can do the honor, thank you." He wiggles his eyebrows and I lift an eyebrow at him in confusion. 

"Arielle Evans, would you like to be my girlfriend?" 

a/n-

yes i know that seems v rushed but i like harielle ok? ok.

vote/comment/share?

xoxo i love u all to the moon and back