KIWI | Harry Styles AU

15- Harry

After her father's announcement, Anna was quick to leave the ballroom as soon as they all exited the stage. I, of course, followed her out, but I didn't find her right away. I thought maybe she'd gone to the restroom, but that wasn't the case. When I figured that out, I rushed outside, that being the only other logical place she'd be. And she was.

"Babe, you okay?" I asked as I approached her. She turned to look at me and that was enough to know that she wasn't. I walked up to her and pulled her into a tight hug. "What's wrong?" I asked.

"I'm just scared," she said in a weak, shaky voice.

"Of what?" I questioned.

"Things are just already so weird for me with the media, which is just on a local level. Imagine how things are gonna be once the news breaks to the rest of the nation," she said, "I always thought that after college I'd be able to move away to another state, or another country even, and not have to deal with any of this or that I'd be able to make a name for myself in whatever field I chose to go into. Now, that's not really an option." My heart broke when I heard her say that, and I'd never been in a situation like it, so I didn't even know what to say to make her feel better.

"I'm so sorry," was all that I could manage to get out.

"It's okay," she sighed, "It's not your fault." I felt her small arms wiggle out of my grip before she wrapped them around my neck. "You can run while you still can," she said, "I won't judge you if you don't want to have to experience all this crap."

"You're kidding, right?" I chuckled. I pulled away from the hug and took her hands into mine. "I'm not leaving you," I assured her, "Like it or not, you're stuck with me."

"Thanks," she smiled, "You have no idea how happy I am to hear that."

"How about we go back to your place and just sleep things off, see what we can do about it tomorrow," I suggested.

"I'd love nothing more," she said, "I'll text the driver to bring a car around."

She looked less tense than before as we waited, but there was still something off. I could tell she was still thinking about what had happened and what was to come. I just wished I could do something to help her through all of this like she did when I was going through everything with Gemma.

It wasn't too long until we were back at her house. She fell asleep in the car, so I carried her up to her room. Although she did end up waking up as I tried to put her down on the bed. She helped me get her out of her dress and into comfy clothes before we got in bed and just talked for a while before going to sleep. By that time, she was a lot more calm and herself than before. I told myself that night that I would be there for her in any way I could even if I didn't feel like it was to the extent she'd been there for me.

The next morning, I was surprised to find Anna still in bed with me in bed considering the past two she'd been up way before me. I woke her up with a trail of kisses starting at her collar bone, going up her neck, jaw and eventually ending on her lips.

"Mm, I wouldn't mind being woken up like this every morning," she hummed as her eyes fluttered open.

"I wouldn't mind being the one to wake you up like this every morning," I smiled connecting our lips once again.

"What time is it?" she yawned.

"Almost 9:30, why?" I answered.

"Shit, we need to get ready!" she exclaimed.

"What? Why?" I asked.

"Shit, I forgot to tell you," she groaned, "Yesterday a few of my friends texted me and I told them we'd have brunch with them today at 11. Come on, in the shower you go!" I sighed, but obliged.

"You wanna save some water and come in with me?" I smirked as I entered her bathroom.

"We both know if I went in there with you we wouldn't be showering," she giggled. We took turns showering and then got dressed and ready before she called a car to come get us and take us to the restaurant. It was weird getting driven anywhere we went, not really something I thought I'd ever get used to.

When we arrived at the restaurant, we didn't even have to say who we were looking for, it's like the people working already knew. We were led to a table with five other people already sitting. There were two girls and three boys, all of which got up and excitedly hugged Anna as soon as we got close enough. One of the girls was a brunette, the other was a redhead, both stunning, but not nearly as much as my Anna. Two of the boys had dark brown, almost black hair and there was one who had light brown almost blonde hair. None of them really even looked in my direction.

"Oh my god, I've missed you so much," a brunette girl gushed as we sat.

"I've missed you all too," Anna smiled, "This is my boyfriend, Harry." And it was like at that moment I became un-invisible to all of them.

"Nice to meet you, Harry," one of the boys said, which was followed by the rest of them saying similar things.

"How've you been? Yale isn't nearly as fun as it'd be without you with us!" the other girl said.

"I've been good," Anna answered, "I'm really happy at Columbia."

"Boy toy, how are you liking Columbia? Where are you from?" one of the boys asked.

"I'm from Cheshire in England," I responded, "And I mean it's school, this one makes it a whole lot more enjoyable though." Anna smiled and pecked my cheek before turning back to her friends.

"Oh my god, your accent is to die for," the brunette friend chimed in.

They all seemed pretty nice for the most part. Kinda petty if you ask me, but I was expecting it knowing what the kids like them were back home. Anna was very excited and happy to tell me that all her friends approved once we made it out of there, which in turn made me happy too. That alone made the whole day a success.

That night I also got my first taste of what would be to come in the following months. The first round of articles about mine and Anna's relationship started coming out. Nothing bad was in them yet, which was good, but the amount of information and just thought and detail that were put into each article was a little scary. They were really good at highlighting everything that seemed good about the relationship, which made me scared for the articles that might come out when things weren't as good. I could tell Anna felt the same way.