When You're Gone [Sequel to SOOS] [Laylor]

Chapter 3: Laughter

"I miss your tan skin, your sweet smile, so good to me so right. How you held me in your arms that September night, the first time you ever saw me cry..."

-Taylor-

I woke up snuggled next to my best friend. I stare at his face a bit before his eyes flutter open. "I can feel you staring, love," he says, his voice deep and rough. I offer him a sad smile as the events of yesterday roll into my head.

"Hey, hey, hey. It's gonna be okay," Harry says when he sees my sad face. He pulls me to his chest in another hug before releasing me and sitting up in the bed.

"How about we go out for some breakfast?" Harry asks softly and I give him a short nod. He stands up and walks around the bed, offering me a hand. I take his hand and he pulls me out of the bed.

I stand next to him and look down at my sweatpants and T-shirt. I walk over to the desk in the room and shuffle through one of the drawers before pulling out a hairband. I pull my hair into a ponytail and put on some deodorant I found in the bathroom.

I go down the stairs to see Harry sitting on the couch, still wearing his pajamas. "Ready?" He asks when he notices me standing there. I nod and we go out to his car. He opens the door for me and I give him a nod.

I'm not really keen on talking to anyone at the moment. I just want to sort through my thoughts. Harry understood my feelings and turned on the radio, quietly humming along to the song playing.

He pulls into the parking lot of the small café. We get out and enter the small place. There is only an elderly man and a college girl here, so thankfully we won't be noticed.

Harry orders for me as I sit down at a table. He brings my coffee and my muffin as he has his muffin and a cup of tea. He sits down across from me and stares at me in deep thought.

"Tay, can you tell me what happened now?" He quietly asks and I look away. I slowly nod and I hear Harry draw in a breath. I start to explain everything that happened starting with Niall yelling my name. I go through the whole story of what happened in the bathroom right up to when I ran out of it and found Harry.

Harry takes in a deep breath and lets it out. "Wow, that's a lot of information," he says and I nod. It pains my heart just talking about it.

"I still love him though, Haz. I never stopped loving him and he still loves me. He was going to fucking propose to me Harry! But I couldn't be strong enough and I let him go. He was the best thing that ever happened to me and I-" I break into sobs and Harry quickly scoots his chair over next to me. We are now the only people left in the café, so I don't mind crying here.

He wraps his arms around me and I bury my face in his chest. "I don't get it, Haz. I did what I had to do and it seemed like the right thing to do at the moment, but now it's the one thing I regret most in my life," I struggle out through my sobs.

He runs his hand through my ponytail and I cry harder into his chest. "I want to go back to him so bad, but I can't. He won't accept me after what I did to him, and it will only cause pain on the both of us when I'm not strong enough and I leave again," I strangle out and my sobs start to subside a little.

Once I've stopped crying, I pull my face away from Harry's chest. "I'm sorry, I got your shirt wet," I give out a small chuckle. "C'mon, let's get you back home," Harry says with a smile. I wipe my eyes, but I know they are red from all the crying.

Harry picks up the muffins and throws them in the trash, but takes our coffee and tea. He wraps the arm holding the tea around my shoulders and we exit the coffee shop. I hear clicks and I'm met with a few flashes of cameras. I internally groan and keep my head facing towards the ground. I just hope they won't be able to see my puffy red eyes.