blink ♡ harry styles

seven - "let's get iced coffee"

Harry

      Last night was all a blur. I could hardly remember a thing after I downed that bottle of scotch or whatever it was. It did, however, make sense that I woke up with a headache and in Echo's bed rather than my own.

      What didn't make sense was that Echo was nowhere to be seen.

      I sat up in the stiff bed, ignoring the pounding in my head as I looked around the dimly lit room. The smell of stale alcohol was everywhere as there lay three empty bottles of liquor by the bedside, only adding to the repugnant smell.

      “I know it smells pretty bad... I plan on cracking a window soon.” Echo's voice literally echoed in my head as I winced, looking through partly closed eyes to see her standing by the bathroom, a jumper over her pajamas of last night.

      “How do you get up so early with a hangover?” I asked her, ruffling my bed head as she walked over, handing me some aspirin. I attempted to swallow the aspirin but nearly choked as she handed me some water as well.

      She merely smiled at my misfortune, not saying a word.

      After I recovered from my little episode, I found us sitting in another silence -- something that happens way too often when we're together.

      “Thanks for stopping by, I guess... It was... nice having you over.”

      Was she really saying goodbye once again?

      “No, I won't accept that.” I slowly stood up from the bed, my stiff limbs hurting ever so slightly. “I want you to come with me to get a coffee.”

      “Excuse me?”

      “You heard me. Yesterday you asked me what I wanted most in the world and, though it's not what I want the most, I still want it nonetheless. Consider it a date or a ‘just friends’ gathering or anything you want; I just want you to come.”

      “I just want to be with you.” That was what I wanted to say, but that would've scared her off so I settled with something less desperate. Either way she smiled, a dimple on her right cheek making itself visible -- something you had to look closely in order to see.

      “You're a strange guy, Harry.” That was all she said as she began making her way around the room, picking things up as she did so. I almost thought that meant ‘no’, until she spoke again:

      “Let's go get iced coffee.”

      “Why ‘iced’?”

      “Because... ice is good. Anymore questions?” Her tone was that of a stern teacher, though the mocking smile on her face told me otherwise as I shook my head, trying my hardest not to laugh.

      “Good. Now I'll be back, Mr.Styles... so don't touch my stuff.”

***** *****

Echo

      I slowly made my way over to the bathroom, a smile plastered on my face. To be honest, I don't know which is more upsetting; the fact that he didn't notice I was faking a smile or the fact that I just agreed to go on a coffee date with Harry Styles.

      As soon as I shut the bathroom door... I just broke.

      This wasn't at all how I wanted this to go. We were only supposed to meet that one time and be done with it, with this. But now he keeps coming back for something that will never happen.

      “What did I do?”

      I don't want to hurt Harry; he's such a good guy. But that's exactly what's going to happen when I leave at the end of the week; he's going to be heartbroken.

      “I can’t do this anymore. God... why am I such a horrible person?” I continued to cry, hardly noticing how the time seemed to pass since I left Harry alone in the bedroom.

      And, to be honest, I didn’t even care.

      I wouldn’t have even been bothered if he just left anyway, because that would have saved me from breaking his heart later. But he just wasn’t having it; he just had to come back and make things ten times worse.

      “Hey, Echo,” he knocked on the door, rather loudly. I flinched, wiping furiously at my eyes.

      “Yeah?”

      “You alright?”

      “Yeah,” I breathed out, getting up from the cold tiled floor. “I’m fine.”

      So I did what I always had to do: I pushed my feelings aside, I got dressed, put on my mask, and smiled for the world to see, to help them believe that there was nothing wrong with Echo Valentine.