PETAL | HARRY STYLES

TWENTY-ONE.

When Fleur was young, and her mother was still around, she always asked her the same question.

"Will I ever find someone who loves me as much as Daddy loves you?" Her small frame hanging over her mother's legs, staring up at the beautiful woman.

And every single time, her mother would smile. She'd never get irritated at the question. Because it made her happy to know her children could see the love between her and her husband.

"Lady bug," She'd exhale, running her long fingernails through the young girl's hair, "There will come a time where you're going to meet someone who loves you more than anything on this earth. And he will want to shout it from the rooftops because he just loves you so much."

"Really?" Her large eyes sparkled with joy.

"Really, bug. And when he finds you, you hold him close and never let him go."

She nodded with a wide grin, "I won't, Mommy."

"Good. But that's not for a long time. Until then, you're all mine."

Every time, she'd giggle at this statement, small hands creeping up to her mother's neck.

"All yours."

At twenty-two years old, Fleur knew it. She knew it the second she saw him in the cafe for the first time since she met him. She knew the universe brought him to her for a reason.

No matter how hard she tried to push the feeling away, it always came back.

Just like he did.

And as he sits right before her, hands folded together lost in his thoughts, she realizes she's found him. She's found the one her mother had told her about.

He's the one she's wished for all these years.

"I'm sorry." Is the first thing that slips out of her mouth.

She is. She feels awful for hiding this from him.

Harry's fingers tap against the table slowly. He blinks a few times before nodding.

"Here's what's going to happen." He starts, "Everything that just occurred, I'm going to forget it. As far as I'm concerned, Jesse told me nothing. And I am going to sit here, and listen to what you have to tell me in a way you deserve to tell me. Not through some cunt."

She can't help but laugh slightly. But, her smile fades when it settles. This is the moment that has made her stomach churn every night.

Him knowing has been the most terrifying thing to her.

Inhaling, Fleur leans back against the booth and nods.

"Cardiomegaly." She states. "Also known as an enlarged heart. That's what I have. I've had it for half of my life now. Discovered it when I fainted after finding out my mom died. Apparently not a lot of blood gets to my heart or something and if I'm under too much stress or too overwhelmed, I don't react well to it."

"That explains why you practically went lights out during Jesse's outburst." Harry clarifies, more for himself than for her.

"Exactly. I don't know much about it. Only that my heart is bigger than average and sometimes blood doesn't pump enough there and I can't breathe sometimes and I get dizzy every now and then. Sometimes it makes me feel ill and sometimes I'm just perfectly fine. It's endless outcomes, to be honest."

There's a slight pause as Fleur waits for Harry to speak.

"Okay...okay." He nods, "It's a condition. You surely take medicine for it and have it under control. Why were you so afraid to tell me?"