Peekaboo Harry • HS

8 || Damages

After three hours of sleep, Dani was awake. She readied herself to meet Harry again. She flossed, scrubbed, and shaved certain parts of her that would require specific attention should they get carried away. She was thrilled. Although she was probably overthinking Harry's simple kiss, she knew she had to be prepared.

Franny wanted to skip whatever she had to do today, but of course, she had no valid reason to stay home. After they talked about how Harry had magically appeared under her bed because of the stone, her younger sister wanted to meet him again. However, Harry was still MIA, and no matter how many times they flipped her bedsheets to check underneath — nothing. mother had woken up after a 'weird dream', and the siblings reassured her that it absolutely was.

Dani didn't want to wake him up by shaking the stone anymore. Her poor darling didn't need another traumatic sleep where he thought an earthquake happened. Harry had to be in tip-top shape if he was going to give her his 100%, after all.

When she opened her laptop to browse a bit, she was shocked beyond measure when her messenger app burst with messages — all from Jewel, of course. The latest one was simple.

12:00PM Jewel: DANI. DAAANNIIIIII I NEED YOU PLS OPEN YOUR LAPTOP NOWWWW
12:01PM Jewel: DANI WTF IM DYING. DO YOU EVEN KNOW!??
12:30PM Jewel: DANI!!!!!!

Concern immediately fogged her brain as she typed quickly.

2:00PM Dani: WHAT HAPPENED. WHAt IS IT.
2:01PM Jewel: DANI WTFFFFFF
2:01PM Jewel: HARRY SKIPPED THE TOUR. THE FANDOM IS GOING CRAZY WTF DANI WTF IS GOING ON NOW THE DAMN RUMORS ARE COMIGN TRUE!!!jd'w;j;we f

Dani's heart began to race, like she did something wrong. Did she, really? She positioned her hands to type a response, but she didn't know exactly what to tell her.

2:02PM Jewel: Dani. I can't. I'm crying. This can't possibly be true. This was supposed to be our year. ZAYN JUST FUCKING LEFT AND NOW HE'S GONE WTF IS HAPPENING TO THE WORLD
2:03PM Jewel: Are you even okay?? :(((((((((((((((((((((((
2:04PM Dani: I can't talk about it.

And it was partly true, wasn't it? Dani wouldn't ever lie to her best friend, but she didn't know how to tell her about Harry just yet. And didn't Harry warn her about not telling other people? She shouldn't even have told Franny, but it was a necessity. She didn't even want to think of the consequence of doing that, and now...

Harry leaving One Direction? Dani couldn't help but imagine how the rest of the boys were freaking out. Of course they wouldn't be able to announce that Harry was actually missing. What if they thought someone abducted him? Wasn't that what she was doing now? This wasn't a goddamned fanfic, for crying out loud... only that it sorta was, wasn't it? 

Dani felt her fingers turn cold. Reaching for her magical stone, she clutched it hard with her hands and hoped that Harry would wake up soon. She was confused, and even though she knew exactly where he was... Remembering Zayn's departure from the band brought feelings of despair and sadness in her heart. Did she really have the heart to keep Harry all to herself, knowing it would break everyone's hearts? 

"Dani?" 

"Harry," Dani called him, and as if he knew she had been in emotional pain, Harry got on his feet from under the bed and wrapped his arms around her as she sat there quite stunned. "Harry, I think you..." Was she really going to say it? "I think you have to go back home." 

Harry pulled her to the bed and sat her on his lap, smoothing his hand up and down her back. "I woke up because I knew you were sad. And I don't want you to be sad, Dani." 

It was hard to explain, but Dani knew that she had the power to release him. 

"And I don't want to go anywhere," Harry said. 

"Harry... You've got people -- real people who know you, waiting for you." 

"I refuse to go back," he said with a shrug. "I remember moving and moving and moving and it was so exhausting! I just want to stay here with you. We can live like this forever, Dani." 

As much as it pained her, Dani withdrew herself from his touch. She stood up from his lap and Harry remained there, sitting with a worried expression on his face. "Do you love me, Harry?"

He blinked at her. "I care for you a lot." 

"Because I know I'm in love with you. You're exactly the person I imagined you to be and better," Dani said. "But we can't live like this forever if you don't love me." 

"Then I love you, Dani." 

Her heart was rejoicing, but the happiness was shallow. Harry only said it to appease her. He didn't really feel it yet. "You can't love me if you don't even know who you are, Harry." 

Harry looked away from her. He folded his arms across his chest. His red lip was starting to jut out from his pout. "Why can't you love me like this?" 

Dani shook her head and placed her hands on his bare shoulders. "I can talk all day about how I feel about you. But I don't think you will fully understand how much I love you if you don't acknowledge the man you used to be, or the man you are..." She sighed as she gazed into his sad eyes. "I want something real, Harry, because I need this to last forever."  

Biting his lower lip in frustration, Harry's nose was turning red. He was such an emotional person, it killed Dani inside every time he wasn't happy. Touching her hands, he nodded. "I get it, Dani. Can you please tell me who I really am?" 

______

Dani never thought her One Direction books would actually serve a greater purpose other than to decorate her little shrine and give her fangirl feels. If she were being honest, she was half-hearted about wanting Harry to remember his real identity. Something told her that if he fully came to his senses, he wouldn't even bother saying goodbye and demand that Small Simon return him to LA. Nevertheless, a girl can dream. She wanted to believe that Harry's affection for her went beyond the stone's magic. A small part of her hoped that Harry wasn't just delusional about liking her. 

And he was flipping through the pages of the open books in front of him. You'd think Harry was studying for an exam. Dani wanted to tell him about how she saw his personality, but he was the one who remembered about the books. He said he wanted to see himself from an outsider's perspective. And for the past few hours, Harry had been immersed in learning things about himself and his other brothers. Although there were times when his face would light up, or his eyes would smile, or he would suddenly yawn... Harry remained quiet. 

Dani was patiently waiting for him to react, and she did her best to cope. She brought him food, played with Rosie, brought them more food, and finally, leaned against him when she felt sleepy. She closed her eyes as she pressed her cheek against his back. 

Warm. 

My Harry is so warm.

It was actually a good thing that Harry had suggested the books first. Dani didn't know where to begin about telling him of her feelings. She would probably just choke on her saliva, cry hysterically, and make a fool out of herself. To love him from the distance, for years, in an endless cycle of giving up and hoping and giving up altogether. How can Harry Styles fall for someone like Dani Moon? It made her sob, and if she didn't feel his skin on hers, she would've cried herself to sleep thinking she was back to her usual life again -- sitting miserable and alone in her bed. 

"I love you," Dani whispered. "Please don't ever get tired hearing me say that." She felt the tears sting her eyes when Harry's long fingers reached for hers. She didn't want this to end. If she had the choice, she wouldn't change him for the world and let him stay under her bed forever. But she truly loved him, and that meant loving the people he loved. And she knew how much Harry Styles loved his fans, his family, and of course, his brothers. "Stay with me for a little while longer." 

Dani hoped he heard her, but as she drifted into a deep sleep, she was certain there had been no reply.