Chapter 7 ~ Harry

“I don’t think you should go,” Moni says as we walk down the street.

It’s really early and there are just a few people in the streets, so I’m not in big danger. Anyways, Jared –one of the bodyguards– is with us just in case we bump into a group of fans. Though I don’t think it will happen, we might encounter some fans and take pictures. No big deal. Some fans might even want to take a picture with Moni but I’m sure she’ll just look at them with her what-is-wrong-with-you face. Or she’ll do something to embarrass me. It’s always a danger to go out with her.

We are going to grab a coffee because she asked to talk alone with me so I offered to drive her to uni before going to the studio and on our way, we decided to go for some coffee to fully wake up.

“Why not?” I ask her opening the door for her. She walks in before replying.

“’Cos she’ll get a restraining order against you and nobody wants to read on the tabloids how Harry Styles is a stalker,” she says and I gasp scandalised.

“I’m not a stalker!”

“Yes you are,” she insists shaking her head. “You have gone to the garage two days in a row and you want to go today again just to see her. That’s being a stalker, Styles. If you want to, I can give you a dictionary so you can look up the word. I’m sure there’s a picture of you next to the definition,” she teases me and I just fold my arms over my chest and stop. I even pout. She stops and looks at me with a tired expression. “I still don’t understand why older women accept to date you. You’re such a kid,” the brunette states and I look at her shocked.

“I am not!” Okay, that sounds like a kid. But it’s not my fault, Moni brings to light that side of me. “And I have my way with women, you just haven’t seen it,” I tell her and I even wink and she rolls her eyes.

“Because that would never work with me and it would only get you castrated. But seriously, you can’t go to the garage again, she’ll throw something at you. I’m sure of that,” she carries on and I start walking again to the cash with the barista, to ask for what we want.

“So you’re telling me to wait before going?” I ask and Moni is ignoring me as she is trying to decide what to order.

“Yeah. Give her space. From what you told us last night, it’s clear she’s not used to someone pushing her so much, so you need to give her a break before doing something. You want her to hate you?” She asks me after she has finally places an order. I ask for the same.

“Of course not,” I reply quickly. That’s the last thing I want. “This is weird, I don’t like to feel lost about a girl. Why do you think she seems so closed?” I question as we walk to wait for our coffees. Moni also asked for a cinnamon roll and I chuckle when the barista hands her the sweet.

Moni teases Zayn that it seems like he has a cinnamon roll in his hair since he got some locks bleached. And she’s right. Except when he had it pink after Moni played that prank on him. Oh, that was fun. The picture she took is still my lock screen.

“It surely has to do with something that happened to her and don’t even dream that she’s gonna tell you what it is. It has to be a humongous scar if she has changed so much, according to what the lady from the garage told you, right?” I nod so she knows she’s right about that.

I remember all the things Sheila told me yesterday and I wish I would have known Hannah when she wasn’t like this. I wonder if I would feel the same way towards her. Maybe she wouldn’t have captivated me the way she did. Maybe what attracts me to her is how she seems to push everyone as far away as possible and how lonely her eyes look.

“What can I do?” I ask her again.

Last night we spent a few hours talking about this. I explained to them all I know about Hannah so far and the things I see about her, the way she reacted yesterday and every single detail that could help me to figure out how to proceed in this situation. Mila and Moni tried to help me, but they don’t know Hannah and regardless how good they are at reading people, they need to see the person at least once to make a more accurate analysis. They need more information about Hannah to make a better diagnosis.

Ugh, that sounded so doctor-ish.

“First off, relax and give her a bit of space. Then you can go to her again and insist a bit more, but don’t push too hard. I bet she’s not used to that,” Moni instructs me and she smiles widely when the barista gives her the coffee. Man, she loves Starbucks coffee. “Don’t rush things. I don’t think she’s prepared for that. And next time you go to see her, make sure you take a camera-hat with you so we can see your interaction with her,” she whispers and I chuckle.

Suddenly, this has turned into a spy movie.

“I won’t do that. Don’t even dream of it. Let’s sit a tad bit and then I’ll drive you to Uni and you can finally tell me why you wanted to talk to me,” I tell her as I lead her to a couple of couches around a little coffee table.

I see she looks down and her cheeks turn bright red. Wait a minute… This is something awkward for Moni. This is important shit! And now I’m officially very, very interested in whatever she has to tell me.

“So… are you finally gonna tell me you’re madly in love with me?” I inquire and her shy expression disappears to look at me murderously.

“Careful with what you say, Styles. You’ll never see my revenge coming, and you know that,” she warns me and I sit back putting more distance between us. That’s true, you never see her coming and we all have had our share of Moni’s pranks. Me more than the other lads. “And it’s not about you but someone you know,” she adds and I arch an eyebrow very intrigued.

“Go on,” I tell her because she’s very entertained examining her red Starbucks cup.

“Um… the thing is… Uh… Why am I doing this?” She whispers to herself and her cheeks are as red as her cup. It’s fun to see her like this for the first time. “Okay, here we go,” she says taking a deep breath. “Ed asked me if I wanted to go to one of his gigs. He’s gonna give me VIP pass and he told me we can go grab something to eat later,” she starts and I smiled sheepishly. I didn’t know Ed had asked her out. “I didn’t think much about it, I just thought he was being nice, but when I told Mila she started to tease me. She even started chanting OTP, though I think she did that only in revenge. Anyways, she says that Ed asked me out in a date, but I don’t think so and we argued about that a lot so I decided to ask you as you know him better and now I can’t stop talking and I feel like I’m drowning. I need air. Harry, please stop me!”

“Moni,” I call putting my cup on the coffee table to grab her by the shoulders gently. “Mila is right, Ed has asked you out,” I tell her and she looks at me as if I had told her the zombie apocalypse has broken loose.

“Why?” She asks and it shocks me her confusion and how trebling her voice sounds.

“What do you mean by why? He likes you. I mean, he finds you funny and cool to be around. Why wouldn’t he?” I ask her and she looks at me like I’m just saying bullshit. She waves her hand from her head to her feet as if that is all the answer I need.

“Because it’s me,” she finally says when I don’t say anything about her gesture. “You’re wrong. He didn’t ask me out in that sense. He’s being nice because he knows I’m a fan and I love his music,” she insists stubbornly and I roll my eyes.

“You asked me this and I’m honestly replying. If you don’t want to hear the answer, then don’t ask. He asked you out. You’re having a date with Ed and no, you can’t call him to cancel now,” I tell her knowing her well enough to guess what that looks in her eyes mean.

“We better go, I don’t wanna be late,” she tells me avoiding my gaze and it’s the first time I’ve seen Moni in a vulnerable position. She’s always strong and tough, she’s always there and she never shows weakness. She’s even stronger than Alex and seeing her like this, so confused, it’s weird and worrying at the same time.

I nod as I stand up. I know she won’t listen to me anymore because she’s that stubborn, but I also know she won’t stop thinking about it and she’ll give in by the end of the day, when the proofs can’t be denied anymore.

I drive her to uni and when I’m halfway to the studio I realise something: I don’t have my phone.

Shit!

This can’t be good. If a fan found it, all my contacts would be leaked and the pictures and I have some very private things on that phone. A fan cannot find it!

I look everywhere in my Audi, but it’s nowhere to be found and I call myself with my blackberry, but there’s no answer and it’s probably because I have my iPhone on silence. Great day to have it on silence, Harry. Very clever of you.

I need to stop talking to myself in my mind.

I drive to the Starbucks again. Maybe I left it there or it fell out of my pocket. I have to try at least. When I’m there, I walk inside in a rush and, luckily, there aren’t many people. There are workers and two girls waiting for coffee. I’m about to go to the couch where I was sat when I see the ginger hair under the hat of one of the girls, then I focus more on her and I realise I know her.

I forget all about my iPhone when I see Hannah with another girl, smiling politely to the barista as she takes her coffee. I don’t realise how my feet take me closer to her and by the time she turns around, I’m right in front of her.

“What a lovely surprise,” I tell her and I see so many emotions in her eyes in a matter of seconds.

Surprise, confusion, shock, annoyance and rejection. One second later, her eyes shut –metaphorically– and I can’t see any other emotion.

“Here as well? Honestly? Can’t I have a break from you?” She says and I chuckle. Her words don’t really affect me as I’m used to Moni treating me like that. I know she’s saying those things just to push me further away from her.

“I’m glad to see you, too,” I tell her completely ignoring that she has made it clear she doesn’t want to see me. “Your friend, I presume,” I say looking at the lovely black-haired girl next to her. She’s smiling, her brown and big eyes are shining with amusement and she has a set of dimples that make her look very cute. But she doesn’t catch my eye like Hannah does.

“Savannah,” the black-haired girl introduces herself offering me her hand. “Harry, right?” She asks and I nod smiling cheekily. “Nice to meet you. I’d ask you for an autograph, but we’re in a rush.”

“That’s okay, we’ll see each other again, anyways,” I tell Savannah. I like her, she seems nice. Hannah groans and rolls her eyes.

“No, we won’t. Savannah, stop being friendly with him. He’s annoying and a stalker,” Hannah says taking Savannah’s arm to drag her out of the shop mumbling something I can’t understand.

She’s so wrong, because we’ll meet again, I’ll make sure of that… Wow, maybe I am a stalker after all. But it’s okay, I’m not gonna hurt her, I just want to know her better and discover why she’s like that now.

I stay there, looking at the door through which she disappears when I remember why I’m here. Oh right, my phone.

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This chapter is dedicated to @Th1sCh1c because she turns 15 today Sunday, so a big shout out for the birthday girl!

Bel, xx