AN: We're getting closer...

ALSO THANK YOU FOR OVER 200 READS!!!!!!!❤❤❤

Another also, the tea at my work is immaculate. There was a screaming match between two of my coworkers last week and I thought for sure one of them was about to be slammed into the ground.

Anyways, I love you all and TPWK

~Alex

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As I woke up the next morning, a pair of arms were wrapped around me and my head was lying on a chest. I open my eyes to see Harry lying underneath me, our limbs entangled together like we were holding on for dear life. His chest was slowly rising and falling as he slept, the most beautiful look on his face. Jasmine filled my senses as I breathed him in, his smooth skin touching my cheek. The sun was just barely creeping into the room, casting shadows along the walls and dust particles to become more evident. I didn't move from my position, instead, I closed my eyes, hoping to fall back asleep.

It's been a long time since I've fallen asleep next to someone and I had forgotten how good it felt. The feeling of having someone next to you when you woke up was a feeling I couldn't describe. My heart was racing from the feeling of having Harry asleep underneath me, our skin touching each other. Having his arms wrapped around me and his legs intertwined with mine was causing goosebumps to rise on my skin and a smile to form on my lips. His heartbeat ringing through my ears and sounding throughout my body.

Loneliness was something that seeped into your bones the longer you felt it, leaving you grasping for anything that could heal it. Loneliness has taken over the past two years of my life, leaving an aching hole in my heart. Right here, in this moment, that hole was filled. I thought it was filled the day I met Harry, but I now realize that he was just starting to fill it, the hole not completely gone. Now I realized that he has completely filled that aching hole, my heart once again filled with something other than loneliness. It was filled with happiness.

I realized in that moment, that we were so much more than friends, even if we didn't want to admit it. Friends don't look at each other the way we look at each other. Friends don't sleep in the same bed, tangled up in each other the next morning when they wake up. We've never been friends, even though that's what we called it. We tried hiding our feelings for whatever reason instead of giving into them. We were falling for each other, harder than either one of us realized.

Harry shifts underneath me, his arms tightening around my waist. My eyes are still closed as I feel him wake up. His chest vibrates as he hums, his hand moving from around my waist to my hair, smoothing it down gently. He twirls my hair in between his fingers, letting out a sigh as he returns his arm to around my waist. I remain still as we continue to lay there, not wanting to let him know that I was awake. I wanted this moment to last forever, even though I knew it wasn't going to.

This was all so complicated and I honestly didn't know what to do. Do I tell Harry how I feel about him, or do I continue to let whatever was going on between us to stay the same? Why hide our feelings any longer when this was happening right now? Neither one of us could deny our feelings any longer now that we were tangled up together, not wanting to separate. Just friends was in the past and this was now.

I finally pick my head up, resting my chin on his chest as he stares at me, a sleepy smile lingering on his lips, "Hey," he whispers.

"Hey," I whisper back, wondering what was going to happen next, "How did we end up like this?"

"I honestly have no clue," he chuckles softly. Neither one of us move, we just continue to stare at each other. His eyes are unreadable as he stares at me and I find myself wanting to know what was going on inside of that beautiful head of his.

"Should we get up?" I ask.

Harry sighs, moving his arms further up my back, "Probably. I don't want to."

"Me neither," I smile, glad to know that he felt the same way I did.

"Then let's stay here," he says.

"Okay."

●●●●●

We eventually got up when we heard Liam and Louis moving around downstairs. We walk downstairs together to see that they had started fixing breakfast, both of them shirtless as they stood side by side.

"Hey, guys," I smile at them, sitting down at the kitchen island. They turn their heads to look at us, Harry sitting down beside me, still without a shirt.

"About time you two got up," Liam says, raising his eyebrow at me. I don't say anything, knowing he probably knew that Harry and I slept in the same bed last night, "We're fixing omelets and bacon. Do either of you want one?"

Harry and I both nod our heads, watching them as they cook together, "So, what are we doing today?" I ask, resting my chin in the palm of my hand.

"I was thinking we could just walk around, visiting whatever looks interesting," Louis shrugs his shoulders. Liam nods his head in agreement, handing me a plate along with a cup of orange juice.

"Sounds like fun," I hum, taking a bite of bacon. A few minutes later we're all sitting at the island, eating our omelets, and talking about what all we want to do the week that were are here. Harry sits there quietly, nodding his head to whatever is said. I brush my knee against his, glancing at him from the corner of my eye. Without looking at me, he smiles softly, resting his knee against mine.

I catch Liam glancing at the two of us, narrowing my eyes at him, warning him not to say anything. As Harry and Louis start to engage in a conversation, I motion for Liam to get up with me. We stand at the sink, our backs facing Louis and Harry, "It's not what you think it is," I whisper to him.

"Really? Cause it looks to me like you two slept in the same bed last night," he whispers back, raising his eyebrows at me.

"I couldn't sleep so I went into his room and we talked for a bit. We both fell asleep and nothing else happened. That's it," I explain, glancing over my shoulder to make sure they were still talking.

"Aurora, just tell him how you feel. By the looks of it, he feels the same way," he says, sounding exasperated. He's told me the same thing too many times and I still haven't told Harry how I feel. God this was all so complicated.

"What are you two whispering about?" Louis says and we turn around to see them staring at us.

Liam and I glance at each other, his arm nudging me, telling me to say something, "None of your business," I smile at him, causing him to roll his eyes.

After a few more minutes of talking, we head upstairs, disappearing into our rooms to get ready for the long day ahead of us. Thirty minutes pass by as I get ready and I spend ten minutes of it daydreaming about this morning, my cheeks heating up as I try to recollect every single second I could, wanting to store it away in a box in my memory for me to open any time I wanted to.

I could still feel him breathing underneath me, his heart beating slowly as he slept. The way his arms were wrapped around me and our legs were intertwined left me breathless, my mind racing as I tried to hold on to every second while I could still remember. I was sure that if I laid down, my pillowcase would smell like him even though he wasn't in my bed. I finally pick myself up to get ready, rushing as I realize I might've spent too much time lying in bed daydreaming about Harry.

My eyes search for Harry involuntarily once I go downstairs, finding him standing near the doorway, his eyes on me as I stand beside Liam, a smile forming on his lips as I look at him. Even in his casual attire, he looked amazing. His curls weren't styled, yet they looked as if he spent hours trying to fix them just right, "Best dressed as usual," Louis says, patting Harry on the back as he heads outside.

I walk up to him, taking in the white t-shirt that was tucked into his tan trousers, a pair of sunglasses in his hand, "No white suit?" I joke, looking down at his black and white vans.

"I'm saving that for another day, darling," he smiles at me, effortlessly putting on his sunglasses as he walks outside.

The streets weren't very crowded as we all started walking, letting our eyes travel from building to building, taking in the beautiful architecture. Liam and Louis walked hand in hand in front of us, pointing out different places that they found interesting. Harry was quiet beside me, his hands stuffed in his pockets as he walked, sunglasses covering his green irises. "You're rather quiet," I hum, glancing up at him.

"I was just thinking," he replies quietly, staring down at me as we walked side by side. I nod my head, not wanting to pry.

I never knew what Harry was thinking and sometimes it scared me. He liked to keep to himself, zoning out into a different world as he did so, making it impossible to tell what was on his mind. Sometimes I wish he would let me in on his thoughts that way I wouldn't be so curious, but I knew that he had his secrets just like I had mine, and asking him about it would be too personal. Even though we had told each other almost everything, we were both still hiding something from the other, not wanting to open up about the subject yet.

Liam and Louis had stopped in front of us, staring into the window of an old antique shop, pointing at something behind the wall of glass, "We'll be right back," Liam says quickly before they disappear inside, leaving Harry and I by ourselves. Harry leans against the wall, the sunglasses perched on his nose hiding his gaze from me.

My mind wanders off, letting my eyes travel around the street, watching the different people go on about their daily lives. My father always found it fascinating how we could be walking in the exact same spot someone famous had walked without even realizing it, just thinking it was another street to walk on that led us to our destination. He always had such an interesting way of seeing the world and I think that's what caused me to look up to him, wanting to see the world the way he does. "You must be thinking about your family," Harry says with a soft smile.

"Oh really? Why would you think that?" I ask him, wondering how he knew that.

"You always start to mess with that bracelet on your wrist," he says, pointing to the yellow bracelet I had tied around my left wrist.

I smile, noticing that I had been running my fingers over the braided fabric, "My mom and dad bought this for me when we visited California. Yellow is my favorite color and I couldn't stop staring at it. I refused to ask them if they'd buy it for me," I laugh softly, remembering how I couldn't keep my eyes off of the small bracelet in the store.

Harry nods his head, smiling at my story. He looked so beautiful in that moment, his soft curls framing his face perfectly as he leaned against the wall. I watch as he removes his sunglasses, revealing those stunning green eyes of his that never failed to take my breath away. Whenever he looked at me, it was as if I was the only thing he cared about in that moment, his full attention on me. Beauty was something that came to him naturally, almost as if it was cursed upon him, making it impossible for him to look anything but beautiful.

"We're back," Louis says as they leave the small store, causing Harry to move his attention to them. Liam was holding a bag in his hand and I wondered what they had bought. They once again start walking hand in hand, leaving Harry and I to follow behind them.

As we walked the streets of Sicily, a different perspective than Rome, I couldn't help but to think that everything was falling into place. I was finally able to feel like I could move on without the same nagging thought in the back of my brain telling me I couldn't. For once, I was happy again. My heart was filled with it and I didn't ever want it to go away. These past two months with Harry, although I didn't talk to him for one of those months, have been the best I've ever had. He made something inside of me come alive every time he barely glanced in my direction, his gaze felt like warm honey spreading throughout my body and my soul. I was finally free from the dark clutches of doubt and loneliness, feeling free to be happy again and let my heart open to someone new.

So as we walked along the streets, Harry saw someone handing out flowers. I watched him as he walked over to the man, his back facing me, not letting me see what he was doing. He turned around, hiding something behind his back as he walked over to me, a sweet yet sincere smile on his lips. He told me to close my eyes, placing something in my hand once they were closed. I opened them to see a small yellow dahlia in my hands, instantly smiling as I looked at the beautiful yellow flower. "Since your favorite color is yellow. Although I already knew that before you said it today," he smiles at me.

It was in that moment that I knew, it hit me like a ton of bricks straight in the face, almost knocking me over as the same thought kept running through my mind. It never came to me this quickly. I always thought it took months to even have the thought pass through your mind. Those pale green eyes stared me down as I looked back at them, clutching the small flower in my hands as I felt myself become shaky. I knew it and didn't deny it, knowing that if I did, it would consume me and pull me right back down into that dark and empty hole.

I was in love with Harry Styles, the artist.