Forgive Your Past

He had managed to charm his way into the building without any fuss, hiking up the nine stories to the top of Hedrick Summit.

He knew this was mental, borderline stalking. Okay it was full on stalking, but the overwhelming need to lay his eyes on her outweighed the legalities of it all.

Whistling to himself down the hallway, he scanned either side, counting the numbers before he hit the right one. This is it, he thought, raising his hand to knock before he talked himself out of it two, three times, stopping to smile at a few people who passed by. Finally, he closed his eyes and just did it, rapping at the door.

His impatience grew almost straight away, or was it anxiousness? He wasn't sure, it didn't matter, the only thing he was concerned with was seeing her face.

It was like a fairy godmother granted him a wish, the door swinging open right at that moment to reveal the top of her blonde head.

"What?" She asked in a groggy, sleep induced voice.

He had contemplated what he would say to her for almost two weeks, even practicing it in the mirror when he was sure he was alone. But all of that preparation faded away and he said the first thing he thought of.

"Morning sunshine."

She peeked through her lashes up at him, her mouth falling open in surprise. It took everything in him not to gaze at every inch of her like she was a slab of beef. That wasn't to say he hadn't done some peeking of his own.

Her hair was up in a messy bun, makeup generally still intact minus some smudged mascara. Her top half was covered in a long sleeve crew neck, hanging perfectly against her delicate frame. Her lower half was what made it hard not to gawk, legs fully exposed due to the barely there shorts, or were they underwear, he couldn't really tell. He figured that if she bent over you would probably see her bum, and that thought brought a dumb, boyish grin to his face. Keeping eye contact with her under the strict instructions of his brain, he missed the way her face twisted, his grin only fading when her hand clamped over her mouth.

She practically knocked him over when she shoved him aside and disappeared into a bathroom. He stayed back in the hallway, cringing when he heard her gagging. He wanted so badly to burst in like a super hero and hold her hair back, if only it wasn't up. He was unsure of what her reaction would be though, so Super Harry would have to rescue her another time.

When she came back out, a scowl on her face that could scare the most fierce tiger, she grabbed him by the arm and yanked him into her room. He was assaulted by the colours at first, so bright and neon he couldn't help but wonder how she got any sleep. Then he was assaulted by her words, surprised when he heard them.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" She seethed, so filled with rage Harry was convinced he saw smoke bellow out of her ears.

"I uh, well," he stumbled, still so taken by her reaction he wasn't sure how to respond.

Crossing her arms over her chest, Kate raised an eyebrow impatiently. "Well?"

"To…see you?" He meekly told her, asking subtly if that was the right answer.

He had lost all senses and certainties with the look in her eyes, wanting to crawl away defeated. But for some reason, one he had forgotten right then, he stood tall. She gave no indication as to what she was thinking, her eyes widening quicker than he could process.

"Oh god, oh shit. Did anybody see you?"

Harry narrowed his own eyes just slightly, confused. "A few, why?"

"Fuck," she hissed, shutting her own tightly. "Did they recognize you?"

Narrowing his further again, he shook his head. "No, not that they indicated or else we'd have a mob wouldn't we?"

His half hearted attempt at a joke fell completely flat, her lips pursing to form a hard, unamused line.

"What's all the yelling about?" The slurred voice of her roommate asked, her head popping out from under her neon pink blanket.

Both Harry and Kate's heads snapped in her direction, his assumption that they were alone shattered, it made him stiffen.

Before Kate could open her mouth the other girl squinted, then burst into a fight of giggles. "You're that kid, this is rich. Good morning!"

"Are you still drunk?" Kate asked, the hint of a grin tugging at the corners of her mouth.

"Duh," the roommate scoffed, waving as her eyes closed and she slowly sunk underneath her covers again.

Kate giggled, the sound of it making Harry's heart constrict while thousands of butterflies escaped into his stomach.

"You two must have had fun," he croaked out, clearing his throat.

She spun back around, an icy look on her face now. "Why are you here?"

Shrugging his shoulders, Harry shoved his hands deep into his front pockets, rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet nervously. "Is there any way we could go and talk you know, privately?"

"What's wrong with here?"

Keeping silent, he motioned towards the bump in the other bed.

"You're worried about her? She's still pissed, she won't even remember you were here."

He looked at her desperately. "Please Katie."

She swallowed hard, almost cracking but pulled herself together at the last moment. "No," she shook her head. "It won't work, I can't be seen with you."

"What do you mean?"

"You'll get caught, people know who you are."

He sighed heavily at her stubbornness. A bunch of LA college students wouldn't give a shit about him, not at this time of day and on a Saturday no less.

"Katie please," he continued to plead, ready to get down on his knees if he had to. He just wanted to talk to her, catch up, nothing funny. He hadn't let himself admit that he missed her just yet, no matter how obvious it was.

She hesitated, the length of her silence almost killing him.

"Okay," she finally relented. "Okay we can go get a coffee, but do you have sunglasses or something to at least hide…that?" She questioned, scrunching her face up as she motioned towards his own.

He smirked, pulling the raybans away from his back pocket and slipped them over his eyes. "Good?"

She nodded firmly once. "Now fuck off so I can change yeah?"

Clearing his throat, Harry held his hands up as he turned on his heels to retreat into the hall.

Kate growled, unsure of what she was feeling more, dread or anger. How dare he just show up like this, with his smug grins and sarcastic actions. He didn't need to be here, actually he shouldn't be here. Didn't he have something to do, being a big pop star and all?

She tore through her closet, grabbing a pair of jean shorts and a large tank top, changing as quickly as she could. She just wanted to get out of there, get this over with now that he had forced it on her.

Throwing her own sunglasses over her still makeup ridden eyes, she grabbed her wallet, phone, slipped her feet in a pair of flats that were probably Charlotte's and threw open the door.

"Let's go," Kate grumbled, walking ahead of him mainly so she wouldn't be caught with him if it came to that, but also so he'd have to keep up and in turn requiring him to stay silent.

If only she could be so lucky today.

"Is the shop about to close?" He called, a little too close for comfort.

"What?" She stopped abruptly, bumping into his chest. She stepped back like she was disgusted, brushing a few stray hairs away from her face.

"You could at least walk beside me and pretend I don't disgust you," he noted, subtly calling her out.

"Whatever," she mumbled, taking a sarcastically cautious step so they were now side by side.

Reaching the lift, they took it down to the front lobby of the building, walking outside in complete silence. It was a nice, warm day and she hated it. It didn't fit with the tone, it should have been pouring rain, thunder, lightening or there should have been an earthquake that could swallow her up.

"It's nice here, I can see why you like it," he commented quietly, a small smile playing on his lips.

She only nodded, nibbling on her bottom lip. She was too preoccupied by keeping watch, making sure nobody was staring or whispering in wonder. Is that Harry Styles, on our campus with a girl? She didn't want the questions, the notoriety, he hadn't given her that chance before. Not that she wanted it all anyway, but to be asked, that would have been nice.

They exchanged a few sentiments here and there about the weather, if she liked her classes, before they reached the coffee shop. He opened the door for her, asked her what she wanted and asked her to find them a seat.

"Not to worry," he told her. "I'll get it."

It was sweet, she couldn't help and think. Like the Harry she remembered, before everything that had happened.

She found a secluded table in the corner, making sure they were away from any windows, it was bad enough that there was a crowd inside.

He returned shortly after she sat down, two cups and a muffin balanced in his arms. The sight of food turned her stomach when he set it down in front of her, although it was not for her, just the coffee.

They sat in silence again, drinking their drinks, Harry eating his muffin. The awkwardness grew, so palpable they could reach out and touch it if they tried.

"Your mate seems nice," he tried, but she only nodded politely.

He then sighed, causing Kate to glare in his direction, rubbing her hands together in preparation to blast him with her arsenal of questions.

"How'd you find me then?"

"Your mum, I asked my mum to get your address and phone number so I could send you a birthday card," he explained away too simply.

"It isn't my birthday," she rolled her eyes. She would chew her mum out for this later.

He grinned the smuggest grin so far, giving her the shrug of his shoulders. "It will be."

Scoffing to dismiss him, she folded her hands on the table. "So does anybody know you're here or should I expect the secret service to come in?"

He laughed. "No, our security is tight but not that level of tight Katie."

"Right," she responded in a flat tone, showing him she wasn't trying to be funny or joke around with him. "So nobody knows you're here, not your mates, anybody?"

"No, nobody knows anything about this. I've not told anybody about you," he added, making it clear since she seemed so concerned with people knowing they were anywhere near one another.

She practically choked on the air, her eyes growing wide before they narrowed at him. "What a surprise," she spat, crossing her arms over her chest.

Raising an eyebrow at her, consistently confused these days, he shook his head. "What do you mean by that then?"

Letting out a sarcastic laugh, she threw her sunglasses on the table to get a better look at him. She couldn't believe that he was so oblivious or stupid. "A dirty secret, as usual," Kate mumbled.

"Now that's just out of order Katie, you know it isn't like that. My private life isn't anybodies business."

"You are such a prick," Kate seethed, wanting to say that for so long. Grabbing her sunglasses off of the table, she shoved them back onto her face while she practically knocked the chair over when she jumped out of it. "This was a mistake Harry."

"How am I a prick?" He shouted in defence, her sentiment about this being a mistake lost. He watched her walk away in a huff, pushing his chair away to stand. "Where are you going? Kate!"

The sound of her name tore the breath out of her lungs in a harsh manner, sending a shot through her when she burst onto the sidewalk. She needed to go, this had been such a mistake. She wasn't ready to face him, yet he had insisted and here they were.

She brought her hand up to her chest gasping for breath, fighting an uphill battle with the tears that threatened to cascade down her cheeks. In her panic to get away she took a bad step, tripping over her own feet.

"Katie!" He scrambled out the door after her, managing to catch up to her and grab her arm before she tumbled over.

Yanking away Kate shoved him. "Don't touch me," she shrieked.

He was stunned but recovered quickly, grabbing her by the shoulders to steady her now trembling frame. "Stop," he whispered.

Wiggling out of his grasp, she shoved him again. "Go away!"

"What is wrong with you?"

With her chest heaving up and down heavily, the anxiousness and anger so built up inside of her, she unleashed. "You are what's wrong with me. Why did you have to do this, why couldn't you have just fucked off?"

She was crying now, like she had two weeks ago when he called. Her whole body shook,, her face so distressed it alarmed him. He reached out to touch her but she backed away, wrapping one arm around her stomach as she sobbed out.

"You ruined me and you can't even see that Harry."

"Katie I…"

"Shut up, please just go away. Leave it alone."

With mouth open, begging to say something, comfort her, anything, he just stayed quiet, backing down. He just didn't want her to walk away, especially not after calling him a prick, and when he saw her stumble his inner hero finally sprung into action. Now all he could do was stare at her.

She ripped her sunglasses back off of her eyes, his heart aching at the sight of them. They were puffy, rimmed with the black mascara, but so angry they scorched his skin.

Huffing again she shook her head at him, turning to walk away and cover her mouth as she cried.

Harry swallowed hard, wanting so badly to chase her but his feet were stuck in place. Helplessly, he watched her walk away.