Complicated

When I woke up the next morning, I was greeted with some lovely neck and back pain. I guess that’s what you get from falling asleep slumped over in a hospital chair. When I get back to my house, Advil will be my best friend for the next few days. I looked at Harry who was still asleep. I figured he needed his sleep, so I didn’t want to wake him up. It’s not like I was going to leave yet, I couldn’t leave him. I looked down and saw that I was still holding his hand, fingers still laced together. His hair was curly as always, but was a little messy and his face was still pale. He looked so worn out. I couldn’t help but feel guilty about everything. I let out a deep breath and looked down at the floor. I felt movement, and when I looked up, my eyes were met with those mesmerizing green eyes.

“Hi princess.” His voice was quiet. Like if the TV was on, I probably wouldn’t be able to hear him. That quiet. It was kind of weird, because Harry's usually the loudest of the group.

“Hi boo,” I spoke softly, trying not to get choked up. Just seeing him in a hospital bed, made me emotional. And to know that it was all my fault…that didn’t really help much either. “How’d you sleep?”

He cleared his throat and grabbed water from his table and drank a little bit. This time when he spoke, his voice was a little louder. “Honestly, I slept really well. I woke up once during the night because my chest hurt, so I had to page a nurse to come in and give me more pain killers. And then I saw that you were still here, and that makes all the pain go away.”

I looked down again and this time he picked my chin up. “What’s the matter, Car?” He looked worried.

I sighed and looked at him. “It’s just…when I woke up this morning, I was reminded of the fact that you’re here right now because of me. Because of my stupid ex-boyfriend who can’t let go of me. Because he is such a fucking lunatic to basically try to break into my house, and then ends up shooting the most amazing guy I’ve ever met. I feel so guilty, Harry. I wish things didn’t end up this way.” By this point, tears were already falling from my eyes. I couldn’t hold them in, so I just let them out. I just cried. I didn’t try to stop myself.

Harry looked broken, and looked like he couldn’t find the right words to say. He pulled my chin to his and kissed me softly. “Please don’t feel guilty, Carly. This will probably sound so weird, but since I’m on all these pain killers, I can’t seem to think of any better way to say it. In a way, I’m kind of glad that I took the bullet. You ever hear Bruno Mar’s song, ‘Grenade?’ Well, I’d take a grenade for you. I’m happy that Nathan got me, and not you. That means I don’t have to watch my princess be in pain.”

Hearing his reasoning for why I shouldn’t be guilty made me even more emotional. He was just too sweet for words. He always could find a positive to even the most negative situations. That was something I really admired about him.

I nodded my head and swallowed hard, trying to push back any further urges of crying I had. “That was so incredibly sweet, Haz. Like wow…I’m speechless right now.”

I was about to lean in for a kiss when I heard the door open and Lauren and other boys walked in. “Damn you guys. We were having a moment.” I laughed.

“Carly, you can go get breakfast from the cafeteria. We’ll stay here until you get back. And then we can talk about Fiji stuff.” Lauren put her arm around me and gave me a side hug.

I nodded and kissed Harry softly, then headed out the door and eventually found my way to the cafeteria. I got myself a bowl of oatmeal, a banana and a raspberry lemonade. I sat down at a table and started to eat. At one point I looked up and saw a little girl standing next to me with a pad of paper and a sharpie. “Hi there.” I spoke softly, smiling at the girl, who looked like she could be about 6 or 7 years old.

“You’re dating Harry Styles of One Direction, right?”

I nodded. I wasn’t even surprised about her knowing, I was more focused on how cute she was.

“Could you sign this for me?” Her voice was so high pitched and small, I couldn’t help but keep a smile on my face.

I nodded and signed her paper for her. Just then I woman’s voice came from behind me, and it was clearly her mother.

“Mind if we get a picture?” The woman asked me, nicely.

I shook my head. “No, I don’t mind at all.” I posed with the little girl for a picture, and after her mom took it, she reached out and hugged me.

“Thank you!” She looked so excited to have my autograph, and technically I wasn’t even famous. As she left the cafeteria, I could hear her repeating over and over ‘I met Harry Styles’ girlfriend!’

I finished my food and headed back upstairs. When I walked in the room, I must have been glowing because everyone asked what had me so happy.

“I was eating my oatmeal, and this little girl comes up to me and asks if I was dating Harry and I said yes, and she asked for my autograph and we got a picture together. Oh my goodness, she was so cute.”

Everyone was smiling, including Harry. Even though I had a bad day the day before, and an emotional morning with Harry, that little girl had cheered me up. And by the looks of things, she had cheered everyone else up as well.