Status: Slowly but surely
Craving More
03
I woke up to loud and obnoxious banging on my front door at home on Thursday morning.
I had fallen asleep on my couch the previous night, having come home quite late. I got a last minute call from John, the owner of a local diner on the other side of town, asking if I could come play a few songs fr the crowd. The lad who was supposed to play got too nervous and threw up.
Luckily, I had a few cover songs ready and a couple originals I wrote awhile ago.
I rolled of the couch (and fell flat on my face), ran to the door and opened it, not bothering to fix the mop on my head.
"Harry! Can you guess why I'm here this early in the morning? No, don't guess! Your a week late on your rent..again." My landlord was a bitter old lady who was constantly hassling me about this. She knew my situation, but she didn't care. She -and I quote- "just needed my damn money!"
"I know, Lora." I said after a drawn out groan. "After my gig on Saturday, remember? You promised you'd be there." I grinned, making sure to have my dimples show.
I could tell she was hiding a smile, but I didn't win with my charm anyway. I never did, but it was entertaining to try. When she was in a good mood that is.
"Just get me that damn money, Styles." She said as she continued to chew on a piece of gum, like she always did. She walked away, back to the main floor.
"Goodbye Lora!" I yelled before the elevator doors closed.
Okay, it was a bit of a lie. I did have money, but not very much at all. I had about enough to just be able to pay my full rent. I will have more than enough on Saturday because the theater paid me big due to how much customers I'd bring in.
I just thought it would be nice to not "live of what I can" and be able to afford more than just coffee and a muffin for the day like usual.
I heard someone pounding at my door for the second time. Right as I was about to take a quick shower.
I wrapped one of my two towels around my waist and ran to the door, wanting to get rid of whoever was here now.
"What!" I said as I swung open my door, it creaking on its hinges as I did so. "Oh, it's you. What do you want? I was about to take a shower."
"Well, good morning to you too." Louis said in a sarcastic tone, letting himself in. "I was going to call, but then I thought "You know, I haven't seen my best mate in about three days, why not pay him a visit? Because I know there's a long story that you have to tell me." He said the last bit in a sing-song voice, as he sat down on a chair in my small kitchen.
"I don't know what you're talking about. Can I go take my shower now? Would that be okay with you?" I asked, shoving sarcasticness right back.
He just gave me a look, but I didn't bother to budge. "I know that you're sad that the "perfect girl" from the café shut you down. Come on, tell Uncle Louis about it." He patted the chair next to him with a hand.
"Really? Uncle Louis?" I asked, referring to the fact that he just called himself that.
He just chuckled.
I sighed and went to grab him by the arm and pulled him out of my chair. "Look, I'm not sad about it, I don't have to "talk to Uncle Louis about it" even if I were sad, and I want to take a goddamn shower so I can go get some coffee."
"Oh, I see! Freshin yourself up so you can go get some coffee from where she works! You still got game, buddy." He spoke as I made him go to the front door, forcing him to leave finally. "Go get her, Harry!" He yelled to me before the door was closed in his face.
I made my way back to the bathroom, more than ready to get in the shower so I could leave for a few hours.
Louis did have a good idea though. Why not go get coffee from her work place today?
If she's working I get a good cup of coffee and I get to see her again. If she's not working, then at least I get a good coffee in the mean time.
*
Today wasn't as nice as it's been the past couple days. This morning, it was rainy, gloomy even.
Most people hated weather like this, but I always seemed to find some serenity in the downpour or the drizzles. It was beautiful. It put me in a well peace of mind.
I drove to the coffee shop that I was just in not too long ago, the place where I first saw her.
It would be different with her today than the way it was when I was with Louis the first time, or when Liam, Zayn and Niall were in the background the second time. This time I would be all alone. I always had a habit of getting too anxious when my friends were around. I didn't like the eyes on me.
The only time when I enjoyed it was when I was on stage with a microphone in hand and sitting on a stool under beaming lights.
I shut my car off after easily finding a spot near the front of the shop and made my way inside quickly, not wanting to get too wet.
"Good morning! What can I get for you?" It was the little blonde that was here, Cora not in sight yet.
Oh, well. Not like I'll never see her again.
I made my order, slightly disappointed, but decided to stay in anyway and relax. I took my coat off and made myself comfy, and just started listening to the distant chatter of the other customers that were in the store.
"Sorry, I'm late, Emma! My car wouldn't start again and I had to walk." I knew right away whose voice it belonged to. The fact that she had an American accent and the voice was soft gave it all away.
But I didn't turn in my seat to look at Cora. I just acted normal, pretended like I didn't hear her, or that my heart didn't stop for a second when she spoke.
I just looked out the window for a good seven minutes until I heard the voice again.
Only this time, I knew she was talking to me.
"Are you stalking me now?" She asked as she tied an apron around her waist, hiding a good portion of her thighs, her skeleton pants hiding underneath it as well. She sat down on the chair opposite of me.
"As much as I'd like to loiter around your life on my spare time." I gave her a half smile, leaning forward in my seat. "No. Today I just wanted a coffee. And maybe to see you again. But mostly just wanted a drink."
"Mhmm. I'm sure." She smiled slightly and put some hair behind her ear, revealing multiple piercings all along up.
"That's a neat bracelet." I said, pointing to her left wrist on the small table.
She slid it off her wrist and started playing with the gold charms dangling off it. "Thanks. It's pretty much an antique." She said, a smile on her lips again.
"May I?" I asked as I held my hand out, where she placed the jewelry. I turned it around in my hand, looking at each of the charms. "What do all these stand for?"
"They're just memories. I've been to many different places in my life. Moved around a lot. These are just things that remind me of the cities." She explained. I could feel her eyes on me, but I kept my eyes trained on the bracelet.
"Yeah?" I asked as I finally looked at her and gave the thing back. "So that's why you won't go out with me. You move around alot." I smirked, thinking I just solved why he had rejected me the other day.
She shook her head though with a grin. "No, that's not why I won't go out with you." She started getting out of her seat.
"Then why-"
She let out a sigh. "Look you seem like a nice kid and all-"
"Just give me a reason why you won't go on one date with me." I interrupted her, also not liking that she just called me "kid".
"How old are you, Harry?"
"18. Gonna be 19 in about 4 months."
"Well, I just turn 21."
"So that's why. Because of the age difference?" I asked. "I'm not that much younger than you."
She sighed again, getting fully out of her chair about to head off again. "I'm not going out with you, Harry!" She made her way to the front counter again, her and Emma talking.
I let out a sigh myself and continued drinking my coffee.
*
It was Saturday night and I was just at the side of the stage were I would be playing in a short while.
"So, what're you all playing tonight?" Zayn asked. Him and Louis decided to come for support tonight.
Most of the time Liam and Niall would like to come too, but Niall had one too many the night before and was still resting, while Liam was probably off with his girlfriend who he never bothered to introduce to us.
"Some cover songs, a couple originals. The old ones that is." I said as I played around with the microphone.
Louis and Zayn started goofing around, hitting each other, talking shit and what not.
My eyes went through the crowd, seeing how many people were all here tonight.
"Hey, mate, isn't that the girl you're in love with? And her blonde friend." Louis asked, him checking out Emma from afar. "Maybe you should serenade your girl. Then she'd go out with you." Louis and Zayn snickered as I looked out to Cora.
We made eye contact as she was finding a seat, taking off her jacket. She smiled ever slightly to me and looked away, sitting down.
"You know, that's actually-"
"Oh! I was only kidding man. I don't actually think you should sing to the girl." Louis said, but he already planted the idea in my head.
And I already knew the perfect song I would sing.
"Ladies and lads, tonight we have none other than Harry Styles performing for us. He will be singing a few songs for us tonight. So give him a big round of applause!"
I made my way onto the stage and greeted everyone with a big smile.
"Evening everyone. Tonight I'll be playing a few older songs and some song covers, like usual. To start things off, I'd like to sing a song by You Me At Six. This song I'd like to dedicate to you Cora." I made eye contact with her again, pointing right at her and she looked quite surprised. "Hope you all like it." I sat down on the stool Center stage and started singing, all to Cora.
"I guess now is a good time to tell the truth
The pedigree I carry will swallow you.
But I am not what you are,
You're flawless in every way.
Birds eye view,
I'm watching you.
Sad sad sight for the sore sore eyes and a headache for the weakest of minds.
You've got the boys, the boy's all tongue tied, but I know they're wasting their time.
Go
Go
You can be the ghost in my hall
You can be the smile I don't want
I'll be the fly on your wall
You can be the distance in between
You can be everything I need
You'll be the girl I will call
Oh just imagine what I thought when I opened up that door
It was a million things to one.
And oh, just imagine what they'll think
When they see me lead you north.
Hell, they'll be losing sleep.
And you're wrong
Wrong
You can be the ghost in my hall
You can be the smile I don't want
I'll be the fly on your wall
You can be the distance in between
You can be everything I need
You'll be the girl I will call
It's so wrong
So wrong
It's so wrong"
I got up from the stool finally, and started making my way through the crowd to where Cora was seated. She didn't have a pissed off expression, and that's all I needed to continue singing to her.
"You can be the ghost in my hall
You can be the smile I don't want
I'll be the fly on your
You can be the ghost in my hall
You can be the smile I don't want
I'll be the fly on your wall
You can be the distance in between
You can be everything I need
You'll be the girl I will call
Jealous minds they think alike
You're a damn damn tie,
I'm wasting all my time.
You are in love.
Jealous minds they think alike
You're a damn damn tie,
you're wasting all my time.
You are in love."
Everyone got up from their chairs and started cheering and clapping loudly while Cora just sat still, smiling sweetly.
I could feel my heart beating a thousand beats per second, but I continued doing what I planned since I started singing to her.
I grabbed hold of her hand in mine when I was close enough and got down on a knee. "Miss Cora. Please, just go on one date with me. Just one." I spoke into the mic, smiling a cheeky smile, wanting everyone around to hear this. "And I think you should know now that I won't give up if you say no to me again."
Everyone around us were chanting and yelling "Just go out with him!" or "Say yes!". But I kept my eyes locked on hers, and hers were on mine.
Finally after what seemed like eternity, she sighed and stood up, everyone falling silent. "One date." She said and right after everyone started cheering again.
I smiled even wider and placed a gentle kiss on her hand after standing up.
I had fallen asleep on my couch the previous night, having come home quite late. I got a last minute call from John, the owner of a local diner on the other side of town, asking if I could come play a few songs fr the crowd. The lad who was supposed to play got too nervous and threw up.
Luckily, I had a few cover songs ready and a couple originals I wrote awhile ago.
I rolled of the couch (and fell flat on my face), ran to the door and opened it, not bothering to fix the mop on my head.
"Harry! Can you guess why I'm here this early in the morning? No, don't guess! Your a week late on your rent..again." My landlord was a bitter old lady who was constantly hassling me about this. She knew my situation, but she didn't care. She -and I quote- "just needed my damn money!"
"I know, Lora." I said after a drawn out groan. "After my gig on Saturday, remember? You promised you'd be there." I grinned, making sure to have my dimples show.
I could tell she was hiding a smile, but I didn't win with my charm anyway. I never did, but it was entertaining to try. When she was in a good mood that is.
"Just get me that damn money, Styles." She said as she continued to chew on a piece of gum, like she always did. She walked away, back to the main floor.
"Goodbye Lora!" I yelled before the elevator doors closed.
Okay, it was a bit of a lie. I did have money, but not very much at all. I had about enough to just be able to pay my full rent. I will have more than enough on Saturday because the theater paid me big due to how much customers I'd bring in.
I just thought it would be nice to not "live of what I can" and be able to afford more than just coffee and a muffin for the day like usual.
I heard someone pounding at my door for the second time. Right as I was about to take a quick shower.
I wrapped one of my two towels around my waist and ran to the door, wanting to get rid of whoever was here now.
"What!" I said as I swung open my door, it creaking on its hinges as I did so. "Oh, it's you. What do you want? I was about to take a shower."
"Well, good morning to you too." Louis said in a sarcastic tone, letting himself in. "I was going to call, but then I thought "You know, I haven't seen my best mate in about three days, why not pay him a visit? Because I know there's a long story that you have to tell me." He said the last bit in a sing-song voice, as he sat down on a chair in my small kitchen.
"I don't know what you're talking about. Can I go take my shower now? Would that be okay with you?" I asked, shoving sarcasticness right back.
He just gave me a look, but I didn't bother to budge. "I know that you're sad that the "perfect girl" from the café shut you down. Come on, tell Uncle Louis about it." He patted the chair next to him with a hand.
"Really? Uncle Louis?" I asked, referring to the fact that he just called himself that.
He just chuckled.
I sighed and went to grab him by the arm and pulled him out of my chair. "Look, I'm not sad about it, I don't have to "talk to Uncle Louis about it" even if I were sad, and I want to take a goddamn shower so I can go get some coffee."
"Oh, I see! Freshin yourself up so you can go get some coffee from where she works! You still got game, buddy." He spoke as I made him go to the front door, forcing him to leave finally. "Go get her, Harry!" He yelled to me before the door was closed in his face.
I made my way back to the bathroom, more than ready to get in the shower so I could leave for a few hours.
Louis did have a good idea though. Why not go get coffee from her work place today?
If she's working I get a good cup of coffee and I get to see her again. If she's not working, then at least I get a good coffee in the mean time.
*
Today wasn't as nice as it's been the past couple days. This morning, it was rainy, gloomy even.
Most people hated weather like this, but I always seemed to find some serenity in the downpour or the drizzles. It was beautiful. It put me in a well peace of mind.
I drove to the coffee shop that I was just in not too long ago, the place where I first saw her.
It would be different with her today than the way it was when I was with Louis the first time, or when Liam, Zayn and Niall were in the background the second time. This time I would be all alone. I always had a habit of getting too anxious when my friends were around. I didn't like the eyes on me.
The only time when I enjoyed it was when I was on stage with a microphone in hand and sitting on a stool under beaming lights.
I shut my car off after easily finding a spot near the front of the shop and made my way inside quickly, not wanting to get too wet.
"Good morning! What can I get for you?" It was the little blonde that was here, Cora not in sight yet.
Oh, well. Not like I'll never see her again.
I made my order, slightly disappointed, but decided to stay in anyway and relax. I took my coat off and made myself comfy, and just started listening to the distant chatter of the other customers that were in the store.
"Sorry, I'm late, Emma! My car wouldn't start again and I had to walk." I knew right away whose voice it belonged to. The fact that she had an American accent and the voice was soft gave it all away.
But I didn't turn in my seat to look at Cora. I just acted normal, pretended like I didn't hear her, or that my heart didn't stop for a second when she spoke.
I just looked out the window for a good seven minutes until I heard the voice again.
Only this time, I knew she was talking to me.
"Are you stalking me now?" She asked as she tied an apron around her waist, hiding a good portion of her thighs, her skeleton pants hiding underneath it as well. She sat down on the chair opposite of me.
"As much as I'd like to loiter around your life on my spare time." I gave her a half smile, leaning forward in my seat. "No. Today I just wanted a coffee. And maybe to see you again. But mostly just wanted a drink."
"Mhmm. I'm sure." She smiled slightly and put some hair behind her ear, revealing multiple piercings all along up.
"That's a neat bracelet." I said, pointing to her left wrist on the small table.
She slid it off her wrist and started playing with the gold charms dangling off it. "Thanks. It's pretty much an antique." She said, a smile on her lips again.
"May I?" I asked as I held my hand out, where she placed the jewelry. I turned it around in my hand, looking at each of the charms. "What do all these stand for?"
"They're just memories. I've been to many different places in my life. Moved around a lot. These are just things that remind me of the cities." She explained. I could feel her eyes on me, but I kept my eyes trained on the bracelet.
"Yeah?" I asked as I finally looked at her and gave the thing back. "So that's why you won't go out with me. You move around alot." I smirked, thinking I just solved why he had rejected me the other day.
She shook her head though with a grin. "No, that's not why I won't go out with you." She started getting out of her seat.
"Then why-"
She let out a sigh. "Look you seem like a nice kid and all-"
"Just give me a reason why you won't go on one date with me." I interrupted her, also not liking that she just called me "kid".
"How old are you, Harry?"
"18. Gonna be 19 in about 4 months."
"Well, I just turn 21."
"So that's why. Because of the age difference?" I asked. "I'm not that much younger than you."
She sighed again, getting fully out of her chair about to head off again. "I'm not going out with you, Harry!" She made her way to the front counter again, her and Emma talking.
I let out a sigh myself and continued drinking my coffee.
*
It was Saturday night and I was just at the side of the stage were I would be playing in a short while.
"So, what're you all playing tonight?" Zayn asked. Him and Louis decided to come for support tonight.
Most of the time Liam and Niall would like to come too, but Niall had one too many the night before and was still resting, while Liam was probably off with his girlfriend who he never bothered to introduce to us.
"Some cover songs, a couple originals. The old ones that is." I said as I played around with the microphone.
Louis and Zayn started goofing around, hitting each other, talking shit and what not.
My eyes went through the crowd, seeing how many people were all here tonight.
"Hey, mate, isn't that the girl you're in love with? And her blonde friend." Louis asked, him checking out Emma from afar. "Maybe you should serenade your girl. Then she'd go out with you." Louis and Zayn snickered as I looked out to Cora.
We made eye contact as she was finding a seat, taking off her jacket. She smiled ever slightly to me and looked away, sitting down.
"You know, that's actually-"
"Oh! I was only kidding man. I don't actually think you should sing to the girl." Louis said, but he already planted the idea in my head.
And I already knew the perfect song I would sing.
"Ladies and lads, tonight we have none other than Harry Styles performing for us. He will be singing a few songs for us tonight. So give him a big round of applause!"
I made my way onto the stage and greeted everyone with a big smile.
"Evening everyone. Tonight I'll be playing a few older songs and some song covers, like usual. To start things off, I'd like to sing a song by You Me At Six. This song I'd like to dedicate to you Cora." I made eye contact with her again, pointing right at her and she looked quite surprised. "Hope you all like it." I sat down on the stool Center stage and started singing, all to Cora.
"I guess now is a good time to tell the truth
The pedigree I carry will swallow you.
But I am not what you are,
You're flawless in every way.
Birds eye view,
I'm watching you.
Sad sad sight for the sore sore eyes and a headache for the weakest of minds.
You've got the boys, the boy's all tongue tied, but I know they're wasting their time.
Go
Go
You can be the ghost in my hall
You can be the smile I don't want
I'll be the fly on your wall
You can be the distance in between
You can be everything I need
You'll be the girl I will call
Oh just imagine what I thought when I opened up that door
It was a million things to one.
And oh, just imagine what they'll think
When they see me lead you north.
Hell, they'll be losing sleep.
And you're wrong
Wrong
You can be the ghost in my hall
You can be the smile I don't want
I'll be the fly on your wall
You can be the distance in between
You can be everything I need
You'll be the girl I will call
It's so wrong
So wrong
It's so wrong"
I got up from the stool finally, and started making my way through the crowd to where Cora was seated. She didn't have a pissed off expression, and that's all I needed to continue singing to her.
"You can be the ghost in my hall
You can be the smile I don't want
I'll be the fly on your
You can be the ghost in my hall
You can be the smile I don't want
I'll be the fly on your wall
You can be the distance in between
You can be everything I need
You'll be the girl I will call
Jealous minds they think alike
You're a damn damn tie,
I'm wasting all my time.
You are in love.
Jealous minds they think alike
You're a damn damn tie,
you're wasting all my time.
You are in love."
Everyone got up from their chairs and started cheering and clapping loudly while Cora just sat still, smiling sweetly.
I could feel my heart beating a thousand beats per second, but I continued doing what I planned since I started singing to her.
I grabbed hold of her hand in mine when I was close enough and got down on a knee. "Miss Cora. Please, just go on one date with me. Just one." I spoke into the mic, smiling a cheeky smile, wanting everyone around to hear this. "And I think you should know now that I won't give up if you say no to me again."
Everyone around us were chanting and yelling "Just go out with him!" or "Say yes!". But I kept my eyes locked on hers, and hers were on mine.
Finally after what seemed like eternity, she sighed and stood up, everyone falling silent. "One date." She said and right after everyone started cheering again.
I smiled even wider and placed a gentle kiss on her hand after standing up.
♠ ♠ ♠
Cora 1 | Cora 2 So in the prologue Cora said she and Harry had been together for almost a year, but I thought I'd change that to eight months, because I don't want to have too much chapters in between the moment when she leaves finally.
The song I used is called "Jealous Minds Think Alike" by You Me At Six, and some of the lyrics I changed, just so it would suit the situation better when he's singing to her.
Anyways, please tell me what you thought of this chapter!