And You Let Her Go

The phone call I had received from my dad that morning was frustrating yet made me happy at the same time. He informed me that the funeral was being pushed back a couple more days because my mother’s side of the family couldn’t book a flight here for another three days. Thus, prolonging my visit and forcing me to actually face Harry.

After Nando’s yesterday, I told Niall we should see a movie—anything to keep me distracted. But that didn’t work out as well as I hoped since I kept thinking about Harry. Was he wondering where I was? Was he worried about me? Then the lovely visual of the brunette on top of him pushed those thoughts away. Of course he wasn’t thinking about me.

I went downstairs and saw a note taped to the refrigerator.
Went to get groceries—yogurt and fruit inside! -A

I pulled out the cup of vanilla yogurt and cut a peach into slices. After pouring honey over the two ingredients and mixing, I sat at the table and read the paper. Well, an old couple won a toaster while playing bingo and a man was robbed in London. All’s good in the world.

“That’s an interesting concoction you’ve got there,” a deep voice answered from the kitchen’s doorframe.

I looked up at him and he gave me a weak smile. He wore his baggy gray sweatpants low enough that I could see the band of his Tommy Hilfiger boxer briefs. His white v-neck looked tighter than usual as his biceps bulged from the sleeves and the ship on his upper arm was properly seen, almost like a muscle tee.

“D-do you want me to m-make you some?” I asked, still chewing on the spoonful of peaches and yogurt in my mouth.

He shook his head and opened the fridge, taking out another cup of yogurt and a variety of fruit. After mixing everything in a bowl, he sat down across from me and looked down at his breakfast with a frown. There didn’t seem to be anything wrong with it, so I assumed he was going to say something.

We heard the front door open suddenly and Anne walked in with an armful of groceries. I stood abruptly and put my bowl in the sink.

“Let me help you with those,” I gestured towards the paper bags.

She grabbed my arm, “Thank you so much, Charlie.”

Harry hadn’t turned around to greet his mother yet while we unpacked the groceries. After emptying the last bag, I washed my plate and left the kitchen, giving Anne a small smile. I heard Harry take a deep breath before he too stood up after I left the kitchen.

“What’s going on, Harry?” I heard Anne ask her son. I sat at the top of the stairs, leaning against the banister. Was he actually going to tell her?

“It’s nothing, mum. Just one of those days,” he answered miserably.

“Oh, and Charlie too? You two were laughing and making jokes the last couple of days and all of a sudden it’s as if someone died,” I winced at her words but knew she wasn’t referring to anything in particular.

“Mum…” Harry groaned.

“Fix this, Harold. Whatever you did, it’s clearly beaten up Charlie pretty well,” Anne sighed. I hadn’t credited her enough for how well she saw things as they were.

I went to my room and shut the door soundlessly. Sitting down on my bed, I unlocked my phone and read the 2 text messages I had. One was from Sprint about some new promotion they had and the other was from Niall.

Fancy a proper dinner tonight? Just us? xx.

I smiled at my phone and replied with:
Thought you’d never ask, Horan ;)

My phone immediately started buzzing with Niall’s reply, as if he was waiting for mine.
I’ll pick you up at 8- see you then. xx.

Now I had the whole day to do… nothing. I already knew I would wear my navy blue flowy dress from A&F paired with my favorite military jacket.

I was happy with this new relationship I had with Niall. Maybe Harry wasn’t as perfect as I thought he was and all I needed to do was search harder.

* * * * *

Avoiding him wasn’t as hard as he did the same, obviously not taking his mother’s advice. The day went be quickly and soon the clock read 7:53. I went downstairs to wait for Niall.

I slid open the patio door and sat down in the lounge chair, enjoying the sunset and the warm fresh air. Then I heard the door open.

I looked over to see a mop of curls heading over to the chair across from me. He sat down and continued looking at the ground.

“Hi…” I began, not sure of what to say. He finally looked up at me. The dark circles in his eyes were like a black hole; deep and never ending.

His face softened but stayed serious, “Where are you going?”

“Dinner,” I replied. So I guess he wasn’t planning on covering what happened that night after all.

“With who?”

I sighed, looking at the curves in the wood, “Niall.”

“Where?” he asked again.

I threw my hands up, “I don’t know, Harry! Why are you so interested all of a sudden?”

He looked away, avoiding eye contact. I so desperately wanted to embrace him and run my hand through his hair, taking all the pain away.

But I was hurt too. And quite frankly, I didn’t know why he was acting like this.

I looked inside the house as I heard the doorbell. Heading towards the kitchen, I turned around one last time to find him looking straight at me, his eyes pleading.

I ran a hand through my hair as I walked to the front door, resisting the urge to run back to him.