So, this might be the longest one yet. Enjoy, my rosy tulips!

♬ ✥*

Harry.

Five minutes. 

That's how long it took about me being in Serenity's kitchen before she kicked me out to watch from the sidelines.

Somehow, I managed to nip several fingers with a knife only a few seconds into chopping some carrots. She caught the container that held the chicken broth before it fell onto the floor, some still spilling from it. I turned the stove on high heat, rather than low, and walked into an open upper cupboard, nearly falling over.

I was utterly useless in the kitchen, and it was safer for both of us for me to just get out.

Serenity, however, wasn't bothered or angered by my actions. Instead, she simply laughed — at all of my failures.

She said how I made millions of dollars daIly with my sharp mental capabilities but was lethal with doing anything physically helpful.

That was the reason why I ordered out — other than the fact that I had zero time to bother with actually attempting to learn any culinary skills.

While the soup was simmering on the stove, Serenity stepped out to grab something that she ran out of. She demanded that I sit completely still in the living room and not move from my spot.

It was honestly embarrassing, but I did what was told. While she was gone, I had another mental conversation with myself about Essie. I told myself that I couldn't make any moves on Essie. I was alone, yet I still felt like my heart was judging me. 

When Serenity came back, only ten minutes later, holding a paper cup, and a bag from the Quaint Corner Café — she brought me a blueberry muffin. However, she said I could only have it later, just in case my stomach acts up again.

That woman was a saint.

Suddenly, a sound of a phone ringing echoed from somewhere in the apartment. Making my way towards the muffled tune, Serenity rushed trying to find it. By the time I reached device, she'd hit her hand against the kettle, tripped over her ankles, and was catching her breath when she stood in front of me, a dopey grin on her face. Handing it to her, she thanked me quietly, before answering the call.

"Hey, Mars. ... I'm good, you? ... Um, yeah, he's still here ..." she trailed off quietly, and a sudden piercing shriek was heard from the other line, removing the phone away from her ear. She looked at me with an apologetic look, before continuing her conversation, "... You trying to make your friend deaf? Next time, warn me, eh? ... How's Luna? ... Wait, why can't you take her with you? ... What about River? ..."

Even when he's not around, that fucker was still around.

"... I guess. I'll ask and text you. That work? ... Right, love you too."

Serenity ended her call, placing the phone on the kitchen counter. Her eyes were direct on me, but she was biting her bottom lip, unsure of something she clearly wanted to say.

"Everything okay?"

"Yeah, sorta, kinda — um, no actually." A short chuckle escaped her lips. "Something came up and Mars won't be home for a couple days. River's gone to open up her shop, so she's going to have to bring her back soon. I know you have allergies, but I —"

There was doubt or guilt in her eyes, but I only swallowed deeply, not wanting to go through with my next words. "I can leave if that's what you're trying to say."

"No!" she exclaimed quickly, chewing on the inside of her cheek. "That's not it. I just, um, I don't want you to leave."

"Oh, okay." I let out a barely audible relieved breath.

She wanted me here.

But then there was her cat and my susceptibility.

I honestly wasn't sure what I was going to do. I didn't want to leave either, but my allergies were going to cause a major problem. Just being here, I was surprised that I wasn't even sneezing yet. It looked like Serenity tried to clean things up as much as she could, which has clearly helped. My eyes weren't bothered as much, because I wasn't wearing my contacts. They only made things worse sometimes.

A few years back, I had eye drops that helped, other than the regular allergy medicine pills I took. There was no need to take them anymore, though, so I stopped buying it.

Serenity suddenly disappeared into her bedroom, seeming to have gotten something, as she returned with something in her hand. Hesitantly, she lifted it, handing me the contents.

"Archie gave these to me with your glasses. He said you'd might need them."

Looking down in my hands, I saw a very familiar rectangular box — allergy pills. When I searched for the expiration date, I was surprised when the date was for the next year. It only meant one thing — he bought them recently.

"Thanks," I softly spoke, as she went over to grab me a glass of water. I downed one of the pills, knowing very well that I'd definitely be needing one.

Since I woke up, I hadn't taken a look at my phone — which was highly unlike me.

It was still on the coffee table from last night; however, it was turned off — it died. I asked Serenity if she had a charger I could use, and when I plugged it in, I wished I hadn't.

There were close to a hundred emails, a few messages from Archie, dozens of missed calls from Iris, and countless text messages. I only opened the texts from my PA, which asked if I was doing better and questioning where I was. As for my driver, he just wanted to know when I wanted him to come and pick me up.

I'd never been so careless about work before, nor have I ever missed a day. The strangest part about it was that I didn't rush to reply to anything. It was close to ten in the morning, and I had a shit ton of things to do, meetings to attend, and places to be; but here I was, in clothes that weren't mine, at an apartment of the girl who tended to me while I was sick, and not having a care in the world.

Who the fuck was I?

The delicious aroma filled the apartment and homemade — a scent that I'd never actually taken in for a long time. Just as Serenity was about to pour me a bowl of soup, a knocking was heard at her front door, and she asked if I could answer it.

Shit.

Hesitantly, I opened the door to find Amara with a wide smile on her face, and a cat-carrying bag on her shoulder.

"Hi, Harry," she greeted, and I couldn't find it in me to verbally reply, so I just nodded. Her eyes were slightly bigger as she looked my body up and down with a smirk on her face. "Here's Luna. Tell Ren I have to go, but I'll see her in a couple of days."

"Sure," I responded, taking the carrier from her.

"Nice seeing you again, Harry. You look better than yesterday, and I can only imagine why. Later!" she said, quickly running down the steps before I could say anything else. My brows were furrowed at her statement.

What did she mean by that?

Closing the door, I turned around to find Serenity walking towards me.

"Um, she —"

"I heard, thanks," she said with a smile, taking the bag from me. Softly, she cooed, greeting her cat. "I can put her in the bedroom."

"I — um — no, it's fine. I took a pill, so I should be fine."

"If you feel anything, I'll move her inside, okay?" she assured, and I nodded.

Slowly, she lowered the soft carrier to the ground, unzipping the opening, and the cat immediately walked towards her. I grimaced at the fact that there was a furry animal within a meter of me — and I was actually standing beside it.

When she got enough attention from her owner, she looked up at me and came towards me. The cat rubbed her body against my leg, and I froze.

Fuck.

"She's just saying hi. You're okay," Serenity's voice was calm, as she picked up the animal, lifting her into her arms. "Say hi, Luna."

The cat replied with a meow. It was actually — kind of — cute.

Luna was honestly really pretty, with tangerine fur, and bright blue eyes like her mother's.

What surprised me the most was that I didn't sneeze. I was thankful that those meds kicked in because I really didn't want to have to leave.

"Um, hi, Luna?" I said, almost making it sound like a question. I was nervous because of a fucking cat. Something was seriously wrong with me.

"So far so good," Serenity said quietly, looking at me with a smile.

"Why'd you name her that?"

"As you know, I love stars, and basically everything in the sky. The moon's incredibly beautiful, so luna just came to me..." she trailed off, petting her. "...and I don't know, she just looks like a Luna."

"I see."

"There's also another silly reason. I used to watch the anime show Sailor Moon when I was younger, and Serena, the main girl, had a black cat named Luna. I mean, this Luna isn't black, but I loved his name. His, because that Luna was a boy. Oh, and then there's also Sailor Mars, who was one of her Serena's friends, who's actually Sailor Moon. We're actually kind of similar, especially because she's such a klutz too. So anyway, I gave Amara that nickname, because I liked that nickname for her. I just have this weird obsession I guess that carried on. Then there's ..." she suddenly paused, her eyes widening, then blinked twice. "...oh my stars, I'm rambling. I'm sorry."

She was definitely rambling.

I had absolutely no fucking clue what she was going on about, but I didn't say a word. She was just so adorable talking about something she clearly loved so much. It was endearing to watch and listen to.

The little way her nose scrunched up, how her eyes twinkled with happiness. Her hands clapped together twice, bouncing slightly on her toes in enthusiasm. She was just over the moon with joy.

Breaking the small silence I did by accidentally not responding, her voice spoke up again, "You want to try holding her?"

Now that, I wasn't expecting.

I brought my fingers up to my lips, pinching my bottom lip, in complete anxiousness. "Um, should I?"

"Only if you want to. You know your allergies better than me, so I won't force you," she said softly.

I could trust her — it was just Essie.

And her cat.

"Okay, I guess. I'll try," I agreed, and Serenity carefully handed her to me.

Luna just glanced at me, studying my face, just as someone close to us does a lot. Being so close to the animal, I felt my nose starting to tingle, but that's all. It wasn't enough to actually trigger a sneeze. My eyes were fine, and I knew that this might just work.

Serenity excused herself to go grab some food for Luna, as well as get me my bowl of soup. Somehow — comfortably — I walked with the feline towards the couch and sat down.

Striking blue eyes flickered from mine and to the girl in the kitchen. A soft meow escaped her little mouth as if she was trying to tell me something.

"What is it?" I asked her.

Like the cat could give you an answer — fucking idiot.

Yet, here I was, still trying to make a conversation with her.

"You think Essie's pretty too, don't you, Luna?" My voice was soft as my gaze was on Serenity in the kitchen, her profile facing towards me. "Simply ethereal."

Luna cosied her face in my neck as her response — which was also the official trigger to my first sneeze. My glasses slid down my nose slightly, and she decided to paw at them, attempting to remove them off my face.

"Oh, no. Leave his glasses alone," her mother warned. "Luna, go eat your tuna."

"That rhymed," I said, with a chuckle, that ended with another sneeze. She passed me the tissue box, which I just decided to keep by my side. "Sorry."

"It's okay. I guess the lap is the safest distance," Serenity spoke, passing me the bowl with one hand, and taking Luna from me with her other. "She also likes to play with glasses, don't know why. Sometimes I think she has bad vision because she sets them in front of her, looking through them."

"I guess so," I managed to say before I sneezed once more. "That cat seems like a handful."

"No, not Luna. She's only like this when around people she really likes. Since yesterday, I already knew that little one took a strong liking towards you," she explained warmly, placing her cat by her bowl, then coming back sitting beside me. "And yeah, it was a little rhyme that came to me one day. I mean, I call her Luna, or Tuna, which she clearly loves tuna fish. I also call her Loonie Toonie."

And my heart only pounded quicker at her physical action.

"Loonie Toonie?" I asked, attempting to ignore the race inside my body.

"Yeah, after the coins." A smile was wide on her face.

"You nicknamed your cat after one and two-dollar coins?" My brow raised in both confusion and amusement.

"What can I say, I'm Canadian, eh?" She shrugged, giggling at her own words.

"I've never met anyone like you."

"Yeah, well, I'm one of a kind. I'd like to keep it like way."

"You surely are one of a kind," I agreed, and saw the faintest blush creep upon her cheeks.

"I guess, it's you and me both, Harry," she said, then bit the corner of her lips that was pulling into a smile.

And at that moment, it was the first time in years that I've ever felt elated — and knew that there was someone who genuinely cared about me.

♬ ✥*

Serenity.

A week had passed since Harry stayed over when he got sick.

And every night, my bed felt cold, missing being absentmindedly touched by another person.

Throughout this time, I also haven't seen him, which added to how bad I was feeling. Something helped when I knew he left wearing the clothes I'd given him. I couldn't forget the expression Archie gave us when he saw his boss not wearing a suit — and in someone else's clothes. Harry just glared at him, making sure he wouldn't question him or me. It was a bit priceless if I'm honest.

The main reasoning for my being upset, though, was because the period fairy decided to pay me a little visit — and that only made my emotions pass through the roof.

I wasn't sure exactly how Harry found out, but apparently one afternoon the pain was in complete overdrive, I pain-dialled him and told him that I was on my period. He seemed to be the person who would comfort me. Of course, there was no recollection of the memory until I got a knock on my door.

After practically crawling to the door, that took about a good two minutes — one was me getting out of bed, the other was actually walking to the front of my apartment. The person behind it was Archie carrying a couple of bags, in which he gave them to me, then left without any more words — other than a 'hello' and 'goodbye.'

When I took a look inside them, I found everything needed that was needed for a girl while her uterus was going through several rounds of boxing. I found pads, tampons, pain killers, dark chocolate, a couple boxes of chamomile tea, salt and vinegar chips, a purple hot water bottle, three cartons of cookie dough ice cream, and a note.

Es- Serenity,

Iris told me you liked that ice cream flavour, so I got you three. I hope you feel better soon.

Harry Styles
CEO of Urban Corp.

Something was scratched out before my name, and I tried my best to make it out from under where he stroke through the beginning of the word. It seemed to have started with an 'Es,' but whatever it was that he wanted to write, he changed his mind two letters in.

My heart swelled at his sweet gesture — that was before my insides decided to start another agonising fight.

River was around while all of this happened, and he went from either teasing me to being concerned with what he could do to help. The only thing that came to mind was to grab me a spoon, with my favourite ice cream, and bring it to me. He laid down next to me, while I devoured the entire thing, as we watched a sappy romance film.

During which, I sent a thank you text to Harry, which he responded with an emoji. I nearly dropped my phone when I read it.

Today, 3:12 PM - Harry Styles - 💝

He then quickly wrote that he 'accidentally' pressed on the emojis while he was typing, 'You're welcome.' Of course, I believed not a single word.

Thankfully, two days later, I was feeling a million times better.

On Monday, the renovations were finally going to commence, and that only made my body. My dreams were finally coming true.

It was currently Wednesday, getting close to nine in the evening, and I was at the studio. Riv and I decided to take advantage of every last minute we could here before we had to find another place to rehearse.

So far, things were progressing, and we had half of the routine finalised. He wanted to try something new, so we'd been attempting it several times, desperate to get it right. 

The music blared through the speakers, and we moved to the beat, emphasising each loud hit with a sharp movement; a softer sound, with gentle motions.

Sweat glistened our bodies. My legs were killing me, but I was pushing through it. It was the most we've pushed ourselves lately, and I absolutely loved it. My dance partner only had black tights on, and a shirt that was discarded a while back.

My bottom half was only covered with a pair of dancer shorts, a sports bra, and a loose flowy top. Pointe shoes hugged my feet, the ribbon delicately wrapped around my ankle. My hair was in a ponytail, but that was lost somewhere on the floor quite some time ago.

I leapt into the air, River catching me, then pushed his back onto the floor with me in his arms. Our landing was gentle, with control, yet still with power. His hands were on my hips, knees up, supporting my body as my legs were entwined together, standing tall. My arms were on the ground, on either side of his head, representing hands cupping cheeks before leaning in for a passionate kiss.

We held eye contact the entire time, keeping the emotional connection we wanted to showcase to the world. To anyone, the scene would appear purely intimate, just as two lovers were artistically sharing their emotions. It was a performance, nonetheless, and the affection was limited.

Using his knees, I pushed my body up, placing my palms face down on the ground, as I split my legs in the air to stand vertically. I twirled across the room, seeing him already on his feet, with his arms wide open. He was quickly preparing for our next move — and it was the hardest one we'd be trying to perfect.

Running to River, my legs tightened around his waist, as I let my hands bend down to touch the ground. Loosening my hold around, I crawled using my arms, before he grabbed ahold of my ankle, trapping my body from travelling anywhere. I pulled my knee back towards me then invisibly pushing him back several meters away.

Rolling my body using the top of my feet, I stood turning my body to face him. I could see from the corner of my eye that River was doing the Butterfly. He twirled then lifted himself into the air. His knees were brought up as parallel as they could to the ground. Powerfully, he landing on one foot, dropping down to one knee as if he were to propose. His arms stretched out, delicately reaching out to me.

As he stood, I galloped towards him from a distance away, him catching me in his arms, as a man would carry his bride to be — the Cheshire's Cat Lift was our hardest move yet. The way we wanted it was for me to be blindfolded for the majority of the dance — for us to have complete trust in each other. We'd done something similar before but never something so complex.

I was then pushed up into the air, planning to be caught by my hips, but I slipped out of his hands. My bum landed forcefully on the ground before I could place my hands on his shoulders to try and support myself.

Pain resonated through my body, though, I was used to the feeling of falling, I didn't expect such a harsh landing. I still felt all of my limbs functioning well as I wiggled them slightly. A breath of relief escaped my lips at the realisation.

River quickly bent down, his hands touching my arms and legs in search of any visible physical injuries. "Shit, Rennie. I'm s—"

"What the fuck did you do to her?" A booming voice echoed into the open studio.

River and I snapped our heads towards the doors, to find a furious Harry walking towards us. His suit was impeccable, crisp and flawless. The heels of polished black loafers tapped slightly on the linoleum floors. As usual, he looked pristine — except for a couple of things. His perfectly styled hair was ruffled in a mess, and a tie was loosened around his neck.

Stress radiated from his body, and it was clear that what he just saw, did not help the way he looked. Furious; now, that was an understatement.

"Mate, it was an accident. Calm do—"

"How the fuck do you expect me to calm down when my—Es—Serenity is on the ground like that? You —"

Slowly, I brought myself onto my feet and pushed River aside. Reaching Harry, I got his attention by putting my face in direct view of him. I grabbed his shoulders and got his undivided attention. 

What I didn't expect was for him to do the same as River had done just moments prior — his hands travelled all over my arms and parts of my thighs, then up to my head, trying to find anything that seemed out of the ordinary.

It was something I'd never imagined he'd ever do, yet here he was, being overly protective — and almost, boyfriend-like.

"Harry, it's fine. Calm down," I said, grabbing hold of his trembling hands. "I'm okay."

"How can you be okay? You fell, and you're hurting, and you expect me to—"

"H, I fall all the time. Other than the fact I'm the biggest klutz, I'm a dancer — and that's what we do. It's apart of our job description," I spoke with a small chuckle to try and lighten the mood.

But that didn't seem to help him at all. A frown remained on his face, and an emotion flashed in his eyes — one of concern.

"B-but — but why?"

"Because if we didn't fall, we'd never succeed. We always try again. Practice makes perfect."

"Why can't you just perfect it from the first time? You don't need to fall." He shook his head, his tone soft, not wanting to believe my reasoning.

"Yes, Harry, we do. It's how we learn."

"He dropped you," he pointed out with furrowed brows.

"It was an accident. He didn't mean to," I assured him, yet unsure why I felt the need to.

Frankly, I was unsure why he needed assuring.

"I would never drop you," he whispered, his tone barely audible.

"What did you say?" I asked him, my volume matching his.

"Nothing," he muttered, shaking his head.

"Hey, Ren, I think we're done for the day. So I'm going to head back to your place now," River's voice was heard behind me, just after the music shut off. The tension was highly evident in the room — especially when Harry's eyes quickly darted towards my friend.

"He's staying with y—"

"Alright. I'll see you later, Riv," I said, interrupting Harry as I bid farewell without glancing back at him.

The moment my friend gathered his things, and the sound of his footsteps were no longer heard in the building, I got Harry's attention back.

"Why are you here, Harry?"

"Is he staying with you?"

"I'll answer your question, if you answer mine," I firmly spoke.

"I came by to see the progress on the studio," he said, lying through every word.

"Right, because those lies would be believable if you didn't show up at nine in the evening. Oh, and maybe in the day, so you know, you could actually see the progress in action. Of course, the progress that hasn't even begun yet — and you know that," I replied, crossing my arms.

"Fine. I came to see you. Is that a better answer, Serenity?" he question, sarcasm near the end. 

And that tiny bit irritated me but I didn't comment on it; rather, I decided to ask what was on my mind.

"Why?"

"I answered yours, now answer mine," he demanded, and I raised a brow at his firm tone.

"Yes, Harry, River is staying with me until he finds a place on his own. He hasn't got a spot at the company yet, so it's just a matter of time."

"What? Your apartment is basically a sardine can, with only one bedroom.

"Dissing the apartment, great conversation skills."

"I don't need your sass right now, Serenity," he seethed.

From his words, I didn't have to answer or even reply, but seeing Harry boil was always entertaining — so I did it for my own amusement.

"He sleeps on the couch..." I paused, letting a smirk grow on my face. "...Tiger."

A brief sense of relief flashed on his face, but he hid it quickly. Harry had a habit of doing that — especially with smiles. Everything in me wished he'd stop with that. Nonetheless, something inside me told me that he cared for me. I mean, it would only make sense, otherwise we wouldn't be having this semi-hostile conversation. Right?

After a moment of silence, he let out a deep frustrated breath while shaking his head. "You won't stop with that, will you?"

"In case you've forgotten, I'm quite persistent with repeating things, Styles." I grinned, luckily distracting him from our conversation about River. "So? Why did you want to see me?"

"I just wanted to — um — to see how you were," he tried to convince himself. "Yeah, that's it."

"You could have called," I simply stated, but he shook his head in response.

"It's not the same."

"Don't you have work to do?" I questioned when I remembered that he said he was travelling to London tomorrow. Which for Harry that meant a million of other things to prepare and finalise.

"It's not important."

"Wow, Mr CEO saying work is not important. That's a revelation." I laughed, then went over to gather my things.

"There's somethi—someone else that's more important, that's why," he replied softly, correcting his words. My heart skipped a beat at them, and I chose to leave his comment be.

Harry was still struggling to figure out how to share whatever he had to say on the inside — and I let him take his time with it. Ever since he opened up about his hidden secret of wearing glasses, it was just a small peak in the door that was Harry Styles.

And I was well aware that if we kept eye contact, or I commented on the things he said, he would just put himself back into his own bubble. Most likely, he didn't even realise what he actually spoke until after he did. Making him realise that, would only make things worse — on his end.

I, on the other hand, cherished each of those moments to the deepest part of my heart.

I cherished them because I didn't just care for Harry, I liked him.

It was the most significant mental chat I had with myself, trying to convince myself that this was a bad idea, and one that could only end badly. But at the same time, I wanted it to happen. With this, I was putting my business at risk, and I was terrified of the outcome. The studio has always been my dream and my main goal; I've tried so hard to get this far, but I knew that any wrong mistake, Harry could easily pull out and I'd be ruined.

On the other hand, I've always wanted to find someone for me. I deserved to feel that kind of true love. I wasn't sure if I'd get that far with Harry — or anywhere close to it — but I just hoped to get some sort of affection from someone that wasn't a part of my family.

"I need to lock up," I said, then walked over to the wall where I'd thrown a pair of sweatpants, and my bag. Slipping them on, I pulled my keys out, and finally got Harry's attention.

I was already standing by the door, as I watched him walk towards me. We exited the building together, turning around to make sure the door was securely fastened.

"Where's your car?" he asked, and I glanced towards where it was previously parked.

"River drove it home."

"He left you here?" he seethed.

"I mentioned it was a nice night. I was going to walk home anyway."

"He still left you here." If venom could drip from words, they surely did with the way Harry spoke. "I will not let you walk home. I'll drop you off."

"Harry, you can't tell me what to do. I want to —"

"Please," he said, interrupting me. The pleading look in his eyes was new and one I didn't ever expect to see from him; and because of it, there was no way I was going to deny his request — or polite demand.

"Alright." I nodded, showing him a small smile. I could see that he appreciated it and it made his lips curl upwards for the first time this night.

And that made everything all worth it.

We made our way to where Harry's vehicle was parked, his driver already standing by the rear door.

"Hello, Archie." My happy expression mimicked his as he tipped his head once in greeting. "It's nice to see you."

"Lovely to see you as well, Miss Hayes."

"I thought we agreed on something," I playfully warned.

"Lovely to see you, Serenity," he replied with that same warm smile.

He turned to open the door for me, and I entered the car, Harry following after me after informing his driver that he was taking me home.

The ride wasn't long, but nonetheless, silence filled the space the entire way there. I looked out the window, watching the city lights as we drove along. I could feel Harry's eyes occasionally travel towards me, though, but not a word was spoken from him.

And honestly, I didn't expect him too.

Once we reached the front of my building, I turned towards Harry with a comforting expression. However, I could tell that he was lost in his head. He didn't realise where we were still, nor that the vehicle stopped moving.

I glanced to Archie, whose eyes I met in the rearview mirror. He was just about to move and open his door, but I shook my head with a smile. I could exit the car on my own perfectly fine.

I had to call Harry's name three times until his emerald gems finally met mine.

"Yeah?"

"We're here."

"Oh, right," he said, moving to get out of the car. For a split second, I froze since he didn't even notice that he opened it for himself. Saying a quick good night to Archie, I followed Harry's actions and shut the door behind me.

"Thank you for the ride home."

"It was nothing," he said with a small smile.

"I would, um..." I trailed off, biting my bottom lip. "...I'd ask you if you wanted to have a cup of coffee, but I know you have things to do."

"Yeah, I do. I also wouldn't want to impose on your friend," he emphasised on the word, as he noticed the light on in my apartment.

It was evident that Harry didn't like River one bit — and was incredibly jealous of him. I didn't know why, though. We had no affectionate history, and he was not my type; but clearly, my Englishman didn't see that.

Serenity, you say 'my' like he is yours.

But, if only.

He's not. So stop.

What the heck is going on with me?

"One, it's my home. And second, there you said it, Harry. Friend. That's the keyword."

I'm not sure what possessed me to assure him that nothing was going on with Riv and me — and why I felt the need to calm his jealousy.

"I'll see you when I get back, yeah?" he asked with utter hope in his eyes. They radiated with desire, sincerely wishing for something so desperately — and that was to see me.

"Of course, you will." I smiled, and he nodded.

It was after my confirmation that he mirrored my expression. His petal lips stretching out into an upwards curl. The dimple he had, deepening the more he stretched them out. A strand of hair fell from onto his forehead, and I lifted my hand to push it back. I wanted to see the entirety of his breathtaking face.

His eyes fluttered shut when my fingers grazed his skin, opening as soon as they parted from him.

Deciding to make one bold move, I wrapped my arms around Harry, tightening my hold. He was struck by my actions that I felt his body tense in my grasp, but soon giving in until I felt his hands slightly curl around my waist.

Parting just slightly, I gave him a kiss on the cheek, then let my lips hover just over his right ear, I whispered, "And, Tiger, I know you would never drop me."

And with that, I pulled away from his warm embrace, turned around and went into my apartment building. From the small window, I could see that he was still stood in place, his jaw slightly dropped, and trying to comprehend what just happened.

But what I didn't know if it was good or bad, was because of that simple hug, I was suddenly terrified that I would fall in love with an incredible man who I was getting to know more every day — and a man that went by the name of Harry Styles.

My investor.

...

A/N:

Anddd I tell you again, if you thought the last chapter was soft, THIS ONE DEFINITELY BEAT IT!

Okay, but who's heart kinda skipped when Harry almost called her Essie? (both in the note and in speech). What about Serenity's BOLD move at the end?

H with glasses is such a cutie, I wanna hug him forever. And that move with S and Riv, it's great hehe.

Also, we had baby H, protective H, and jealous H, and confused H here. I am LOVING IT. 

What else did you think about the chapter? Tell me, tell me! 

And to clarify, Riv and S didn't kiss, it was just a representation of an artistic element.

Serious question, though, what are your thoughts about what's going to happen? I think we've had enough of super soft chapters for now (for now...I didn't say forever).

Please press on that little star on the chapter, I mean, it only takes a millisecond. They're nice gifts and make me happy.

Kissy, stay beautiful, and always TPWK!

S x

P.S. Like completely this-book unrelated, but I made a trailer for AS. So if you've read it and want to check that out, please do. Kay thanks.