Chapter 4: Three Years Come and Gone

I sat in my hotel room, three years later with Niall and Louis just chilling in LA before we were meant to go to rehearsals. I'd spaced off again, remember Dani and knowing she was going to school near here. I sighed out loud and Louis said, "It's happening again."

"What?" I asked innocently.

"You're thinking about her again, aren't you?" He asked. I shook my head. "Yes you are, Harry. Every time we come to LA you get that far away look in your eyes and we all know you're thinking about Dani."

I flinched at the sound of her name; I hadn't been able to say it since that night but she was always in the back of my mind. I couldn't do anything without some random memory of her popping up in my head and making me melancholic. It had been three years and I still hadn't moved on. Everything just seemed to stop; even the fans knew there was something wrong with me. I kept hearing how much they missed the old me and how much I'd changed. I didn't know what to tell them because I hadn't told anyone but the boys about Dani. "Harry," Niall joked. "Come back to us." I focused on both of their concerned faces and then it seemed like a light bulb turned on in Niall's head. "Hey, we don't have to do any rehearsals today, so why don't we go to Disneyland and maybe get Harry's mind off of, you know who."

"Brilliant," Louis exclaimed as he jumped up. He grabbed my wrist and pulled me up in the next beat, "C'mon, Harry. We're gonna go be kids today and forget about the worries of an adult."

I couldn't help but laugh at my friends and soon enough we had all the boys together and were on our way to Disneyland. The paparazzi had a load of funny pictures by the time we were almost done. We were heading towards Splash Mountain, when I saw Dani ahead of me. I froze mid-stride and just stared, my heart pounding and aching all at once. Liam paused, "What is it Harry?" He followed my gaze and then sucked in his breath when he saw her.

"We can go somewhere else," Louis interjected.

I shook my head, "No it's okay. I need to move on and maybe this will help me do that." We continued on our way forward to the line and I instantly knew we would be standing right behind her in the line for Splash Mountain. In a small way I was excited to see her again but then as I remembered what happened the last time we’d seen each other, I was filled with anxiety. There were many times I would sit and stare at my emails, trying to build up the courage to email her back or I would try and send her a dm on Twitter. I felt my insides torn every time I wouldn’t follow through with it. Now here she was right in front of me and I couldn’t get out a word. I was a failure. Here I was Mr. Harry Styles, the member of the band that every girl wanted to get with, the guy that paparazzi made out to be a womanizer, and yet I couldn’t even talk to the woman I loved because I’d messed up.

We finally reached the back of the line. I wasn’t chatting with the other boys, I was just staring... staring at the back of Dani’s blonde head. Louis patted me on the back and said, “So, how are you enjoying yourself, Harry?”

He said the question loud enough that I knew Dani would for sure hear him. “I’m having loads of fun! I’m glad we had today off to just chill and have fun,” I replied forcing some exuberance into my voice. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Dani turn around with a look of utter shock mixed with fear on her face. I don’t know why I would see fear there, but there it was.

She furrowed her brow and asked uncertainly, “Harry?”

I allowed myself to finally look in her direction and as I did, I noticed the boys become very quiet. “Dani?” I said pretending to be surprised. She smiled slowly and then threw her arms around me in a giant hug and I tried not to stiffen when I began to hear camera’s going off. I enjoyed the moment though. Closing my eyes I took in her scent and was surprised to find she smelled the same. Her hair was longer and curlier but still just as soft. As my arms were wrapped around her waist, my hands touched the sides of her hips and I felt myself wishing we had met somewhere private. This was going to be a painful reunion. I had no idea if she was still with Max or what had transpired there. All I knew was that my heart still ached for her after all these years.

She pulled away all of a sudden and I was left being drawn out of my thoughts sharply. “Why didn’t you ever email me back Harry? I’ve missed you, we have so much to catch up on,” she replied with a smile.

I blinked trying to gathering my bearings and say something back. Finally I let them spill out. “Do you still have my number or something? We are here for rehearsals and some promos while we are here. I am only here for a couple of weeks. We get a week off before we start up again and I decided to stay in LA for most of that week,” I said as quickly and as quietly as I could so that paparazzi wouldn’t hear me.

She smiled and said, “No I actually don’t have your number anymore. I dropped my phone in some water a couple years ago and lost quite a bit of numbers, plus you never answered my email asking for your number.”

I blushed in embarrassment. I’d purposely ignored all of her emails. They all sat unopened and unread. “Here give me your phone,” I said. Immediately the boys crowded around so the paparazzi couldn’t see what I was doing. Dani handed me her phone and I quickly inserted my number. “Text me later today and we can see when we can have a chat to catch up.” When I looked back up at her, the expression on her face told me she wanted me to say something more. I swallowed, “I’ve missed you too, Dani, probably more than you think.” Her eyes widened with surprise but before she could say anything she and her friends were next in line for the ride. She waved goodbye, her brows furrowed with not being able to say what she had been thinking. Once she was out of sight, I took a deep breath and sighed. Liam patted my shoulder but didn’t say anything. He knew that I knew what he meant.

The rest of the day spent in the park flew by in a blur. I couldn’t stop thinking about Dani. What was so important to her that we needed to catch up? My chest tightened just at the thought of spending alone time with her. After all these years, she still had that effect on me… I knew I was in even more trouble now of falling in love with her than I was three years ago.