Chapter Eight: False Hope

I arrived at her apartment, nerves making my limbs wobbly. Over two times, I almost dropped our food heading into the building. Just getting to her apartment complex wasn’t easy. To get the food, I had to dodge paps and anyone else who stared for too long. I felt like a spy, even though I really wasn’t. Then there was navigating through the insanely busy streets of LA while trying to listen and follow the direction of my GPS. I was lucky I didn’t crash my car, although there was several times where I thought I just might do that. On top of it all, I was nervous about talking to Dani. I was going to have to be honest, which normally wasn’t a big deal but when your hearts on the line, I tend to keep mine private and safe. There was so much to catch up on since I’d last seen her: Niall had been in two relationships, with fans no less. Louis and Eleanor had tied the knot and Zayn had moved through three girlfriends. The only ones who hadn’t changed were Danielle and Liam, and then there was me. Well that wasn’t quite true; I had changed in a way. I was more mature; I understood myself better and what I wanted and what I didn’t want. I’d felt the tentacles of fame strangling me just after everything with Dani had occurred; I’d been forced into a relationship for publicity reasons. She was a really sweet girl, who worked hard to be where she was but there wasn’t a spark and I had felt trapped. I’d been overjoyed when it had ended, even though, through it all she’d become a good friend. I then reached apartment 2 only to realize it was 2A, she hadn’t given me the letter. I whipped out my phone and dialed her number. “Hello,” came her sing song voice.

“Hey, um… which apartment 2 are you in?” I asked teasingly.

“Oh, I forgot the letter,” she giggled. Chills ran up my spine and I felt melancholic at the sound of her laughter. “It’s 2H, so I am up on floor eight.”

“Okay, see you soon,” I chuckled.

“Yeah, see you soon, Harry,” she echoed and then hung up. I searched for the elevator then and once I found it, I pressed the ascend button. I waited not so patiently for it to arrive. My stomach was grumbling in hunger and nerves. The elevator beeped and I entered. Riding it up, I only became more anxious. So much so, that the palms of my hands had become clammy. The elevator reached the floor and dinged. I walked out and when I reached apartment 2H, I knocked. I could hear music playing on the other side of the door. The music was then turned down and I could hear the locks of the door clicking. My anticipation grew as the door swung inward and I saw… My face fell; a guy had answered the door. For a second I was worried he I had gotten the wrong room.

He gave me a puzzled look, before he called over his shoulder, “Dani, there’s someone at the door.” I knew I wasn’t mistaken then, it was the apartment Dani had told me.

She appeared around the corner and her eyes lit up exactly the way they did all those years ago. “Harry! You made it!” she exclaimed gleefully.

“Yeah,” I replied uncertainly. “I didn’t know I needed to get food for three.”

She giggled, “You didn’t. Dale was on his way out, weren’t you love?”

He nodded and put his hand out of me to shake. He was a burley guy with beefy arms and short cropped brown hair. His eyes were hazel but they seemed to hold a lot of contempt in them and immediately I felt intimidated. “Dani has told me a lot about you, Harry. It’s nice to finally meet you,” he said with a smirk on his face.

“I’m sorry that I can’t say the same. Well, Dani hasn’t mentioned you, is what I mean,” I stumbled.

He laughed and I jumped in surprise from how loud it was. Dani smiled and said, “Come on in, Harry.” I began my way in but froze when Dale gave Dani a quick kiss and wiggled his way out the door. “He has to go to work,” she said and I realized I’d been staring at Dale’s departing figure. I swallowed the lump in my throat and I could feel the back of my eyes burning. There I was thinking she’d be mind for the taking and I came to find her heart belonged to another. I was too late again. I felt like someone had jabbed a knife up my rib cage and torn my heart from my chest. I followed her into her apartment. We sat down across from each other to eat. I felt like shutting down and blowing her off by giving some lame excuse. The idea was extremely compelling and I almost gave in, but I didn’t.

I had made a promise to myself that I would do whatever it took to have Dani as my own. Dale was simply a setback that was all. I would just have to work harder and be a bit cleverer in my advances. I smiled at Dani charmingly, “Is dinner to your liking?”

She nodded, “It’s my absolute favorite.”

“I know, you told me,” I chuckled.

“Oh right,” she giggled. After that she became quiet for several minutes. “Harry,” she finally said.

“Hm...” I replied raising my eyebrows.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about Dale,” she said quietly. Her crossed legs were bouncing as she played with her food. In her other hand she was rubbing her ear lobe, her brow was furrowed and she was chewing on her bottom lip. Immediately, I knew she was feeling stressed and worried.

“Dani,” I said, making her look up at me, “Stop stressing and worrying about it because I know now. How long have you two been together?’ I smiled and she relaxed. It was weird how tense she got when she hadn’t told me about her relationship with Dale. We hadn’t had the best of conversations the times we had actually seen each other.

“Four months, actually,” she replied and then she took a bite.

“Only four months and you’re already living together?” I asked, raising my eyebrows in surprise.

She shrugged, “Dale wanted to.”

I saw my opening in the shrug of her shoulders. “Didn’t you want to?” She shrugged again. “Why did you if you didn’t want to?”

“Because it’s within walking distance of my work and the college, plus it sounded like a good idea at the time,” she shrugged again.

“That doesn’t sound like a good enough reason to move in with someone. You’re missing a very important detail,” I commented with a smirk on my face.

She stared me down. “Okay then, what is a good reason and what am I missing?”

I leaned back and crossed my arms to make it appear like I was thinking. I sat up straight suddenly and her gaze shot to mine. “Love, Dani. The only reason I would ever have my girlfriend move in with me would be if we truly, deeply loved each other and were planning on spending the rest of our lives together. Only then would I consider living together.” For a long time, she just stared at me with this look of wonder on her face. Finally, I asked, “What?”

“You’ve changed, Mr. Styles,” she replied coyly.

I stared deeply into her eyes, trying to make her feel how I felt for her when I said, “You’d be surprised how much some of me hasn’t changed, Miss Sams.”

He cheeks flushed and I knew she’d received my message. She played with her food and I knew she was contemplating, so I left her and her thoughts in peace. I would win her back; I knew she still had feeling for me because neither of us had received any closure. After several minutes of silence, we had completed our meal and I began to clean up. I was throwing away the containers in the rubbish, when Dani came up behind me. I turned and started a bit at her close proximity. “Harry,” she began. “I don’t know if I should do this but…” She took a step closer and as I looked into her eyes I knew what was coming. I, as well, didn’t know if it was a good idea but you could still feel the static in the air when we were alone. Our chemical attraction was unmistakable, it was thrilling and passionate.  A single touch from her sent my body into a flurry of nerves and gooseflesh. As she placed her hand on my arm and reached up to the tip of her toes, my body reacted. I moved in closer, placed my hands on her waist and pulled her up against me. Our breaths mingled together in the heated empty space between our lips. For several seconds, we both wondered if we should really do this. I wouldn’t be hurting anyone but she was with Dale and I didn’t want to cause any problems for her. I don’t know how long we stood like that before Dani whispered, “Screw it,” and she pressed her lips against mine.

For the second time in my life, I felt like I was complete and I’d found where I’d belonged. And it was right here with Dani with her by my side I could accomplish anything and conquer everything. There was not a doubt in my mind that we were made for each other. Dale or no Dale, she was mine.