Isabelle's P.O.V

The next day, my cell phone rang again. Kate and I were sitting on the couch, watching The Breakfast Club when my ring tone echoed throughout the living room. Kate shifted around on her bum restlessly. We’d devised a ‘plan’, and I thought that it was pretty good. “Ready?” Kate looked at me, and I nodded silently. I felt bad about doing this to Harry, but I needed to know.

Kate picked up my phone and pressed the ‘Answer’ button, and then sniffed exaggeratedly.

She put the device to her ear and said, clogging her voice, “Hello?” it sounded as if she were sick. I nodded, impressed with her acting skills. She paused, listening to Harry speaking, before she took the phone away from her ear and made a move to press the ‘Speaker’ button. I immediately gripped her wrist, shaking my head vigorously. She looked at me disapprovingly and then shrugged my hand off, pressing the button.

“Kate?” I heard Harry say, and my heart melted. I wanted to call out to him, tell him that I was here, that I missed him, that I loved him with all of my heart. But I didn’t. I needed to know if he loved me first.

“Kate, where’s Isabelle?” Harry’s deep voice asked. I buried my face in my hands, still not completely believing that we were going to go through with this. Kate sniffled again. “Harry she’s—,” my sister pretended to break down into tears, “She’s g-gone.”

I almost believed her; that’s how good of an actress she was. Harry seemed to have too, because the line became silent for a moment, “What do you mean?” Harry finally said, in a whisper.

Kate wailed dramatically, “She’s gone Harry! She left for the airport. She’s g-going home,” she whimpered before continuing, “I tried to persuade her to stay, but she’d made up her mind. I-I couldn’t do anything about it. But she f-forgot her phone here,” she added, just to make the story believable. I peered through my fingers at my sister, only to find her smiling like a maniac. I almost giggled lightly, but then remembered that this was probably breaking my Harry’s heart.

“She’s gone?” Harry repeated quietly, and Kate fake-sniffled for the third time. “Yes,” she bawled, “She’s gone.” The line was silent again before Harry spoke, “What time does her flight leave?” he said quietly, and Kate looked at me, panicked, not really figuring out an answer. I peered at the clock. It was noon.

“Um, three o’clock, I think,” Kate said, evidently realising the time and covering up her panic. I could almost envision Harry nodding. “I’m coming back to London,” he announced, and Kate and I both shot each other a panicked wide-eyed look as he continued, “I’ll come by your house, to pick you up, and then we’ll leave for the airport. Hopefully we can catch her before she leaves.”

“O-okay,” Kate stammered, and then quickly hung up. I stared at her, completely dumbfounded. “What are we going to do?” I shrieked, throwing my hands up in the air and startling my older sister, “We have about two hours before he gets here! What are we going to do?”

I had a feeling that I was going to start hyperventilating. Kate tried to calm me down, “Don’t worry. We’ll just…” she paused, evidently thinking hard, “We’ll remove any proof that you’re still here. I’ll tell him that he should go on ahead to the airport and I’ll catch up with him. If he’s actually serious about going to the airport, then we know that he loves you. Please calm down Belle.”

Hearing her plan had calmed me down a bit, and I nodded feverishly. “Okay,” I said, and then I stood, “Okay, let me go get dressed, and then we’ll clean up anything that’s mine.” Kate nodded while I ran upstairs. I quickly shrugged on a long-sleeved red and white striped t-shirt and skinny jeans, and I slipped a zip-up sweater over the top but not zipping it up just yet. I ran back downstairs, only to find that Kate was already starting to hide any evidence that I was still here. I then thought about something.

“Wait,” I almost shrieked, “Where will I hide?” Kate pointed to the steps, which were a roundish spiral. “Hide on the stairs,” she explained, “You’ll be able to see him, but not vice versa.” I nodded, feeling like at least things were falling slightly into place, and then I said, “We need eye drops for your eyes,” I noted, “I know that they turn them red.”

“You remembered!” Kate squealed, clapping her hands, and I laughed, picking up my robe that had been draped over the sofa’s arm.

I hoped that Harry would try to go to the airport. I hoped that I would get the response I wanted out of him. I hoped he loved me.

***

I helped Kate shrug on her robe and slip into a pair of stained sweatpants. We then poured eye drops into her eyes and she blinked rapidly, her eyes turning pink. I then uncapped a bottle of water and poured it onto my hand, smearing the water across her cheeks. There, perfect.

Our goal was to make it look like she’d been crying the whole day. After all, she was supposed be depressed that I’d supposedly left. I stepped back and admired the work we’d done and then nodded, “Okay, that’s good enough.”

Suddenly, the doorbell rang. “Fuck!” I whispered, and Kate and I quickly made our way to the front door. I scrambled up the stairs, peeking through the bars on the railing. I saw my sister pull out another strand of hair from her ponytail, square her shoulders, and open the door.

There he was. He was dressed in black skinny jeans, his Bomber jacket, and a pair of Timberland boots. His hair was perfect: a messy, unruly mop of curls, just how I liked it. But it was raining, and most curls were plastered to his forehead. I desperately wanted to brush them off. Usually, his eyes sparkled, but they were so full of sadness that they’d resorted to a dull green colour. His dimple was nowhere to be seen.

The rain continued to pour outside and Harry shook out his hair, looking somber. Kate sniffled, and Harry said, “She really left?” was it just me, or did his voice crack on the last word? Kate nodded and wailed suddenly, and I was once again amazed with her acting skills.

“This is my entire fault,” Harry muttered, stepping inside, slamming the door, and burying his face in his hands. His body shook with sobs, and a wave of shock coursed through me. I’d never seen Harry cry before. Kate put a hand on his shoulder and pulled out a tissue from her robe pocket, blowing her nose raggedly. I put a hand to my mouth to stifle my giggles.

“I need to see her,” Harry spoke suddenly, his head shooting up and his hands wiping his cheeks. His ran a hand through his damp curls and looked pained. There was so much sorrow in his eyes, and I desperately wanted to abandon my hiding spot and run into his arms, comfort him, kiss him, tell him I was here, but I didn’t.

He fished his keys out of his pocket and held them up, “Kate,” he said sternly, “We need to go. I—I need to tell her how I feel about her.” Kate blew her nose again and looked up, asking in a thick voice, “What do you mean?”

“I love her,” Harry admitted, and my heart somersaulted in my chest, “I love her Kate. I know that it’s only been four weeks since I’ve known her, and yes, I’ve been counting, but I love her. So, so much.” I subconsciously broke into a huge grin. Something inside me snapped, all of the sadness and bitterness that I’d been holding in for the past three days evaporated. He loved me? He really did?

“I’ll catch up with you,” Kate sobbed, “I need to get dressed.”

Harry nodded and opened the door, running back out into the rain. My sister reached for the door and closed it lightly. As soon as I heard it shut, Kate and I both screamed. I ran down from my hiding spot on the steps and twirled around, laughing. Kate squealed and engulfed me in a hug. I felt tears prick at the back of my eyes, but for once, they weren’t sad tears. Kate and I both shrieked to each other, completely happy.

“He loves you!” she yelled at me, squeezing me tighter. “What the hell did I tell you? He totally loves you!” I laughed and buried my face in her shoulder, feeling the giddiest I’ve ever felt in my life. Harry Styles loved me. He’d told my sister that he’d loved me. He was going to the airport to find me, because he loved me.

He was going to the airport to find me.

I suddenly wrenched myself away from Kate, my eyes widening in horror. “Wait!” I screamed, “He’s going to the airport! Kate, he’s going to the airport!” Kate finally understood and reflected my facial expression. She tore off her robe, retied her hair and slipped on a jacket and shoes, grabbing the keys to her car. I mimicked her, and we ran outside in the rain.

I stepped outside and screamed through the rain, “Wait Harry!” but the last I saw of him was two headlights disappearing into the gloom. Tears suddenly streaked down my face, mixing with the rain. I screamed, my happiness suddenly gone. Kate tugged at my arm, pulling up her hood with her other hand and yelled over the roar of the rain, “Come on!” she pulled me towards he car, “We can still catch up.”

I nodded, my bottom lip quivering, as Kate and I both threw open the car doors and slipped inside. She stuck her keys into the ignition, revved the engine, and backed out of her driveway. I put my face in my hands for what seemed like the millionth time during these past three days.

“Don’t worry Belle, don’t worry,” Kate muttered, shifting the gear stick into ‘Drive’, and a moment later, we sped down the road, the windshield wipers frantically trying but failing to wipe off the rain that pelted the car. I stared out the window, trying to see if I could catch a glimpse of Harry’s headlights, but all I saw was gloomy gray.

And at that moment, it seemed to be an exact mirror image of what I was feeling while chasing after the boy I loved.

***

I exhaled slowly as Kate drove along the highway. Fishing my cell phone out of my pocket, I dialled a number. The phone rang for two rings, which doesn’t sound very agonizing, but trust me, it felt like a millennia. Finally someone picked up.

“Hello?” a male voice asked. I jolted up, not expecting him to pick up his phone. “Liam!” I practically cried. If you’re wondering how I had Liam’s number, a few days ago, Harry had given me his cell phone contact. I’d never really called Liam, but there was a first time for everything.

“Isabelle?” Liam asked, unsure of it. I nodded rapidly and spoke, “Do you think that you could meet me at the airport? In ten minutes?”

There was quiet for a moment as Liam thought, “Yes, of course. I’ll meet you at the front entrance.”

I nodded again, “Okay, see you there.” I quickly hung up and stuffed my phone back into my jeans. I’d decided to call Liam because I knew that he was the most mature out of all the bandmates, and would take what I said seriously. His answer only proved that. I shifted restlessly on my seat and drummed my fingers on my thighs, itching to get to the airport.

Notes

CLIFFHANGER! Sorry, but I'm pressed for time, I just managed to squeeze in this short-ish update. I know that I said that I wouldn't be able to find time to update, but I did! Surprise!

I'm really bad at predicting things, like when I'll be updating next. I try, but it's hardly ever on-point. SO SUE ME!

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