Masterpiece {h.s}

14. Rejection & Apologies

The second his name left my mouth, I understood why I never ran after anyone.

It’s the second between your plea and the reaction of the other person that is terrifying. The fear of a second rejection is probably worse than the first rejection, at least in my case. The first time Harry “rejected” me, it sort of happened naturally. I was pushing him away and it was to be expected.
But this time, it was different. I wanted him in my life, I wanted to work things out and apologize. I wanted to be able to call him when I needed and I wanted to wake up with one of his stupid jokes in my messages.

He stopped dead in his tracks and I stopped too.
In all honesty, I wasn’t expecting him to slow down, let alone stop walking, but he did. I wanted to jump with joy but once he turned around and I saw his face, all happiness I had in me vanished. He wasn’t crying, but something told me that he was doing everything he could to hold it in. His features were hard and his lips were pressed in a thin line.
Seeing him that way made me wish that he would have kept walking. The rejection would have been less painful than this.  He was hurt because of me, again.

He turned around completely, his hands in his jeans’ pocket. I took in a deep breath and walked the distance that separated us. I stopped a few feet from him.
I didn’t really know what I wanted to tell him. Well, I knew, but there was so much to say that I didn’t know where I should start.

I’m sorry I pushed you away. I’m sorry that I hurt you, it was never my intention.
I know I said I didn’t want to talk to you anymore, but truth is, once you were gone, I realized how big of a mistake that was. Everyday I kept thinking about you. I honestly don’t know what that means, but I know that I want us to start over.

That’s what I wanted to say.

“Harry…” was all I managed to say before my throat squeezed and I couldn’t continue.

We looked at each other. I was on the edge of crying but I hoped that he would see how sorry I was.

“Harry, I…”

He raised his hand to stop me.

“Look, I know the drill now. You don’t want me in your life...”
“No,” I stop him, “that’s not what I wanted to say.”
“Annabelle, I don’t know you very much, but I know that you keep pushing people away, and I don’t want to be one of those people.” he interrupted me.

I should have let him walk. I shouldn’t have run after him. His words were hurting me, not that I didn’t deserve it, but I could have gone my whole life without hearing them.

“I’m sorry,” I told him, unable to hold my tears, “I’m trying to change.”

His eyes went wide and he rushed towards me. His arms circled me and he rested his chin on the top of my head.

“I didn’t mean to make you cry,” he said as he hugged me tighter, “I’m sorry.”

I nodded and nuzzled his chest. I carefully hugged him back, scared that he would pull away, but he didn’t.

I don’t know how long we both stood this way, in the middle of the sidewalk, but I knew that I never wanted it to end. I found comfort and safety in Harry’s arms. I had always loved how he cared for me even if he barely knew me and this time was no different. Even if I had hurt him, he still cared and it made me sigh in relief.

“So you’re trying to change?” Harry asked without moving.
I nodded. “I’m trying to get better.”
“I’m glad to hear this.”

I looked up at Harry and he smiled at me. He then proceed into wiping my remaining tears.

“I’m really sorry that I treated you like shit.” I apologized, staring into his eyes.

His smile slowly faded. “Yeah,” he simply said.
“I’d really like to have another chance, if you don’t mind of course.”

He looked away from me, but didn’t release me. I rested my forehead on his shoulder.

“It’s okay if you don’t want to, I’d understand.” I mumbled.
“I just…”

He hesitated a little, before looking back at me.

“I have to know that you won’t push me away,” he sighed, “I don’t think I can’t handle it.”
“I can’t promise you that, Harry.” I looked down. “ I’m trying to get better, which means that I will make mistakes along the way.”

He released me and ran a hand through his hair.

“All I’m asking you is that you try, Annabelle. I want you to let me in.”

I bit my lips nervously.

“Look,” he said softly, “ you think about it and you call me tonight if you want to put in the efforts. If not, it’s ok.”
“I-I don’t have your number anymore.”

His brows knitted together in confusion.

“What do you mean, you don’t have my number anymore.”
“Something happened with my phone and I had to get a new one and lost all my contacts.” I answered, avoiding the details.

He stared at me for a moment, lost in his thoughts.

“When was that?” he suddenly said.
“Hm… I don’t know, like a month ago.”
“Oh,” was all he said.

I crossed my arms and looked at him. I was confused as of where he was heading with this.

“Will you be honest with me?” he asked after a while.
“Yeah?”
“Did you know that I called you about a month ago.”

My eyes went wide in surprise.

He tried calling me? What?

“No!” I  exclaimed, “you called me?”
“Yeah, I did. When you didn’t pick up, or call back I thought you were ignoring me and that you still didn’t want me in your life."
“Wow.”

He must have call the only day that I didn’t have a phone. Between the moment my mom threw my phone and broke it and the moment that I got a new one.
That was just my luck. Whenever I had my phone with me, barely anyone called or texted me, and the moment I don’t, the person I wanted to hear from the most called.

I shook my head and laughed. Harry looked at me like I was mad, but still smiled.

“What?” he asked.
“I just, can’t believe you called,” I looked at him with a smile, “what were you calling for?”
“I wanted to fix things,” he said as he reduced the distance between us. “I had told myself that if you were to answer, I would’ve tried and fix everything.”
“But I didn’t” I said as I looked down.
“Yeah,” he said as he lifted my chin, so that I would look at him. “but that didn’t stop me from running after you at the art gallery the other day.”
I bit my lips in embarrassment. “Yeah, sorry about that too.”

He gave me a side smile that highlighted his dimples. Slowly, probably to give me time to back out, he leaned forward and rested his forehead against mine.

“How nice of me to forgive you,” he said, his lips millimeter away from mine, “I think I’m making quite an effort here.”

I closed my eyes and chose not to say anything.

“So,” he dragged his words, clearly enjoying himself, “how about, you think about making an effort too, and if you decide to do it, you call me ok?”

I simply nodded.

“Give me your phone," he ordered.

I blindly searched for my phone in my purse and handed it to him. He took and and separated his forehead from mine. I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding and looked at him putting his number back on my phone. He leaned over to put my phone back in purse. I didn't move as his face was millimeter away from mine. He then swiftly gave me a kiss on the cheek before walking away. 
He looked back and shot me a quick wink.

“See you later, Annabelle.”

I stood in shock as he kept walking.
I looked down at my phone and could help but smile once I saw the name he had put.

Annoying laughing boy.






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Hey guys! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! 
I'm sorry it took me so long to update. I'm really bad at keeping an update schedule ha ha But the good news is that Harry isn't mad at Annabelle right now! Oy! 

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Lots of love,
Karry xx.