Perilous (Harry Styles)

chapter 9

"The time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining."

- John F. Kennedy

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Harry was the first one to break away. He leaned his forehead against mine, panting. I tried to catch my breath as quietly as I could, not wanting to disturb this moment in any way.

Gently tugging at his hair, I urged him to look me in the eyes and to tell me all the things he wanted to tell me.

Hell, this fight wasn't done, not in the slightest bit. We had to talk about it, really talk about it and not leave important things unspoken.

Make-up sex wasn't the right way either, that wasn't how you could solve problems.

Although I knew I should address my thoughts and fears, I kept quiet and simply waited for Harry to speak up first.

Relief flashed through me once he did. "I-I want to talk to Louis with you together. But it's not my place to tell Gemma about it." His eyes were still closed and only the slightest frown was still visible.

"Maybe... maybe we can call him and ask if Gemma already left?" I suggested. I sure as hell didn't want to talk about it with Harry when Louis was around, but if that was what Harry wanted, then it was exactly what he would get.

"I can't lie to Gemma." His voice broke slightly when he said his sister's name.

Those two were so close and literally shared everything. Gemma had taken a bullet for her little brother, in the truest sense of the word.

Harry completely pulled away, fishing for his phone in the small pockets of his skinny jeans. He typed in his code and went on his contacts, scrolling down until he reached Louis' name.

Dialing him, one of his long fingers went up to the speaker button. After a few rings, Louis picked up. "Hello?"

"We need to talk." Harry's voice was calm, but it wasn't that direful calmness he had during our fight.

"Mate, listen, I told Gemma about it. And-"

"You did?" I asked, surprised. "We were actually about to ask if she left so we could come over and talk."

"She's sleeping over. Pipe burst," Louis reminded us.

"Well, that doesn't matter right now, anyway. If Gemma knows, there is no harm done. Can we still come over? I don't want to delay this," Harry said, glancing at the phone screen as if he could see his best friend.

"Sure, just come over." The phone call ended. I let go of a breath, surprised the phone call went this well. I just hoped the talk would be the same.

Harry tapped his car, motioning for me to get inside. He turned away, opening the door on the driver's side.

I grabbed his arm, preventing him from entering the car. "It's you. It's always been you."

I pecked him on the lips and ran around the car, getting in on the passenger's side. My mind was all tangled up and my heart didn't quite know what to feel, but presumably things couldn't get any worse now.

Harry was willing to talk and listen. Instead of simply kicking me out, he let me explain. My hand found his on the console, intertwining our fingers. I stroked the side of his hand with my thumb, smiling at the wonderful man at my side.

We parked in front of Louis' apartment, the silence once again threatening to damn us. Louis opened the door before Harry even had the change to ring the bell.

Not one word was exchanged until we all sat down on the leather couch in the living room. "I just want to talk about it because my relationship with Zoey is far too important to me to let this ruin it," Harry began.