No Control | Holding Me Ransom (Book 2)

89 - Take You To The Start

I stared at Callie, lost for words, just like I had been exactly one year ago when she had dropped the same bombshell on me.

She said nothing, but grinned excitedly as a shape approached the door from behind the frosted glass. A moment later it swung open, and a blond haired guy greeted us.

"Hi. Come on in."

We stepped into the hallway and he closed the door behind us. The lounge to our left was busy with people, and I turned to Callie, barely able to form words.

"Callie...," I began. "What... what is this? What's going on?"

She shrugged. "I'm just the delivery girl." She gestured to the doorway into the lounge. "According to history, I think we're supposed to go through there?"

"Oh my God," I whispered, my stomach churning as she physically turned my body and pointed me in the direction of the lounge. "Is Harry really here?" I asked faintly.

She shrugged again, still smiling. "No idea, babe. I just got here. Why don't we go and see?"

I followed dumbly as she stepped into the lounge, where a DJ was set up in the corner of the room like last time, playing Uptown Funk. No one seemed to take the slightest bit of notice of us as Callie slowly manoeuvred her way through the groups of people. My heart was hammering in my chest and instead of scanning the room like last time, I kept my eyes firmly fixed on Callie's back, knowing exactly where he would be when I finally gathered the courage to lift my gaze.

My stomach gave a jolt as I saw a familiar blonde girl out of the corner of my eye, and I couldn't help but look. Ellie Goulding was standing a few feet away, holding a glass of wine and staring straight at me, a soft, knowing smile on her face. I stared back, unable to speak, transported back in time three hundred and sixty six days (it was a leap year) when I had laid eyes on her perched on the corner of a sofa, engrossed in conversation.

Her eyes broke from mine and she turned her head to her right, still smiling. I followed her gaze, and my stomach clenched so sharply it took my breath away. Standing a few feet away, in exactly the same place as he had been the first time I had laid eyes on him in this very room, stood Harry. His hair was soft around his shoulders, but pushed back at the top and flipped over to one side. He was wearing black skinny jeans and an almost identical blue shirt that was partially unbuttoned to reveal the swallows inked on his chest, and as my eyes finally met his I didn't need our fingers to touch to feel the jolt of electricity flow between us. He pressed his lips together nervously, and then his lips broke into a slow smile.

"Hi," he said softly.

A wave of emotion rose in me, threatening to break my composure, and it took everything I had to swallow it and smile tentatively back.

"Hi," I replied, my voice wobbling dangerously.

We stared at each other for a moment without speaking, the only sound in my ears that of the blood rushing through my veins and my heart pounding.

"I thought you were in Holmes Chapel," I squeaked.

He smirked. "And I thought you didn't want to do anything in particular tonight."

"I didn't think you'd remembered," I whispered.

"You didn't think I remembered the day I met the love of my life?" he whispered back, taking a step towards me so there was less than a foot between us.

"You said..," I began, my lip trembling now. "You said you were at your mum's for the weekend."

"I know," he murmured. "I had to say that to stop you planning a big surprise for me. I wanted to do this for you, to make everything right."