Harry’s POV

I pulled up to the venue, quickly parking and getting out opening the door for Aria. She looked like a beach goddess with a long, strapless cream colored dress that flowed to her ankles and a brown buckle at her waist. Her beautiful brown hair was curled past her shoulders and her make-up done subtly. She was the most beautiful creature I had ever seen. I shut the car door firmly behind her, taking her hand in mine. She smiled at me, making my heart race at the perfection of it. I had asked Aria if she wanted to go on a date with me tonight and she had agreed. I wanted us to have some ‘us’ time since things might get a little messy when the rest of the boys and Perrie come into town.

So, here we were, standing outside a beautiful restaurant that overlooked the ocean. The sun was almost down and the moon was rising over the ocean, making it glisten. We walked up, hand-in-hand to the restaurant. I knew it was a long shot of not being noticed, but I didn’t want to wear my beanie on a date, so I was taking a chance. There were only a few people who lingered outside, smoking cigarettes. We got inside and it wasn’t anything extreme. It was nicely decorated with beach items, like seashells and starfish. It was dimly lit and quite full of people. I looked to the older woman who would be seating us, “Do you have seats outside?”

She smiled at me, causing wrinkles around her eyes, “Of course. Just two?”

I nodded my head and she grabbed two menus and led us toward the back. I tried to keep my head low but I heard faint whispers. I looked up, meeting a few eyes of some teenage girls sitting with their parents. Their eyes bugged out of their head and I knew if I didn’t do something, more girls were going to be here soon and I didn’t want this date to be ruined. I looked at Aria. She smiled at me, knowing what was going on and just nodded her head. I kissed her on the cheek, and went over to the girls. Aria and the lady went ahead outside. The girls became noticeably excited and nervous all at once. I bent down in-between the two of them, receiving weird glances from their parents. One girl looked to be about fourteen with dirty blonde hair and green eyes and the other was a dark red head with brown eyes that looked about fifteen. They had no resemblance to be sisters, so I figured they were just friends. The blonde was about to pass out, “Hello, loves. How are you today?”

The blonde was still freaking out, trying to find her words. The red head smiled nervously and mustered up a small whimper, “Fine.”

I chucked, “What are your names?”

The red head spoke again, “I’m Addy and that is Kacie… She’s kinda shy.”

I smiled, “It’s nice to meet the both of you. Will you two do me a favor?”

Kacie nodded and Addy spoke, “Sure!”

“I’m kind of on a date right now, and I would really appreciate it if you two wouldn’t tell anyone or post anything that I am here. I would be glad to follow you both on Twitter, take pictures, and sign something, as long as you keep quiet that I am here. As soon as my date and I are gone, you both can go tell who ever you like. Deal?”

They both were practically jumping in their seats, both nodding their heads. I took pictures, signed autographs, and followed them both on Twitter. I was about to say goodbye when Kacie finally spoke up, “Are you on a date with Aria Franks?”

I grinned, nodding my head. She smiled at me shyly, “I’m so glad you two are back together. You seem truly happy.”

I grinned deeper, which caused her face to turn red. I kissed her and Addy on the cheeks, “I am. It was nice meeting you, babes.”

I stood up, heading towards the back door. Before I exited, I waved at the two girls who were gushing to each other about what had just occurred. The ocean breeze hit me as soon as I opened the door and I spotted Aria without a problem. She was seated at a table for two on the sand. There were a few other tables but not many. They were all lit by candle light and it set the perfect romantic scene. I walked over to her. Her forehead was crinkled as she read the menu. I smiled at her as I sat down, “Sorry, love. I didn’t want them telling everyone that we were here. I wanted to keep this special.”

She looked up at me, and smiled, “It’s okay.”

I held her hand and gazed over the menu. It had a lot of variety: seafood, pastas, and steaks. We ordered and we both became quiet after the waiter left. I rub circles in her hand with my thumb and she stared down at them. She looked a little distracted, “Are you okay, love?”

She smiled weakly, “Yeah…”

I raised an eyebrow at her, “Are you sure? You don’t seem okay. Is it about your parents?”

I thought everything that had happened today with her parents went fine. Better than expected, actually. We hadn’t ended up staying for dinner, but it still went rather well. Yeah, her father threatened me, but he meant it in the best of terms. He did tell me that he liked me… But also said not to let that go to my head. Truthfully, he scared the bloody hell out of me. Standing up to her mum was quite difficult to do. I honestly thought she would murder me, but once I opened my mouth, it all just flowed out and in the end, it was the best thing.

She shook her head, “No, that went great.”

I squeezed her hand, “Come on, love. You can tell me.”

She frowned slightly, “I guess I’m just nervous about tomorrow… Do the others know we are back together?”

I shrugged my shoulders. I honestly had no idea. I hadn’t talked to any of them since I got here. Liam and Niall had known why Louis and I were coming, and I was sure Louis had told them how it went down, but we all just told Zayn that we were flying over early for the recording. I knew there were magazines of me and Aria reuniting at the airport but Zayn is kind of oblivious to all of those things. Louis is the one that tries to keep up with the tabloids, “Liam and Niall might, but as for Zayn, no. As for being nervous, I am too… But let’s just face that when it comes. Right now, it’s just us.”

She smiled and I leaned in, pressing my lips gently to hers. I leaned my forehead against hers, “I love you.”

She beamed, “I love you too.”

Everything about her made me happy: the way she giggled, the way she bites her lip when she’s nervous, the way she tugs on the tips of her hair when she feels uncomfortable, the way she will snort if you get her to laugh hard enough, the way she smiles at me, the way she talks with her American accent. Everything. I had never met a girl who made me feel this way. It use to scare me, but not anymore. She was everything and more. I had made a mistake in letting her go that day. I should have stopped her and held her, telling her everything was okay. I couldn’t stop what suddenly slipped from my mouth, “Do you think it was better this way?”

She crinkled her eyebrows together, causing a crease on her forehead, “What do you mean?”

“I mean… Do you think if I went after you that day, that all of this would be this way?”

She became quiet, thinking. She spoke a few moments later, “Truthfully, I was hoping you would have stopped me and I felt hurt when you didn’t. It felt like you were done with me and that nothing could ever be the same… But to answer your question, I don’t know. I mean, I would like to think it might have been easier, but I’m not sure. I guess we will never know.”

I felt a little sad that she had felt that way, but we were both hurt at the time. I let out a shaky breath, “I don’t think it would have turned out the same…”

She looked at me confused. I continued, “What happened had hurt the both of us… We both made mistakes and we both needed to cope with them. I did regret not stopping you, but now I realize that if I would have stopped you, nothing would have gotten solved. We both would have still been angry and hurt. The fact that we spent all that time apart, coming to terms with what happened, I think it made us stronger. We spent all that time apart and when we finally reconnected with one another, it meant so much more. It’s like, everything was heightened.”

Aria smiled at me but said nothing. She just looked at me, and I began to laugh, “What?”

She kept smiling, “You’re absolutely right.”

I wiggled my eyebrows, “I usually am.”

She rolled her eyes, slapping my shoulder, “Whatever, Styles.”

I sipped my drink, “You know, if we ever get married, you won’t be able to call me ‘Styles’ anymore.”

Her eyes widened a little at the topic of marriage, but her tone was teasing “What makes you think we are gonna get married one day?”

I smirked, “Because I honestly can’t picture myself without you.”

Her face flushed and the waiter interrupted us by bring our food. The rest of the meal was full of small talk and flirting. Whenever she laughed, I couldn’t help but smile and laugh with her. Everything about her was contagious. I paid for the meal and I held her hand was we took a stroll down the boardwalk. It was about 11 PM and there weren’t many people out. We passed a few other couples but that was it. We walked slowly and I hummed quietly. She was smiling at the ground as we walked, and I silently laughed at her. What she was doing matched ‘What Makes You Beautiful’ perfectly. The boardwalk was lit by lights along the path and the moon from above. Flowers and bushes lined the path. She led me over to a bush that was full of white flowers that were a little smaller than the size of her hand and looked tropical. She leaned in, brushing back her hair and inhaling deeply. She pulled back and smiled, “They smell so good.”

I grinned at her happiness. I reached over, plucking a flower and placed it behind her ear. She giggled lightly before kissing me on the nose, “I had an amazing time, Harry.”

I put my forehead to hers, “Me too.”

Her lips lightly brushed mine in a teasing manner, “Wanna go back to the hotel?”

I raised an eyebrow and grinned at her deviously, “Depends…”

She giggled, “On?”

“What we are going to be doing at the hotel.”

She smiled, “Oh, we could watch a few movies with Lou and Suzan, or play a few games, or sleep.” She tapped her chin in thought, “Actually, the last one sounds like a winner.”

I narrowed my eyes at her, “Or we could do something a little more entertaining.”

Now she was the one to raise her eyebrow and grin, “Like?”

I grinned, “You’ll find out.”

I scooped her up in my arms and hosted her over my shoulder, her screaming in protest the whole time. All I could do was laugh as her arms lightly hit my back, “Going to be a little feisty tonight, yeah?”

She hit my back a little harder before laughing, “Control yourself, Styles.”

I grinned as we reached the car, “You should know me better than that, Franks. I’m glad you are so used to saying my last name, because your about it scream it all night long.”

She hit my back even harder, “Harry Styles! That’s gross.”

I chuckled, “Good practice, love, but you’ll be screaming it louder than that.”

Notes

Directioners,

1) Favorite part of this chapter?

2) How do you like Harry's romantic side?

3) Did Harry do a good job with the date?

Hope you enjoyed! Love to hear your reviews, lovelies! Xx