I frown as the call goes straight to voicemail. I haven't heard from Harry in three days. He's been dodging my calls, he hasn't come to visit, and its really worrying me. Is it something I did? Is he okay? I don't want to show up at his house or something unexpectedly when he obviously doesn't want to see me, but I really have no choice at is point.

Bingo! I know that he has work today, so I'll stop by the library to see if he's there. At least then I can say I was only looking for some books for school. I get in my car after my classes at the University and drive the 2 miles to the library at which Harry works. I pull my car into the lot and get out, anger and frustration and confusion the only things keeping my feet moving as I walk in.

I immediately see Harry towards the back talking to a boy his age. The conversation looked very heated, so I assumed Harry and him already knew each other. I walk over, but hide so I can eavesdrop on the conversation. I'm not close enough to hear complete sentences, but I don't want to risk either of them seeing me. I try to listen closely in order to pick up words that might indicate the conversation.

"...Ember can't know about..."

"...to get your shit together before..."

"Maybe if you tell her she'll understand..."

"... I can't risk loosing..."

I'm confused when I can't hear anything anymore, so I look over to see the other person walking away. I take the opritunity to catch up with him and see if he'll tell me what Harry's deal is. They were obviously talking about me, I heard my name come up a few times. When outside, I run up to him in his car before he pulls away. I knock on the window, and he rolls it down for me.

"Hi, um, do you know Harry? I saw you talking to him in there.." I say awkwardly.

"Yeah, um, I- oh! You must be Ember!" He suddenly asks. So they were talking about me...

"Yeah, I am. You're a friend of his?"

"He's my best mate, that cheeky chap. Why'd you think he moved out here in the first place?" He says to me. I guess that explains his matching British accent.

"I'm sorry, Harry doesn't really tell me much about his life." I say rather glumly.

"Ah. I suppose that's part of the problem."

"What problem? Do you know why Harry's been avoiding me?"

The boy flushes and goes quiet for a moment, likes he's trying to think of how to word his next sentence before speaking up.

"Are you free, like, right now?" He suddenly asks.

"Yeah, I guess, but-"

"Have tea with me. Greenleaf. I'll explain everything there."

"Uh, okay. Yeah. I'll meet you there." I agree.

He's about to roll up the window until I realised something.

"Wait!" I stop him.

"Yes?"

"What's your name?" I ask sheepishly.

"Louis. Louis Tomlinson." He flashes a smile before pulling away and out onto the main road.

I quickly get into my car and follow behind Louis to Greenleaf. What does he mean when he says he'll explain everything? How much is there to explain? I guess I'll have to wait and find out.

I arrive at Greenleaf and recognise Louis' car parked in front of the entrance. How'd he get here so fast? I must have not been paying much attention while driving. I park my car next to his and enter the tea house. I give Louis a quick wave when I spot him inside and order a hot green tea. My favourite. I take my tea and sit across from Louis who already has a hot Yorkshire tea in front of him.

"Yorkshire." I comment. "Good choice."

"My hometown. I grew up with this tea." He says, taking a sip.

"So," I prompt.

"Right! Harry. Well, where to I begin..."

We sat and talked for almost two hours, over which Louis shared a lot of shocking information about Harry's past and why he's been avoiding me the past few days. The story goes like this:
Harry lived in Holmes Chapel, England his whole young life until up until the age of 18. Around 12 years of age, Harry's parents went through a nasty divorce and his mom remarried not long after. Harry's new stepfather was alright at first, but not even a year into the marriage did his raging alcoholic personality show. He started to become physically abusive toward Harry's mother Anne, who tried her best to act like everything was just fine, but Harry knew what was going on and became angry about it. Every time he tried to say something about it to his mother, she would scold him for talking nonsense. One night, about three years into the marriage, Harry's stepfather came home completely shitfaced and beat Harry's mother to a pulp. Harry interfered and attacked him, only trying to defend his mother, but Anne screamed at Harry and told him to leave the house and not come back.

Louis let Harry live with him after that, but Harry just wasn't having it. He got into fights at school on a daily basis, got drunk on the weekends, partied late most nights, and had some drug use experience. Louis did his best to help Harry, but Harry's grief was too much. He joined a gang and got into some real deep shit with the leader. (Louis strayed far from that topic, not going into details. I didn't ask why.)

After high school, Louis decided to move to Washington for college, and brought Harry along with him for a fresh, new start. Regardless of Harry's many absences and suspensions, his grades were always pretty decent, thanks to being an avid reader, so he got accepted into Washington state University with Louis. He was doing great; amazing grades, steady living, nice house, good reputation.. Things were really going his way. And then three nights ago happened. Louis explained what happened that night, how they went out to celebrate two years of their new lives when got a little too drunk and gave into his anger.

"Wow." Was all I could say. All the information was making me dizzy, so I tightened my grip on the table in order to steady myself.

"I know, it's a lot to process, but don't be mad at Harry. He went through a difficult time and didn't have anyone in his life to tell him right from wrong." Louis explains.

"I understand. I do. It's just... I wish he would have told me, you know? "

"I'm sure he would have. He just needed some time to open up."

Louis did have a point. I mean, we haven't even known each other for two weeks yet, and I expect him to tell me his entire life's story?
"
He really does love you, you know." Louis says.

My head snaps up at the words. He loves me? Already? All I crave at the moment is to feel Harry's arms around me, comforting me, holding me like there is nothing else in the entire world he'd rather be doing. And that's enough to make me realise that...

"I love him too."

Harry's P.O.V.

As I finish stacking the last of the books into place, I think about Ember. I miss her; a lot. I wish I had the strength to open up to her about everything, but I can't even seem to admit to myself the things that happened in the past without blowing up completely. I have to start somewhere, though. If I ignore her anymore she'll slip right through my fingers, and that's something I can't imagine happening at this point. I love her.

Just then, I hear loud footsteps behind me. I turn around to find a drenched Ember stomping toward me. Her eyes are red, but I can't tell if she'd been crying or not, because she's completely soaked.
This is the moment I've been dreading; facing Ember.

Ember's P.O.V.

I hop out of my car and run across the parking lot, not caring about the poring rain above. I have to tell him before I loose this sudden wave of adrenaline; the only thing keeping my feet moving.

I see Harry in the back and run toward him with loud, hard footstep, even though this is a library.

"Harry, Louis told me everything. He told me what happened at the bar, why you've been avoiding me, why you moved here; everything." I say in one breath as I approach.

Harry stands there speechless, so I take his silence as an opritunity to continue.

"And its okay. It's okay because- because I love you." There. I said it.

"Em-" Harry croaks out, but I don't care. I run up to him and wrap my arms around his neck and press my lips against his. I grab fistfuls of his hair and pull his head towards me in order to deepen the kiss. I want to be as close to him as possible. I kiss him with enough passion to last anyone a lifetime, and to my relief, Harry kisses back with just as much force. His hands push me toward him by my lower back. Finally the kiss breaks and we both catch our breath but don't pull our bodies away from each other.

"I love you, too." Harry says breathlessly.

I laugh out of nervous joy and kiss him again, but grow serious once again. I pull my head away and look straight into his eyes, which are a glistening bright green due to recent tears.

"Promise that you'll never scare me like that again. I though you hated me." I whisper.

"I promise, Em. I promise."

"Good."

"Uh, Ember?"

"Yes?"

"Why are you soaking wet?"

Notes

Here's the next chapter!
Please let me know what you guys think so far, 'cause I'm starting to have mixed feeling about the story...

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-Daisy