HALF A HEART

1 MONTH LATER

Annie's POV

I stumbled into the small bakery and kicked the snow off my boots as I came in. The smell of freshly made cookies and cakes wafted into my nose. I unzipped my coat and unwound my scarf. I walked into the back room and found Harry sitting at a stool frosting a cake. He was wearing his usual dark red apron and I could see smudges of flour on his cheek and in his hair. Typical.

"Hey babe." I walked over to him and put my hand on his shoulder.

"Hellooooo." He greeted without taking his eyes off his masterpiece.

"Did Barbra have you make bread again today?" I asked running my fingers through his curls where flour clung to the strands.

He looked up at me with his emerald gaze and smiled. "Yes ma'am. Do you want some?"

"Always." I laughed.

He abandoned his cake and went over to the bread heater and pulled out a loaf wrapped in aluminum foil. He placed it on the table behind him and walked over to the refrigerator. He opened it and caught the door with his foot as he bent to grab butter and apple-butter. He walked back to the table and plopped them down. I sat down at one of the stools and watched him navigate the bakery's back room. He spun on his heel and grabbed a couple knives from the sink. He walked over and peeled the foil away from the loaf and steam rose. He sliced a couple pieces, spread them first with butter and then apple-butter. He placed the slices on a plate, set it in front of me and spun it.

"There yah go love." He smiled.

I bit into the moist bread as Harry made himself a couple pieces. He pulled a stool up next to me and bit into his own creation.

"How is it?" He asked looking at me and chewing.

"Wonderful as usual." I laughed wiping my mouth on a nearby napkin.

"Why thank you." He smiled.

I leaned over and kissed his cheek then got up and started to clean my plate off in the sink. He snuck up behind me and wrapped his hands around my waist, pulled me to him, and kissed my neck.

I turned around in his arms and locked my hands behind his neck. I pressed my lips to his and he pulled me closer. I pulled my mouth away from his and looked into his eyes.

"Are you excited for the gig tonight?" I asked.

"Always. And I'm really glad you're coming because we're performing some new songs tonight."

"Did you write them?"

"Yessss."

I kissed him again and stepped away. "Good. I can't wait to hear them!"

"I'm glad! But we should probably get going. El and Lou are probably already there setting up."

"Right." I said and we walked out of the bakery hand in hand. We climbed into our separate cars and drove to the coffee shop where the boys were performing. I turned my car off and Harry was already standing outside my door. I stepped out and he wrapped his arm around my shoulder and I wrapped my arm around his ribcage. We walked into the coffee shop and saw Lou messing with wires and El standing over him with a mug in her hand.

"Hey Lou. How are we looking?" Harry asked detaching himself from me.

I stepped next to El. "Hey El. How are you?"

"Oh I'm great! I can't wait to hear their new songs!"

"Oh I know. I've been looking forward to this all week."

"How have you two been doing?" She asked nudging me.

"We're good...we're really really good. I can't even..." I shook my head and felt myself blush.

"I'm so happy for you guys," She smiled, "and I'm really happy Harry found you. He was so...i don't even know... I wanna say dark but i know that's not the word I'm thinking of...i dont know. He was just mean before he met you. Because of the whole Celine incident you know? But then you came along and... He's finally happy again...not happy. He's beaming! So thank you." She turned to hug me.

"Thanks El. I really appreciate that."

"Oh of course. And Celine was ridiculous. She never came to these. She never cared. Ugh. She was such a buzz kill."

We heard the bell on the door ring and saw Zayn and Perrie walk in. Zayn joined Harry and Louis to hook everything up. Liam, Dani, and Niall all came in together. El, Perrie, Dani, and I went to grab a table and ordered hot chocolate.

After about ten minutes the boys were tapping on their mics and testing them. Shortly after they settled themselves on their chairs.

"Hey guys! Thanks for having us!" Harry began, "This first song is called "Over Again." Enjoy."

(Sidenote: Listen to Over Again!! <3 )

They settled themselves again and then the music started. Liam started singing and it was flawless. Niall sang and like Liam was flawless. The chorus rang throughout the shop and I could tell everyone was in the mood. The Harry started singing. God I love his voice... Then Louis sang. The lyrics to this song were so interesting but so sweet and genuine. Zayn sang and his part was beautiful. Liam has an amazing falsetto. God they always have amazing harmonies... Niall finished the song and the coffee shop applauded enthusiastically. The song was so delicate and beautiful that I felt like the people in the shop didn't want to clap too hard or they would break it.

The boys waited until the shop was quiet again. Harry looked directly at me when we spoke. "Now this is a song that I started writing a couple months ago when I met my best friend. This one is for you Annie. I love you babe."

I felt my mouth twitch into a smile and my cheeks turn red. El leaned over, patted my back and winked at me.

"This song is called 'You and I'" Harry announced.

(Sidenote: Now listen to You and I!! <3 )

The music started and it was so beautiful and delicate. Niall sang and his voice was so gentle and beautiful. Liam started singing and it gave me chills. Harry started singing the chorus and I felt my heart flutter... He wrote this song for me... About me... Zayn sang and brought me back. Louis sang and his voice was SO good. Harry sang the chorus again. His emerald gaze was fixed on me and I couldnt help but smile back at the dork that I could say is mine. He smiled at me during the instrumental. Zayn's falsetto was insane! The chorus sounded again and i kept getting chills. Oh Harry.... Harry.... The sound dimmed and the coffee shop erupted with applause. Harry stood up and took a bow by himself for recognition of writing the song. Then all the boys stood up.

"Thank you! We've been One Direction! We hope you enjoyed it!" Niall said.

All of them hopped off the little stage and came over to us. Harry walked up to me searching my face with his emerald gaze.

"So?" He asked.

I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him to me. I crashed my lips to his and felt his arms wrap around my waist and pull me closer.

"Thank you..." I whispered into his ear.

"You're welcome Annie."

I ran my fingers through the hair on the back of his head and then stepped away from him. We sat down at the table still holding hands and whispering to each other. Every time I glanced up someone in our group was smiling at us.

Harry’s POV

Throughout the rest of the evening the table was filled with countless jokes and laughs. I couldn’t help but smile every time Annie’s face would light up and she’d start laughing. My mouth would always twitch into a smile.

“Oh c’mon Annie,” Perrie chuckled, “You’ve had to have done SOMETHING bad or dangerous in your life.”

Annie glanced at me quickly and turned back to Perrie, “I really haven’t love. Nothing worth telling anyway.”

“Alright Annie. This will not be the last time we speak of this.” She chuckled.

“Alright. Well I think it’s time we packed up and headed home.” Eleanor said.

We all nodded in agreement and started getting up from the table. I slipped my coat and my beanie on and waited for Annie to button and tie her coat, then slip on her ivory knit hat. We walked out of the coffee shop hand-in-hand, snuggling close to each other to keep warm. We got to our cars and she turned to look at me all of a sudden. Wait was she nervous about something? She’s never nervous around me anymore…oh no…

“Hey so,” She paused and started fumbling with the collar of my coat, “There’s something I want to give you.” Her ocean blue eyes stared into mine and searched for a reaction.

I wrapped my arms around her waist and pulled her closer to me, “Okay. What is it love?” I kissed her nose lightly and then searched her face.

“Well I made you something.” She turned around as I released her. She unlocked her car and opened the back seat door. She pulled out something rectangular wrapped in an ivory sheet. “I started painting this a few weeks after we met. It kind of morphed into something more meaningful though.” She explained as she looked down and played with the ivory sheet.

I felt my mouth twitch into a smile. Gosh I love this girl, “Alright let’s see it love.” I said.

She took a deep breath and handed the painting to me. I removed the ivory sheet and was staring at one of the most beautiful pieces of art I had ever seen. It was a painting of a forest in the fall with a single path that winded and disappeared in the distance. The sky that peaked between the leaves was a radiant blue with small puffs of white cloud. The ground was littered with orange, yellow, red, and pink leaves. The same colored leaves were also falling from the trees. But, believe it or not, the beauty of the scenery was not what made this painting remarkable. I ran my fingers over the grooves made by the paintbrush and rested my fingers on the image in the middle. There were two people walking away down the path. It was a boy and a girl. They were holding hands and looking at each other smiling. The girl had beautiful golden curls; the curls I had come to love and cherish. I could almost smell the rose and orange that lingered on the golden strands…. then again it may be the wind carrying the smell off of Annie who stood in front of me searching my face. The boy had wild chocolate curls and I recognized him instantly to be myself.

I felt my mouth twitch into a smile again as I looked away from the painting to meet her gaze, “Is this us?” I asked.

She just nodded slowly and smiled. I turned around and put the painting into my car and then turned back around to face Annie. I wrapped my arms around her waist and crushed her against me. I buried my face in the curls on her neck as the smell of her rose and orange perfume engulfed my being. She wrapped her arms around my neck. I felt her heart beat faster against my chest. I pulled away and started into her ocean eyes, “Baby, it’s stunning. Truly that is remarkable.”

She smiled a massive smile and let out a breath that she must’ve been holding, “Oh thank God.” She laughed.

“Were you really that nervous to show it to me?” I asked taking one of my hands away from her waist to pull a stray strand of her hair away from her face.

“Yeah I was actually. I mean you’ve seen my work before but…nothing that sentimental…and nothing that really applied to you.”

I wrapped my other arm around her waist again and kissed her passionately. She smiled against my mouth and kissed me a few more times before stepping away.

“I need to get home. My mom will be worried.”

“Alright Annie. I’ll see you tomorrow.” I kissed her once more before she turned back around and got into her car. I watched her drive away before retreating into my own car and driving home.

Notes

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