Harry Styles - Instant Attraction Ch. 11

Miriam, a pretty woman in her mid-thirties, clearly recognised Harry. Her eyes widened as she took in the pop star. To her credit though, she kept herself under control and didn't bring any attention to it, for which Harry was grateful. He wanted this to be all about Charley; she clearly loved the place. And, she introduced me as her boyfriend, he thought smugly as they were ushered from the cute hallway into the living room.

"As I discussed with Charley yesterday, we've already cleared with builders which walls could come down to really open this up," Miriam said enthusiastically. Charley noted with some amusement that she was addressing Harry directly, unable to take her blue eyes off of him. She felt Harry's fingers squeeze hers and hid her smile behind her hand.

Turning to Harry, Charley gestured at the wall. "I like the idea of pulling the wall down between the living room and kitchen. It would really open it up, and I could eventually install an island bench. To the left of the kitchen is an old mud room - I think I'd also like to knock that wall out too to extend the space."

Harry was very interested in all the ideas and could really see the potential. The house was old-fashioned, and could do with updating throughout, especially the kitchen and bathroom. But when they stepped out onto the back porch, he sucked a breath in, eyes wide.

"I know," Charley said, smiling at his response. "I felt the same way when I first saw it."

The backyard was huge, the house clearly covering two old sections. A perfectly manicured lawn was hugged on all edges by more stunning cottage-inspired shrubs and flowers. Four huge old trees dotted throughout the lawn, with a tyre swing hanging off an old knotted rope on the biggest branch.


"Bloody hell. I love it," he said with a grin and bumped her hip with his. She smiled radiantly at his reaction, pleasure etched over her face.

"I think I'd really enjoy gardening," she replied happily.

"Just think of all the mowing you'll have to do on weekends," he teased her, chuckling at her exaggerated eye roll. The agent left them to stroll around the gardens, and Harry noted the bird baths, old bench seats and a pond scattered throughout. It had been immaculately kept and beautifully thought out.

Charley quickly pulled Harry behind one of the huge old trees, hiding them from the agent in case she was watching from the window.

"Quick, kiss me while she can't see us," she grinned as Harry huffed out a laugh and leant down to kiss her.

"Why can't she see us kiss?" he asked into his mouth as he snugged her tightly up against him.

"Because I have a feeling she'll turn green with envy," Charley giggled and Harry laughed. "Poor woman. Are they all like that?"

"She was remarkably restrained, actually," Harry teased. "Usually they're trying to take my limbs off."

Charley smacked his chest with her open hand playfully and he grinned and kissed her again. Laughing, they made their way back to the agent who was looking at them curiously. Charley told her she'll be putting in her offer that evening, and thanked Miriam for making the time for her to come through twice.

***

"When do you think I'll hear back if they'll accept my offer?" Charley asked Harry anxiously, checking her emails on her phone for the hundredth time. It was nearly eight o'clock that night and she'd put her offer in at 2pm.

"Baby, just chill. It will probably be tomorrow," he soothed from across the room. He was sitting in his favourite chair watching Netflix while Charley alternatively paced the living room or sat down across from him. She couldn't seem to sit still, or stop herself from chewing her lip.

Harry was finding this side of Charley extremely cute and endearing. She looked like a wide-eyed deer, big hazel eyes looking at him with a puppy-dog expression. It made him want to tumble her onto the sofa and make love to her so the look in her eyes changed from nervousness to smoky desire. Somehow, though, he didn't think she'd appreciate it if she got a reply and missed it while he was distracting her. She was still staring at her phone pathetically, though and he hid a smile.

"Come here," Harry said impulsively. He held his arms out to her and he loved how she automatically moved towards him. Just then her phone rang, and Charley leapt out of her skin, making Harry swear, his heart stopping for a second. She quickly pressed accept and raced off out the room.

He rose out of his chair, brushing his hair back as his racing heart calmed back down. Finding her in the kitchen, he heard her asking them to take a higher offer, and he let out a breath as he listened to her negotiate until she thanked whoever was on the other end of the phone and hung up.

Turning to him, she blew out a breath and raised her eyebrows. "They thought my first offer was too low, so they're going back with my next offer. Coincidentally, it's my highest offer," Charley told him quietly, fiddling with the phone in her hands. "So this will be it. Miriam said that I won't hear back now until Monday as they want to take some more time to think about it."

He walked forward and took her in his arms, kissing her forehead. "You did great, baby. If they reject your offer, I can always help you out," he offered. He was shocked with the ferocity of her reaction. She almost yanked herself away from him with a frown.

"No, Harry! Please don't. That's not why I told you," she demanded hotly, going red and narrowing her eyes at him.

"I know it's not why you told me," he said, confused at her reaction, arms falling to his sides. "I'm just offering to help, you can pay me back-" But she was shaking her head immediately, cutting him off.

"No. If I don't get it myself, then I don't want it," she said hotly, putting her hands on her hips. "I have my own money, my own business, and I am completely capable of doing this on my own. I need to do this on my own."

"Okay, you're doing it on your own. Got it." He leaned against the counter and shoved his hands in his pockets, a little bewildered. She was angry. He'd never seen her like this. It was kind of turning him on, his feisty little latino. Better not tell her that, Styles, he thought, holding his grin back.

He quietly watched her huff at him a moment longer, then he tentatively held his arms open to her. For a moment he thought she was going to ignore him, but suddenly it was as if all the fire went out of her.

"Sorry," she mumbled. "You didn't deserve that." She didn't move, so he carefully shuffled over to her and folded his arms around her, not finding any resistance.

"It's okay," he murmured with a smile.

"No, it's not," her voice was muffled in his shirt now. "You were only trying to help me." She paused again. "I'm the worst."

He chuckled. "You're definitely not the worst," he said, rubbing his hands up and down her back, inhaling the scent of her hair. "But if you feel like you owe me some kind of apology, I can think of a few different ways."

He grinned at her burst of laughter and pulled back to look at her, very pleased with himself for managing to shake her out of her bad mood so quickly. She was offering him up a rueful smile, and threaded her arms up around his neck.

"Was that our first fight?" Harry asked her through a boyish smile. He laughed as she rolled her eyes again.

"That wasn't a fight, Harry," Charley smiled, twisting her fingers into the curls at his neck. They'd gotten longer since they'd been together. She absently wondered if he was going to cut them or grow them out. She'd seen some photos of him with long hair when he was in the band.

"What are you thinking about?" he asked her curiously, noticing her drifting off with a silly smile on her face. When she blushed lightly, he grinned. "Tell me!"

"I was just thinking about how sexy you looked with long hair," she said primly, and yanked on his locks for emphasis. "When I was looking you up, I found photos of you...they were very...you looked...sexy."

Harry laughed in delight. "Oh really? Well then, I might just have to grow it out for you," he said, lifting her into his arms, enjoying her startled cry before she immediately wrapped her legs around his waist.

He walked her out into the living room before tumbling them both down onto the sofa.

"We need makeup sex," he mumbled into her neck as he nibbled there.

Charley giggled. "Harry, that wasn't really a fight!" But he just grinned and bit down on her collar bone, making her moan. Things deteriorated fairly quickly from there and they made long, slow love.

***

Harry fidgeted, sitting on the end of his bed while Charley used the bathroom. It was Sunday afternoon, and now she was headed home. Every second he spent with her just seemed to make him fall deeper in love with her, until now he was questioning his reasoning for not telling her he loved her.

He was leaving her for two weeks tomorrow morning, and he was feeling a strange kind of panic set in. What if something happened and he hadn't told her? He'd never forgive himself; he'd always regret it. He'd spent the last day trying to think of a way to tell her without scaring her off, but every time he went to blurt it out, the intensity of his feelings got in his way.

Until he'd realised - music. Of course, music. He'd tell her with a song. And it had taken all of fifteen seconds for his mind to immediately fall on a song he'd written with Johan Carlsson for the last album he'd made with One Direction. If I Could Fly.

It was a song he'd written for the fans, about a theoretical love he'd always fly home for. The fans had always been there for him and the band, and it was a love song of sorts, for them to make of it as they would.

And now, with goosebumps lifting across his skin, he shivered as he realised it was like he had always written it for Charley. For this moment. For this woman.

It described exactly how he was feeling. She can listen to it when I'm gone. It will also give her time to think about what it means without any pressure to reply right away, he thought breathlessly with excitement. The song didn't say love as a word, but it implied it in every single way that mattered. The perfect way to tell her.

Nervously, he thought of the possibility of it backfiring. What if I get home and she doesn't feel the same way? He swallowed hard, rejecting the thought. Then I'll have had time to adjust to being away from her.

He looked up, jarred from his thoughts as she walked out the bathroom, smiling brightly at him.

"Ready to go?" he asked, standing up abruptly.

"Yes," she said quietly, following him out the room and down the stairs.

He walked her to the white Audi and pulled her in for a deep, soft kiss. "I wish you could come with me," he whispered.

"It's only two weeks, we've done it before," she smiled into him and kissed him gently on the lips again before reluctantly pulling away, saying goodbye and getting into the car.

Harry watched as she turned and drove away, waiting to go back inside until he couldn't see her any more.

***

"Miss me that much already?" Charley teased as she picked up her ringing cell phone. It was Harry, and she'd only got home from his place an hour ago.

"Always," he huffed a laugh. "I need you to do me a favour tomorrow."

Charley was intrigued, smiling as she walked through her apartment watering her plants. "Anything," she said.

"I need you to listen to a song for me. Find it on Spotify, and tomorrow, when I've arrived unplugged in Seattle, find somewhere private and play it."


Charley frowned at the odd request. "Why do I have to wait until you're unplugged?" she asked curiously. She injected a mock-petulant tone into her voice. "Why can't I just play it now while you're on the phone?"

"Because I'm asking you to do it tomorrow, you stubborn woman," he chuckled. "Do as you're told."

Charley rolled her eyes. "And you're bossy," she countered, making him bark with laughter, the sound sent tingles through her body. She loved listening to Harry laugh.

"Promise me you won't listen to it until tomorrow," he said more seriously, but Charley could still hear the grin in his voice. She smiled. She couldn't deny him anything.

"Okay, I promise," she said softly.

"Thank you," he said, sounding relieved. There was a long pause.

"So...you going to tell me what the song is?" Charley asked, stifling a laugh.

"Oh. Right," Harry said, clearing his throat. "I'll text it to you tomorrow morning right before I turn my phone off."

Charley rolled her eyes. "What's with all the cloak and dagger stuff Styles?"

"I know you just rolled your eyes at me, you little minx," Harry said dryly.

Charley laughed. "Harry, you can trust me, just tell me the song now," she wheedled. Turning back to the sink with the now-empty watering can, she opened the bottom cupboard door and put it away.

"Hmm," he said. "I do trust you, but I'm still texting it to you tomorrow. Now behave."

Charley grinned and they chatted for a few more minutes before she wished him well on his trip.

"I guess I'll see you in a couple weeks," she said lightly, feeling a twist at the thought.

There was a long pause, then Harry's honey-toned voice came over the line, suddenly much softer. "Will you miss me, baby?"

The breath left her for a second, and she almost couldn't answer. She was going to miss him like crazy. She was in love with him, and he was going off grid for two solid weeks. But he didn't know that. What should she say to him?

"You bet," she replied softly, settling for something casual.

She listened to him sigh. "I'm going to miss you, too," he murmured. "More than you'll know. Talk to you in a couple weeks. I'll text you tomorrow."

After they'd hung up, Charley lay back on her bed without moving for a long time, thinking about what he'd said. More than you'll know.

***

Charley woke to a beeping on the dresser table next to her. She opened her eyes, blearily looking at the clock, which read 5:30am. Bloody hell, she thought. Who's trying to contact me so early- oh! Harry!

Leaping awake, she snatched her phone up, remembering his promise to text her the song before switching his phone off. Eagerly, she tapped on the message.

HS: If I Could Fly, by One Direction - I wrote this song. I hope that you listen. H x

Frowning at the short and cryptic message, Charley stared at it a moment. She'd been expecting a longer note at least, or some explanation. It was a One Direction song, too, and Harry had written it.

Heart starting to pound, Charley tapped into her Spotify app and looked up the song. There it was. She stared at the song name. If I Could Fly - One Direction - Made In The A.M. (Deluxe Edition). Before she played it, she added it into a brand new playlist. She titled it 'From Harry.' Maybe she'd get him to start sending her more of his favourite songs.

Nervously, her finger hovered over the song name, finding herself oddly unable to press onto it. Why did he want her to listen to it? If I Could Fly. What would the song mean? If he could fly, where would he fly to? Just play the damn song, Charley, she scolded herself and forced her finger pad to touch the screen.

Soft piano tones thrummed out at her, followed almost immediately by Harry's beautiful voice. And suddenly she was holding her breath as the lyrics wound through her.

If I could fly, I'd be coming right back home to you

I think I might give up everything, just ask me to
Pay attention, I hope that you listen 'cause I let my guard down
Right now I'm completely defenseless

For your eyes only, I'll show you my heart
For when you're lonely and forget who you are
I'm missing half of me when we're apart
Now you know me, for your eyes only
For your eyes only

I've got scars even though they can't always be seen
And pain gets hard, but now you're here and I don't feel a thing
Pay attention, I hope that you listen 'cause I let my guard down
Right now I'm completely defenseless

For your eyes only, I'll show you my heart
For when you're lonely and forget who you are
I'm missing half of me when we're apart
Now you know me, for your eyes only
For your eyes only

I can feel your heart inside of mine, I feel it, I feel it
I've been going out of my mind, I feel it, I feel it
Know that I'm just wasting time
And I hope that you don't run from me

For your eyes only, I'll show you my heart
For when you're lonely and forget who you are
I'm missing half for me when we're apart
Now you know me, for your eyes only

For your eyes only, I'll show you my heart
For when you're lonely and forget who you are
I'm missing half for me when we're apart
Now you know me, for your eyes only
For your eyes only
For your eyes only

Heart in her mouth as the song ended, Charley found her face wet with tears. "Harry," she whispered as she immediately put the song on loop. I hope that you listen. And I hope that you don't run from me. "I'm listening. And I'm not running."

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A/N: I hope you enjoyed this chapter though it was shorter, but I felt it came to the right end here - Kristin x