Under Pressure {H.S}

Chapter 21

Mia's POV:

"Well to be honest," the young- maybe 16 year old- girl leans into Harry's ear and whispers something that I can't hear.

I can see H's eyes widen when he pulls back. He tries not to show it, but whatever she just said to him really bothered him.

We're standing in a coffee shop that we happened to see earlier and said that we would come back to it when we got colder.

H and I decided that today, we were going to do some Christmas shopping. We haven't been worried about paparazzi because we figured that everyone would be too busy to pay attention to us. We're also sort of disguised in beanies and scarves.

We've been in the Christmas mood ever since we put H's tree up together. He told me he was so happy to spend time with me before we part ways for Christmas. I love spending time with him.

He chuckles in a fake way that pains me to hear, "Well I guess it goes both ways."

"What?" she furrows her eyebrows in confusion, "How could it go both ways? You're Harry Styles?"

What on earth did she say to him?

He fake chuckles again, but it's convincing enough for them, "It was nice to meet you guys," he sort of waves to the girls, "have a nice day."

"Bye guys," I smile and wave, trying to be kind.

It was only that girl and her friend. One of them had a "Treat People With Kindness" tote bag, which was super cute, and the other had a keychain with Harry on it. They were fans, and kindly said hello to Harry. I stood there and stayed quiet, not sure what to do. But I smiled and they seemed nice.

The one that whispered to Harry seemed a little hesitant towards me, but her friend was super sweet, and said hello to me too.

They asked for his autograph, and spoke to him for a few moments. I know they were taking a video, just because of the way the Whisperer was holding her phone. It'll probably be posted on Twitter later.

Now Harry is grabbing my hand and walking away. His smile definitely does not reciprocate how he feels right now. I can definitely tell that something is off.

When we exit the coffee shop, I finally speak, "Hey, what's wrong? What did she say?" We didn't even order coffees.

"Nothing, sorry," he shakes is head. "You wanna get a drink somewhere else? I just didn't want to linger in there."

The cold air allows me to see Harry's breath as he breathes out. His breathing is somewhat rapid, telling me he's definitely upset about something.

I figure we shouldn't talk about why he's upset while we're outside. The possibility of someone seeing or hearing is too high, so I pull him into the next shop: a furniture store.

From my experience, furniture stores are really, really big. So, if we whisper and wander throughout the store at the same time, then we'll be fine.

"Hi, can I help you two with something? Looking for anything specific?" an older woman asks.

"No, we're just looking, thanks," I smile and she nods with a "Let me know if you need anything."

We start off into the couch section, "Harry," I say in a quiet voice so that no one can hear, "I always want to know what you're thinking. If you truly don't want to tell me, you don't have to. It's just- it bothers me that what that girl said upset you this much. I'm always here to listen."

He sighs and we continue to walk, "Really, I'm fine. Sorry."

"It's not your fault, you don't have to say sorry," I squeeze his hand. "So, where do you want to get coffee? I'm thirsty."