Invisible String || H.S

Chapter 32

It feels almost foreign hearing his name leave my lips after not saying it out loud for five years. He starts to walk toward me, and I have to remember to breathe. He's still as beautiful as I remember him being. Tonight he's wearing tan trousers and a jumper with a teddy bear with its arms crossed on it. Not a conventional look, and I know that nobody else but him would be able to pull it off.

He stops once he's about arm's distance away.

"Hi," he says, and the memories of everything that happened between us come flooding back in full force.

"Hi," I respond, my voice barely loud enough to be heard over the music. Harry looks like he doesn't know whether to give me a hug or just keep standing there. I don't know if I know the answer to that either. I feel my body involuntarily start to lean towards him like it physically can't stay away once in his presence.

"It's been a while," he says. A small smile across his face.

"Yeah, you could say that," my smile the mirror of his.

"Do you live here now?" he asks, putting his hands in his pockets as if to keep from touching me.

"Mhm, I moved here after I graduated and now work for the Brooklyn Museum. I actually just got a promotion, so I think I'll be here for a while."

We stand there in an awkward silence for a second before I add on, "What are you in town for?" figuring he must still live on the west coast, with his quick rise to fame.

"I actually moved here about a month ago; my label wants me to start doing more shows out here to get my audience engagement on the east side up. Niall was actually with me when I closed on my new place here earlier today. He told me that we should go out tonight to celebrate. So... here I am." Harry says, a small laugh leaving his lips once he finishes.

"Funny, I ran into Niall a couple of days ago, and he said he was having a small gathering at a karaoke bar." Annoyance finds its way to creep through my voice.

Now Harry actually laughs, and a smile pulls at my lips. As if my body can do nothing but that in response to him laughing.

"Well, would you look at that?" Niall says while throwing his arms around the both of us. "What are the chances we would all be in New York at the same time? I feel like I'm back in Boston," he says with a wide grin across his face. With his arms still around us, he steers us onto the couch so that we're all sitting together.

"So Harry, did you tell Evie about the show you're playing tomorrow at the Garden to release your second album?"

I look at Niall as if I could incinerate him on the spot, and he just wiggles his eyebrows in response.

Harry clears his throat before responding. "No, Niall, I didn't get the chance to before you interrupted."

"My mistake," Niall responds before turning towards me. "Evie, Harry is playing at the Garden tomorrow, and you should come," he says with a grin spread across his face.

"Oh, I -" begin to say before I'm interrupted by Harry going, "Niall, don't make her feel like she has to go," at the same time.

"I'm not forcing anybody. Who doesn't love a free concert? Besides, maybe I just needed an excuse to spend more time with you, Evie." Niall says, nudging me on the shoulder.

A blush creeps up my neck at the same time Harry rolls his eyes in response to Niall. I take another big sip of my drink, not trusting my brain to know what to say.

Harry clears his throat again before saying, "you are under no obligation to come, but if you would like to, the show starts at eight, and I can leave an extra ticket with Niall if you do decide you'd like to come."