Chapter 21: New York

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Songs to listen to while reading: Avicii- Wake Me Up, Ed Sheeran- Kiss Me, Parachute- Hurricane (Acoustic), Imagine Dragons- Hear Me.

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The crying baby a few aisles down kept me from sleep the entire flight. I've written what I will say to her at least fifty times. I don't even know where she lives and I'm planning what I'm going to say. Good planning Styles.

"You're flight has now come to an end. It is a sunny day in New York with the temperature around seventy degrees. Hope everyone has a good time wether you're just visiting or returning home!" The pilot goes off the speaker and everyone stands up.

My bag comes quickly allowing me to get a taxi before traffic picks up.

"Where you heading pal?" The taxi driver asks with a strange accent.

"New York university main offices." I hope he knows where that is.

"Alright now problem. You're British right?" His accent is beginning to annoy me.

"Yeah, how long will this take?" I'm getting impatient and getting more nervous by the second.

"Little eager eh? It will take around five minutes." Luckily for me he doesn't continue talking. My mind is racing and heart is pounding. I feel like I may vomit and I'm tired as hell. We pull up to what I'm guessing is the main office and I give the annoying accent driver a pretty shitty tip but that's the least of my worries at the moment.

"Hello, how may I help you?" A red head who's focused on the screen in front of her asks me.

"Hi what is Bella Hastings dorm number?" I ask with hope in my voice.

"I'm sorry, we don't give that kind of information out." This bitch has got to be kidding me.

"I'm her boyfriend and I came all the way from England to surprise her. If I ask her for her dorm number it will ruin the whole thing! Please tell me her dorm number it's very important." Damn maybe I should be an actor because the red head nods and tells me her dorm room is 739.

I have to go across the street to yet another building only to find out that these dorms only got up to four hundred. A nerdy looking kid gives me the directions and sent me on my way.

735..736..737..738.. With each door I feel like I'm about to faint. What if she doesn't love me anymore? My knuckles knock the door three times over. I'm about to knock again when the door swings open.

"Harry?" She's in her pajamas with what I assume are reading glasses on and a pen in her hand. College has really become her. I realize I'm standing here like a complete idiot and straighten myself up. I clear my throat and pull out the piece of paper I rewrote so many times. My hand shakes the paper with nervousness. I take a deep breath before reading the letter.

"Bella,
My words have been transferred from my mind to this paper so please bear with me. As you know, I am horrible at expressing my feelings. When I met you I didn't actually know how lost I was. My life was hell and still is. After my grandfather died I couldn't stand to live with myself. Everyday my thoughts were always pulled back to you. I've been trying to feel my way through the darkness for so long that I only just realized that your are my light. You make me want to be a better person instead of the dick I used to be and kind of still am. In my life I've never loved anyone as much as I love you. If I'm standing in front of you reading this letter I know I've got a chance to love you everyday, every minute, and every second for the rest of my life." I look up to find Bella crying, I can't tell if they're happy tears or not, I'm just happy she's not screaming at me. I reach up and catch the tears threatening to spill.

"Say something please." I whisper, desperation clear in my voice. She stays silent for what seems like a lifetime.

"You don't know how long I've been waiting to hear those words Harry." I breathe a sigh of relief from her words.

"I know there's a lot of things I need to work on but-" She interrupts by grabbing the hem of my shirt and crashing our lips together. The electricity feels absolutely amazing coursing through my body.

I bring my hands to her lower back to bring our bodies as close as possible. We move to a bed while still passionately kissing. Our mouthes moved in sync as if we'd never been apart.

"I love you." I whisper as we came apart for air.

"I love you Harry." She stays cradled in my arms as we take in the moment. My face is nuzzled into the crook of her neck taking in her sweet smell as she fiddles with my hair.

"What do we do now?" I ask making her giggle. God have I missed that beautiful sound.

"Maybe I could show you around New York? It's absolutely amazing here. I think you'll love it" I'd rather lay in bed with her all day, or whatever is left of the day. But, that might result in something else and we should probably take things slow.

"That sounds good to me." We are frozen in place holding onto each other. Bella finally pulls away making herself blush by looking down at her outfit.

"I'll go change. Pajamas aren't accepted in New York." I think she looks beautiful in anything, but I'm a guy so my opinion probably won't even matter.

"Why not? I think you look cute." My tone is flirty and I can tell I've succeeded when she lightly punches me. She gives me a quick kiss before prying herself off my lap and sauntering to what I'm guessing is the closet. I didn't have a chance to look at the room when I got here but it's actually a nice dorm. Two beds clutter the small space with zebra print on one and floral on Bella's.

I glance over to find photos on the nightstand of Bella and her family from graduation. Her smile is prominent while Penny sticks out her tongue at the camera. I miss that cheeky little girl a lot actually.

"This or this?" Bella is holding up a maroon dress in her left hand and a blue one in the other.

"I like you in the maroon one." I think I've seen her in it before but the memories aren't surfacing at the moment. She nods and walks towards what I'm assuming is the bathroom. I'm surprised there is even enough room to place a bathroom in each dorm. I look down at my own outfit to find many stains which must've occurred during the long plane ride here. I pull out a clean white t-shirt and my extra pair of black jeans out of my tiny bag. I have my pants on and about to put my shirt on when Bella walks out. Her mouth is agape making me chuckle at her innocence. I pull the shirt over my naked torso and rustle my messy curls.

"Is this acceptable in New York?" I raise my eyebrows as Bella gulps and nods. I laugh at her shy response before engulfing her hand with my own. This is going a lot smoother then I ever thought it would.

"So, where are we going?" I asked as Bella pressed the button to get the the main floor.

"It's getting late so I thought a pizza parlor? I know that doesn't sound fun, but they have the most amazing pizza here." Pizza is her absolute favorite food in the whole world. I can see her having pizza every single night if she could.

"Whatever you want to do babe." Her nose crinkles at the word, but I know she loves it.

"Why'd you dress up to go to a pizza parlor?" She really went all out just to get a slice of pizza.

"It's actually a really nice restaurant. I've been there a few times with my friends and everyone dresses up. It's a thing in New York to go all out and make a good impression I guess." She shrugs as if it's the most normal thing in the world.

We begin to cross the street, our hands remain intertwined never wanting to let go. The cold air sent chills through me. Why the hell does New York have to be cold during the summer?

"How are the people that go to NYU?" I ask out of curiosity.

"They are so kind and welcoming. My best friend is Jessica, she's also my roommate. I've actually met a few British people. My other friends Ed and Nick are British. I think you would like them." We enter the pizza parlor. The place actually does look like a restaurant and a snobby hostess seats us. I make a face at her making Bella laugh.

"The accents around here are annoying as hell." I say after we told the waitress our drink orders. The whole time she hummed while rocking on the heels of her feet.

"That's probably what they say about us." I shrug, they're accents are fucking annoying though.

"You want to get a pepperoni pizza with thin crust, right?" Bella nods, I actually feel quite proud for remembering her order. Our over bubbly waitress takes our order before bouncing off to her next table.

"What happened to your grandfather?" My heart sinks at the question of the all too recent event. I clear my throat and feels my palms become clammy.

"We don't have to talk about it if you'd like." I nod my head, I'd rather not talk about it ever. Bella covers my hand with her own and it immediately soothes me. For the rest of dinner we make small talk about New York and all her favorite spots in the city. We both agree that tomorrow we'll go to Central Park after her classes are done. The pizza eventually comes and it tastes absolutely amazing. Bella attempts to argue over paying for the bill, but I easily win.

"You really didn't have to pay for that I'm sure it was a lot for the plane ticket a-" I cut her off by placing my lips on hers.

"It was no problem, I actually enjoy paying for your pizza among other things." She rolls her eyes, and I can tell she's enjoying my joking behavior.

We re-enter the dorm building and take the elevator back up. Noise is coming from behind Bella's door and I can tell she is aggravated. The hum of a guitar can be heard along with a few people laughing. She hesitantly unlocks the door and steps inside the already cramped room.

A red head is sitting on the bed with an acoustic guitar sat on his lap. Besides him is brown haired guy who lightly taps his foot along to the music. One girl, who I'm guessing is Jessica, sits on the bean bag chair in front of the window. They all stop what they're doing and stare at me like I'm an alien.

"Hello I'm Harry." I say whilst waving at them. The brown haired guy stands up an firmly shakes my hand.

"Hello I'm Nick Grimshaw, but you can call me Grimmy if you'd like. This here is Ed," the red head waves and I give him a smile, "and that is Jessica." He motions to the brunette who I exchange a polite 'hello' with.

"So, you're the infamous Harry. Bella talks about you non stop!" Jessica says, earning the middle finger from Bella.

"Oh am I? I'm sure it's only good things you've heard then." I give Bella a sideways glare. The blush on her cheeks are very noticeable.

"Of course! Just the other night she was telling me how good the s-" Bella practically tackles Jessica and clamps her hands over Jessica's mouth. Everyone begins to laugh at the sudden turn of events. I pull out my phone to find that the time is 9:30 already.

"It was nice to meet you all, but jet lag is beginning to set in so I better go to a hotel." Everyone nods except Bella who makes a pouty face at me. I shake my head at her and pick up my very small bag. I say goodbye before walking out into the hall. The door opens again as I suspected and Bella taps on my shoulder.

"Forget something?" She raises her eyebrows with a sideways smile plastered on her face.

"Nope pretty sure I've got everything." I say before dropping my bags on the ground. Bella wraps her arms around my neck as I do the same around her waist.

"Make sure you're here by four, ok?" Bella says as our lips inch closer together. I mumble a 'yes' before we begin to kiss. Our tongues explore each others mouthes like it's the first time. Bella tugs at my curls making a moan escape my lips.

"If we don't stop your friends will have to witness something they probably don't want to." I whisper into her hair.

"Another time then?" She asks, I can feel the smile growing on her lips.

"Definitely."

(I really enjoyed writing this chapter, and I hope you all enjoyed reading it! Please make sure you vote/comment/follow! I absolutely love everyone's feedback, so please don't be afraid to comment your thoughts!)

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