Stumbling Into Perfection...

Chapter 8

Harry's hotel room was silent. Niall and Louis both sat on the bed, thumbing through their phones, trying not to discuss the huge elephant in the room. While Harry quite literally lost his mind, pacing back and forth.

He folded his arms one over the other only to untangle them and then refold them again moments later. He'd run his hands through his hair so much it was probably greasy now. His stomach was doing back flips and flip flops and just generally swirling so badly he was afraid he was going to throw up a couple times.

He walked towards the door,

"I need to tell her-"

Niall stood up and blocked his way to the door,

"No you don't, Mate." He said, putting his hand on Harry's chest.

It must have been the fourth time they'd had this exact same exchange in the last 20 minutes.

Harry was reeling. Bouncing back and forth between knowing he'd done the right thing to insisting he needed to explain what he'd done. He'd caught Jennifer off guard. Which was his goal. To shake her out of her belligerent attitude and listen. So he lied through his teeth. It was emotional manipulation on an embarrassing level. Harry had never done that to anyone and while it seemed like a good idea at the time, the regret and guilt were eating him up inside. He'd prided himself on being the one person in her life who had never exploited her for his own gain and now that was shot to hell.

Harry focused on Niall,

"Niall, she thinks I meant it-"

"Damn right she does. And you're gonna keep it that way."

Harry shook his head,

"I didn't mean it." He pleaded.

Louis nodded,

"We all know that. And eventually she will too. But if you tell her you didn't mean it, it could throw a monkey wrench into the whole thing."

Harry felt helpless. He knew Louis and Niall were right but that didn't stop him from wanting to tell her. He flopped down into the chair behind him,

"I'm supposed to let her go, knowing she hates me?"

Niall nodded,

"Yes."

Harry slumped into the chair,

"I think I'm in love with her."

Niall looked up at Louis as he slid his phone into his pocket. Louis raised his eyebrows and let out a deep sigh. Niall nodded,

"Yeah, I know."

A knock at the door launched Harry to his feet. Niall quickly got in front of him, opening the door moments before Harry got there. Liam stood in front of them, rubbing his hands together,

"She's about to leave."

Harry pushed in front of Niall,

"Is she ok? What's going on?"

Liam smiled hopefully, which was a miracle considering the circumstances,

"Yeah...she's great actually. She and Holly have been talking while she packs. Laughing even. They both know they have a lot of work to do."

Harry was breathing almost to the point of hyperventilation. He slid his hands onto his hips,

"Liam, I-"

Liam put his hand on Harry's shoulder,

"Has anyone said thank you? Because thank you. If you hadn't said what you said, I don't think this would've happened."