Resolution

65. You and I

"Did they ever hold each other tight like us? Did they ever fight like us?"

Song: You and I

Aritst: One Direction

I stood frozen in place, my body jolting to a halt after he'd turned me around. The moment my eyes had locked with his, the fire I'd been missing since the day I'd left him reignited inside me. His gaze warmed me from the inside out, the momentary bliss of being back in front of him quickly replaced by the overwhelming terror that Ben would find us.

No, no, no! Why are you here, you beautiful idiot?

My breathing, which was already uneven after being so unexpectedly confronted with him, rattled from my chest and caught in my throat. This was bad, very bad. Surely I could only be gone for so long before Ben decided to come looking for me.

"Halle," he breathed, his voice deep and raspy as if he hadn't used it much lately. The sound of my name rolling off his tongue sent a shot of adrenaline through me, speeding up my heart rate even more. The tone sent a jolt through me because it reminded me of how he sounded when he woke up in the morning. My heart gave a painful pang at the memory, the reminder of what I'd lost right in front of me.

He was standing close to me, but not close enough to be disrespectful of our break up. A little more than a foot of space existed between us and I fought the urge to close the distance, my body physically aching from being so close to him without being able to touch him. I wanted nothing more than to throw myself at him, fling my arms around his neck and hug him to me tightly. I knew if I let myself do that, I would never let go.

I'd known that I'd missed him, but the full force of it hadn't hit me until that moment. The numb that had settled over my body had been completely incinerated in the burst of flames that had burned through me at the mere sight of him. Any thoughts I'd had of potentially moving on and getting stronger were wiped from my mind in less than a second. Of course they were; you can't get over a love like I had with Harry.

I fought down the feelings of desperation and longing, trying to focus on getting him away from me even if it broke me in half to do it. Ben couldn't find us here.

"Wha-what are you doing here?" I managed, my voice a weak stutter. I couldn't even speak at full volume because of the way all my energy was focused on keeping myself from wrapping myself in his arms. His eyes remained locked on mine despite mine shifting to the side, cautiously looking for Ben. We probably only had a few minutes.

"I don't know," he said. His brows were pulled low on his forehead as his intense expression took over his face. He looked more determined than I'd ever seen him. "I just... saw you and followed you."

"Oh," I said lamely. I couldn't think of what to say to him. I was afraid to speak because I knew how careful I had to be. I stared into his eyes as my lips parting as a shuddering breath rattled out, my body betraying me and giving away my emotions.

"Harry, you need to get out of here," I warned, his name stinging at my heart as I said it.

"No, I'm not leaving," he said determinedly.

"Harry, please," I begged, desperately needing him away from me and, more importantly, Ben. I needed him to remain out of harms way, and this was the last place he should be. He ignored me.

"You're here with him, aren't you?" he said, more of a statement than a question. He didn't need to say his name. He already knew. My eyes widened in surprise.

"Did you see?" I asked, desperately hoping he hadn't. I knew how much that would crush him.

"No," he admitted. "Olivia told me."