DUNKIRK | HARRY STYLES

[Scene Seventeen]

We sat in a tucked away booth in the corner of the pub, the burgundy leather surrounding us like a warm embrace. A fire crackled nearby, the golden light settling around the room, casting a shadow across Harry's handsome face.

I pushed away my empty plate and set down my half drunk wine. My whole body was stuffed with good food and happiness. For the past two hours Harry and I had chatted, eaten and generally had a really nice time.

At the current moment Harry was halfway through a hilarious story about his first ever dinner date, in which every single thing that could have gone wrong did. My stomach hurt from laughing so much.

The waitress slid our empty plates away and Harry asked for the bill. I simply didn't want this date to end.

As if he'd read my mind, Harry said,"If you're not too tired, I'd like to take you to one more place tonight."

"Am I allowed to know about this location or is it yet another secret?" I asked teasingly. His fingers reached across the table to play with mine, his hands huge and surprisingly attractive.

"This one is really special, so I think it'll have to remain a surprise," He replied, using his spare hand to run through his wild hair.

I'd never seen him look so handsome as he did in that moment- the gilded light flickering across his features, his growing hair curling around his forehead, that sparkle of amusement in his eyes. If there wasn't an inconvenient table separating us I would have kissed him and probably never have let go.

"Anyway. I've told you about my horrible dating stories, it's your turn," He grinned, returning to our previous conversation.

I fought hard to keep the smile on my face but my lips suddenly felt stiff, my mouth hardened. A cold, numbing feeling washed over my skin, raising goosebumps even in the warm pub. Harry's eyes flickered like he knew something was wrong.

"I mean, unless you don't want to," He added uncertainly. I shook my head and took a deep breath.

"It's just that my stories are more horror than comedy," I said, a dry hint of humour lingering at the edge of my voice. But my stories were not even close to funny.

"What happened?" He asked, a mix of curiousness and apprehension on his face. I trusted him enough to tell him, but the words seemed to cut the inside of my mouth like razors. It hurt to talk about, like a wound opening up raw after months of being stitched badly together.

"Well, I stayed with my first ever boyfriend, Seth, for about 3 years. I only broke up with him a few months before I left to come to Dunkirk." I said. "Funnily enough, Seth was a musician too, although he wasn't, of course, half as famous as you."

"He was a local celebrity though- all the girls lusted after him, all the boys wanted to be him, etc, etc. You get the picture. That was why I was so surprised, and so willing, when he asked to go out with me." I fiddled with the edge of my napkin, my fingers beginning to shake with every word that left my mouth. "It was all happy and great for the first few months, then he became really controlling, like really bad."

"He wouldn't let me wear certain things, I would have to give him my phone when he asked so he could look through my texts, he would constantly put me down. You know, those sorts of things," I said. Harry's hand covered my shaking ones. "It began getting so bad my family noticed that I was retreating into myself, only really speaking to him. Somehow he made me so isolated I lost all my friends, and damaged my relationships with my family."

"I considered breaking up with him, but I was too scared of what he would do. Then one day he tried to attack Ozzy because he'd seen a text he'd sent me to convince me to break up with him. That was the breaking point. So we went our separate ways," I took yet another breath.

"That's awful love," Harry said, squeezing my hand reassuringly.

"There's more yet," I said, letting out a small, humourless laugh. "The last gift he gave to me was to spread around pictures of me, naked pictures of me, that he'd taken while I was sleeping. I asked him why, and he said he'd taken them as a backup, just in case I broke up with him. It completely ruined my life. No one would even talk to me after it happened."

Harry slid around the leather booth and wrapped his arms around my fragile, hurting body. His lips pressed against the top of my head, whispering soothing words into my ear. His body embracing mine brought a sense of calm to my turbulent mind. 

"What a fucking dick," He said, his usually kind voice gaining a hard, angry edge. Then he hugged me tighter and whispered, "But at least you're safe now."

"I know that but I still find it hard, after Seth and even more so after Dad, to trust people- especially men, I'm sorry," I said, my voice muffled against his chest. 

"Don't apologise," He replied. We parted and Harry's hand reached up to wipe away my remaining tears from my cheeks. 

"I've ruined your shirt," I joked, gesturing to the damp patches I'd left on his clothing.  He shook his head with a sweet smile. 

"It doesn't matter love," He planted a sweet kiss on my lips, "What matters is if you're okay."

"You help me feel okay," I said truthfully. He leant down again to kiss me, more deeply this time, like there was meaning in each second our lips stayed pressed together. 

"Shall we go?" Harry asked once we'd ripped our lips apart. I nodded and slid out of the booth, protesting to no avail when Harry got out his wallet. 

His arm remained around my waist as we walked out of the pub, comforting and safe. I leant into him, exhausted from my story about Seth. Harry looked down at my tired face and worry flickered across his expression. 

"If you're too tired we can just-"

"Of course not," I said immediately although I could feel a yawn tugging at the corners of my mouth. "I'm way too intrigued to go back now." 

"Let's go then," Harry grinned, opening the car door for me, allowing me to climb in. He got into the driver's seat and leant across to turn on the radio.

I burst out laughing at the loud music that began to play:

"You're insecure, don't know what for..."

/

lol what happened to 'this book is ending soon'? I'm enjoying boyfriend harry too much that's what 

also can we talk about the music video ?? i mean if it doesn't prove harry's an angel then i don't know what does

-eden xx