black » harry styles au

chapter five

belle;

"hello,"

i offered him a small smile, my eyes drifting over to his sketch pad that he was hurriedly trying to cover up. before i could get a good look at his drawing, the black leather cover was in front of the page; blocking my unwanted eyes.

in his hurried attempt to cover up his drawing and put it away, he knocked over his coffee mug, spilling some of the hot liquid onto the wooden table and his sketch pad.

the boy's eyes widened in slight horror as the black liquid seeped deep into the crisp white pages, not doing anything to stop it at first. then realization hit us both as we both reached for the napkin dispenser across the small table, our hands brushing for a moment.

"i'm so sorry, i-i shouldn't have even come over here and this is all my fault!" i rambled nervously, my hand retracting quickly as he grabbed a few napkins.

he shook his head, not looking at me as he dabbed at the spilt coffee. guilt poured inside me as i looked back and saw zayn watching with an amused smirk on his face. i mouthed out a silent "help me" to him, to which he just shook his head and chuckled. 

i turned back to the curly haired boy and picked at my nails, a horrible habit i had picked up lately when i was nervous or embarrassed. he had finished cleaning up the spilt coffee for the most part and discarded the wet napkins in the trash next to him. 

"i really am sorry about your sketchbook." i apologized again, still standing awkwardly in front of him.

he didn't answer, just shook his head again and gestured over to the chair in front of him after a slight hesitation. i bit back my smile, and pulled out the chair in front of him, taking a seat.

i watched him as he rearranged his mug on the table so that it was in just the right place, now far away from his sketch pad. he wore a white v neck shirt that hung to him loosely, a bright pink and yellow rolling stones design dominating the front. his skinny jeans were dark and reminded me of the jeans girls in school used to wear all the time. he also wore black boots to match, which made me laugh a little.

my quiet laughter must have caught his attention because he looked back up at me, his expression blank for a few seconds before breaking out into a small smile. the corners of his pink lips turned upward, causing a few laugh lines to form.

he gave me a little wave, showing off two silver rings that were on his index and middle finger. i returned the smile and looked down at the table, suddenly kind of nervous.

neither of us spoke and the silence wasn't awkward. it was nice, comfortable even. we sat like that for a few minutes, just looking around the cafe with ease. i knew zayn was watching us, i could see him from the corner of my eye, and i could tell he was wearing that stupid smile over his face.

the boy in front of me cleared his throat, causing me to look over at him again. he was twiddling his thumbs atop the table almost nervously as he looked at me then down at his hands.

"i'm, uh, harry." he said slowly, his voice raspy and deep.

he rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, again looking up at me then back down again quickly. 

"belle," i replied with a smile.

"pardon?" he rose an eyebrow, a look of confusion taking over his features.

"my name...it's belle." i felt my face turn hot as i looked down at the table, starting to pick at my nails under the table again. 

"like the princess.." he chuckled quietly to himself.