Almost Lover (Harry Styles) - Book 1

Chapter 84: Three Words

-Harry's POV-

I spot Ava heading towards me across the room and my mouth drops open at the site of her. It's no surprise my eyes aren't the only ones on her as she makes her way through the room.

God, she's beautiful. Her hair is up and that dress looks amazing on her. I really can't believe I'm lucky enough to have this woman sleep in my bed every night.

"Hey you." She smiles at me as she stops right in front of me.

"Wow Av, you look... Just wow." I stumble over my words as I let my eyes scan up and down her body.

"Thanks." She blushes. "You clean up well."

"I try." I smile at her and bring my hand up to her cheek, rubbing my thumb across it as I lean down and kiss her.

As usual, she leans into the kiss making me wish I could deepen it. The feel of her lips are amazing, and I have to remind myself that we are in a room full of people to be able to control myself.

She pulls away from me and gives me a half smile. "I'm so glad you're here. I'm so nervous over this speech!"

"You'll do brilliantly love." I smile at her, happy to know she now relies on me to calm her down. I remember when we first met that Poppy was the only one able to do that, and I hoped I could someday do the same.

"I hope so." She pulls a note out of her clutch. "Will you read over it and make sure it sounds okay?"

"Sure." I smile at her as I unfold the note and read it over.

"It's ace Ava, really." I hand her back the note and she breathes a sigh of relief. She's so cute when she's nervous.

"So did ya use any of my suggestions?" Louie appears next to Ava and she immediately rolls her eyes at him.

"Word for word." She sarcastically replies.

"Good. It's sure to be a smash then!"

Lou appears next to Louie and grabs his arm, "Louis Tomlinson, if you dragged me here you better well dance with me."

"Well then do lead the way fine lady!" He smiles at her. It's nice to see he's in a good mood, even if its only because of the multiple glasses of champagne he's already consumed this evening.

"I do you believe you owe me this dance." I take Ava's hand and she readily accepts as I lead her towards the dance floor.

When we make it into the small sea of people dancing, I place one hand on her hip and the other I take in my own and hold it against my chest.

I'm really trying to enjoy myself but I still have the gnawing thought in the back of my mind this could all end because of what I did out of haste. Sadly when it comes to Ava I tend to act with my heart instead of my head.

At this point I think I've gotten everything properly fixed, but I'm still waiting on a call from our lawyer. And that one call could mean a world of difference.

"Where are you?" Ava's voice pulls me out thoughts.

"What?" I ask, a bit confused about the question.

"You aren't here with me. What's going on in that mind of yours?"

"Sorry love. Just a few things on my mind of late." I smile at her, trying to ease the worry I see written across her face.

"We could talk about it..."

"I would rather this evening be about having some fun with you. But maybe another time yeah?"

"Yeah okay." She responds, disappointment apparent in her tone.

The song we are dancing to ends and we all clap, thanking the band for their performance. Dinner is then announced and everyone makes their way into the dining hall, taking a seat at the long table.

The food is of course delicious. 'No expense spared' seems to be the theme of this event. I've not attended many like it, but the ones I have are always the same.

Thankfully all our seats were together, so none of us were stuck with some rich prudes we would to try to make conversation with. We may all be as wealthy, but the whole high society thing has never seemed to take hold of any of us.

Once dinner is finished we are all asked to make our way back to the ballroom for more dancing. Av's grip on my hand tightens so I'm assuming it's almost time for the part of the night she dreads. The part where she has to say something in front of a group of people.

I squeeze her hand in reassurance as everyone is asked to look towards the stage. Several different older men and woman say a few words, none that seem to be relevant to the charity this whole thing is supposedly for.

I put my hand on the small of Ava's back as we look towards the stage, gently rubbing it, hoping to help ease her nerves a bit.

The woman in charge, who Ava told me is named Margaret, takes the stage to announce the next speaker.

"Now we would like to ask Ava McCain to the stage to speak in behalf of her late grandmother Katherine Worthington."

There's already a round of applause given just at the mention of Katherine's name. She must really have had a large part in making this all a success.

I look down at Ava and she looks to be about ready to faint. I quickly lean down and kiss the side of her temple. "Stop doubting yourself. You'll do ace Av, I know it."

She half smiles at me and let's go of my hand to hand me her clutch before she makes her way onto the stage.

It's almost humorous how nervous I am for her right now when I don't have any nerves myself performing in front of hundreds of thousands of people. I guess that's just what love does to you, makes you more afraid for the other person than for yourself.

That and makes you mad enough to follow through on insanely horrid ideas.

Once Ava stops in front of the microphone her eyes find mine. I can't help but give her two thumbs up and stick my tongue out at her. She tries to stifle her laugh as she shakes her head at me as she starts her speech.

Five short minutes later she is done and a round of applause is given. She did an excellent job at shifting the focus back on the kids and I know her grandmother would be proud.

Dancing resumes as soon as Ava is finished and I make my way through the crowd to find her.

I finally spot her, talking to Margaret and several older gentleman.

I no more than walk up and put my hand on Ava's back before I hear their conversation.

"...yes excellent job Ava!" Margaret smiles at her, "But we are sad to see you decided to not take over your grandmothers role. You would have been stellar at it."

Ava furrows her eyebrows in confusion. "What do you mean, I decided not to?"

"The letters dear!"

Those three words make my heart fall out of my chest and roll across the floor. I thought I had taken care of everything but I hadn't.

I forgot the about the letters.

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A/N:

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