hate & other words || h.s au

eleven

"Trust me I'm not happy about this either," Harry whispers to me like he's afraid someone could hear our voices before he turns away from me and makes his way to the dining room. Within seconds, he disappears from my sight, giving me no chance to speak and ask him another question. For someone who claims that he doesn't have a single dramatic bone in his body (unlike me), he clearly has mastered the art of a dramatic exit.

Instead of joining our families straightaway, I stay at the hallway to compose myself, refused to let everyone see me in this state. So I take a deep breath whilst I try to wrap my head around what has just happened and make sense of it.

Sarah Turner, whom I thought was his soulmate for the last seven years, is actually not which means that I might be... God, I can't even bring myself to say it. Nothing could've prepared me for this turn of events even though I have entertained this very idea a number of times. And judging by the tone of his voice and the look on his face when he realises that I know, Harry must feel the same way.

It just doesn't make any sense. We're so sure that Sarah is his soulmate and I'm his enemy.

Unless... unless he has two enemies. At this point, I don't think that's entirely impossible. If the last few days have taught me anything, it's that anything is possible. So him having two enemies doesn't sound as insane as us being actual soulmates.

With that thought in mind, my heart calms a little, no longer wanting an out from my ribcage and I take a deep breath before I make my way to the dining room. As expected, the only empty seat left is the one next to Harry. The little bugger that is my heart remembers what it wants to do earlier and starts pounding again.

Weird.

When it comes to Harry, no parts of my body has ever reacted this way before and to say that I'm not used to it is an understatement. What I'm used to feeling when it involves Harry are annoyance, anger, annoyance again and anger again.

"Everything alright, honey?" My mum asks, breaking my train of thoughts.

"Yeah." I nod as I pull out the chair and take a seat next to Harry. Realising that no one has touched their food, I apologise, "Sorry for making everyone wait."

"It's fine," Vivian smiles reassuringly at me.

Harry barely acknowledges my existence — not that it's anything new because that's how we cope with being around each other when we're forced to — as he picks up a glass and downs half of the water. He barely says a word (I have a feeling our parents notice that because they keep exchanging glances with one another but no one says anything, thankfully) throughout dinner and by the time he's finished washing the dishes with Beau, he announces to everyone that he has to leave.

Under different circumstances, I'd let him leave. In fact, I always look forward to him leaving because dinner with the Styles family has always been more bearable and fun without him around -- I'm usually more relaxed when he's not with us but this time, it's the complete opposite. Knowing that within seconds he'll be out of here makes me restless. I can't let him leave until we've finished our conversation from earlier. And as much as I hate it, I have to go after him.

Shooting up from my seat, I cast a nervous glance at Vivian and Ralph then at my parents, "Excuse me, I have to--"

"Do what you gotta do," Vivian smiles like she knows something I don't -- it's the smile she offered to me when I walked into the dining room a few minutes after her son did. I nod and make my way out of the dining room to follow Harry. He's about to open the front door when I call out his name and stop him.