SHE (bk 1)

NINE

CLEMENTINE 

Harry seemed...nervous.

As the two walked down the street of New York he would turn his head away from people as they walked by or simply cover his face with his hands. He was almost paranoid and she couldn't figure out why, wondering if he was afraid to be seen with her all of a sudden. 

"Harry are you okay?," she asks as he nods at a girl who points at him and whispers to her friends walking with her. Did he know her? It was almost as if he knew most of the people that walked past him on the last block back to her apartment, his name being whispered around her. 

His head nods and she raises an eyebrow, "I'll tell you later okay?," he smiles down at her and she smiles back up at him, a flash scaring her as she looks across the street. A man with a camera pointed right at them scared her, his beady eyes looking her up and down before taking another picture. "Clementine don't look at him, look down," he orders. 

The tone of his voice scares her and she easily follows his orders, eyes peering at the cement as they kept walking toward her building. His posture was rigid and his jaw was set tight as she peeked up at him, "Harry?," his name falling from her lips sounded so right. 

His eyes softened and posture relaxed as he gave her a reassuring smile, but it didn't reach his eyes. He was going to have to tell her exactly who he was when they got to her apartment, and he dreaded it so badly. 

She looked away from him and back to the cement like she had been told but Harry stayed looking at her. The blonde hair pushed behind her ear was falling into her face messily and her nose was crinkled as they passed someone who smoked. Clementine's tongue sticking out in disgust at the atrocious smell lingering around them, she was adorable.

"Made it," she breathes out pulling a key from her purse and letting Harry walk in first before looking back at the man who was still following them. He had the camera up to his eye and took another picture before she retreated into her building, a weird feeling pulsing through her. She felt creeped out and overly exposed, like he violated her privacy.

The two strangers stayed silent as she opened her apartment door, allowing Harry to enter before she did. "Why was that guy taking pictures of us?," she asks before she can stop herself and she watches as he plops down on the sofa eyes avoiding her. 

"Okay I have to tell you something but promise me you won't freak out?," he questions desperately and she slowly nods her head tucking more hair behind her ear as she sits across from him. "I know you don't know who I am but..." 

He stands up and runs a hand through his hair, the simplest thing seemed like the hardest words to leave his mouth ever. Hurt pulling into his stomach as he pictured every response she could have, not one of them being good.

"I am kind of famous Clementine, I was in this band called One Direction but now we split up and I am a solo artist. I was doing a show that one night I showed up on your rooftop, but those people taking pictures and following me? They're fans and I was going to tell you believe me but I was afraid you'd treat me differently," Harry avoids looking at the girl sitting in an arm chair across the room afraid of her reaction. 

He hears her shift in her seat before she speaks, "A little full of yourself eh?," Harry's eyes immediately shoot over to her before a look of shock takes over his face. She's laughing.

Clementine giggles into her hand as Harry looks at her like she has four heads, "You think I'd treat you like anyone else besides the guy who showed up onto my roof randomly one night?," she questions and he just catches the look of hurt in her eyes before she turns away from him.  

He walks slowly back to the couch he had got up from and sits down again watching her posture deflate, "No that's not what I meant...I just... people tend to want to be friends with me for my money or because I'm ...me," he blurts out and she smiles gently down at her fingers twisting in her lap.

"Well I have no idea who you are so you'll always just be Harry to me," his heart does a somersault and she looks up at him through her long eyelashes, "So you're a singer?"

Her question was quiet and he felt a weight fall off his chest once he realizes she was just interested in knowing more about him. "Yeah and I'm pretty good."

Clementine feels an involuntary smile pull at her lips and his follow suit, "Okay cocky...i'm going to start dinner," she rolls her eyes and moves into the kitchen, her coat forgotten on one of the stools. 

His eyes devour her high waisted jeans and sheer black shirt tucked into it with a tank top underneath. He wondered if she ever wore it with just a bra underneath, his head shaking at his somewhat dirty thought. It's Clementine. 

He got up and sat down at the circular wooden table sitting in the middle of her kitchen, watching her pull things from the refrigerator. "Jonathan told me earlier ya know?," she questions with a small smile. 

Harry's eyes nearly pop out of his head and she lets a small laugh fall from her lips, "He told me Maya loved your album but I didn't want to say anything because you looked like you were going to shit your pants when I was walking back to you."

She starts to cut up vegetables as he stares her down, "Why'd you wait?," he curiously asks and she shrugs her shoulders easily. 

"It's not my place...you obviously didn't want me to know so I wanted you to tell me when you felt comfortable."