SHE (bk 1)

NINETEEN

Clementine was scared.

After her outburst at Max in front of Harry he hadn't contacted her at all in the past two days. The logical part of her believed he was just busy with work and would talk to her when he was free but the illogical part assumed he thought she was crazy. 

She felt incredibly guilty about how she acted in front of him, throwing an object at her abuser without little regard for anything else. Clementine had let him get under her skin once again and bring out the worst in her, but she felt the tiniest bit of pride for standing up for herself. He had his grip on her for too long and it was restraining her from being her best self.

Although, the thought of Harry seeing her in such a bad light put the fear of God in her. She didn't want him to think she was just as abusive as Max was, in fact she had never gotten physical with him. Clementine had always just took the pain and said nothing, but this time she had just reached her breaking point. 

She couldn't stand the way he talked about her mother with such little respect, her mother was the most important person to her to exist. But Harry was different, she felt like she could be real with him and honest in every aspect. 

So here she was standing in front of what she hoped was his building, the last time she was here she was incredibly drunk. As she walked through the giant gold doors though it was unmistakably his building, it was so beautiful. "You lost ma'am?"

Her eyes glance over to the tall man standing in a suit behind the golden desk, his gaze traveling her body before raising an eyebrow. She was dressed in a white t-shirt that said 'be happy' on the front with ripped jeans, beat up brown boots adorning her feet. Clementine knew she wasn't dressed the best but this man acted as if she were dressed in a potato sack.

"Uhh i'm here to see my friend...Harry Styles," her voice was small and the look on the mans face turned to anger, she immediately stepped back as he pointed a finger at her. 

"I know your little games, you girls come in all the time saying he's your 'friend' when in reality he doesn't even know you. Shall I call up to ask if he knows you?"

Clementine notices the smirk growing on his face as he thinks he has caught her in a lie, but instead she steps forward and leans on the counter. "Yes please, my name's Clementine Adamillo."

He gives her a shocked glance before he suspiciously picks up the phone to give Harry a call, "Hello sir sorry to bother you but I have a Clementine Adamillo down here to see you? Says she's a friend," immediately his eyes widen and his mouth drops slightly as he sets the phone back onto the desk.

"I am so sorry Miss Adamillo go on up...just put this card against the scanner in the elevator and push floor fourteen," she gives him a nod and a kind smile before retreating to the elevator. Passing a woman wearing a giant fur coat as she comes out of it, eyes looking Clementine up and down. 

It must be very obvious she is not rich. 

The elevator ride was short and the doors opened to a familiar cold atmosphere, the warming sound of a guitar playing in the distance. She peers around the corner and sees the kitchen is empty as well, traveling into the room with a piano a couple people occupying it. 

Harry was sitting on the couch with headphones on and a guitar sitting on his lap, playing a couple chords while a man with long hair wrote down things. She felt as if she was interupting something, moving to leave before she was seen until the man with long hair looks up.

"Oh you must be Clementine," he stands up from the couch and Harry immediately shoots his gaze over to the nervous blonde in the doorway. She looked beautiful as ever. "I'm Mitch, and I've heard so much about you."

Clementine immediately steps forward into the room to shake his hand, mouth lifting into a smile as she spoke, "I have not heard about you but that's just because I didn't know Harry was famous...it's lovely to meet you Mitch," her lip is pulled into her mouth and Mitch laughs loudly.

"Yeah he did tell me he was keeping that from you...you must have passed the test though because you're still around," he observes looking between the two of them, Harry's cheeks heating up. 

Mitch had spent countless nights hearing Harry speak endless amounts about this girl, the way her eyes poured out kindness and her smile could mend a bad day. He could see what he was talking about, Clementine had a beautiful way about her. 

He could also see Harry's whole demeanor change once she had walked into the room, his spirit lifting and eyes lighting up into the happiest gaze he had ever seen. Mitch had been around through all of Harry's breakdowns and around for the heart break Camille had caused, endless tears drowned him for weeks. 

Clementine was different than Camille, they might have looked similar but Camille lacked the warmth Clementine so easily gave off. She didn't act like the world owed her anything, she knew she had to work for what she wanted. 

"We were actually just writing a song about yo-," Harry immediately threw a notebook a Mitch making Clementine jump in place, eyes wide as the curly headed man sent a mean look to his friend. "I am going to get a...drink," he comes up with trying to remove himself from the situation. 

Mitch disappeared and Harry stood from the couch, "You stole my idea of showing up without any notice," his joke makes her lips twitch into a smile, so he wasn't upset she had just popped up with no notice at all. 

"I just I hadn't heard from you in a couple days and thought I scared ya off," she lets out a small laugh but he could tell that was her actual thought. She wasn't aware there was nothing she could do to scare him off, her claws were deeply sunken into him.

He had once wondered if he was infatuated with her because she was the exact opposite of everything he had ever dated. Although, he knew it was something more than that when the small feelings he had for her surfaced even when she wasn't around. Every second of every day he thought about her smile, her eyes, and her beautiful soul. 

It was almost odd to him, to feel so strongly toward someone this soon. It was terrifying.

"You couldn't scare me off if you tried," he spoke in an even tone, not looking away because he wanted her to know how wrapped around her finger he was. She looked away.

Clementine could not and would not believe someone like him could look at her like that, with adoration and respect. Max had never looked at her like that in her life...no one had. 

She didn't know what she deserved but Harry knew, and he was going to show her.