~Harry~

Matt gripped my shirt, pulling me along the hall, and downstairs, leading me to almost trip and fall flat on my face. I was panting, Cassidy’s outburst leaving me tired and so confused.

Why the hell had she exploded like that, for no apparent reason? One moment, she was telling me to get out, and the next, she was trying to kick my ribcage in.

“Matt, what the fuck?” I asked loudly as he finally pulled me into the kitchen. There, he shoved me against the wall, gripping my collar tightly. I gulped lightly; I’d never seen him look this angry before.

“What do you know about Cassidy, Harry?” he asked me angrily, his eyes burning. I didn’t know what he meant, so after a moment, I just began rambling off small facts that I’d come to learn about her.

“She—she’s afraid of storms,” I stuttered, “She loves to swim, and she works out after—after each session.”

“Did you know that she also spent the last eighteen years of her life in an orphanage?” Matt questioned, venom laced in his voice.

My mind went blank, filled with only one thought: Shit.

“Oh, fuck,” I whispered, realising what I’d done. Shit, I was terrible. Matt nodded, a vein in his neck popping out. He was shorter than me, yet managed to look so much more intimidating when he was angry.

“Yeah, fuck,” he snapped, imitating me. He stepped back, raking his hands through his hair, “What the hell happened anyway?”

“I—I told her that she was being selfish,” I said quietly, guilt washing over me like a tidal wave, “And I told her that she had to quit being so rude to you, and then I asked if her parents had taught her anything,” I whispered the last part, feeling so horrible. I’d just killed the spirit of the girl that I was attracted to.

She hated me now. Well, she hated me anyways; she’d made that pretty clear.

“Shit!” Matt yelled, fisting his hands together, and I chewed on my lip, “I’m so sorry, mate,” I apologized, “I should go tell her that I—”

“No,” he cut me off, holding up his hand, “I think it would be better if you just left for now, Harry. I’ll see you Saturday.”

I hesitated but then nodded; he looked far too stressed for me to disagree with him, and I could tell that he had some serious damage control to do right at this moment.

“Alright,” I mumbled, pushing past him and walking down the hall, slipping out of the door, crossing the lawn quickly and getting back into my own house as quickly as I could. When I did, I immediately bolted for the stairs, skipping up them by threes and making my way to my room as quickly as possible.

I entered the room, running over to the window and hoping that Cassidy had her blinds up.
I was fully moved in, and my room was now adorned with my bed, dressers and nightstands, but right now, all I cared about was her.

“Please,” I silently pleaded, and almost whooped when I peeked through the window and saw her standing there, crying. Matt was there, trying to console her, his arms wrapped around her as she sobbed into his chest. A pang of jealously struck through me. I wanted to be the one up there, holding her, maybe even kissing her, and promising her that it would all get better.

She was gorgeous, even when tears were streaming down her face. I banged my head against the wall beside the window, and yelling out, “Fucking idiot!” to myself.

I was so stupid. All I’d wanted to do was tell her that she had to be nicer to Matt, but I’d ended up hurting her so deeply that I knew that whenever she’d see me, this day would play through her mind.

The words that had slipped out of my mouth hadn’t been true. I don’t know where they’d come from, it was as though something else had just completely taken over me. I wasn’t allowed to like her, Matt had said, and it was a cruel twist that the one girl that I’d finally been genuinely attracted to was off-limits.

It hit me. I’d been trying to get it out of my system. Thinking maybe that if I insulted her, said all of those things, I’d finally realise she wasn’t worth my time, and I could move on, looking for a girl that I was free to be with.

But I knew that this wasn’t some petty infatuation. Why did I still feel this odd feeling in my stomach as I watched her cry into Matt’s shoulder at this exact second? Why did I feel so jealous seeing him push her hair back and kiss the top of her head? Why did I feel the need to see her every day, and to constantly annoy her, just so that I could get a rise out of her, because it was the only time she would actually ever talk to me?

Fuck, I had it bad.

I watched her try and fail to wipe away her tears, more just replacing them as she fought to regain her composure.

It was odd, seeing her cry, like seeing one of your parents crying. She was so tough, so hard to crack, but a simple subject, like who her parents were, could send her over the edge and cause her to become miserable.

My chest actually ached, and I found it hard to breathe. She’d attacked me after I’d brought up the topic of parents, and I’d tried to defend myself. Fuck, I should’ve just let her kick and punch and scratch me, completely demolish my appearance, because I deserved it.

I tugged on my hair anxiously, so angry with myself. I was such a fuck-up, why had I said that? Things were so complicated, yet all I wanted was to hold her right now, and maybe touch her hair, just to smell it and see what it smelled like.

But my opportunity was gone.

~Cassidy~

I stood on the pool deck, anxiously tapping my foot, my hair falling down my back in waves. Where the fuck was Curly? The session started twenty minutes ago, and he still hadn’t showed up. What a fucking pussy. He was probably too scared to face me; meanwhile I should’ve been the vulnerable one right now.

I was done being weak. There, I’d had that one day where I’d let myself cry. That was it; I was back to being tough as nails. I promised I’d never let anyone see me cry, not even Matt, and it had been going fine until fucking Curly had barged into my life. Well, you know what?

Fuck him.

My goggles hung around my throat, and eventually I just sighed, kicking off my flip flops and pulling them up onto my face. I reached for an elastic band and tied my hair up into a messy bun. Hey, if he wasn’t going to show up, I could at least get some laps done while I was still here. I smiled; he wasn’t here, so I could go work out afterwards too.

I took a running start, swinging my hands forward at the last second and arching into a perfect dive. The water rippled lightly, and I opened my eyes underwater, swimming down to trace the tiled floor of the pool.

I sat down at the bottom for a moment, just thinking, before pushing back up with my feet and shooting up to the surface, taking a nonchalant, clean breath of air when I broke up over the water.

I swam over to the wall, gripping it with one hand, and used my feet to push off, beginning my first lap of front crawl. As my head came to the side to take long, even breaths, I couldn’t help but to feel ashamed.

I wasn’t supposed to show my vulnerable side. Up until a few days ago, when Curly had ruined my whole fucking week, I didn’t even think I’d had one. I hated crying, hated the way people stared at me like they’d just discovered a whole new species. It was uncomfortable being the focus of everyone’s stares, especially when they stared at you for something that you weren’t proud of.

I wasn’t a weak person. So why the fuck had I cried? Ever since that day, I’d been off, meaner, angrier than usual, all because I was ashamed of myself for allowing my tough exterior to crack and showing a bit of emotion.

Curly was a motherfucker.

I reached the end of the pool and put my arms on the edge, resting my head on my forearms and sighing. My hair trailed wet droplets down my back, and I closed my eyes for a moment, hating Harry Styles.

Just then, someone cleared their throat above me.

I looked up, annoyed, and my eyes narrowed into slits when my eyes landed on the devil himself. He was wearing his same outfit from last week, when I’d encountered him in the gym. A bandanna, black shorts and a white tank top.

I rolled my eyes and pushed away from the wall of the pool, continuing another lap. I didn’t want to talk to him.

I swam all the way to the other side of the pool and emerged from the water again, not bothering to look back at him. A moment later, I noticed that he was standing in front of me again, wearing a smug smirk. His arms were crossed over his chest, and I could see the faint outline of dark ink underneath the thin, white fabric of his top.

“What the fuck do you want?” I snapped, getting annoyed. I wrenched my goggles off, letting them fall around my neck, while he took a step closer. In response to that, I pushed back from the wall, deciding to tread water if it kept me from being within five feet of him.

I glared at him, my hands coming up to push my hair off of my forehead, momentarily treading with only my feet.

“Look,” he said, pulling off his running shoes—he wasn’t supposed to even be wearing them on the pool deck!—and sitting down at the edge of the pool, letting his calves dip into the water and mindlessly swirling his legs around, “I know you probably don’t even want to talk to me—,” I snorted as he continued, “—but I just wanted to tell you that I’m really sorry. I didn’t know.”

“Not knowing doesn’t give you a reason,” I shot back, slowly inching farther away from him. I don’t think he noticed.

He sighed, raking his fingers through his hair, jostling the bandanna that rested on his forehead. I took a moment to admire how put together his hair looked before snapping out of it, too angry at him and reminding myself that I didn’t care. Because I didn’t…I definitely didn’t.

“Just fuck off,” I sighed, making a move to turn back around. This was annoying me even more, and frankly, I hated this man. He could go fuck himself for all I cared.

He was a year older, yes, but he acted like a five year old, and I was tired of seeing him every day, wishing he’d pack up and move back to wherever the hell he came from.

My life had been fine until he’d strutted along into it and spilled coffee all over me.

“Let me take you out,” he blurted from behind me, and my eyes widened.

I turned around, “Excuse me?”

“You know,” he smirked, “Let me take you to a club. You could get wasted; Lord knows you need it. I’d find a girl to take home, it’d be a win-win situation.”

I actually laughed, so relieved; for a moment, I thought he’d been asking me out on a date. My nose wrinkled just thinking about it. Gross.

But fuck no.

“Yeah, no,” I fired at him, crossing my arms, my legs still moving around in circles while I kept myself up over the water, “I would, but since you’re just…you, I’ll pass. Now will you please fuck off?”

He smirked at me, and laughed loudly. I frowned at him; what the hell was so funny? Making an exasperated noise, I turned away, resuming swimming all the way to the other end of the pool. All I felt when I was around him was annoyance and irritation. Couldn’t he just leave me alone for once?

I reached the end of the pool before making a head-first surface dive down towards the bottom. I swam along the bottom of the pool, studying the cracks in the tiles as I went, hoping that when I came back up for air, Curly would be gone. I was fucking excellent at holding my breath, so I could stay down here for at least three minutes.

It was about a minute later that I felt the current of the water change. I looked to the side, confused, my hair—still in its ponytail—floating all around me. My gaze landed on a cheeky smile, and I gasped, being the idiot that I am.

Water immediately filled my nostrils and my mouth. I coughed underwater, panicking right away and trying to swim upwards to the surface, but all that came out was bubbles. I felt as though I was choking, my oxygen supply being cut short. The feeling of suffocation was a panicky sensation, something I couldn’t control. Subconsciously, I felt a pair of arms wrap around my waist.

And then everything went black.

Notes

Hope you liked it, guys! Please continue to give me feedback. Honestly, all of the comments inspire me and motivate me to write, so a few more of those would be much appreciated. Thank you!

VOTE, COMMENT, and SUBSCRIBE! It would really mean a lot to me.

Random fact: Dr. Seuss pronounced his name in a certain way so that it would rhyme with 'rejoice'.

~Thank you guys for everything so far~