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Chapter 12 – Valerie’s P.O.V.

            “What the actual crap?” I asked as I looked out the window, seeing Harry had parked right in front of some woods. Great. I knew this was too good to be true. Harry feels like he’s stuck with me, so he’s going to murder me and blame it on a bear attack.

            …. Did I really just say that?

            God, talk about brain damage…

            Harry flashed me his dimpled smirk. “Don’t worry. I’m not going to kill you,” he laughed, as if reading my mind. “There’s actually a couple of cabins back there. Don’t laugh at me, but I was looking up cool places to go, and there’s something back there I want to show you.”

            “A gun?”

            Harry laughed. “Most definitely. I’ve always been the guy to murder people,” he joked back, making me smile. “Now come on, woman.”

            “Woman? Whale then…”

            “Did you just say ‘whale’?” Harry chuckled.

            I felt my cheeks heat up. “It’s kind of how I say ‘well,’” I told him.

            Harry smirked. “That’s cute,” he winked, making my cheeks heat up even more.

            Harry got out the car, opening my door for me as we started walking towards the entrance. Harry pointed out a trail, but I groaned as I saw it was a hill. “Harry, there’s something you should know about me,” I muttered as we both started walking.

            “And what’s that?”

            I raked a hand through my hair. “I’m not one for physical exercise,” I admitted. Both because I was lazy, and because of my condition, but we’d stick with the laziness for now. I don’t want to scare him off.

            Harry chuckled, but then caught me off guard when he froze in his tracks. I stared in confusion as his arms stretched behind him. He glanced over his shoulder at me. “Whale,” he mimicked me, making me smile a mile wide. “Do you want a ride or not?” he asked.

            Holy shit.

            Harry Styles wants to give me a piggyback ride.

            Breathe, Valerie. Breathe.

            “I want,” I told him, making him chuckle again as I hesitated.

            “Come on, love. You can’t be that heavy,” he said, realizing my hesitation. The last thing I needed was my idol dropping me because I’m fat.

            I sucked in a sharp breath, placing my hands on his shoulders as I forced my legs to spring into a small leap. Harry’s large hands cupped the back of my thighs right under my knee, holding firmly so he wouldn’t drop me. “Harry, if I’m too heavy—“

            “Are you serious?” Harry laughed. “Valerie, you’re far from heavy. And even if you were, I’d carrying you across the world if I had to.”

            My heart dropped at the sincerity in his voice. He basically just admitted he doesn’t care how much a girl weighs. That’s literally the sweetest thing any guy could ever say, but hearing it from Harry only made me love him more. Hell, he even said if I was obese, he’d carry me across the world.

            That’s pretty damn sweet, if you ask me.

            Harry stuck to his promise as he carried me up the hill, making small talk with me as he got me to laugh. I liked the way our laughter entwined into a beautiful harmony. Even though my laugh was obnoxious as crap, his was angelic and sweet and fit perfectly with mine. I could really get used to this sound, but then again… I could really get used to this, period. Harry Styles, is what I can get used to.

            “So, I thought you said it wasn’t far?” I asked, my head laying on his shoulder as my arms loosely hung around his neck. I took in his scent, thinking about all the previous time I’ve fangirled over what Harry smelt like.

            I finally found out.

            And Jesus; it was magical. Breathtaking, even.

            Harry chuckled. “We’re almost there. Don’t fall asleep, love.”

            “I’m not,” I partially lied. In all honestly, I could fall asleep right now. My head on his shoulder, my arms around his neck and my legs around his torso. The way his hands firmly held onto me was all the more comfort I needed. I could pass out.

            “You sound sleepy,” Harry said quietly, making my heart flutter at the roughness of his deep British accent.

            “A little bit,” I said, earning another soft laugh from Harry. “It’s been a crazy few days.”

            “Agreed,” Harry said. I propped my chin on his shoulder to keep from falling asleep. Harry turned his head to look at me, giving me a small smile as we finally reached the top of the hill. Harry let me slide off his back, but then he covered my eyes with his hands.

            “What are you doing?” I giggled as he started blindly leading me forward.

            “You can’t see yet,” he said.

            I sighed, but didn’t argue because I knew I would lose. Harry swiftly guided me, his hands still clamped over my eyes as I soon heard rushing water. It sounded like a water fall, crashing into a large pool of a lake or something in that category. My eyebrows furrowed under Harry’s hands, the fresh scent of water filling my nose.

            “Ta da,” Harry beamed as he removed his hands from my face.

            An audible gasp escaped my lips as I realized we were on a cliff-like thing. My assumption of a waterfall was proven correctly as the beautiful water fluently fell into the lake. I inched towards the edge, looking down and seeing we were only about ten or so feet up. The sight was breathtaking, mesmerizing in every way, shape, or form. I’ve never seen a waterfall in person before, but this was just amazing.

            “Wow,” I breathed out, then spun around to a smiling Harry. “How did you find this?”

            Harry shrugged, the same dimpled smile tugging at his lips. “I told you. I was internet surfing.”

            I smiled back at him, then looked down at the sparkling water beneath. “It’s so pretty.”

            Harry was soon standing beside me. “Let’s take a swim, yeah?”

            I turned to look at him, my eyebrows etching together in confusion. “We don’t have bathing suits, and I’m definitely not going naked.”

            Harry laughed. “You don’t have to go naked, love.” I then watched in awe as Harry tugged off his shirt, tossing it on the ground. He kicked on his shoes, pulled off his socks and then started unbuttoning his pants. I awkwardly looked away, even though my eyes wanted to trail over his toned and tattoos covered body. “I’m going with or without you,” Harry chuckled and I turned back, seeing he was just in his boxers.

            Holy fuck, breathe, Valerie.

            Before I had the chance to respond, Harry sent me another smirk before jumping into the water, plunging the ten or so feet. He came up, flinging his wet curls to the side as he stared up at me. I nervously bit my lower lip, glancing over the edge again as Harry spoke. “Come on, Val. Don’t leave me down here by myself,” he pleaded.

            Insecurity swept over me as I realized I’d be in my bra on underwear. In front of Harry fucking Styles. Not to mention the tiny fear eating at the pit of my stomach at the thought of jumping off this miniature cliff. It wouldn’t kill me, but it doesn’t exactly look safe, if that makes any sense at all.

            “Valerie, please?” Harry begged, still squinting up at me through the blazing sun as I sucked in a deep breath.

            I stepped back to where I couldn’t see him, hoping he couldn’t see me as I tugged off my shirt. My face was already heating up at the thought of Harry seeing me half naked, but I tried to ignore it as I pulled off my converse and socks.

            “You better be glad I love you, Styles,” I muttered under my breath as I fumbled with my jean’s button.

            Subconsciously, I wrapped my arms around my stomach as I bit my lower lip. Closing my eyes, I tried to grab ahold of all my senses as I forced my legs to move. Trying to block out the fear and insecurity, I let my feet leave the ground as I dived into the water, the coolness overwhelming me in a relaxing way. I came up to see Harry smirking as I pushed my wet hair out my face.

            “I was starting to think you abandoned me,” Harry chuckled as he swam closer to me. I was well aware of how clear the water was, but I tried not to look down at either of us. I didn’t need a reminder of how insanely beautiful Harry’s body was, compared to my insanely disgusting body was.

            “I was thinking about it,” I told him, which was a full-out lie. Leaving Harry would be like abandoning an infant on the side of the road. Truly impossible and heartless.

            Harry smirked as he swam closer to me. “I’m glad you didn’t,” he said softly, his arms wrapping around my bare waist. I realized I could touch, but just barely. I had to stand on my tippy toes to keep my whole head over, but with Harry’s height, standing on his flat-feet didn’t bother him.

            Still, my breath hitched in my throat as he pulled me closer to him. “What are you doing?” I breathed out in a voice barely above a whisper. My heart was pounding so hard, I couldn’t even hear my own thoughts.

            Harry smiled as his grip tightened, his forehead resting against mine. “Getting that kiss you owe me,” he whispered, his emeralds flickering over my lips.

            Before I could refuse (as if I would—please, I’d take a kiss from Harry Styles any day), Harry’s soft lips met mine in a gentle way. My hands slid up his bare chest, as if naturally, and then circled around his neck. Harry’s hands trailed down my sides to beneath my upper thigh, cupping them and giving me the signal to jump. Hesitantly, I did so and wrapped my legs around his torso, all while keeping our lips still intact. Still aware that neither of us had much clothing on, I could feel my cheeks heating up as the kiss deepened slightly.

            Harry lightly pulled away, but kept our foreheads locked together. “What if I told you I wanted to kiss you for the rest of my life?” he whispered, his eyes trailing up my face to lock with mine.

            I bit my lower lip, that damn blush still on my face. “I’d call you crazy and tell you that you deserved better,” I admitted shamefully, tearing my gaze from his.

            “You are better,” he whispered, just as my eyes met his again. He cracked a small smile, just enough for his left dimple to crater. “I’ve never liked a girl this soon before,” he told me, making my lips part in shock.

            “Harry, you can’t like me,” I told him, watching as his eyebrows etched together in confusion. I managed my own smile. “Not when there are thousands of other girls out there that deserve you more than me.”

            Harry’s grip tightened on my thighs as he pressed his forehead further into mine. “I don’t want those girls, Valerie. I want to be with you. Only you,” he whispered.

            I shook my head against his. “Harry, believe me, I’ve dreamed of you saying those words to me… but sooner or later, we both have to wake up. I mean, you’re going on tour soon, anyway. It’s not like an ‘us’could actually happen,” I told him, regretting every single word but knowing it had to be said. It’s better for nothing to happen and him leave, then something happening and him leave. I’d rather be sad than heartbroken.

            Believe me, there is a huge difference between the two.

            “Don’t say that,” Harry said firmly. “Valerie, in the few days I’ve known you, you’ve given me some of the best few days of my life. That’s not exaggerating. Losing you isn’t an option when I barely have you to begin with.”

            “You know as well as I do that I’m practically wrapped around your finger,” I said, earning a weak smile in return.

            “You know everything about me,” Harry admitted. “But what do I know about you?” I shamefully looked away as Harry said, “I want to know you, Valerie.”

            I pursed my lips together tightly, forcing back tears as I shook my head once more. “You don’t want to know me, Harry. It’s better that way. For both of us,” I said weakly, feeling extremely guilty as Harry’s face fell.

            “If knowing you is a risk, then I’ll risk it,” Harry told me firmly. “How bad could you possibly be?”

           I sucked in a sharp breath as I forced my eyes to meet his again. Seeing the true innocence in his emeralds only made my heart ache more.

            If only he knew…