Hands shaking, I fumbled with my car keys and jammed them into the ignition. I was trying not to cry as I sped down the vacant road. "Just get away, get away," I repeated to myself, over and over. After catching my boyfriend, Matt, cheating on me with my friend, Haylee, I chose to leave his house before I did something I'd later regret. I turned down a road and headed to the first place I could think of.
Harry Styles had been my best friend since grade five. Even when the band he was in became big, he was still always there whenever I needed him. Knocking rhythmically five times on his door, I waited for his two knock response. It was a code we'd created in grade seven. He always knew who was at the door, I always knew who was answering. After he knocked, he opened the door wide. "Sam!" he shouted happily. His smile quickly faded when he saw the tears streaming down my face. "What's wrong?" he asked, wrapping me in a hug. I began to sob uncontrollably. I used to feel awkward crying around Harry, but not anymore. He had been wiping up my tears for seven years now; if felt normal.
There we stood, in the middle of the entryway to his flat. Me, sobbing on his chest and he, not saying a word, just rubbing my back, trying to calm me down. When I was able to breathe normally again, Harry led me over to the couch where we could sit. I sat next to him, draping my legs over his lap. "What's wrong?" he asked again.
"Matt cheated on me," I said, biting my lower lip to prevent myself from sobbing. He was silent for a while. I just stared at my hands and let the tears flow once more. I needed Harry to tell me everything was okay, that there were plenty of fish in the sea, like he always did. Why wasn't he saying anything?
Finally, he spoke, "Why do you do this?" I looked at him and noticed tears brimming in his eyes. In all my years with Harry, I had never seen him cry. "You get a boyfriend, he treats you like shit, and then you come to me, crying, totally beside yourself! It kills me! Every time, I pray that you'll see what I've wanted you to see for seven years, but you never do." I looked at him, totally clueless to what he was talking about. "I love you Samantha! I always have! Right when I met you, I knew. I know that sounds stupid, because we were eleven, but I promise, I knew." The tears were flowing from both of our eyes now.
I was speechless. It all clicked. The late nights on the phone, the parties, the pity sessions, the jokes Louis told so many times in various band interviews, all made sense. And finally, I felt right. My emotions weren't off the wall. It was like something finally awoke inside me, and I knew. "I-I love you too, Harry," I whispered. With that his lips came crashing into mine.