Cheating By The Rules | Harry Styles AU (ongoing)

chapter 08

I had gotten no response from Harry, so I drank the wine I had purchased and eaten the home-cooked meal I had spent too much time on.

The food tasted even better the more I drank the beverage I had selected to go along with it. How could Jace say no to this food and my company? I had never been an emotional eater or drinker, but I was right now and it eased the pain a little.

I kept on eating what I had prepared even though I was full and had lost my appetite because of him, but I'd never throw this perfectly good meal away after I had gotten my meetings rescheduled and spent my free time setting all of this up.

If someone had done this for me, I wouldn't have walked away like that. I imagined myself being in Jace's shoes and him preparing a meal for me. I pictured how it would've been if we were on good terms, I returned from work and adored him for doing that for me. I thought of the conversations we'd have, the incredible meal, the delicious wine, and how we would make love till late at night; all of our senses heightened and our problems nonexistent.

As much as I forced myself to picture Jace's face, his face had turned into somebody else's the more I was trapped in my imaginary world.

I found myself repeating the entire story I had come up with, but with a man who had sparked something unknown inside of my body. A man who had gotten me hooked since the moment we met.

Harry Styles.

I saw myself unlocking the front door, putting my coat away, and walking straight to the kitchen as he called out for me in his deep voice. I'd see him standing there with the most handsome smile on his face as he cleaned his hands with a towel. He'd push his hair back while walking over to me, he'd lean in, and press his lips on my cheek like he had done the times we had been together.

"What is all this?" I'd ask him, all surprised by what he had done.

"I figured we haven't done this for quite some time." he'd reply to me, his hand resting on my lower back to escort me to the table which was perfectly set. Candles were lit and I could smell its cherry scent as if they were burning right now.

"Do we have something to celebrate?" I'd bring up as I admired Harry opening the bottle and filling our glasses.

He'd smile at me, finding me adorable for thinking we needed to have a reason for evenings like this.

"We don't." he'd tell me. "I want to spend an evening with you at home. Just you and me. That's all I need."

Living in a daydream didn't last long, because I woke up and felt fouled up by the silence I was surrounded with.

He wasn't here and the minute I scanned the room, reality had caught up with me. I had been eating the meal in the kitchen alone, accompanied by a bottle of red wine, and I had passed out while doing so.

I sighed deeply as I knew I was the only one present in the house considering I had been abandoned hours ago.

I thought of the breakdown I had had and how I had taken my phone to text som-

I texted Harry.

"Fuck." I cursed through the kitchen and found myself getting away from the table and rushing to the counter. Standing in the same spot from where I had reached out to him, I looked at the bright screen.

Two missed calls.

Three unread messages.

Harry had called me twice, but I hadn't heard a thing since I had muted it when I arrived from work. I had expected to have an evening with Jace and I didn't want anybody to interrupt us. My good intentions had turned out to be a waste because I had been unable to answer his calls or texts on time.