Chapter 2.

"Anna, this place is beautiful." I said in astonishment, there were Calatheas sitting on hanging shelves and beautiful patterned tiles lining the walls with florals. Large light bulbs at every corner held not light but greenery, it felt like an instant home. In my first 24 hours living here, I can confidently say that I can see it easily becoming that.

Days past and I was settling in, I hadn't visited many other places outside of my apartment and Anna's café. I had completely forgotten about whatever surge of crazy got into me that made be give that man a flower. I really don't know what I thought that would do.

She smiled while pulling out an old apron for me to use. The apron was light green, I had to tie it around me multiple times to adjust the size. I tried to thank her, but she turned me down.

"No need to thank me, Darby. I owe plenty to you simply for the joy you've given me." She shook her head as she talked and wiped down the counter as well as the counter above the glass case that beheld the sweets.

"Have you met any friends yet? Any friends in your same apartment?" She kept the conversation afloat flawlessly, but I couldn't help but laugh at her eagerness.

"No, Anna, I haven't even been here for a full day yet." I smiled at her, hearing the café's doors clink open. I should have looked. "Though I did somehow manage to meet some famous guy at the florist yesterday. It was so strange I-"

"Ciao come posso aiutarti?" She said to the customer. He replied to her with, "Mi dispiace, non parlo italiano." He laughed and it was scary familiar.

I looked up from my hands to find him again. This time wearing some probably-gucci floral shirt that could be easily thrifted. I don't know how he saw me, much less how he knew I was here, but I met his eyes as he looked over his shoulder.

(i'm so sorry lol ignore the words under that one)

I didn't notice Anna's grin until it was much too late.

"That girl over there is Darby. And I am Anna." She said, boldly. Bold... it was kind of her thing. "Well, Anna," He said, his voice growing bubbly, "Your Darby is beautiful, and so are you." He placed his hands behind his back, bowing slightly towards Anna, and his nodding towards me. I had nothing to say, I only finished up sweeping in order to find the confidence to speak to him.

It happens with everyone. It's not an intimidation thing, just a personal mental block.

"Harry? Styles," I struggled to know if I was allowed to call him by only his first name or not. "What are you doing here? On this fine... " I checked the date. "This fine sunday morning."

"Nothing, actually. And just Harry is fine." He smiled a cheeky smile, he knew exactly what he was doing. "Just craving some... blueberry tartes." He read straight from the menu that was behind me. Something about the way he leaned forward, with his hands behind his back, it was nothing a writer could express. But I was not mesmerized. And it was not working on me. I did not need distraction. He was kind though.

Today he was wearing some cream flare pants, and they caught my eye as stunning. The second I noticed them I felt the need to compliment them. "Those pants! Those are sick, Harry." He looked down at his feet. "Absolutely love them, I'm serious." I said again. "Thank you!" He raised his eyebrows again. He did that a lot.

He ordered the blueberry tart with frosting drizzled across the top, as well as a second one for me. He insisted.

"How long are you in Italy?" I asked, pulling out my chair and sitting down. I noticed his hand on the back of my chair as I did so.

"As long as I need."

A very vague answer. He's probably working on something. "You're working on something, aren't you?" I laughed, and he chuckled. I felt his leg start to bounce up and down. He stopped it soon after, I knew he forced himself to. But he started picking at his lips and tapping his fingers on the table. After dealing with anxiety my entire life, even without the pressure of being one of the most popular humans on the planet, I knew he just needed a distraction.

If I could trace everything back to one thing it would be this. I didn't even mean to say it, really. But I did say it. How in the world did I say it?

"Do you want to come to my apartment?" I surprised myself. I did not know this man, he did not know me, my house has almost nothing in it, he is Harry Styles, and i am darby eden. My brain fought me all the way up until his answer. A simple "why?" I should have explained that to begin with.

"I just was thinking that maybe you'd like a distraction. From uh... work. And being Harry Styles, you know? You don't have to be him all the time."

"That sounds... wonderful. I want to be him, erm... me of course, I think it's important to be myself, yeah. I don't know really, just not... the one everyone, um, knows." His face was quite serious. "Not all the time. I still want them to know the real-- me, it's just tiring being up front uh-- all the time." I nodded my head. Of course I couldn't personally relate to his fame, beauty, popularity, etc-- but I felt I was the best at imagining just what it could be like for him. "I'm exhausted just thinking about it." I shook my head. He smiled a bit.

"We can walk to my house, it's only two blocks, and I can-- I can show you my favorite songs. I have an endless list, I could go on for hours and I'm sure you could do the same." "As long as we also talk favorite films." He added, wiggling his pointer finger in the air. Something that made me smile.

It felt so natural I hardly questioned it. My brain, one made to question nearly every breath I breathe. I laughed at my own thoughts as we walked. Another thing I unknowingly did a lot.

"What's so funny?" He asked, furrowing his brows.

"Nothing, sorry, I just laugh at myself... I'll just think something funny, it just comes out." I shook it off. I ruffled through the bag that crossed my body and pulled out a pair of jumbled headphones. It took me a bit of time but I hurried to untangle them. I plugged them into my phone, and offered him one.

He said nothing but took it and put it in his ear, running his hand through his hair. My phone, before I could get to changing it, started playing what I had previously been listening to. Mia and Sebastion's Theme from La La Land. One of my favorites, but it always made me cry. I did, in fact, do so. I wiped it away quickly. Everything was silent around us, the music felt like peace, walking through an empty street with breath in your lungs and a heart at ease.

He let me be, probably understanding.

"Speaking of movies," He said long after, "a modern favorite of mine, Darby." "I could go on and on." I responded, dreamily.

I went to my monthly favorites playlist and shuffled it, hoping that whatever would come up would be something he would like. I felt mostly confident it would be.

Stardust by Louis Armstrong.

"Stardust." he guessed right away. "Incredible taste." His eyes crinkled at the sides as he chef-kissed his fingertips. It made me smiley.

The sun was setting slowly in the sky, we were nearly there, it wasn't far in the first place really. The light it was giving off was to die for, a lovely shade of orange coated everything in its path. "This is me." I said, pointing up towards my balcony. I skipped up to the front door's steps and unlocked the door.

...

"It's 40% Seven Wonders, 60% Sara for me." I laughed, though I was extremely serious. We sat on the floor, legs crossed. I had previously placed my new plants around, but I now only had a couple of desks, a rugged old mattress, and a couple of old paintings on the walls left by the last people. I noticed Harry looking at an identical tulip to the one the lady had chosen for him from me, in a vase in the kitchen. Nice move, florist cashier lady.

"Oh, oh!" I leaned forward touching his leg, "And another 100% The Chain, of course. It's legendary."

He threw his head back in laughter, "That's 200% darling, you can't have 200 percent of favorite Fleetwood Mac songs."

"I definitely think that you can." I rebuttled. "Ok, well, and yours is?"

"Landslide. Too easy." "Stunning." I commented.

He brought his hands to his mouth, scratching his lip, and I noticed he only had his "H" ring on, without the "S" on his pinky. "Your 'S' ring? Where'd it go?" I asked, blatantly. I much too distinctly remember the two rings from before, I instantly recognized them as iconic.

He paused for a moment, to think of what he was going to say. He fiddled with the ring once more. "Today I felt like just Harry."

"How do you feel about that?" I wondered.

"It's like a breath of fresh air, Darby." He smiled some cheeky smile and it made me laugh again at his purposeful cheesiness.

"Lonely Star" by Oh Wonder

The moon continued to fill the sky. It was pretty outside, I left the balcony doors open to let the cool air in. I noticed that it always was pretty here, it never took a break.

All we did was talk. It was calm, I felt calm. I noticed it a couple times, the way that my restless leg was completely still, or the steadiness of my breath. I was proud of myself for that.

"Goodnight, Harry." I said as he walked through the door frame. He made a slow turn to face me, allowing the light of the moon through the window behind him to trace each and every one of his features.

He only looked at me. My mind wandered. To places and depths that I hadn't yet fallen to. I needed people. Connections. I hadn't even had the chance yet. Too much had happened.

I witnessed a look in his eyes that made me feel important. Realizing that I'd never before felt that made me feel gutted. I blamed it on myself. Everything that had happened to me in the past, it felt so self-induced.

I needed to write it down, that feeling where the moon is the only thing present to capture the weight of a self-inflicted lonely heart. There was something about the night that made everything feel too familiar. Too fast.

"I'm sorry," I interrupted the quiet. "I have something to write down."

He then left.