Addison's P.O.V~



When I closed my front door, I turned around to see Harry standing dangerously close to me. I eyed him up and down with wide eyes and backed away a little bit.

"Er, sorry." He mumbled and scratched the back of his head.

"It's fine." I said back as I started to walk to Harry's car. He brought the Range Rover again which stuck out like a sore thumb, not exactly what I had in mind. Before I got to the car, Harry jumped ahead of me in time to open the door for me.

"Thanks." I said with a weak smile as I got in and he closed the door. He then proceeded to get in on the driver's side and turn on the ignition.

I was kind of scared to ask where he was taking me, considering what occurred the last time I was in his car.

"So where are we going?" I asked cautiously. Harry messed with his hair a tad before answering.

"It's a surprise." He said with his signature cheeky smile. Oh Lord, what have I gotten myself into, I thought to myself as we continued to drive down the road.

After a couple turns, I realized where he was taking me.

The lake.

Part of me was surprised, but another part of me wasn't. The lake was where it all started for us. It's where we became best friends. It's where we could get away from the real world and pretend everything was perfect for a few hours.

"You would take me here." I said with a small smile.

"Is this okay? I don't want you to feel.. uncomfortable." He said quickly and in a panic.

"No, no Harry! It's kind of perfect actually."

My response caused his worried face to disappear and be replaced with a beaming smile. I was beginning to notice how older he looked. Sure, I know he's not the same boy he was two years ago, but by looking at him it seemed like he was a 25 year old man. It didn't bother me, it just made me wonder how fast he had to grow up in such a short amount of time.

"Well we're here." Harry's husky voice snapped me out of my thoughts just in time for me to realize that we had arrived at the lake.

I was going to open my door myself but Harry beat me to it, opening it and motioning with his arm for me to get out like I was some princess in her carriage.

"Come my lady." Harry said, trying not to laugh at himself for just saying that. He grabbed my hand and started leading me into the trees by the lake. His hands were soft and warm, and I was tempted to hold on tighter but I knew better.

After walking for a bit, Harry stopped and I saw what he had planned.

There was a small picnic blanket on the ground with a wooden picnic basket on one of the corners. Everything was laid out: the plates, spoons, forks, even the lemonade. I was almost speechless.

"Harry.. This is amazing." I said as I found my voice.

"Thanks." He mumbled and scratched the back of his head. "The lads helped me set it up. You know I'm not so good at this kind of thing."

I smiled up at him and then I started to wonder what he meant by "this kind of thing". It wasn't a.. date, was it?

"C'mon Ad, sit." Harry motioned to me as he sat down in the blanket. I hesitated before sitting across from him and quickly taking a drink of my lemonade.

Harry kept smiling at me which was cute at first then slowly began to be a tad bit creepy.

"Why are you smiling so much?" I asked. I didn't mean to sound rude, but unfortunately it came out that way. Harry's smile quickly disappeared before he looked down at the floor.

"I don't know. I like to smile." He said, which made me feel even worse.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that. I'm just.. nervous I guess."

"Why are you nervous? It's just me." He said slowly. His green eyes sent shock waves through my body as he stared at me, waiting for my answer.

I just shrugged and said, "It's been a while Harry. I don't know this you." I motioned to him. "I know the kid that was my best friend, not the international pop star."

"I'm still the same person. I'm just older." He said as the hurt tinted his voice.

I didn't answer him because I knew if we continued this conversation it would end up in a fight, and that wasn't the point of this outing.

"So what did you pack us to eat?" I asked to change the subject. Harry stared at me a moment longer before turning his attention toward the picnic basket.

"Niall made some sandwiches and I packed some chips and dessert." He mumbled. He grabbed a sandwich out of the basket and under tossed it to me.

"Thanks." I said as I tore at the saran wrap and started to eat the sandwich. Harry did the same so we stayed silent for a while.

Every once in a while we would attempt to make small talk, like when Harry was leaving or what Uni I was going to go to. But I was getting tired of it. I had one mission, and that was to find out the truth.

"What's the real reason why you didn't say goodbye?" I asked randomly. Harry's head shot up and his eyebrows furrowed.

"What do you-" He started to say but I put my hand up.

"You know exactly what I mean. I want the truth Harry, not the bullshit you gave me when you first took me here."

Harry's expression turned from shock to anger in less than a minute. His fists balled up and I could tell he wanted to yell at me for asking.

"You want to know the truth?" He asked as calmly as he possibly could. I slowly nodded, now unsure of how he would respond.

Harry took a couple deep breaths before he got up from where he was sitting. "Come here." He said as he walked towards the lake. I didn't ask any questions and promptly followed him. He was standing and facing the water when I caught up to him. I slowly made my way over to him and stood next to him and waited for him to speak.

"Do you remember the last time we went here together? Before I left?" He asked. I nodded and let him continue.

"You kept talking about how you were afraid of what teachers you would have next year and I just listened. I love hearing you talk Addison. It's so.. effortless." He paused for a moment before continuing.

"I jumped in the water as you were talking and you yelled at me for being rude. I just laughed and told you to come in, but you refused. You didn't bring a bathing suit so you didn't know what to do. I told you to strip down to your underwear and go like that, but you were embarrassed. After harassing you for a couple minutes, you finally agreed. You went behind a tree to take your clothes off, and when you came back out you covered yourself so I wouldn't see. Then you ran from the tree and jumped in right next to me. By then, I already knew I was going to the X-Factor, I just hadn't told you yet."

"Why not?" I finally spoke. A small smirk formed on Harry's face but quickly disappeared.

"I had a feeling for a while that I wasn't a hundred percent sure about. But that day at the lake made me realize I was sure."

"Sure about what?" I asked, sounding a tad bit annoyed since he wasn't getting to the point.

"That I was in love with you."

I felt my eyes widen and everything around me stop, like time had stopped.

"And I still am."

-------------

AN: Sorry for the really late update! I've been crazy busy with school and preparing for AP tests and finals. I will try as hard as I can to update more frequently! Please keep voting and commenting!

-Kenzie