Thankfully it has not snowed in three days, the only evidence of the snow fall from days before is the black sludge littering the dips in the sidewalk. I stare out the large glass windows in the lobby at Vance while I wait patiently for Harry to pick me up.

 Much to my annoyance he has insisted to drive me there each day after our fight over Trevor. I am still surprised that I was able to calm him down the way that I did. I do not know what I would have done if he would have assaulted Trevor in the office, Kimberly would have been forced to call security and Harry surely would have been arrested.

Harry was supposed to be here at four-thirty and it is now five-fifteen. Nearly everyone has left for the day and multiple people have offered to give me a ride home, including Trevor who has been keeping his distance from me since Harry made a scene. I do not want things to be awkward between us and I would still like to be friends, despite Harry's order to stay away from him.

Finally Harry's car pulls into the lot and I step outside into the chilling wind. It is warmer today than it has been, the bright sun adding a small amount of warmth but not enough.

"Sorry for being late, I fell asleep." He tells me as I climb into the warm car.

"It's okay." I assure him and stare out the window.

I am slightly nervous for New Years Eve tonight and I do not want to add fighting with Harry to my list of stressors today. We haven't decided what we are actually doing yet and that drives me insane, I want to know the details and have the entire night planned.

I have been debating whether or not to reply to the text messages that Steph has sent me the last few days. Part of me really wants to see her, to show her and everyone that they did not break me, they humiliated me yes, but I am stronger than they think I am. That being said, the other half of me thinks it will be incredibly awkward to see the group of Harry's friends. I know they will probably think I am an idiot for being with Harry again.

I will not know how to act with Harry around them and honestly I am afraid that everything will be different now that we won't be in our own small bubble anymore. What if he ignores me the entire time or what if Molly is there? My blood boils at the thought.

"Are you mad at me?" Harry's question pulls me from my bitter thoughts of Molly.

"No, it is not that big of a deal." I tell him.

His hand moves from the steering wheel to my thigh and he gently squeezes.

"Where do you want to go?" He asks.

I had earlier mentioned that I need something to wear tonight, regardless of where we go I need something to wear.

"The mall is fine. We need to decide where we are going so I know what to get."

"Do you want to hang out with everyone or just go out the two of us? I am still rooting for staying in."

"I don't want to stay in, we stay in all the time." I smile.

I love staying in with Harry but he used to be out all the time, every single day really, and sometimes I worry if I keep him in the house too much he will get bored with me.

When we arrive at the mall Harry drops me off at the entrance in front of Macy's and I hurry inside. By the time he joins me near the endless racks of dresses I already have three draped over my arms.

"What is that?" Harry scrunches his nose at the canary yellow dress on top.

"A dress. You don't like it?"

"No, that color is hideous." He says.

"You find every color hideous, apart from black of course."

He shrugs at my truthful statement and runs his finger along the fabric of the gold dress underneath.

"I like this one." He says.

"Really? That was the one I was unsure about. I don't want to stand out, you know?"

"And you wouldn't be standing out in yellow?" He arches his brow.

He has a point. I place the yellow dress back on the rack and

"What about this one?" I ask, holding up a white strapless dress. I am thankful that my monthly visitor has departed in time for New Years Eve.  

"You should try them on." He suggest with a cheeky smile.

"Pervert." I tease.

"Always." He smirks and follows me to the dressing room.

"You are not coming in here." I scold him and close the door to the stall, leaving just enough room to pop my head out.

He pouts before taking a seat on the black leather couch outside of the dressing room.

"I want to see each one." He calls when I close the door the rest of the way.

"Be quiet."

I hear him chuckle and I want to open the door just to see his smile but I decide against it.

I put the white strapless dress on first and struggle to zip it up the back, it is tight. Too tight and short, way too short. Finally I get the thin fabric to zip and I tug at the bottom of the dress before opening the door to the dressing room.

"Harry?" I almost whisper.

"Holy shit." He practically gasps when he turns the corner and takes in the sight of me in the barely-there dress.

"It's short." I flush.

"Yea, you aren't getting that." He says as his eyes move up and down my body.

"If I want to I will." I say, reminding him that he will not tell me what to wear.

He glares at me for a moment before speaking.

"I know.. I just meant you shouldn't. It is too revealing for your taste."

"That is what I thought." I hum and look in the full length mirror one more.

"It is incredibly sexy though." Harry smirks.

"Next." I say and walk back into the dressing room.

The gold dress feels silky against my skin despite the entire dress being covered in tiny gold disks. The length of the dress falls to the middle of my thighs and the sleeves are quarter length. This is much more me, only a little riskier than usual. The sleeves give the illusion of the dress being more conservative but the way the material clings to my body and the short length say otherwise.

"Tess." Harry whines impatiently from directly outside of the door.

I open the door and his reaction makes my heart flutter.

"Christ." He swallows.

"You like it?" I chew my bottom lip.

I feel pretty confident in the dress, especially after Harry's cheeks turn pink and he shifts his weight back and forth between his feet.

"Very much." He compliments.

This is such a normal couple-y thing to be doing, trying on clothes for him at Macy's, it feels strange yet very comforting. I was terrified a few days ago when he found out about my dinner with Trevor in Seattle.

"I am going to get this one then." I say.

After finding a pair of thick and rather intimidating black pumps we head to check out. Harry pesters me to pay but I refuse to allow him, this time winning the battle.

"You're right, you really should be buying me something.. you know to make up for the lack of Christmas gifts I received." Harry teases me as we exit the mall.

I swat at his arm but he grabs my wrist before I can connect. His lips press a light kiss against my palm before he encases my hand in his and leads me to the car. Holding hands in public is never our thing, as soon as the thought crosses my mind he seems to realize what we are doing and drops my hand from his.

One step at a time I suppose.

"We should really decide what we are going to be doing tonight." Harry says when we get back to the apartment.

"I think we should hang out with your friends."

"You're sure? I will text Niall then."

"Okay." My nerves begin to get the best of me as I imagine the possibilities of how the night could turn out but we can not hide from the world forever. How Harry behaves around his old friends will really show me how he truly feels about me, about us.

Harry walks into the living room to text Niall and I head to take a shower. I shave my legs, three times, staying under the hot water until it is no longer warm.

"What did he say?" I ask, unsure what I want the answer to be.

"He said to meet them at the house.. my old house."

"What time?"

"Nine."

I glance at the clock, it's already seven.

"Okay, I will be ready."

I apply my makeup and blow dry my hair quickly. My hair is curled in tight curls and I pin my bangs back as usual. I look.. nice.. boring. Boring. The same as I always do. I need to look better than ever before for my comeback. This is my way of showing them that they did not get the best of me. If Molly is there she will certainly be dressed to get male attention, including Harry's and as much as I hate her, she is gorgeous. With Molly's pink hair burning in the back of my mind I grab my black eyeliner and draw a thick line across my top eyelid, for once the line is straight. I do the same on the bottom and add more pink to my cheeks before pulling the bobby pin from my hair and tossing it in the trash.

I quickly bend down and pick the pin from the top of the trash ,okay so maybe I am not ready to throw it away yet but I am not wearing it tonight. I flip my head down and rake my fingers through my tight curls. The reflection in the mirror shocks me. She looks like she belongs in a nightclub, she looks wild and.. sexy even. The last time that I wore this much makeup was when Steph gave me a "make over" and Harry taunted me. That seems like ages ago. This time, I look better.

"It's eight-thirty Tess!" Harry warns me from the living room.

I check the mirror one last time and take a deep breath before rushing to the bedroom to get dressed before Harry can see me. What if he thinks that I look bad? Last time he didn't care for my new and improved look. I shut off my doubtful thoughts and pull the dress over my head, zip it up, and step into my new pumps.

Maybe I should wear tights? No. I need to calm down and stop overthinking this.

"Tessa we really need..." Harry's voice stops mid-sentence.

"Do I look.." I begin to say but he interrupts me.

"Yes, fuck yes." He practically growls.

"You don't think it's too much, all the makeup?"

"No, it's uhm.. it's nice, I mean.. it's good." He stutters.

I try not to laugh at his apparent loss for words, something that never occurs with him.

"Let's go.. we need to go now or we won't make it out of this apartment." He mutters.

His reaction has given me an extreme boost in my confidence. I know it shouldn't but it does. He looks flawless as usual wearing a simple black t-shirt and snug black jeans. The black converse I have quickly became fond of cover his feet.

 The drive to Harry's old fraternity house is nerve-wracking and both of us stay silent. The Fray quietly sings about forgiveness as we pull up to the crowded house. Memories, mostly bad memories flood my mind but I push them back. Harry and I are in a relationship now, a real one, so he will be different now. Won't he?

He stays close to me as we walk into the smoke filled living room. Red cups are immediately placed in our hands but Harry discards of his quickly before taking mine from me. I reach for it back and he frowns.

"I don't think we should drink tonight." He says.

"I don't think you should drink tonight but I need to." I tell him and mean it.

"Fine, only one." He warns and hands me the cup from the counter.

"Styles!" A familiar voice calls.

Niall appears in the kitchen and pats Harry's shoulder before giving me a friendly smile. He is so attractive. I try to picture what he would look like without tattoos and piercings but I can't seem to.

"Wow, Tessa you look...different." He says.

Harry rolls his eyes and grabs my drink from my hand to take a sip. I want to take it from him but I do not want to cause a fight. One drink won't hurt.

"Well..well..well..look who it is." A female voice says.

"Great." Harry groans as the pink haired skank walks towards us.