Alright so last time you were here Bessa had just found out that Niall was at a frat party with a girl named Moll- woah I mean Holly, making Bessa completely lose her shit and-

My new phone from my pocket suddenly rang, echoing throughout the small compact area as I dropped my head down and let out a breath of frustration, my crawling put to a halt before I retrieved the device.

"Yo Bessa, you interrupted me right in the middle of breaking the fourth wall, what up." I answered in a monotone voice, trying to control my growing annoyance with her.

"You're taking forever..." She whined through the phone, making me want to chuck it away from me as I took in a deep breath.

"Bessa please just stay and wait in my car a little longer, I told you I'll drive you and be there for you at the party but I need to get Harry out of his stupid work. His health comes first to me and he literally just got out of the hospital a day ago and he's back in this stupid building." I ranted, mostly irritated with Harry since he promised he wouldn't go back into his office for a few more days, I really didn't want the poor homeboy to stress himself out so much.

But was he listening to me?

No, of course not.

"Um, why does your voice sound like it's echoing?" Bessa questioned slowly, making my whole body tense as my eyes darted around nervously.

"I'm in the air vent." I whispered into the phone as I continued to crawl through the small space, putting my elbows and knees to good use through the small metal corridors while I hummed the james bond theme song under my breath.

"Thun, thu thun.... thu... hey, you know if you sing the james bond theme song in a hispanic accent like Carlos', it kind of sounds like the song Don't drop that dun, dun, dun- aye do you remember that song?" I asked, stopping my movements as I heard a few male voices from below, one of them belonging to a particular british crumpet who was gonna get a serious ass whooping for lying to me.

"Natalie, I haven't known you for very long time and if it was anyone else I would automatically assume they were joking but... why are you in the air vent?" Bessa began, sounding concerned as I squeezed my way through the small space before I finally saw a light at the bottom of the air vent where the voices were coming from.

Bingo.

"Okay in my defense, Deborah, A-K-A one of the real mvp's who work here at SS building with Harry wasn't at the front desk. So then I had to deal with Nigel who told me I couldn't see Harry because he was at a conference. This was the only way to get to him, just like in the movies." I explained, whispering the last part out as I squeezed my way to the end of the vent and looked down through the thin bars that revealed the conference room below me.

I peeked through it, immediatly spotting Harry's head of brown waves at the front of the room, the air vent hovering right over the long dark cherry wood table that had at least a dozen gray haired men in taut suits seated at as they listened to Harry's explanation.

He gestured to a small model of a hotel on the table with extravagant details, down to mini vibrantly green bushes in the front of it as Bessa continued to rush me through the phone, urging me to hurry.

"Yup, kay, got it, got it, aight." I sighed, my voice a low hush before I ended the phone call, tucking the cell back into the pocket of my oversized camouflage army jacket as I peered down.

I retrieved the screw driver I had used to get in the vent from my other pocket, humming james bond while unscrewing the nails of the opening of the vent before slowly hooking my fingers through the thin metal bars and lifting the barrier up, giving me full access to the conference room below me.

Now we can just execute this
in a calm and orderly-

"Is someone humming the james bond theme song?" One of the business men at the table asked as everyone in the room quited down to listen.

I was never really good at making perfect on point entrances so this was seriously the best opportunity for me to gracefully fall out of the vent from above, landing on top of the table like a boss superhero before slowly rising and whispering "me bitch."

Unfortunately, that ain't how it always goes down.

Instead of landing feet first like I wanted to, I was fumbling inside the small compact space of the vent, slipping and falling down into the room head first while screaming the melody of the james bond theme song as I crashed hard onto the table, right on top of the miniature hotel model causing everyone close by to jump out of their seats in shock.

"Please don't tell me the person who just crashed onto the table is a small blasian woman..." I heard Harry groan from the front of the room, making me look up to find him rubbing his face in frustration as all the men at the table gawked at me in shock and confusion.

"No it's Patrick." I replied, blinking up at the ceiling until I realized that aside from Harry there were only middle aged business men in this conference room who probably wouldn't get my spongebob squarepants reference.

"I'm calling security." I heard another voice say from the other end as I sat myself up on the table, brushing off small pieces and chunks of the miniature hotel model I had crushed when I fell before I spotted Harry's father reaching out for the phone near him.

"You are not calling anyone." Harry cut in, his voice harsh and demanding as he glared at his dad before walking over to me while I slowly slid off the table, the skin of my stomach flat against the table making an awkward, loud, and long squeak from the friction echo throughout the silent room before I was back on my feet.

"How ya'll doin'." I nodded, my eyes scanning over all the heads in the room that were turned to me as I awkardly readjusted my jacket and offered a smile before standing next to a pissed off Harry.

"Really Natalie, you know what- I don't even know why I'm so surprised that you would go through the air vent to get here since you've also hid in the trunk of my car before." Harry snapped in exasperation, closing his eyes and pinching the bride of his nose in frustration as he struggled to control his breathing.

"In my defense Nigel wouldn't let me in, I'm jus' sayin." I said, raising my hands up in defense as Harry opened his green eyes to glare at me in irritation.

"Son, you know this- this intruder?" Seth spoke up, rising from his chair sounding disappointed and annoyed as Harry turned his attention to his father.

"Her name is Natalie." Harry retorted, his hands balling up into tight fists at his sides as everyone in the room looked between the father and son.

"The girl, yes, she's the girl from that big protest about those shops. You told me you weren't associating yourself with people like her-"

"Well you know what Seth I am, I am associating myself with her and I have been this whole damn time!" Harry interrupted, his loud deep voice overpowering his father's as he slammed his fist against the table causing all the men to flinch back while my eyes widened and I placed my hand over my heart at his outburst.

"Dang, if I ever called my parents by my first name I'd get smacked into next week you know what I'm sayin." I whispered to one of the business men besides me in his chair who looked up to send me a weirded out expression.

"And you know what, I'm so associated with her that my dick and her vagina have even gotten associated together!" Harry blurted out, the vein in his neck prominent as every jaw in the room besides mine dropped, including Seth whose face paled considerably at his son's words.

"Ah, good times..." I sighed under my breath, smiling to myself as I tucked my hands into the pockets of my jacket.

"You- but-" Seth sputtered out, flushing when all the clients at the table began to yell and curse, ordering Seth to "control" his son while I left Harry's side and walked over to the other end of the table, plopping myself down in Harry's large empty leather chair before placing my feet on top of the table.

"Tell me when you're done arguing so I can take your son back home." I said through the chaos of curses and yells throughout the room, making everyone stop their bickering before they all looked at me as I rummaged through my pockets and found a cherry tootsie roll lolipop from lord knows when.

I shrugged to myself, it's still candy I thought as I unwrapped it and popped the sucker in my mouth.

"My son is not going anywhere with you- for christ's sake we are in a conference right now!" Seth exploded, pointing an accusing finger at me as I gave him a blank expression.

"Nat he's right," Harry spoke up, looking disgruntled at the fact that he was agreeing with his father before he walked over to me.

"Look, I can't leave now, the papers for the land where the shops are located haven't arrived yet and I need to carry this on." Harry explained, resting his elbow on the back of my chair behind me, lowering his head and whispering his words for only me to hear before I grabbed his tie, gently tugging him so our eyes met.

"Your health comes first." I brought up, absolutely serious as I took the lolipop out of my mouth making Harry's gaze fall to my lips for a few seconds.

"You love those shops." Harry countered in a hushed voice, raising a brow at me as I blinked up at him in thought.

"Yeah but.." I reasoned, trying to find the words to explain how I felt as Harry watched me intensely, our faces only inches away.

I love you more.

...

Aha what....

"Ah shit." I cursed under my breath, immediatly letting him go before I looked away, trying to hide the fact that my whole face was heating up at my unspoken words as I slammed my forehead against the table repeatedly.

"Shit, shit, shit, shit..." I cursed, realizing how bad I've caught feelings for Harry, like that real, mushy love, make your heart feel like it's twerking to a dub-step song in your chest feelings.

Everyone in the room was practically watching me having a mental break down, including Harry as I straightened my posture and took a deep breath, rubbing my face before putting the lolipop back in my mouth to distract myself.

"What is she doing?" Someone asked, only for Harry to reply with a "I never know."

The door of the conference room suddenly burst open as Nigel stumbled in, waving some papers in the air in his hand as he rushed to Harry.

"I got 'em! I got the papers!" He panted, handing the work over to Harry with an excited grin before his eyes fell on me.

"How'd you get in here?" Nigel sputtered in disbelief, furrowing his brows in confusion as I licked at my candy and smiled at him.

"I'm magical-"

"She used the air vent." Harry grumbled, looking down at the papers in his hands before a small relieved smile swept over his features.

"What are those?" Seth grit out, stalking over to Harry as he eyes the papers in his son's hands.

"Dude that's so old, I think people say damn daniel now but that got old too." I informed when he got closer, causing him to glare at me while Harry smirked and rolled his eyes at my words.

"Alright, I'm officially done. I quit." Harry announced suddenly, causing Seth to almost choke on his spit as all the men at the table began to mumble in disapproval and shock.

"Wow... this is so much better than the last conference we had..." A bald man said at my side, leaning closer to whisper the words to me so Seth wouldn't hear as I smiled and let out a small chuckle.

"You see, all I needed was the deed for the land that I wanted and now that I have it," Harry began, bringing up the papers in front of his father's face before folding it and slipping them into his pocket.

"I don't have to work here in this stupid hotel chain line anymore." He finished with a triumphant smirk while Seth's face turned red with rage and embarrassment.

"After everything I've done for you Harry, this is what you give me. You trade in your family, our line of work for this- this girl who looks like she belongs in some hoodlum gang." Seth scolded, not taking his furious eyes off Harry as he pointed at me, making Harry look in my direction as I slumped in my seat and put gang signs up with my hands.

"Hoodlum gang huh, you weren't saying that when you were reading over my speech and praising it." Harry snapped in annoyance as Seth furrowed his brows in confusion.

"What does your writing have anything to do with this!?"

"Because I didn't write it! Natalie did, she edited and helped me out with the whole speech. She's going to become a writer and when she publishes her story I'll be the first in line to buy her book and I'll make sure to send a copy to you so you can shove your judgemental accusations right up your-"

Harry stopped talking at the sound of crunching making every head in the room slowly turn to look at me as I gnawed at my tootsie lolipop.

"It takes exactly three licks and a lot of sucking to get to the center of a tootsie pop." I informed with a smile, giving Harry a playful wink making him take a deep breath as he ran a hand through his brown hair while I bit at the lolipop stick.

"Do you see how ridiculous this is! How absolutely absurd you're sounding!" Seth growled as people at the table began to rise from their chairs, ready to leave the room.

"Sit down!" Seth immediatly snapped at them, causing everyone to pale and follow his instructions.

"I'm sounding like myself for once, and I'm done trying to be something I'm not. I'll have Nigel send you my form of resignation by tomorrow." Harry confirmed with a tone of finality in his voice, giving Nigel a nod before he walked out of the room leaving his father and his clients speechless as I fist bumped the air.

"I'm sorry, can I just say that your son is just really... cool.." I smiled, taking my feet off the table as I leaned back in my chair and smiled at the door, admiring how Harry finally spoke his mind.

Seth looked at the exit before looking back at me with a frustrated glare.

"So... you were the one who wrote my son's speech?" He began, readjusting the cuffs of his suit as he leaned back onto the table and eyed me making me squint my eyes at him.

"Forgot my girlfriend." Harry came back into the room again, locking eyes with mine before he made his way over to me and picked me up from my seat, effortlessly putting me over his shoulder, one of his large hands on my waist to keep me in place as I grabbed my black cap to keep it from falling.

"Please tell me someone recorded him saying that!" Was the last thing I said, bringing my head up and pointing at everyone before Harry carried me out the door.

++

"I told you you were gonna get punished for literally crashing down into my conference..." Harry whispered in my ear, his voice promising as I scrunched my face and shook my head.

"We can talk about this man, you don't have to do this." I reasoned but Harry only shook his head with a smirk.

"Open your mouth."

"Harry I-"

"Nat keep your mouth open, I'm putting it in."

I cringed when he fed the spoonfull of kale into my mouth, making me squirm in the passenger seat as I chewed slowly.

"And you can't spit it out." Harry said when I started to roll down the car window before he handed me the tuperware of kale he had brought and started the engine.

"Fuck." I said through a mouth full of vegetable, rolling up the window while Harry laughed.

"Remember what you always say Nat." He reminded me in a mocking tone as he backed my car out of its parking spot while I pouted down at the food in my hand, poking at it with the plastic spoon.

"Spitters are quitters." We both said in unison, my voice only a soft mumble that made me sound dead inside while Harry's was an enthusiastic cheer.

Using my own words against me.

"This is so gross." I complained, slowly chewing the food as I glared down at the greens.

"Ah come on, it's healthy for you, you never eat vegetables unless I force you." Harry smiled, reaching out over the console to nudge my chin with his free hand before he rested it on my thigh while continuing to drive.

My whole body froze as I peered down at his hand on my leg.

"What, you think just because you put your hand on my thigh you think I'm gonna listen to you?" I sneered at him, narrowing my eyes and swallowing my food while Harry kept his eyes trained on the road, a small dimpled smile on his face.

"Yeah." He scoffed, his smile forming into a smirk as he shrugged and continued to drive.

I glared at him for a few moments before pursing my lips and slowly nodding in agreement.

"Bitch you right, keep your hand there I'll eat this shit." I mumbled, shoving another spoon of kale into my mouth as Harry chuckled and gently squeezed my thigh.

"I can't believe Bessa actually climbed out of my car window and hitched a ride with Carlos to go to the frat party." I said, remembering how Harry and I had arrived at my car only to find a sticky note on the front window with the words "I took Barbie to her party, love your favorite enchilada, Carlos" with a smiley face and one of Bessa's strapped heels hanging from the car window on the passenger side.

"I still can't believe your making me drive you to the stupid party." Harry grumbled, slouching in his seat as I took a swig of my water bottle.

"Bessa wanted someone to be with her when she confronted Holly or Niall at the party. I'm there for support." I explained with a slight shrug as Harry rolled in in front of the frat house, trash and people littered out on the lawn in the front while sounds of laughter and water splashing was heard from the back.

"Remember when you threw me into the pool at that frat party?" I laughed, closing the tuperware of kale with a smile as Harry parked before he reached over and took a strand of my dark hair between his fingers, playfully tugging to catch my attention.

"Yeah but then I saved you cause you couldn't swim." He reminded me in a soft gravelly tone, still holding onto the strand of my hair to bring me closer to his face as his gaze fell to my lips.

"Yeah I lied," I whispered before our lips could meet, causing Harry to drop my hair before his eyes widened slightly while I leaned away, unbuckling my seat belt and getting out of the car.

"Wait a- you could swim the whole time! And you pulled me in!" Harry shouted, poking his head out the car window as I laughed.

++

"Bessa! Bessa!" I called when I spotted the petite blonde through the crowd in the corner of the room, glaring at something as I neared her with Harry following behind me.

"Oh Nat, oh god, thank goodness you're here. I just want to thank you for lending me your stripper dress but I can't do this." She gasped, quickly grabbing me by my forearms for comfort, catching me off gaurd as I blinked at her.

"Oh yeah, right, no problem, what are you-"

"Look at that fucking slut." Bessa hissed, making me follow her gaze as I looked across the room to find Niall sitting on a couch laughing with a bunch of people, a strawberry blonde girl seated on his lap, the two of them whispering into eachother's ears, giggling.

"Hey hey hey, what did we say about slut shaming." I said, snapping my fingers in her face trying to catch her attention as she blinked in surprise, shaking her head a bit as if coming out of a daze before her blue eyes met mine.

"She sleeps with everyone! That is the actual definition of a slut! She's such a fucking skank I'm going to go over there and rip her stupid light red hair off him!" Bessa growled making me furrow my brows at her as Harry hid behind me.

"Where's Carlos?" I asked her, changing the subject and exhanging looks with Harry before she swallowed and pointed over to the mechanical bull where Carlos was riding, holding up a bottle of tequila with his free hand while singing YMCA in spanish.

"I'll get him..." Harry sighed, walking over to Carlos while I silently thanked him, sending him a grateful smile before turning back to Bessa who looked like she was about to attack the girl, who I'm assuming was Holly in Niall's lap at any second.

"Okay, what I don't understand is why you're mainly just getting mad at Holly. Look, if you know she's got a thing for having a big... uh- sexual appetite than why are you surprised she's on his lap? Holly's just doing her thing, doing what she usually does, tryna get that dick any way she can. But who you really truly need to be mad at is Niall." I explained to her, making her eyes widen in realization before she began to slowly nod in acknowledgement, letting my words sink in.

"You're absolutely right." She said, looking enlightened as she sent me a smile.

"Now there's only one thing you have to do." I told her, ready to inform her that she just needed to confront Niall and actually talk things out.

"You're right, I need to get even." She said slowly, making me blink and shake my head at her in shock, giving her a look as she bit her lip, looking around the room in concentration.

"Wait, no, uh- I was thinking more like-"

"You and Harry are just friends right?" Bessa suddenly asked, looking passed me and licking her lower lip in determination as I furrowed my brows in confusion, her words making me think about what Harry had called me at the conference room.

Also that, yah know, I kind of, maybe, love him.

I snapped out of my thoughts, realizing Bessa was no longer at my side before I saw her make her way across the room to Harry and Carlos who were in the direct line of Niall's view.

She grabbed Carlos by the collar of his shirt, making my heart calm at the sight.

Aight, I was cool with that.

Only to push Carlos to the side and yank Harry by his tie until their lips met causing all the blood to drain from my face.

I was definitely not cool with that.