I had grown up with my good group of girl friends, that included Jenny, Ava and Lexi, and although we were inseparable through so many years of our lives, when popularity seemed to be more important to them than most things, the only reason I stuck around, was because they were what I knew. Sure, they were fun, outgoing and spontaneous, and we had some really great times together, and I wont lie, being popular definitely had its perks. But if I could go back in time, I probably would have rather been friends with girls that had more depth to them or at least liked the same things I did so I wouldn't have ever had to hide certain parts of myself when I was with them or pretend to be someone I didn't think I was or even really want to be.

They turned out to be ruthless, cunning, manipulative bitches. I'm sure their families and their riches somehow had something to do with it, although I could never understand their meaning behind wanting to ever hurt the people that they did, just to get a little higher on the social ladder. And yet, I still considered them my friends, pretending to agree with the things they said or did. While everyone else seemed envious of us, I couldn't wait for the day things could change and I could leave them behind.

The only girls I knew in Vancouver were Ivy and Sloan. I only ever involved myself with them because I had to. They were just two of the other girls who were hand picked from being in the wrong place at the wrong time by the guys that lived in Ryan's house. There were definitely more than just those girls who came and went over time, but these two were the ones I saw the most of because they "belonged" to Trent and Maddox, like I did to Ryan.

Their situations weren't quite as bad as mine was though. They enjoyed doing the drugs the house was always inhabited with, which made what we went through apparently more bearable to them. Getting black eyes and bruises and raped just happened to be something that came with getting their drugs for free. We had a bond like I never had with anyone before and we understood each other better than most people would because of what was happening to us. But otherwise, they weren't really the kind of girls I ever would've tried to be friends with. I don't miss them whatsoever. But I do miss someone understanding me the way they did.

Being friends with girls now is a lot more fun than I ever remember it to be. I cherish my time with Astrid and Nova and I make sure to never take them for granted. I hold onto them tighter than I think I ever did with any other girls I've been friends with, simply because I can be myself with them. They know me, with little to no lies. There's no pretending to be someone I'm not, and we're friends because we want to be, not because we're forced to know each other or have a horrific thing in common that binds us together. They don't look at me through judging eyes and everything with them isn't just tolerable like the friendships I've had in the past, they're comfortable and actually hold meaning.

And that's why, over the last couple weeks, I've taken advantage of getting in some much needed girl time, while Niall's idea to get a bunch of guys together for paint balling one night, turned into an every night thing.

While the boys were off being boys, shooting each other with paint filled guns, us girls decided to do our own thing. Dinners out, drinking at the pub and even some evenings in to watch Netflix. Nova had sometimes brought along one of her classmates, Blair, to join in our girl's nights. It was nice to just have some easy going conversations, forget about school work for a couple hours every night, allowing stress to just whither away in laughter filled evenings. It was a good reminder that my life now isn't what my nightmares are made of, and I think it even helped me to sleep easier, because the nightmares started dwindling down and they were finally gone now.

Although it was great to have all the girl time, it was nice to still climb into bed every night with Harry next to me. Nova's stuff was still very present in our dorm room, still claiming half of it as hers, but Harry occupied it far more than she did these days, making it feel like no matter what we did throughout the day, he was still coming home to me. It was like a perfect mix of life. School, friends and Harry. And it was the first time I felt normal. Like life for me was finally settling into this blend of things that I always needed and should've had. I was finally getting everything that life had to offer, in all the proper ways.

Harry would come back to my dorm, dry paint stuck to his skin, laughing about the time he'd had. I loved the way he talked about it, explaining his ninja-likes moves and how Liam and Louis were always the easiest targets. Although it was easy enough to know I was looking at a fine young man, the way he would go on and on about his paint balling filled evenings, made me realize that he was still very much a boy, excited for boyish things.

I liked this side of him, because over the years, I know I've turned into a very serious girl. Sometimes it's hard to find the child still in me, the girl that was always young at heart, who believed that you should never take anything too seriously, because what's the fun in that? Harry brings that side of me back out and I love that he does that for me. I don't want to think I need him for that, because I know I'm a pretty independent person, but I know that deep down, without him, I'd still be a broken-hearted girl taking things far too seriously.

We decided tonight, to finally get back together to have a night out for drinks since it's nearing the end of the year, and clearly they have to get back into their regular swing of drinking before Christmas holidays start in a couple of weeks. The boys seemingly had enough of their paint balling evenings and Astrid was more than excited to get in some quality time with her boyfriend. Unlike Harry and I, her and Blake didn't spend their nights together every night, and with our parted ways over the last couple weeks, she only ever really got to see him during school hours.

As I look at the people sat around the table, I feel as though everything is perfect. I don't question how we all came to be friends, seeing we're almost all different. Snap backs and punk, mixed with a little bit of prep. But somehow our contrasting looks or how we dress doesn't matter. What's important is the fact that we all came together and we all somehow play a great part in each other's lives. And I don't think anything is going to change that.

"Who's that?" Nova asks, tilting her head towards the door.

We all shift to see who Nova's referring to. A girl with bright red hair, black platform boots laced up past her knees, and the brightest green eyes even I can notice from across the room. It's obvious it's the first time she's been here. Not because we know everyone who comes here by now and we have definitely never seen her before, but because of the way she looks around, clearly unsure of the world around her as her eyes search the place.

"Zoey!" The boys, at once, get up from the table to meet this strange girl across the room. Her smile widens at the sight of them and as I sit at the table now rid of boys, I watch as she hugs them all one by one.

I realize I'm not the only one confused, as I turn back to the table to see Astrid and Nova making the same befuddled faces as their boyfriends hug this random girl.

"Zoey?" I ask. "Did you know about her?"

"Never heard of her," Astrid answers, turning back to the boys who are now coming back to our table followed by bouncy fire red hair. "But clearly they seem to."

"Zoey, this is Astrid, Paisley and Nova," Blake chimes, introducing the redhead to us. "Zoey works at Splatter Ranch."

Harry sits back down next to me and puts his arm around the back of my chair as we say hello to this new girl in front of us, who has apparently caught the attention of our boys while paint balling. She looks nice enough and I'm trying to fight with my brain for it to not judge her wrongly before knowing her, but for some reason I can't shake the feeling that her presence can only do more harm than good.

Astrid's chair screeches underneath her as she moves it closer to me when Louis places a chair at the table for the stranger to sit with us. When she sits down next to Blake, Astrid's eyes widen when she looks at me, clearly unamused. "Who is this chick?"

I shrug my shoulders in reply, unsure of how to take this girl's presence. It's clear that she has the attention of the boys, who are all conversing happily with her, Liam trying to get the attention of the waiter to get her a drink. Niall's explaining some funny incident to Nova about her and their paint guns, laughing hysterically as he does.

When Harry spits his beer all over the table in a fit of laughter, my attention is resorted back to him. He had been relatively quiet the whole time until now, not saying much or adding anything into the conversation, but he clearly found Niall's story funnier than it sounded, and I wonder if it's so amusing, why he never mentioned this Zoey character or this apparently beer-spitting hilarious story during one of the many nights he came home talking about his time with the boys.

I look to Astrid, rolling my eyes, hoping she'll read my mind. This is going to be a very long night.

I'm tired of listening to Zoey talk about how great she thinks the boys are. How entertaining and funny and blah blah blah. We already know how great they are and how funny and entertaining they can be. We don't need to be reminded. I've drowned myself in the pink drinks Harry keeps putting in front of me just so I can drown her out, which has been working wonders because I haven't heard a word she's said for the last little while.

"Do you want another drink?" Harry leans in and whispers in my ear, when he notices my fourth drink has disappeared.

"Actually, I think I need some air," I tell him, standing up from my chair.

"I'll come with you." He starts to stand up, but Astrid interrupts him.

"No, I'll go. You stay here Harry."

I had a feeling that Astrid would want to talk about this. She wasn't looking particularly happy about the other girl who was sat next to her boyfriend, stealing his attention from her. I couldn't help but feel her pain knowing how excited she was to actually spend some time with Blake and then not really get it.

"Did you see the way she was looking at him?" Astrid shrieks, when we sit down on the bench outside. "Her eyes were all over him the whole time! Hello, girlfriend here!" She stands up and starts waving her hands up and down herself as to point out that she's his girlfriend, before she starts pacing in front of me. "You noticed right? I'm not just going crazy and turning into a jealous freak of a girlfriend--Please tell me you saw what I did?"

"You're not crazy, I'll tell you that much," I reply. "But you have nothing to worry about! It's not like he was looking at her that way."

"He wasn't?" She asks, standing still. "I couldn't tell. I was stuck in my misery!"

"Everything alright?" Harry interrupts, walking up to us.

"Harry, tell Astrid she isn't crazy!" I say, standing up next to him. "Tell her she has nothing to worry about with Zoey."

"Huh?" He asks, furrowing his eyebrows in confusion.

"With Blake," Astrid adds. "You were there--at Splatter Ranch--You would tell me if I have something to worry about, right?"

"Oh." Harry scratches the back of his neck and looks at me. "Yeah, I'd tell you. You have nothing to worry about. We're all just friends with her. She's a cool girl."

Astrid lets out a sigh of relief, but there's something about Harry's body language that I don't really like. I'm not sure if he's lying to protect his friend or if he's even lying at all. I know that he only scratches the back of his neck when he's nervous, but I don't want to ask him with Astrid present. Not if he knows something that might hurt her at this particular moment.

"If you really think there's something to worry about, why are you out here then?" Harry asks, finally looking back at Astrid. "Get back in there! Why don't you suggest a little something something! Go take him home!"

Astrid's face brightens immediately and she doesn't hesitate to wrap her arms around him in a tight squeeze. "You're right. All I need to do is make him forget about her!"

"Have fun!" I watch as she walks back towards the pub with a little bounce to her step.

"Want to get going?" Harry asks, turning back to me.

"You wouldn't lie, right?"

"What?"

"About Blake and that girl--"

"There's nothing to lie about."

"Are you sure?"

Harry takes my hand in his, and tugs me along in the direction of the dorms. "You have seen the way Blake looks at Astrid. He's so in love with her, it's rather disgusting!"

I take a moment to think about it. He does have a point. Blake looks at Astrid the way every girl wants to be seen. It wouldn't surprise me if he was already in love with her, but that's besides the point. Even if Zoey did happen to see Blake as more than a friend, nothing would change. They were with the group anyways, so even if she had any sort of wrong intentions, nothing could happen either way.

"So," Harry says as he stops and turns to me, standing in the middle of the quiet street. "I was thinking it's about time I took you on a date."

I look at him, raising my eyebrows. "A date." A smile forms on my face just thinking about it. "Like one of those proper dates made for romantic comedies?"

He laughs, remembering our conversation in his car. "No, nothing like that this time." He pulls me closer to him, wrapping his arms around my waist. "Something I know you'll enjoy though."

"And how do you know I will enjoy whatever it is you have in mind?" I flirtatiously question.

"Because I know you," he answers.

"You do, do you?"

"Better than you know, love," he smiles. "So what do you say? Want to go on a date with me tomorrow?"

I wait to answer him, pretending to think about my answer, even though I know quite well that I would love to go on an actual date with him. It feels like forever since we've really done anything together and I just want to spend more time with him. I've had a fair amount of time with the girls, it's perfect timing to get in a date. A real date. Something he's apparently already thought of and planned. I can't help but smile at this realization.

"Well?" he asks.

"You know I want to!" I laugh. "Don't look at me like that!"

"Like what?"

"Like you're actually scared I'm going to say no!" I tug on his hand, swinging our hands playfully as we continue our walk under the streetlights in the middle of the quiet street. "So where are we going on this date?"

"You'll have to wait to see tomorrow!"

**

A/N: OMG I'm so sorry for the long wait for this, and sorry it's a little shorter than I wanted it to be. I had a serious case of writers block! Although I have a ton of plans for later on, my mind was stuck for right now. So, thanks to theworldofcurly because she helped to get my mind going again!! (Go read her book None of Us are Real---it's so so good!)

Any idea what's going to happen?
Where is Harry going to take her on their date?

Thank you so so much for 4.1K reads! I am so so happy you guys are enjoying my book! Don't forget to press the star! And add this to your reading list! :) It means so much to me!!
Love you!
XO