"I do have one tiny condition.." Harry spoke, playing with my hands. "What is it?" I asked quietly, looking up to see his face.

"If we do end up dating.. I don't want to be a rebound. I want you to be fully dedicated to me." Harry confessed, and my eyes widened in surprise. I never looked at Harry as a rebound to get over Louis.

"I've never once looked at you as my rebound." I voiced my thoughts, tilting his chin up so he was looking at me. You could see the worry in his eyes, afraid of getting hurt. That was definitely one thing we had in common.

"I know.. I'm just don't want to get hurt." He said in almost a whisper, looking me straight in the eyes. I nodded understandingly, "Neither do I, love."

"I'd never hurt you." He promised, reaching a hand up and stroking my cheek softly with his thumb. "Although, I would prefer to ask you to be my girlfriend in a proper way."

I giggled a bit, feeling my cheeks start to heat up. "Oh yeah? How's that, Styles?"

He smirked, chuckling as he stood up. "That, my love, is a surprise that you'll have to find out for yourself."

Harry shot me a wink, before walking out of the bedroom, closing the door gently behind him. I sighed happily, falling back onto my bed with a smile on my face.

My phone started vibrating, indicating I got a text message.

Just got off work. Claudia and I wanted to have some time to ourselves together. Come join us? -Ari

I smiled, quickly replying as my fingers tapped on the keys.

Sure! Where at? -Avery

My house! -Ari

Be there soon. -Avery

I swung my legs over the side of the bed, standing up. Fixing my hair, I made sure it didn't look like a complete utter mess, and like I had just woken up.

Once I looked presentable, I grabbed my phone off my bed, heading downstairs. As soon as I walked into the living room area, Louis and Eleanor were sitting- well, laying- on the couch, pretty much eating each other's faces off. I noticed that all the other lads were sitting in the kitchen, trying to be as far away from the couple as possible.

With a look of disgust, I walked away, heading towards the kitchen. "They could at least have some class." I commented, rolling my eyes.

The boys nodded, peeking out of the kitchen and looking to see if they've started breathing again.

The answer was no.

"Okay, well, I'm going to head out with my friends for a bit. I'll be back later." I let out a sigh, walking out into the hallway, which was connected to the living room. So, I could still see the non-breathing couple on my couch.

"Oh, and while I'm gone, burn the couch!" I exclaimed, opening the front door with a smirk on my face. I could be a real smart-ass when I wanted to be. The lip smacking stopped for a second, and I knew damn well they heard what I said, because when I turned to look, Louis was looking dead at me.

I rolled my eyes, turning back around and walking out the door, slamming the door behind me.

Hopping into my car, I put the keys in the ignition, speeding off towards Ari's house.

*

"Hey, girl!" Ari grinned once she opened the front door, seeing me standing there. I smiled, waving. "Hey!"

"Come in, come in!" She said, stepping out of the doorway so I could walk inside. I stepped inside the house, taking in the familiar surroundings. I've been here a couple times before, but that was about it. Ari had a nice home, and it was very welcoming.

Claudia was sitting on the couch, her legs crossed as she looked at me with a curious expression. Oh no, did I do something?

"You have some explaining to do, missy." Claudia spoke with a smirk, crossing her arms against her chest.

"What?" I asked, confused. Was this about..?

"Do you like Harry?" Ari finished the question before Claudia got to ask it. My eyes widened, and I looked down at the ground. Hm, very interesting carpet Ari has here.

The girls cooed and awe'd, and I covered my face with my hands, laughing to myself. "Oh, stop! Okay I like him!" I admitted.

"That's what we thought. We saw the way you hugged him at the café." Claudia smirked up at Ari, who nodded in agreement. "Our little Avery is growing up!" Ari put a hand to her chest dramatically, smiling widely.

"Stop!" I laughed, now looking at the two girls I called my best friends. There were three girls I could talk to about my problems; Danielle, Ari, and Claudia.

"It's cute!" Ari commented, ruffling my hair up. I squealed, automatically my hands flying to my head as I tried to fix my hair. "So, are you two dating?"

"No.." I said, biting down on my lower lip. "He wants to ask me in a cutesy way."

That caused the girls to awe even more. "Stopp!" I laughed, punching both of them playfully on the shoulders.

"We need to plan out their wedding! Right now!" Ari exclaimed, jumping up and running out of the room. She soon came back with a large notepad in hand.

I face-palmed, shaking my head. Only my friends.

Louis' POV
Did I still love her? Fuck yes. And I hated myself for it. Especially because I was with Eleanor now.

But you're only using her to win back Avery, stupid.

I shook my head to myself, trying to erase the thoughts.

She doesn't deserve you, Louis. But wait. I'm the one that doesn't deserve her.

I swear, it's like I was having a battle with myself, and I was losing on both sides. This was incredibly hard. No matter how hard I tried getting over her, I just couldn't. And to top it off, I was being a major asshole in the process.

God dammit, why did love have to be so complicated?

When she admitted her feelings for Harry, I could feel my heart breaking. But, I put on a smile, used a few insults, and acted like I was completely okay. But on the inside I was bursting into tears.

Then the whole act with Eleanor. I had to keep it up, acting like I was interested in her 100%. Yeah, she was fit and beautiful as ever, but she wasn't Avery.

...and Avery was who I wanted. She was all I ever wanted.

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