Chapter 1 ~ Harry
November 2013…

Ugh, I am late. The lads are absolutely going to kill me, but it’s not my fault. I mean, I didn’t mean to break down my car, did I? Of course not… though I probably have been a bit neglectful with my baby. It has just been so hectic lately, after finishing the world tour and everything, I just haven’t had the time to properly care of my car.

Ugh, man. Moni is going to kill me for letting something happen to her fiancé. That girl, she can’t understand that she can’t marry any of my cars. 

And speak of the Devil, her best friend is calling me. On the screen of my mobile phone there’s Mila’s picture. She’s sticking out her tongue at me. I remember when I took this picture long time ago, when we just met and exchanged numbers. She is a great friend of mine and she’s very happy with Zayn now. Both of them are and they got to solve all their problems after those awful months when they both were so depressed. Mila is now working on her first book that is soon going to be published. I really hope we’re going to be around for that date. Luckily, we’re over with the world tour and we’re going to stay here to record our new album for a couple of months. All of us are excited for this. It’s hard to believe that more than three years have passed since we started the band.

“Why hello there,” I say when I answer the call.

“Hello, Mr Styles. Where are you? We’re waiting for you,” she replies and I know they are, I’m fifteen minutes late, after all.

“Um… well, you’ll have to wait a tad more, considering that my car broke down. I’m stuck here and I’m not even close yet.” I sigh deeply looking at my Range Rover. Oh baby, why do you fail me now? “But don’t worry, I called an auto repair shop already, the recovery guy should be here pretty soon,” I add so she won’t get worried.

“You okay? Do you know what’s wrong with your car?” She asks me and I sigh again.

“I’m not like you, I don’t know immediately what’s wrong with my car when it breaks down, Mila,” I tell her and I hear her chuckle.

“His car?” I hear someone screaming in the background. “Tell me he didn’t harm the Range Rover. I’ll kill him if something happens to my baby!” Yes, that has to be Moni.

“Why tell Moni, I appreciate her concern for me,” I comment and Mila laughs again.

Moni and I have this weird relationship. We don’t hate each other, but we don’t exactly get along. For some reason, she has never liked me and she likes to bully me. I’m like her punching bag. The only time we left behind our differences was when Mila needed us both, only then I was able to see that she didn’t actually hate me, as I always thought.

“Well, call me if you need anything. If the auto repair guy doesn’t get there soon, I can come and pick you up, you know,” she offers and I smile.

“I’ll be fine. Tell the guys I’m sorry, but it’s gonna take a little while. I’ll be there as soon as possible, okay? Don’t have too much fun without me!” I tell her and she laughs one more time before saying goodbye and hanging up.

Well, now I just have to wait.

However, it seems like I don’t have to wait too long. As soon as a car crane arrives and I know someone has come to my rescue. I stand straight and walk to the vehicle with my mobile still in my hand, expecting some old, fat man to get out, but to my shock the person who gets out of the vehicle is not a man, but a girl. A young, tall, slim, pale, gorgeous ginger girl. I stay there, blinking like an idiot as she walks towards me.

“Hi. You called, right?” She asks, her voice is sweet and feminine, and her eyes are of a beautiful green, like leaves on a summer day.

Wow…

“Um… yeah, I did. You’re from the auto repair shop?” I ask without being able to hide my surprise.

She smiles humourlessly, which means she must receive these kinds of reactions a lot. “Yeah, family business. Well, let’s see what’s wrong with your car then.”

I nod and follow her to my car and she extends her hand, asking for my keys. I hand them to her and wait as she gets into my car and opens the bonnet up. She walks to the front of the car and starts to examine everything. I can’t take my eyes off of her; I’m still shocked that she’s the person who came to my rescue. A girl. And she’s young. She’s probably my same age.

Also, she hasn’t recognised me. She’s probably not a fan.

“So, is it going to live?” I ask her shaking my head trying to send away all my surprise. I lean into the car and try to look for her eyes, but she’s too focused on the car.

“Yeah, you forgot to add more coolant. Typical, the engine’s overheated. I’ll take it to the shop anyways to check if the motor is okay. You can come with me in the crane, if you want to,” she replies rising up and meeting my eyes.

“Sure. I’m Harry, by the way,” I introduce myself sticking out my hand at her. “The forgetful owner of this car.”

“Hannah,” she says shaking my hand and smiling politely. “It’s a great car, by the way.”

“Thanks. I have a friend who wants to marry it, so it’s very popular, you see,” I point out and I know she finds it amusing because her smile says so.

“I can see why. Don’t take this the wrong way, but… do I know you? You seem oddly familiar somehow,” she muses.

Yeah, she’s not a fan but she has heard of me, or at least has seen me somewhere. I smile cockily at her.

“Not in person till now, and it’s a real pleasure,” I tell her leaning in a little bit and she reacts, but not the way I expected. She steps back putting more distance between us and looks at me suspiciously. She even frowns at me.

“Yeah… wait. I know! I know where I’ve seen you! I do know you!” She exclaims more excited this time and I forget about her backing off. My smile grows wider. “You’re Ed Sheeran’s friend! The one from that boy band, right?”

And like that, my ego is crushed.

She doesn’t even know the name of my band, and for God’s sake, we’re everywhere! We just came back from a world tour and we were sold out in every bloody country in a matter of minutes. And yet she still doesn’t know about One Direction. But she knows about Ed and from the way her eyes sparkle when she says his name, I bet my life she’s a fan of his. And I’m not sure why, but that thought bugs me.

“Um… you mean One Direction, right? That’s the band I’m in,” I tell her and she shrugs lightly.

“I guess. I’ve seen you with him and you even appeared in the Drunk video!” She says excited again. Yes, she’s a fan of his. “Oh, I’m sorry. I’m being rude, aren’t I? Sorry, it’s just I’m such a big fan of his, I can’t help it. But let’s jump to business again. Let’s go.”

She doesn’t wait for an answer; she just walks past me and right to the car crane. She takes the hook and puts it under my car, and I’m still standing there, watching as she does her job.

“Coming?” She asks once everything is ready and I have to shake my head to wake up from my trance. I nod and jog towards the car crane and climb into it, taking the seat next to her. It’s not a massive vehicle, but still it must be a bit intimidating to drive it.

Hannah drives oblivious to my presence and she doesn’t even bother trying to make conversation with me, she just drives whilst Ed’s song, One Night, plays on the stereo. I keep staring at her, a bit fascinated with how she ignores me completely. Since we started the band, these kinds of things don’t happen to me anymore. Practically all the girls I’ve met try to jump into my arms or want something from me. Not Hannah. She clearly doesn’t give a damn about who I am. It seems like for her, I’m just Harry, a client who’s too stupid and forgot to put coolant in his car. For this ginger girl I’m not Harry Style the singer, the mega world-famous popstar, or the heartthrob of the moment. The only relevant thing about me for this girl is the fact that I’m friends with Ed Sheeran.

I can’t help to feel a bit left out. Is this how Ed feels when he meets any of our fans that only talk to him because we are friends? Man, it sucks. Though Hannah is not pretending she’s my fan or anything trying to get closer to Ed, she just recognised me as such and that’s it. Anyways, it sucks. I have to talk to him and tell him I’m sorry. It sucks when people recognise you not for what you do but for you are friends with.

We get to the auto repair shop and Hannah still doesn’t pay me any attention and I’m not quite sure what to do about it. The shop is not too big and there are a few men working on different cars. There’s only one woman besides Hannah and she’s behind a desk answering calls. I guess she’s the one who picked my call minutes ago and the one who sent Hannah to my rescue.

Man, I feel like a lady in distress for saying that. I’m not saying that ever again. Not even in my mind.

I observe as Hannah unhooks my car and right after, she drives the car crane away and comes back walking.

“You can wait, this shouldn’t take long. There is the waiting room. Sheila is pretty nice, she will makes good company,” she says not even considering that I might want to see what she’s going to do to my car.

“Can stay with you?” I ask though I don’t know why. I like cars, but I’m not really into what’s inside the car. I’m more of the kind that enjoys the designs, not the pieces.

“You sure? It’s gonna be boring. I’m just gonna put some coolant and check that everything’s fine. Half an hour tops,” she replies and I wonder if she really wants me away or she’s sincere. Maybe she doesn’t like me.

“Yeah, sure. I wanna learn so I won’t make the mistake again, and if I’m stupid enough to make the same mistake, I’ll know how to fix it,” I tell her smiling, hoping that with that I will get to her somehow, but she just shrugs. She doesn’t even bother telling me that I’m not stupid!

“If that’s what you want, sure.” And she walks away like I’m not standing there.

My eyes widen as I see her getting farther from me. She doesn’t react to anything I say or to any of my smiles. Does she really not care at all about my presence? Am I so insignificant to her?

I groan internally as I walk behind her. The lads can’t know about this, especially Moni. If they do, I’ll never hear the end of this.

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Dedication goes to @understarlights because it was my favourite comment!

Bel, xx