Chapter 3 ~ Harry

Once I get to Alex’s house –somehow, the girls’ house has become the place where all of us get together–, I can’t stop thinking of Hannah and the way she just plainly ignored me. It’s not the first time a girl has treated me like I’m no one important. Alex, Phebs, Belle, Mila and Moni, all of them treat me like I’m just a normal guy and that’s why it feels so good to be near them, because they make me forget about the hectic life I have for a second and I feel normal. But there’s something different about Hannah, something I can’t put my finger on yet.

The way she treated me in the garage isn’t any different from the way Moni treats me –like she hates me and can’t see my face without wanting to inflict some pain on me–, or the way Alex treated us all when she met us. Yet it feels completely different and I can’t get her out of my mind.

Not to mention she’s incredibly gorgeous. At least in my eyes. She’s simple, I guess. It’s evident she’s not into fashion –or that’s maybe because she was working when we met–, if she wears any makeup, I can’t tell. But it’s not her look what really catches my attention, I think it has to do with the way she looks. I’m normally very observant and when I looked her in the eyes before, I saw emptiness and so much pain. Like she has a hole in her chest and it’s eating her alive. I don’t know why I got that feeling from her, but I can’t shake it off.

Maybe that’s why I can’t stop thinking of her, because what I saw in her eyes intrigue me. It’s not her attitude towards me, but what she’s hiding behind all that indifference.

“My baby better be fine or I swear that you’ll be singing a high note forever, Styles,” Moni threatens me when I cross the door and I just laugh shaking my head.

“Yes, I’m perfectly fine. Thanks for asking,” I reply, sarcasm filling my voice, but she doesn’t find it amusing because she looks at me deathly. “The car is fine; I just forgot to fill it with coolant.”

“You seriously forgot about that?” The brunette asks incredulously at the same time that Mila appears with Zayn following her closely. “You’re more stupid than I thought,” Moni muses leaving me there alone and going back to the rest of the group.

I just sigh as I close the door. Mila has stopped and she’s looking at me with a smile on her lips, Zayn is next to her and as usual, since they got back together, every time they can see each other, Zayn has a hand on her waist. That’s the thing with them, they need to have some contact. I think it’s because of those awful months they spent apart from each other when they didn’t even speak. It was really hard, but since then they have become stronger. I know Mila trusts Zayn again and he learnt something very important from that whole experience.

Sometimes when I look at them and all my other friends, I can’t help feeling alone. Liam is single now –long story short, Danielle and he broke up few weeks before we set off to our world tour–, but it’s not the same. He was in a relationship for so much time and he’s, finally, enjoying his time as a single man. But I’ve been single for so long, nothing more than one night stands and I’m getting tired of that. When I see how happy Louis, Niall and Zayn are, I can’t help myself from wanting something like that too. Something stable, someone who really wants to be with me for who I am and not for what I am. It’s different and I feel like all the girls I’ve been with don’t know what the difference is.

Of course I have to get tired of that eventually.

“Something interesting?” Mila asks leaning unconsciously towards Zayn as she normally does when they are together. “You have something different about you, I can’t tell what, though,” she adds and I smile wider. That’s my friend, always so observant and clever.

“I just think I’ve met someone interesting,” I tell her getting closer to give her and Zayn a hug.

“How so?” Mila requests to know.

“Well, it wasn’t a recovery guy who came to help, but a recovery girl,” I explain, Mila and Zayn raise their eyebrows as a way to invite me to carry on. “Yes, she’s hot but that’s not all. There’s something that caught my attention when we met and I think it’s how she seems to be shutting the whole world out.”

“I see you made a whole analysis of the situation,” comments Zayn and I chuckle humourlessly. It’s not like I thought of her the whole ride here… Well, I maybe did. “Is she old? I mean, if she works in the garage.”

“No. She’s a uni student, probably my age. It’s her dad’s business and she’s just helping.”

“Wow, and you already know a lot about her. Did you put her under interrogation or what?” Mila teases me and I just shake my head. “Well, I’m assuming that she didn’t give you her number.” It’s my turn to arch and eyebrow in confusion. “You seem a bit disappointed whilst talking about her, so I assume you want to see her again but she’s not eager to do so.”

“See? This is why we are friends,” I remark patting Zayn’s shoulder. “Zayn, man, you got a good girlfriend.”

“I know,” he agrees not even bothering with looking at me, he’s lost in Mila’s eyes.

I roll my eyes and leave them alone as I walk to the kitchen where all the others must be.

Of course I want to see Hannah again, I think there’re loads of other things to learn about her and I’m really intrigued, but as Mila said, she’s not eager to see me again, I can tell that. But, since when has something like that has stopped Harry Styles? This definitely won’t be the first time; after all I have many cars.

* * *

“What a surprise! What are you doing here, though?” My friend asks when he sees me at his door. “Something wrong? You didn’t tell me you were coming.”

“I’m offended. Can’t I just drop by to visit one of my best mates?” I ask offended and my ginger friend just rolls his eyes as he walks to his sofa. I can see he’s working on a new song as he has Nigel with him and a couple of beers. “In the middle of a creative process?” I question and he nods as he throws himself on the sofa and puts Nigel on his lap.

“Yeah, though I haven’t been very inspired today. Maybe later,” he replies and it’s my turn to nod. I take a seat on the little loveseat next to the sofa. “So tell me, what brings you to my humble home, Harry?”

There’s a bottle of beer closed on the coffee table and I just grab it without asking anything. “I came to kinda apologise. Today something funny happened,” I state taking a sip of the drink.

“Is this gonna take long? Should I get a snack?” Ed teases me and I look at him with furrowed eyebrows. He just laughs.

“Have you been talking to Moni too much lately?” I wonder and he just shrugs. Lately everyone enjoys messing with me more than usual and I’m sure it’s the brunette influence. “It’s not a long story, mate. Basically, what happened is that I met this girl today and she’s a big fan of yours,” I tell him and he nods to prove that he’s listening. “And well, according to the way she treated me, I sorta thought of how much it must suck for you with those girls who want to meet you or go to your concert just because we are friends. I mean, she recognised me because I’m your friend, not because of what I do. So now I really know how that feels and I’m sorry if some of my fans have made you feel that way.”

“Are you telling me that a girl rejected you and you’re apologising to me for what that made you realise?” Ed ponders with a smirk on his face. I nod like it’s not a big issue.

But then he bursts out laughing.

I don’t see the funny side about what I’ve just told him, but he apparently does. I stay there, staring at him in disbelief as he keeps laughing.

“You’re certainly special, Harry. And you don’t have to apologise. There are always fans that believe they are the best ones because they know loads about you, but you always can tell who the real fans are. You just have to look at them in the eyes to know the difference,” says Ed when his laughter fades away. “Now tell me, what you are gonna do about this girl?”

“Not sure yet, though I think my Audi needs to be seen, you know,” I state and he seems confused again. “Oh, right, you don’t know. She helps out in a garage. That’s how I met her when my car broke down today.”

“That’s new. How’s she?”

I can’t help myself from smiling when I summon her image to my mind. “She’s gorgeous. Tall and slim with pale skin and these angel-like features, green eyes and she’s kinda clumsy when she moves, but at the same time there’s something graceful. When she smiles you can see a set of cute little dimples and she has a few freckles she doesn’t bother to cover up. Oh, and she’s ginger, just like you,” I tell him and I see the impressed expression on Ed’s face.

“Woah, mate. She really made an impression on you, didn’t she?

I chuckle feeling my cheeks burning, I have to look away. “Sorta. But that’s not all, there’s something else about her. I haven’t been able to take my mind off of her the whole day. I just can’t. And I’m sure it has nothing to do with the fact that she rejected me but more with the fact she seemed to simply ignore my existence, but not only mine, more like the whole world.”

“She definitely made an impression on you,” Ed muses without losing the smirk from before. “You should go and see her again. Maybe she was like that today just because she didn’t feel well. It happens sometimes, you know?”

He is right, it could be that she was having a bad day so far and that’s why she ignored me that way, but I just feel like there’s something else and the curiosity is driving me crazy.

“I’ll most certainly go.”

“Good luck, mate,” he says honestly and I smile. “Well, do you feel like playing a bit?” He asks pointing at his Xbox with his head.

“Prepare to be beaten, my friend,” is all I say standing up to go and sit next to him. “We should even make a bet,” I suggest. The evil sparkle in Ed’s eyes should’ve scared me, but I don’t let myself get intimidated that easily.

And that’s why I regret afterwards. 

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Bel, xx