Harry insisted on driving us to the beach himself the following morning, so security had to follow us in the car behind. It was a half hour car journey, so we had the radio cranked up loud, and I was singing along to every song I knew and dancing in my seat with my arms in the air, much to Harry's amusement. I was disappointed that no One Direction songs came on, but I had brought my iPod and was hoping to get an hour to myself sunbathing so I could jam my earphones in and get my fix.

We parked up and jumped out of the car, grabbed our stuff and followed the four bodyguards down onto the sand. We spread out our towels and I began wriggling out of my shorts to reveal my white bikini. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Harry watching me, and I smiled inwardly. I covered myself in suntan lotion, and turned around and handed the bottle to Harry. I closed my eyes as his hands stroked my back, and felt goosebumps break out on my skin at his first touch. "I've got a party going on in my shorts right now," he murmured in my ear as he handed me the bottle so I could do his back.

"Harry!" I squealed. He grinned and pulled his tshirt off, and while his face was covered I let my eyes drop to his crotch to see if he was winding me up, but his shorts were too baggy to tell. I squeezed lotion onto my hands and as I began to rub his back I felt desire shoot through me. I took longer to rub it all in than I needed to, and when I'd finished I leaned forward so my lips brushed his ear and whispered, "Seems you're not the only one."

He snapped his head up and looked at me. I smiled at him flirtatiously, then laid down on my towel and pulled out my iPod. "You can't say stuff like that," he whined, laying on his front and propping himself up on his elbows to look at me.

"Sorry, I'm just a bit busy," I said, putting my earphones in.

"What are you listening to?" he asked.

I raised an eyebrow at him. "You really have to ask?"

He rolled his eyes, and laid his head down on his arms, his face turned towards me. I put Four on and skipped straight to Track 2. I turned the volume down so it was just gentle background sound and closed my eyes. I managed to get away with the entire Four album and half of Midnight Memories before Harry poked my side. "I'm booored," he moaned. "Take your earphones out and talk to me."

I smiled and pulled one out and looked over at him. "I can't believe no one has noticed you yet," I said.

"It's nice isn't it," he said. "It's very relaxing."

"I wish I could kiss you," I confessed.

"Me too," he said. He rolled over onto his side and rested his head on his hand, looking at me. "You get why we can't, don't you?"

"Of course," I said. "I don't want the attention any more than you do."

"I love that you get it," he said. Again, my stomach flipped as he said the word "love". His phone sounded and he picked it up and looked at it. "Lou will be here in a bit," he said.

I bolted upright, making him jump. My other earphone fell out. "Lou?" I squealed. "As in Louis??"

"Jeez," he grinned. "No, Lou our hairdresser." He laughed at my face.

I held my hand to my heart which was now thundering in my chest. "Christ, Harry, don't do that to me."

He raised an eyebrow at me. "You sure there isn't anything you want to tell me about your feelings for Louis?"

"Other than he's my favourite member of One Direction?" I teased. "Joke. JOKE!" I insisted, seeing the look on his face. "You know it's Liam really." He glared at me. "Niall?" I tried.

He sighed huffily and turned onto his side away from me and I giggled.

"I'm sorry," I wheedled, poking his back. "I'm just teasing you. You're my favourite and always have been, kind of."

He flipped over and looked at me. "Kind of??"

Ooops.

"Well, uh, I thought Liam was cute when he auditioned for X Factor the first time," I said tentatively. "And I recognised him when he auditioned the second time and got into the band, so to humour Maddie I said he was my favourite." I snuck a glance at Harry's face. He was looking at me through narrowed eyes. I cleared my throat nervously and for some reason my mouth carried on speaking. "And then when I went to the first concert with Maddie I thought you were really sexy on stage, but then I saw the video for One Way Or Another and IthoughtLouislookedreallyhot," I finished with a mumble.

"So you do think Louis is hot?" Harry asked.

"I did in the earlier videos. But you always had the edge," I said. "I can't believe we're even talking about this."

"So you've never liked Niall or Zayn?" Harry pressed, ignoring my last sentence.

"I like all of you!" I said. "You're a great band and I love your music."

"But in terms of hotness."

"Harry," I said exasperatedly. "This is weird. You're asking me which of your friends I think are hot. It's like me asking you who you'd rather have, Callie, Nicki or Sarah."

"Woah woah woah," Harry said, holding his hands up, his eyes twinkling. "Since when did sex come into it?"

"It didn't!" I protested, feeling the heat rise in my cheeks. "You are the hottest person in the world. End of."

"Correct answer," he nodded. "So which of the boys, after me?"

"I'm not answering that."

"Why not?"

"Because it's weird," I hissed.

"Not for me. I hear this kind of stuff all the time. Come on, just tell me."

"Will you promise never to bring it up ever again?"

"Scout's honour." He held up a 3-finger salute.

"Fine." I rolled my eyes. "Louis."

"Then?"

"Harry! You said that would be it!"

"Then???"

"Liam," I muttered.

"Then?"

I looked at him. "Well obviously Niall."

"What about Zayn?" he asked.

"Pfft, Zayn who?" I quipped. He looked at me but didn't say anything. "Ahh, too soon?" I said. "Ok. But he was always my least favourite anyway. I would have needed therapy if you or one of the others had left."

He grinned.

"Anyway, conversation OVER!" I declared.

He laid back on his towel, still grinning and slipped his sunglasses on again. I stayed where I was for a minute, looking at him laying there. Christ, he was gorgeous.

"Stop checking me out," he said, smiling.

"I wasn't," I lied, blushing and laying down again.

"Why not?" he teased.

I didn't answer but moved my hand slightly and touched his pinky finger. He touched mine back, and we linked fingers.

"We shouldn't really be doing this," he murmured out of the corner of his mouth.

"I know," I murmured back.

But neither of us broke away.

A minute later, a voice called, "Harry!"

Harry sat up. "Lou!" he said.

"Hello darling," she said, and I lifted my sunglasses to see Lou Teasdale walking across the sand towards us, her daughter Lux in her arms. Harry stood up and gave Lou a hug, and I sat up awkwardly on my towel. Obviously I know who she is, but she didn't have a clue who I was. "It's good to see you, babe," she said to Harry, as he took Lux from her arms and beamed.

"You must be Jess," she said, smiling at me.

"Um, yeah, hi," I said, waving.

"I've heard all about you," she said warmly, sitting down on the sand next to me.

"Really?" I said, not believing her.

"Oh yeah, Harry talks about you all the time," she said, and Harry cleared his throat. She darted a glance in his direction, then looked back at me. "I'm Lou," she said, holding her hand out.

"Yeah, I know," I said shyly, taking her hand and shaking it.

"Big fan," Harry said, by way of explanation.

"Not that big," I fibbed.

"She is," Harry mouthed at Lou, before turning his attention back to Lux, and Lou laughed.

"Get over yourself, Harry," she teased. She pulled her shorts and tshirt off and grabbed a towel out of her bag, stretching it out next to mine on the sand. Harry brought Lux over to her and Lou smothered her in suncream and set up a parasol for Lux to sit under. "So are you enjoying LA?" she asked me.

"Yeah it's great," I said.

"What do you do?" she asked.

I started telling her about my life in London and we chatted for about half an hour, before one of Harry's security guards (who had remained at a discreet distance the whole time we'd been on the beach) arrived with a huge hamper of food. We ate lunch, then all walked down to the water, Lou holding Lux's hand. Harry yelled when some seaweed got caught round his foot and bent down to pull it off, and quick as a flash I gave him a hard shove and he toppled over onto his knees in the waves. He gasped and stood up, shaking his head at me.

"4-3?" I said, grinning and backing away from him.

He took 3 huge strides towards me and grabbed me round the waist and I squealed at his cold hands.

He went to throw me over his shoulder but I said, "I'd really hate to pull your pants down in front of everyone."

He hesitated and instead, kicked water at me so I screamed. "You are so getting it when we get back home," he said so only I could hear.

"Promise?" I said cheekily.

"Yes!" he said forcefully, kicking more water so I was freezing cold and drenched. I caught sight of Lou watching us and smiling, and I blushed. We played with Lux in the water for a bit, then went back to our towels to dry off.

I pulled my hair up into a bun as my ponytail was full of sand and seawater, and watched as Harry reached into his bag and pulled out a little hairtie and began to do the same.

"Woah woah woah," I said. "What are you doing?"

"What?" he asked.

"Y-your hair," was all I could manage to say.

He smirked. "Oh sorry, is the mun bothering you?" he teased, and winked at me.

I put my head in my hands and quietly screamed, and he laughed. "If I can't beat you in the water, I'll have to beat you like this," he said.

"Not fair, Harry," I said through my fingers, refusing to look at him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lou and Lux left about 4pm, and as we said goodbye Lou said, "I'll see you on Friday."

"What's happening on Friday?" I asked Harry as she walked off with Lux in her arms.

"We're going out for dinner," Harry said, smiling. "Lou and some of her mates are coming with us."

"OK," I said.

"Speaking of dinner," Harry said, "do you fancy going out tomorrow night too? I thought I'd take you out." He looked at me shyly and my insides turned to mush.

"That sounds great," I said, equally shyly.

We packed up our stuff and made our way back to the car, security close behind. I was tired after the long day but I soon perked up when Ed Sheeran's Thinking Out Loud came on the radio. I turned up the volume and sang along at the top of my voice.

"You like Ed Sheeran?" Harry asked as it came to the end and I turned the volume back down again.

"Actually, I'm not really a fan," I admitted. "Apart from this one, and the one he did with Rudimental. But I absolutely love the video to Thinking Out Loud, with the dancing. And the lyrics are beautiful."

"He wrote some songs for us," Harry said.

"I know," I said. "I mean... errr, did he?"

Harry laughed. "I suppose you know which ones?"

"Moments, Little Things, Over Again and 18," I mumbled.

"Course you know!" he teased. "I don't know why I even asked."

"I'm sorry I'm such a loser," I sighed.

"Are you calling One Direction fans losers?" he asked, arching an eyebrow and looking at me out of the corner of his eye.

"No," I said. "But not every fan ends up...." I trailed off, unsure how to finish the sentence. Going out with you? Being your girlfriend? Falling in love with you? Actually forget that last one; I think every One Direction fan is a little bit in love with Harry Styles. "...getting this close to you," I finally said.

He smiled at me and reached over and held my hand. My heart began pounding and I looked out the window, trying to be cool and not lose it.

"I can always tell which songs are your favourites," he said after a minute, and I looked over at him questioningly. "You always turn the volume up, and completely ignore me when there's a song on you like," he said. "And you just sing along like you're in your own little world. Nothing else gets a look in until it's over, then you turn the volume down and you're back with us."

I felt myself reddening as he described me so accurately. "Thank God you've never seen me at one of your concerts," I muttered.

"I will in June," he grinned. "I can't wait."

"You won't be able to see me in a crowd of 80,000," I said.

"I'll make sure I do," he said. "Do you scream and stuff?"

"Do I scream?" I repeated incredulously. "At the first concert I screamed so loud I pulled a muscle in my shoulder."

He let out a raucous laugh and I turned crimson.

"I'll be more controlled now I know you'll be looking out for me," I said.

"You - controlled?" he laughed.

"Alright," I shifted in my seat, my face now beetroot.

"I'm just teasing," he said, stroking my fingers with his. "Whereabouts are you in the crowd?"

"We're in the back half, standing, at Cardiff," I said. "But we'll be getting there as early as possible to be close to the mini-stage." He nodded. My mouth decided to run away with itself. "I actually don't think I could cope if you made eye contact with me at your concert," I blurted. "I'd probably pass out or something."

He looked over at me, smirking. "We're making eye contact now," he said.

"Yes, and my stomach's doing somersaults," I said. Shut up Jess.

"Really?" he said, his face breaking into a smile.

"Always," I muttered. "You have no idea." What the hell was I saying? I needed a gag.

"So tell me, then," he said softly.

"Errrr, no," I said bluntly.

"Why not?"

"Because..." I floundered. "Because... just no."

"Do you like me?" he asked quietly.

Oh God. Why was he asking me this? "No comment," I said.

He turned back to the road and didn't say anything. I sneaked a look at him. I couldn't read his expression. I didn't know why I'd just brushed him off like that; it wasn't like I hadn't admitted liking him before. He'd just caught me off guard.

We drove into his driveway and stopped outside the house, and I grabbed my bag and jumped out of the car.

"Do you mind if I get straight in the shower?" I asked. "I'm covered in sand and saltwater.

"I was thinking the same thing," he smiled. "Go ahead."

I went up to the ensuite and pulled the band out of my hair. I brushed it through and managed to untangle it, then turned the shower on, and stripped off all my sandy clothes. I stepped inside and stuck my head under the jets to rinse the sand out of my hair.

"Room in there for two?"

I squeaked and jumped at the sound of Harry's voice and pushed my wet hair out of my eyes. He smiled and stepped into the shower, and my eyes travelled down his body as I realised he had nothing on. Oh my Styles. (I said it in my head this time). My stomach began churning with nerves. I felt extremely self-conscious. Obviously he'd seen me naked before, but never like this. It had always been after stripping each other's clothes off in the throes of passion. He slipped his arms around my waist and kissed me softly on the lips. "Hi," he said.

"Hi," I replied shyly.

He pushed my wet hair over my shoulder and I looked at the tiles behind him, avoiding eye contact.

"Don't go all shy on me now," he said huskily.

I closed my eyes and rested my head on his chest, but he lifted his hand and tilted my chin up and looked into my eyes. I blushed furiously.

You're naked in a shower with Harry Styles! the voice in my head screamed.

Shut up! I shouted at it.

Bet you never thought this would happen the first time you clapped eyes on him on stage in Manchester, the voice taunted.

It's Harry. Just Harry, I told it.

Harry Styles from One Direction!! It squealed.

I pulled my chin away from him and put my head down again, letting the force of the water push my hair over my face.

"Are you ok?" Harry asked. I felt his voice vibrating through his chest.

I cleared my throat. "Just having a Harry Styles moment," I confessed. "Sorry."

I heard him chuckle, and smiled in spite of myself. "Do you have them often?" he asked.

"Less frequently than I used to," I admitted, looking up at him. "But sometimes I just forget where I am for a moment, and I look up and catch sight of you and I want to point and scream 'Oh my God it's Harry Styles!' and then I remember, duh, of course it is, you're in his house, who else would it be?" I snapped my mouth shut and blushed deeper. "I'm really sorry, I'm messing this up, aren't I?" I sighed.

"Messing what up?" he asked.

"This, everything, me and you... I mean, whatever this is... I mean, our relatio- friendship... I- I don't even know what I'm saying," I finished, my stomach churning so hard I was starting to feel sick. "It's the effect you have on me," I offered, by way of a lame excuse.

"Do you want me to leave?" he asked.

I looked up at his amazing face, with his hair now dripping wet, resting on his neck, and the droplets of water on his chest. I shook my head.

"I want you to kiss me," I said.

He smiled, lowered his face and pressed his lips against mine. He tightened his grip around my waist and I slid my arms up around his neck and ran my fingers through his wet hair. He reached his arms behind me as we kissed and picked up a bottle of shower gel. I broke away from him and he poured some into his hands, and began rubbing them all over my shoulders and back. He ran his fingers down my sides and as he shifted I felt his hardness against my leg. I smiled up at him, my nerves suddenly gone, but my heart pounding harder than ever. I picked up the bottle of shower gel and squeezed some directly onto his back, and massaged his skin as he kissed me. I ran my hands down over his chest, then pressed my body against his, enjoying the slippery feel the shower gel had created. I squeezed some shampoo into my hair and Harry ran his hands over my head and down the full length of my hair, lathering it up, his lips pressed hard against mine. He pushed me up against the cold tiles and I gasped as the marble pressed against my hot skin. I scooped some of the lather off my own hair and massaged it into his head as we kissed. He pulled me back under the jets and kissed me harder, pushing his tongue in my mouth. The water slowly rinsed the soap away, and I squeezed his bum cheeks, digging my nails in gently to let him know I wanted him. He reached behind him with one hand and shut the water off, and guided me out of the shower, his lips never leaving mine. He grabbed a towel off the rail and pulled it around us and walked me backwards into the bedroom. My arms were locked around his neck and our kissing was becoming more and more urgent. We fell onto the bed, still dripping wet, the towel underneath us, and Harry fumbled for a condom. He was kissing me so hard my lips felt bruised, but it was only making me want him more. As he moved over me I ran my hands down his back, closed my eyes and let desire take over...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Harry made spag bol for dinner and I hung out on a stool in the kitchen, talking to him while he cooked. We ate at the breakfast bar, and then Harry suggested watching a film in bed, so we headed back upstairs and got into bed. The duvet was still wet on the top from our earlier fun, and we smirked at each other as we got comfy and Harry pulled me into his arms.

After the film finished he gave me the remote and I laid sprawled across the bed with the remote in one hand, flicking through the music channels, and found Ed Sheeran's Thinking Out Loud. I watched it in silence with a goofy smile on my face, and as it finished Harry nudged me affectionately with his knee and I looked over at him and smiled. I recognised the opening notes of the next song, and Harry groaned as the video for Night Changes came on. I rolled onto my side and propped my head on the pillow, and Harry scooched up behind me and put his arm around my waist, spooning me. I didn't take my eyes off the screen, and when it came to Harry's solo I felt goosebumps break out on my arms at the sound his voice. It always gives me the chills, particularly in this song.

"Are you cold?" he murmured, rubbing his hand on my arm.

"No," I whispered, but he pulled me tighter against him.

I stayed quiet, watching the rest of the video, and felt goosebumps break out on top of my existing goosebumps at Harry's second solo.

"You are cold, aren't you?" he said, pulling the duvet up over my arms.

"I'm really not," I said, my face turning red.

"I can see your arms!" he laughed.

"Yeah, that's not because I'm cold," I said, shamefully. I cleared my throat nervously. "It's the sound of your voice in this song. It gets me every time."

He lifted his head to look at my face.

"Don't judge," I muttered, completely embarrassed.

"Not judging," he chuckled. "Just not sure if you're winding me up."

I rolled my eyes. "I wish I was. Wait and see if you don't believe me."

He stayed quiet as the video continued to play, and sure enough, as soon as I heard his voice again, the goosebumps were back. "Told you," I muttered. "Go on, take the piss."

"Aww, I'm not going to take the piss," he said, kissing my shoulder.

"Why not? I would if it were the other way round," I teased, and he laughed.

"What else don't I know?" he asked.

"Loads," I said fervently. "And most of it hopefully you will never find out."

"Like....?"

I said nothing, and watched the end of Night Changes.

"There's one thing we haven't talked about," he began, and I could hear the smile already in his voice so I groaned. "Why were you a day late wishing me happy birthday?"

I groaned louder at the memory of the birthday tweet I'd sent him with the picture of me and Sarah holding a cake, and pulled the pillow over my head. He laughed and pulled it off, so I covered my face with my arms.

"Personally, I'm disappointed it wasn't sent on my birthday," he said, sadly. "Considering you supposedly had a crush on me for two years - your words, not mine."

"Fuck off, Harry," I mumbled from behind my arms, and he guffawed loudly.

"I wonder what you'd say if I was a day late wishing you a happy birthday," he said.

I pulled my arms away from my face. "I didn't even know you on your birthday!" I protested. "It was a Sunday so we weren't in work! That's why we did it the day after."

"I just feel a bit let down," he said, sticking his bottom lip out.

I whacked his arm, and he laughed again. "I can't wait to find out something embarrassing about you and taunt you with it," I said.

"There is nothing," he said.

"Yeah right," I said. "There's bound to be stuff on youtube of you before you were famous."

"Did you cry when Zayn left?" he asked, grinning.

I faltered. "I may have had a tear in my eye," I muttered, and he laughed again. "But I cry at anything," I said. "I'm a loser. So don't read anything into that."

"Like what?" he asked.

"Like this video," I said, pointing at the TV that had just started playing Wiz Khalifa - See You Again.

"Aww, really?" he said softly.

"Yep, so let's turn over," I said, searching for the remote.

"Ah, I like this," he said. "Leave it on."

"You just want to see me cry," I moaned. I looked at the screen and felt tears begin to well up in my eyes. I got up and went into the bathroom, hoping he'd think I was answering a call of nature, but when I came back out the video was still playing. I got back into bed just as Paul Walker and Vin Diesel were looking at each other in their cars, and the lump formed in my throat again. As Paul Walker's car drove off away from Vin Diesel's I felt a tear spill down my cheek (I had a mega crush on Paul Walker, but not in the same league as my crush on Harry Styles).

"Aww, baby," he said softly, sliding his arm around my waist. My stomach cartwheeled at 'baby', and my heart began to pound.

"I'm a loser," I sniffed, wiping the tear off my cheek.

"You're not. You're amazing," he whispered, sending my stomach backflipping. I found the remote and flicked the TV off, plunging the room into darkness. Harry kissed my shoulder and gently stroked my arm with his fingertips. His face nuzzled the back of my neck and his body fit perfectly behind mine.

I love you, I thought in my head. Fuck.