Currently, I'm sat in the passenger seat of the bus next to Bill, the driver.

Bill has been keeping me great company, dragging me out of the foul mood that I entered the bus with.

How I ended up chatting animatedly with the driver of the bus and not in the back with everyone else?

Let's just say it had to do with a certain green-eyed curly haired boy who goes by the name of Harry Styles.

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Earlier that day

"Are you sure about this? I don't want this to be a bother or anything," I said unsurely.

Maria and Lily looked at each other confused and then looked back at me.

"I'm talking to Maria," I clarified with an internal eye roll.

"Mia, how many times do I have to tell you that it's not a problem. I wouldn't have it any other way. Besides, she'll keep me on my feet for the time being," she said sincerely.

"But two months? That's quite a long time I don't-"

"Hush, child. I'll be fine," she said sternly.

I really didn't want to put Mari on the online classes especially when the term was almost over. It wouldn't make sense to put her on for the remainder of the term and then when the next term begins, she's back at school.

Don't ask me how. She just knew. I don't know if she has some sort of spidey sense or something but as soon as the sun rose yesterday morning, Maria was knocking on the front door.

It's like she could sense that I was stuck between a rock and a hard place. Initially I didn't tell her what was going on but somebody just had to let it slip.

She offered to keep Mari for the two months and when vacation started, she'd come on the tour with me. Knowing that I wouldn't accept, she said she wasn't taking no for an answer!

But what shocked me to no end, was when I asked Mari how she felt about it, she was absolutely ecstatic.

"Two months with Maria? Qué maravilloso and the food....." she blews a chef's kiss.

"I can't wait! When do I leave?"she asked excitably.

I'm going to miss you too! I thought sarcastically to myself.

She doesn't know why she's staying for the two months and surprisingly she didn't ask. I guess it'll just be a surprise.

I don't know how I'll survive without her for two months. I just know that I'll be calling to check up on her non stop. Call me clingy, I don't care. You try living without the little ball of sunshine in your life and see how it feels.

Which brings me back to today.

Mari emerges with Teddy held tightly against her chest and a smile on her face when she sees Maria and Lily.

"Okay I'm ready," she exclaims.

She starts walking towards Maria but I gently grab her tiny wrist to prevent her from going.

"Woah woah. Where do you think you're going without a proper goodbye?"

She watches me with a pout.

"Mamá can I go please? Maria's empanadas are going to get cold!" she says sounding annoyed.

I shake my head,"Maria's empanadas can wait. I want a hug. Are you going to deprive me of one last hug for a whole two months?"

A toothy grin breaks out across her face and she crashes into me.

I hold her small frame close to me trying not to get emotional and rub my other hand up and down for back.

"I'm going to miss you so much," she mumbles into my shoulder.

"I'll miss you too. Everyday," I say nuzzling my nose into her hair.

"But I'm going to call you every morning as you get up and every night before you go to sleep."

"You're still going to sing to me??" she asks innocently.

"Every single night. Any disney song you want," I said softly.

"Okay," she says quietly nodding her head.

When I look up, I catch Lily trying to hold back her tears with a napkin held close to her nose.

I give her an 'are you serious' look to which she responds by flipping me off before Mari could see as she was standing behind her.

"Ay dios mio. Look at the time! We're going to miss the tube," Maria says looking at the watch on her wrist.

I release Mari from my hold and give her one last kiss on her forehead before retrieving the duffel bag with her stuff and handing it to Maria.

"You take care of yourself, cariña," she says looking at me concerned.

"Don't you worry Maria, she'll have me the whole time to clean up all the coffee stains and make sure she doesn't get run over," Lily perk up from behind me and I glare at her which causes Maria to let out a chuckle.

Lily and I walk them to the door and as they reach the bottom of the staircase, I call out to Mari and she turns around to face me.

"I love you one hundred pink Skittles," I exclaimed.

She lets out a laugh making her face light up and yells,

"I love you a giant herseys bar."

I felt my heart squeeze as they disappeared from my sight.

"Don't do it, don't you dare cry on my Lily," I warned as soon as I took in Lily's state.

"I can't help it okay? That was so cute yet sad at the same time! How are you not emotional after that?" she exclaimed.

I just rolled my eyes and went back into the flat, not giving her an answer knowing where that conversation would've led.

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After I finished packing, we were bored. We didn't leave for like another 4 hours.

So I decided to take Lily to one of my favorite places. Antonio's Pizza. I was supposed to go there today anyway, just not this early. But it couldn't hurt to be a little early for my performance could it?

We put our suitcases in the car so that when we left Antonio's, we'd just be on our way to get to the tour bus.

To say I was nervous was an understatement. Although I couldn't bring myself to actually figure out why? I knew I was nervous about going to Antonio's because I mean....who wouldn't when they had to do what I was about to do but I found myself being nervous about going on the tour bus and seeing Harry again.

I know. I'm stupid. Don't rub it in.

When we got to Antonio's, we sat down at a booth in the back, catching up. It's been a while since we've seen each other and now that she's taking a year off from school, I'm actually glad that she decided to spend it with me.

I don't know why she made that decision though. It was so out of the blue for her and whenever I tried to ask her about it, she'd change the topic.

We have 6 months together, she can't expect me to not find out.

Maybe an hour or so had passed. Lily and I were still talking like we always did. I knew she was trying to distract me but it did nothing to ease my nerves.

I wonder if the band was here yet?

My thoughts got interrupted however by a familiar voice.

"Oi Mia! Fancy seeing you here!"

I turned around in the second I heard my name and was faced with joyous blue eyes staring back at me along with four other pairs mirroring my puzzled expression.

"What are you doing here?" I ask puzzled, furrowing my eyebrows. My previous nerves now forgotten.

"I'd say we came here to eat pizza, right mates?" Louis said as if it were the most obvious thing on the planet.

I glared at him then Liam lets out a faint chuckle.

"We just came here for a late lunch and to hang since we still had a lot of time before we had to get on the bus," he explained and I nodded.

And......they don't know. Dammit!

All of a sudden each of them starting filing into our booth and I looked at them in disbelief.

"Umm what are you doing?"I ask confused while Lily watches on in amusement.

Harry motions for me to scoot around as he says,"Don't mind us, we won't bother you."

I reluctantly move across to make room for him to sit while the others seem engrossed in the menu. I try my best to ignore the way goosebumps erupted over my skin when our hands grazed as he got comfortable on the seat.

"You must be the famous Harry that I've heard so much about. It's a pleasure to finally meet you," I look up at the sound of Lily's voice sending her an annoyed look when I heard the mischievous tone of her voice.

Don't do it bitch!

He widens his eyes at her, probably having now noticed her.

He looks between me and Lily unsurely before sending her a polite smile.

"And you...." his voice drifts off, waiting for her to say her name.

"Lily. The best friend," she confirms with a nod.

She just had to it.

"Harry this is Liliana. Liliana this is Harry," I formally introduced.

He clears his throat awkwardly and says with a underlying tone that I don't recognise,

"Pleasure to meet you Liliana," he says politely, quickly adverting his eyes to the menu in front of him.

Unfortunately I wasn't the only one to catch on to Harry's odd behaviour.

"No need to get upset Harry! I'm not here to steal your best friend. I'm here to get dirt on Ms.Crabbypants here," she says gesturing towards me,"and you are just the person to help me with that."

Harry seemed to have caught on to Lily's plan as I watch him drop the menu on the table with a playful glint in his eyes.

He leans back against the back rest with his arms folded across his chest.

"What do you want to know?" he says casually but I can see right through the act. He's loving every second of this.

Lily lets out an excited squeal and exclaims," I knew it! I knew from the start that I liked you. Coming on this tour was probably one of the best decisions I've ever made!"

Harry suddenly leans forward, his elbows on the table, a confused expression adorning his features.

"Excuse me?"

"What?" she says mirroring his expression until she sees the murderous glare I'm projecting at her, then her eyes widen.

"Oh shit,"she mutters and sends me an apologetic look.

Harry doesn't get to question further because Antonio himself approaches our booth.

"Alright folks, you ready to order?" the jolly middle-aged man with the rosy cheeks asked.

The boys ordered first, including Harry and then Lily.

"Mia darling! You all set? They're almost here. You want anything before or..."he speaks to me. Antonio has been like the uncle I never had, or at least I think I don't have, ever since I moved here.

We started out as business partners, which then turned into acquaintances, then friends and now basically family.

Don't tell anyone but I think he has a thing for Maria. Shhh....

I gulped taking in his words and then nodding,"the thursday usual please," I said quietly but loud enough for him to hear, wiping my sweaty palms over the fabric of my jeans.

Of course the action doesn't go unnoticed.

"Love, you'll be fine," he says reassuringly and I nodded knowing that he's right because every Thursday, we go through the same thing. I can't help it...I'm nervous!

He starts calling out the orders to everyone at the booth to confirm them.

As he walked away, Niall spoke up, looking disgusted,"Who ordered a salad?"

"I did," I revealed glancing around the restaurant, trying to spot the familiar faces I was looking for.

"Why?" I heard next to me. I turned my attention to Harry who was watching me curiously.

"Because I wanted to," I said slowly, furrowing my brows.

Where was he going with this?

"But why?" he pressed.

I'm starting to get frustrated not only with all the nerves bubbling inside me but also the way he kept pressing me as though ordering a salad was such a crime.

"What's wrong Harry?" I asked.

"You don't like salad," he states enigmatically.

I feel a frown etch it's way across my face. I'm confused.

"I mean, you don't like salad. Frankly you despise them, said you'd never eat anything that didn't contain meat." I smile slightly at his what he said remembering the day I'd sent that letter.

"Okay....?"

He shifts closer to me and says lowly,

"We're not going to judge you if that's what you're afraid of. We're all human. Nothing can be worse than watching Miall eat anyway"

I think I have an idea at what he's getting at but I just don't want to believe it.

"What are you getting at Harry?" I ask letting out a sigh when I saw a familiar redhead from the corner of my eye.

"If we hadn't joined you, would you have still taken the salad?" he shot back and my brows raised.

"Are you suggesting that I'm trying to impress your friends, who clearly have no interest in what I eat, by changing my eating habits while in front of them?" I asked with a bit of disdain in my voice.

Harry's eyes widened and his brows shot up.

"Mia that's not-"

"No I think it's exactly what you meant!" I hissed at him and excused myself from the booth, marching towards the kitchen.

To be continued.....

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