Not Just Another Cinderella Story

22. First Dates

HARRY

"Drink?" I asked loudly over the music. Chelsea shook her head.

"I'm not much of a drinker."

"Come on!" Louis interrupted. "You can have one drink, right?"

"Um... Fine. Get me a shot or something then." Louis quickly complied, coming back with six shots.

"Two each?" he said, before downing his quickly. Chelsea followed suit, scrunching up her nose.

"What is that?" I downed my two shots too, wincing at the taste.

"Yeah Lou, these are disgusting." He simply shrugged, also grabbing two beers, one for me and one for himself.

"Do you want anything?" I said in her ear.

"Nah, I'll go grab something at the bar later." My mind was already starting to become slightly foggy from the shots as I sipped my beer and caught up with a few friends at the club.

I wasn't sure how much time passed before I realized Chelsea was nowhere in sight. She couldn't have gone too far, because we were dancing only a few minutes ago. Right? I made my way over to the bar, careful not to fall or bump into anyone. How could I have let her out of sight so quickly? I scanned the seats surrounding the bar until I saw the back of her head as she chatted animatedly with someone. He had either black or dark brown hair, made green by the lights in the club. They were chatting in a booth, nibbling on some sort of food. Why was she with him? I went a bit closer, sliding into the booth, but not interrupting their conversation.

"Your existential crisis just never ends, does it?" she said, sarcasm lacing her voice. The guy, who I faintly seemed to recognize, sighed dramatically and put his head in his hands. 

"Never. I never get a break from my daily crises." She laughed, before noticing I had joined them.

"Oh hey! Harry, this is Dan, Dan this is my boyfriend, Harry." I stuck my hand out for him to shake. As Chelsea mentioned his name, I recognized him as one of the radio hosts for Radio 1.

"So you're a radio host, right? With your friend... um, Phil? On Radio 1?" He laughed a bit, possibly at my slightly slurred and disjointed sentence.

"Yeah, I'm flattered you know me." As he said that, I felt Chelsea's hand slip into mine from under the table, fiddling with the ring on my middle finger. I laughed a little, though I wasn't sure what was funny.

"So it's on, then?" Chelsea asked.

"Definitely. You've got my number, yeah?"

"Yeah. We should probably get going now, it was so cool to meet you." She reached up and gave him a hug over the table. "I'll call you later, and we can meet up soon?"