Elusive [Harry Styles]

1. Shut Up and Dance

*I've put the song that inspired me to write this story at the top, and at a certain point in this chapter it ties in with what I've written, so you'll see an A/N telling you when to play it if you'd like to.*

~Harry~

"Can I get you another whiskey, sir?" the bartender asked me. He was young — younger than me, definitely no older than twenty, and wearing a white shirt and black bow tie. Like everyone else in this place, he looked the part. 

"Yeah, keep 'em coming." I replied dully, sliding my empty glass across the bar-top. 

Finally we had a couple of months off from touring the world, and I'd only landed back in London a few hours ago, but here I was drowning my sorrows in expensive whiskey in a bar that I'd never even heard of. 

I was having a bit of a sulk, to be completely honest. It's not that I didn't love my life — I did, I adored it, I adored travelling and performing — but I was just having one of those off days. I was tired of my name being carelessly splashed across the front pages of magazines, and although the media didn't have much to make a spectacle about in terms of my life recently since they were focused on the departure of Zayn, being labelled as a womaniser here, and gay somewhere else, really wasn't helping me in any respects. 

I sighed, glancing around the lowly lit room. It was a trendy place, full of a lot of upperclass young people. There were groups sat at tables, one or two on the rather empty dance space, but I was definitely the only loser sat by themselves. Or so I thought... 

My eyes landed briefly on a girl sitting at the other end of the bar and I had to do a double take. The first thing I noticed was that she was wearing a fairly short, very pretty, off-white dress, her bare legs catching my attention for longer than they should've. Her skin was seemingly flawless and vibrant — her makeup was subtle and very elegant. Her hair was reasonably short, blonde curls falling to just below her shoulders. Her elbows were bent, resting on the deep oak of the bar, one hand draped downwards and slowly tracing the edge of her glass as she stared at nothing in particular. 

"Sir," the bartender addressed me, pushing the now full glass back over to me. I looked back to him with an appreciative nod, and when I redirected my gaze back to the beauty sitting to my far left, she was looking back at me innocently with sparkling eyes.

I swallowed hard, my eyes flicking back and forth all over the place — I didn't know whether to keep looking or to turn away. She must've noticed my nervous disposition, though, because she smiled a small smile in my direction. She didn't seem to be at all fazed by me staring, as she just continued to look sweetly at me with a look of curiosity. 

After what felt like an hour, but was probably about ten seconds, she glimpsed at her drink, picking it up and then watching her step as she hopped gracefully off the stool. My breath hitched slightly when I realised she was walking towards me, and in an attempt to play it cool I turned back to the bar and made out I was absentmindedly admiring the bottles of liquor on the wall. 

I felt a presence beside me, and I had to force myself to acknowledge her when she spoke a soft, "Hey." 

"Hi," I responded, trying to smile without looking giddy. My eyes met hers, and I noticed they were a similar shade of green to my own. She was so pretty, gorgeous in fact, and everything about her looked delicate and lovely.

She was sat close and continued letting her eyes study my entirety, laughing slightly as she said, "You know, I thought I was supposed to be the starstruck one."

"You know who I am?" I asked her, slightly surprised for some reason. My cheeks felt somewhat warm as I realised she must've noticed how nervous I was.