You and I | Harry Styles/1D Fanfic

Ten.

I hadn't spoken directly to Harry in three days. If I was a normal kind of person, you know those ones that feel things like sympathy and awkwardness, then I might have felt uncomfortable about the whole situation. Fortunately for me, mama raised a bad bitch. When I say that I couldn't care less about the miserable look that crossed Harry's face every time he said something to me and I straight up ignored it, I really meant it. The chat I'd had with Emmie, thankfully, was nowhere near as difficult as I thought it would be – a lot of that was due to the fact that I'd had Niall there defending my corner and, let's be honest, due to the fact that she hadn't been there to witness it. It was one thing to hear that I'd been unprofessional and lost my rag but if Emmie had actually seen just how badly I'd kicked off I doubt she'd have been so understanding. Either way, I'd gotten off lightly, and I knew it. Harry, unfortunately, wasn't going to be that lucky.

It was Wednesday afternoon and Emmie had called me in for a 'very important' meeting with her. When I knocked on her door and entered, I wasn't too surprised to find the lads there too. Pretty much anything 'important' that Emmie needed to talk to me about was to do with them. I took the only empty seat left which, of course, was next to Harry. He turned his head to give me a small smile. I stared straight ahead.

"Right, now that we're all here, I've had an exciting idea!" In my head, I rolled my eyes. Last time Emmie had had an 'exciting idea' I'd ended up having to work with One Direction. I mean, don't get me wrong, I was really starting to like the lads (bar the obvious pain in my ass) but still, Emmie wasn't exactly notorious for spreading great news.

"Now, as you all know, you boys are going to be writing and recording your new album for the next few weeks," Emmie said, beaming over at the four guys in turn. "But we'll still need to be able to keep tabs on you all and make sure the record is keeping on track. And that's where you come in, Taylor." Emmie turned her beaming gaze onto me next. I didn't quite know where she was going with this yet so I wasn't quick to return the smile. The lads were going off to some remote as fuck part of the country to some studio that was literally surrounded only by countryside and tiny tiny villages to do their writing, then they'd be coming back to London to start their full studio recording. Emmie hadn't yet given me exact details as to whereabouts this song writing location was going to be but I knew that it was at least a couple of hours away from London. If she was going to want to make sure the company was 'keeping tabs' on the lads, then I already knew that I was going to be the dickhead stuck travelling back and forth for the next two weeks to do so. That wasn't exactly and exciting prospect.

"What exactly do you want me to do, Emmie?" I asked. Maybe I shouldn't be so negative. Maybe she was going to say that while the guys were away writing that I could be assigned to another artist that was more local and get experience working with them. Ohmygosh imagine if it was James Bay!

"You're moving in with the boys!" Emmie said excitedly. I blinked.

"Sorry, what?" I managed to choke out.

"You and them," she pointed from me to the guys, "are going to live together for a while!" I blinked. What on earth was happening right now? I couldn't live with them for a whole two weeks, especially not in the middle of nowhere. I already had a house! What would I tell Beth? Fuck, what would I tell Zoe! Oh, hey, you know how you wanted to meet One Direction and I basically wouldn't let you but then I got to meet them anyway without you? Well I've secretly been helping to manage them for the past three weeks and now I'm fucking off to go stay with them in some lovely writer's retreat, lol! Enjoy the rest of the semester! Somehow I didn't think that would go down too well.

"Emmie, I can't live with the lads for two weeks," I tried to explain.

"You're not going to be," she said. I breathed out a sigh of relief.

"Oh, thank go-"

"You're living with them indefinitely." I nearly choked on my own saliva. What the hell was she talking about? "You'll all go away to the New Forest for two weeks for the intense writing break and then when you come back you'll be moving in with the boys," Emmie explained. Indefinitely? I had no words. I literally had no words, and that was saying something for me. Fortunately, I wasn't the only one who was concerned.

"But Emmie," Liam started, "the four of us don't live together? We all have our own houses." Emmie turned to him and smiled.

"I know. You'll be living in a house rented by the company, it's all being arranged as we speak." I glanced to my right and was happy to see that Harry's face displayed as much shock as I'm sure mine did. "The company just think that it's really important that this album is perfect. We're trying to rebrand you as a four-piece and it'll be the first album that you release with us and we want to make sure that we're all happy with it. Also, it's a lot easier arranging transport to and from one location rather than five so I'd rather have you all under one roof. You'll be doing a lot of travelling together in the next few months so it just makes sense really. Plus, Taylor is a similar age to you all so we thought it worked perfectly. It's not like we're throwing in some old biddy like myself in with the four of you to cramp your style." Emmie laughed. "Honestly, when you aren't working, you are free to be as you usually would be at home." She turned to me. "I mean it, Taylor. Don't feel that you need to be professional 24/7 when you start living with the boys. Your work hours only apply when you have been sent by the company somewhere with them. Other than that, you're just a young woman and they're just young men. Have fun and get to know each other more!" I don't think Emmie quite knew what she was telling me to do right now.

Just then a phone began buzzing. Emmie grabbed her mobile from her desk and read the alert. I jumped a little when she shot up from her seat.

"I'm so sorry to leave you all but I have another very urgent meeting to get to," she explained as she gathered up all her things and raced to the door. "You artists don't manage yourselves, you know!" she chuckled, and with that she was gone, leaving the five of us to just sit staring at each other. Niall was the first to break the silence.

"Well then, I guess we're all going to be housemates again!" he smiled. "Plus Taylor this time." I tried to force a smile but I couldn't. Emmie didn't know what I was like. She knew the well dressed, professional Taylor Grahams; the Taylor that was always punctual and presented herself in a proper and acceptable manner. She knew that Taylor because I was serious about my career and didn't want to throw away this opportunity. What she didn't know about was the real Taylor. The Taylor that swore like a sailor and had a tongue that cut like a knife. The Taylor that was always first to the party and last to leave. The Taylor that used and abused boys for her own fun and literally gave less than two shits about the consequences. No, that Taylor had been perfectly hidden during the working hours of 9 to 5 these past few weeks. But now that I was going to be living with these boys, surrounded by them 24/7, I didn't know how this would turn out. I didn't mix my personal and professional lives for a reason – because I couldn't. One of the two was inevitably going to end up suffering.

I looked over at the four lads. Liam, Louis, Niall and Harry. Harry. I sighed. This was going to be interesting.