She's Not Afraid (Harry Styles )

Chapter 1

Ch 1

Autumn

I pulled my coat around me as I walked, but it did little good. New York was cold this particular January day and the wind cut right through my coat.  I was on my way to my friends place for a going away party. I had met Kat in class, and met her roommate Lexi when her boyfriend had dumped her. When I first met her I had no idea who the idiot was. It wasn’t until he showed up and pulled off some huge gesture that I found out that he was Niall Horan from the boy band One Direction.  I was surprised , I mean everyone knows One Direction, even if they weren’t my kind of music. This party was Lexi’s going away party.  She had transferred schools to go to some school in London. She was moving into her boyfriends place. I know it seems fast to me too, but he was going on tour in May and would be gone for a few months, so it made sense for her to use his place.

I was insanely late for the party, but that was normal for me, I’m always late.  When I got to their building I pulled off my beanie and tried to smooth out my dark teal hair. Naturally I was a blond, but ever since that night two years ago I started to dye it any other colour. I was average in every other way, brown eyes, not skinny but not fat, not curve less but no where near the curves of Lexi or Kat. Just average. Only thing unique about me was my hair and my tattoos. Some girls cut to deal with their pain, I got tattoos. They looked nicer than scars in my opinion, and my whole right arm was covered.

I checked myself in the mirrored walls of the elevator as it rose to the floor my friends lived on. It was a short ride and soon I was knocking on their door. “Autumn! You made it!” Lexi squealed, pulling me into a hug. I smiled at the girl, who only a few short months ago I had just met. It’s crazy how close two people can get in a few months when bonding over how much guys suck. Though her boy problems had fixed themselves, I still wore the scars from mine. “Of course I came stupid. Like I would miss partying with you one last time.” I said, hugging the brunette girl.  “Hey love who’s this?” I heard someone say with a thick Irish accent. I looked up and saw a blond hair blue eyed pretty boy walking towards us. “Babe this is Autumn, Autumn my boyfriend Niall” Lexi said as the blond boy wrapped an arm around her waist. “This is the girl who told me she would go all hard candy on me if I hurt you again?” He asked with a chuckle. “Damn right I am blondie, and I meant it too. So watch yourself” I said to him with a smirk, only half joking. He chuckled again. “Good to know, tho I don’t plan on lettin er go again. Ever” He said, planting a kiss on Lexi’s temple. I rolled my eyes “Where’s Kat?” I asked. “She’s over there talking to the other girls” Lexi said. I looked past her and saw Kat talking to a blond girl and a brunette. “I take it those are the other members of the 1D girlfriends club?” I asked. She giggled “yea. Zayn and Liam are over there on the PS4” She said, pointing to two very good looking boys very into whatever game they were playing, “And Harry and Louis went to pick up more drinks” She finished. “Uh which one is which?” I asked her quietly. “Zayn is the one with black hair and the sleeve, he’s engaged to Perrie, the blond with Kat” She said to me and I nodded. I knew Liam and Harry were the only single ones left, and obviously I knew which one was Harry. He was always on tv with some actress or reality tv starlet. Lexi said he wasn’t really such a man whore, but he was her best friend so of course she would say that.

I decided to go and make friends with the two boy band members playing what looked like FIFA, and was soon kicking their asses at the game.  I didn’t even notice the other two boys had come back until Lexi called me over. “Autumn this is Louis” She said, pointing to a boy with brown hair and blue eyes who just nodded at me, “And this idiot is Harry.” She said, throwing her arm around the boy with the curly hair and very green eyes. He was taller that I would have thought, and even though I didn’t want to admit it, pretty good looking. “It’s a pleasure to meet you” He said, his voice raspy. The way he looked at me made me feel like I was the only one in the room, and I didn’t like it. “Likewise.” I said, extending my hand to shake his.  He grabbed my hand gently, before looking down “I like your tattoos” He said, turning my arm gently to get a look at more of them “Thanks, same to you.” I said,  wondering when I started sounding so shy. “How many do you have?” he asked me, his green eyes boring  into my brown ones.  “About 35 I think. I lost count a while ago.  What about you?” I asked, shifting uncomfortably under his intense gaze, it reminded me of the way my ex used to stare at me when we had first met. “27 or 28.” He said, smiling at me. “Well I was in the middle of a game with uh Zayn and Liam so I better go back.” I said, stepping out of his grip. “Can I get you a drink?” He ask me. “Beer would be nice” I yelled back, sitting in between the two boys on the couch and picking up the controller I had been using. “I’ll take one of those too Harry” Zayn said to the curly haired boy, who just nodded and walked into the kitchen.

I sat with the boys for about an hour before Perrie came over to monopolise Zayn, and Liam decided he was bored and went to go socialize. I was left on the couch, fiddling with my phone, when Harry came and sat beside me. “So Lexi said you were taking her room?” He asked me. “Yea I’m moving my stuff in tomorrow. My current roommate is a huge bitch, and she wasn’t happy when I said I was moving out.” I said, a slight smirk on my face. My current roommate always had a different guy over every night and thought she was hot shit and some kind of princess. The fit she threw when I told her I was moving out was by far the most entertaining thing to watch. I heard Harry chuckle beside me and turned my face to look at him.  He green eyes seemed to shine, although that could have just been from the alcohol. He looked so different than the pictures from when they first came out. Gone was the cute little 18 year old boy who seemed so innocent. Now he looked like a man, a very sexy man, and it was obvious he knew it. “Why are you here?” I asked him, my tone a bit suspicious. He frowned “here in general or here sitting beside you?” He asked. “Here on the couch beside me” I said, folding my arms over my chest self-consciously.  “Well you’re friends with one of my best friends and you seem like you’re interesting so I wanted to get to know you. Maybe be friends.” He said. He seemed sincere  so I just nodded, accepting his answer.

We spent the rest of the party talking, mostly about music and tattoos, and I was surprised at how varied his tastes were. I was expecting a boy band boy to be into stuff only like Beiber, but he surprised me. When I got up to leave, Harry followed me. “You leaving already?” He asked me “yea I have to be up early, I’m moving my stuff in since most of Lexi’s stuff has been shipped out already” I said, and he just nodded. I said my goodbyes to everyone, exchanging numbers with Perrie, and made my way to the door to put my coat on. “You aren’t driving are you?” Harry asked, making me jump “Jesus Harry don’t sneak up on people. And no I only live a couple of blocks away so I’m going to walk.” I said. “I’m sorry I startled you. Can I walk you home? It’s late and it would probably make Lexi feel better to know you weren’t walking alone.” He said.  I was about to say something when the devil herself walked up. “Harry can you walk Autumn home? If that’s okay with you A.” She said, looking at both me and Harry. “ I was just actually about to say yes to his offer to walk me home” I lied, smiling at my friend. Truth was I didn’t want the company, let alone from this boy who had this habit of making me feel uncomfortable. “Great! Harry I’ll see you later” She said, hugging him before we stepped out the door.

The walk was quiet, it was far too cold to pull my face out of my scarf to talk. Thankfully it wasn’t one of those awkward silences. Harry started humming and I couldn’t help but think that, even though I wasn’t a fan, the boy did have talent. And it was easy to see why so many girls worshiped him for just his looks and voice alone. Imagine what would happen if more people got to know what he was really like.  We walked up to the door of my building and I pulled out my keys. “Well this is me. It was nice meeting you Harry.” I said. He pulled me into a hug before I could protest, startling me. I hadn’t let a guy touch me for 2 years. I stiffened under his touch and he pulled away quickly “Sorry I should have asked.” He said, looking concerned. “It’s okay. I’m not big on hugging.” I said. He just nodded. “Well can I have your number? I really enjoyed talking to you, and I think I’d like to be friends if that’s okay?” he asked me, a shy smile on his lips. I gave him  my number and said goodbye before heading up to my apartment. I could hear my roommate in her room with yet another guy and turned on my white noise machine to try and drown out the sounds. It wasn’t long before I found myself drifting off into a deep sleep.

** So here is chapter 1!! I am going to update on Mondays only unless I get a lot of feedback, in which case I may add a different day later one. Hope you guys like it !!**