West Coast [Harlena]

Chapter 2

Cotton candy skies make me crave cotton candy.

"You're supposed to let the marshmallow burn until it gets all golden and crisp, not until there's nothing left on the stick," I bit the inside of my cheek as I tried to stifle back my laughter.

The small 'get together' had dragged out for longer than any of us had expected so now here we were all gathered around the fire pit while roasting marshmallows to make s'mores. 

Harry and I continued to talk throughout the afternoon and now we were sitting next to each other as he attempted to roast his marshmallow to perfection.  He was doing an absolute terrible job at it. He was already on his third marshmallow because he kept leaving it inside the flames for longer than necessary. 

"It's not my fault they came out defective! We should contact the factory where these were manufactured before someone else goes and buys them and ends up disappointed like me," he said.

I took my perfectly crisped marshmallow out of the flames right after he finished his sentence and made it into a gooey chocolaty s'more.

"Okay, sure. I think the problem here is that you've developed a tendency to let things catch on fire," I replied as I took a bite out of it.

He playfully rolled his eyes at me and I got so frustrated with his inability to roast the marshmallow that I eventually just made him one myself so that he would stop burning them to dust.

Everyone was caught up in their own conversations so it felt really nice to have this going on with Harry.

"I'm convinced you're a witch," he told me as he took the marshmallow I had toasted for him out of my hand and into his mouth.

I scoffed and rolled my eyes at him as I ate a marshmallow out of the bag we were sharing.

"Oh yeah? Well I'm convinced you can't cook," I playfully replied.

He rolled his eyes at me but still managed to have that dimpled grin of his as he did so.

I looked around at all the different faces and smiled down at my lap as I realized how wonderful they all were in their own way.

I had walked into this house hours ago expecting the worse to happen to me but here I was now sitting next to Harry; the last person I thought I'd be talking to today. I didn't even know he was going to be here but I'm glad he was because he exposed a totally different side of him.

"We should hang out more often, when are you not busy?" Harry asked me as he took the marshmallow bag out of my lap and proceeded to eat some.

I started to turn slightly pink at his question and then even more pink when I realized I was blushing.

"Uhm, I'm not sure but maybe I can give you my number or you can give me yours and I'll text you?" I quickly rushed out.

I stared ahead at the fire but could uncomfortably feel his gaze on me. I could also see out of the corner of my eye that he was staring.

I diverted my attention back to his amusement filled facial expression and raises my eyebrow as I waited for his response.

"Yeah of course, that's perfect," he replied.

He took his phone out of his jean pocket and unlocked it before handing it over to me so I could type in my number.

I quickly punched in my number and handed him his phone back as I saved my name in his contacts.

The two blonde women that were sitting across from us got up from their seats after I handed Harry his phone back and announced that they were going to be heading back home

We all wished them a goodnight and with that the circle started to get slowly smaller.

The music that had been playing earlier when I arrived continued to play in the background and the bag of marshmallows that Harry had gotten us from the kitchen was slowly coming to an end.

I pulled out my phone to check the time and almost did a double take when I saw that it was 12:45AM.

"Thank you so much Niall for inviting me over, everything was wonderful. I'm heading off now so goodnight guys," I spoke up as I got off the backyard couch and walked towards Niall.

"No problem, thanks for showing up. Hope you have a goodnight as well," Niall replied as he got off the couch and gave me a hug.

I grinned at him as I pulled away and said my goodbye to everyone else.

They all wished me a goodnight and I waved a simple goodbye to Harry as I made my way back into the house.

I walked towards my car with the biggest grin and as I got in, my phone went off.

I'm bored already, I might just go burn some food (ps it's harry)

I bit my lip as I read the message over a couple times and shook my head.

How could someone so serious looking be this precious?

Don't worry, I've already called the fire department. I got you.

I sent the text before starting my car and making my way back home through the bustling city nightlife of Los Angeles.