From The Dining Table [H.S]

Chapter 6:

I caught up to Louis just as he was getting in his car, "I don't want you to be mad at me. I don't want you hating me."

"Whatever, Harry. I get it: you moved on. You got a girlfriend now" he says, wiping his eyes.

"Don't do this, Lou. Don't cry and make me feel bad. You did the exact thing to me but you did it even worse! You got a girl pregnant!" I say shaking my head, "You hurt me then! So I moved on because you did. Listen, Louis, don't you come back here again for any other reason then to talk to your friend. I don't want to date you or whatever we had."

He nods and sniffs, "Okay, Okay. You're right, I'm sorry." He turns on his car and closes the door. He rolls down the window, "See ya around, Haz" he says. I step back from the car and he pulls out of the driveway. I watch as his car drives away out of sight. I sigh but shake out of it as I remember I have a beautiful girl waiting for me.

I jog up to the house and close the door behind me. Nikki was looking at a picture frame of me and the boys many years ago. "That was us on the X Factor."

"Right, you all came in third, right? How are you so famous then?" she asks, setting the photo down and looking at me.

"Oh, Simon Cowell signed us. He thought we were too good to just go home. So that was pretty cool" I say and she nods.

"Are you like besties with Simon Cowell then?" she laughs like it's a joke.

But I nod and laugh too. I take her hand and shower her around my home and then I take her into my kitchen where there's food out, ready to be made.

"You're house is pretty" she tells me and I nod, thanking her.

"I was thinking I'd make you some food. I hope you like chicken Parmesan" I say smiling, "It isn't the best meal in the world but it's simple and I like simple."

She nods, "I love chicken parm! Are you making spaghetti too?" she asks smiling, all of a sudden giddy.

I nod and pull out a stool, "You can watch me" I say, "I'll give you a cooking lesson since you don't cook much."

She chuckles and pulls out her phone, "Do you mind if I take a picture of you?" she asks and I immediately her tense.

When it comes to girl taking pictures of me when we are in private together, always scares me. Somehow the pictures always leak. Then hate pours in from fans towards me and the girl.

"Uh I don't know" I say, washing my hands.

"I won't post them anywhere or even send them to anyone" she says, "But I won't if you don't want me to, don't worry."

I nod, "Let's not. I just, I don't know, I'm weird about things like that, sorry" I feel bad and I hope she doesn't get mad at me.

She nods with a smile, putting away her phone, "Don't worry, it's fine. I understand and I respect it."

I let out a breath and smile, starting to cut the chicken. She watches me intently as I prepare our food. I chuckle and look up at her, "What?"

She shrugs, "Nothing" she says with a smile. My eyes narrow on her, as I wonder what she's thinking.

"Seriously" I say grinning, "Why are you staring at me? Does my cooking bother you?"

She laughs and closes her eyes shaking her head, "Better now I'm not looking at anything!"

I chuckle and continue to fix the chicken. I put some bread crumbs on a plate and some eggs in a bowl. I mix up the eggs and take a piece of chicken, dipping them into the eggs then into the bread crumbs.

"Damn" I say, "I forgot to turn on the oven" I quickly set the oven's pre-timer. I know I'll have the chicken done before it's ready so they will have to wait.

I look at Nikki and her eyes are still shut, "Okay open your eyes now" I say, "I won't get on you for staring at my sexiness" I joke and smile.

She opens her eyes and rolls them before pulling out her phone and scrolling through random social media and texting people.

As I thought, I finished breading the chicken before the oven was done so I decided to start the pot of boiling water.

As I wait for the oven and water to boil, I wash off my hands and walk over to Nikki. "Can you set your phone down for one minute?" I ask, pretending to nag her about it.

She smiles and sets it face up on the counter. I turn her in the swivel chair to face me and I move her legs apart to stand in between them. I rest my hands on her waist, smiling. "You're so beautiful."

She grins and blushes, like always. I chuckle, "You know blushing just makes you cuter" I say with a smirk.

She shrugs, "I can't help blushing!" she laughs and shakes her head, covering her beautiful face with her hands.

I chuckle and move her hands away from her face and wrap them around my neck, "Good because it makes you so pretty" I say before leaning in to kiss her.

She moves her hands and looks away, denying my kiss. I sigh and step away, "Okay, you got me! I don't know if you like me or not" I say, rubbing my forehead, "We had an amazing night last night, and you cuddled with me and joked with me and today you're here and staring at me and you're letting me touch you and stand in between your legs and when I go to kiss you, you pull away! You're sending me mixed signals."

She giggles and looks at me before sighing, "I don't mean to play with you like that, honestly. You're a sweet guy Harry but you have a reputation. I don't wanna be another girl who's heart you break" she says, looking down at her hands in her lap.

I groan and run my finger through her hair, "Reputation? That's what this is about?" I ask her. I walk away and to the chicken, hating that she thinks that's really me. I date girls the same way anyone else does. But the fact I've dated, and just hung out with older girls and models, I'm seen as a player.

"I'm sorry, Harry! I really like you, please don't be angry" she says and I look up at her. She seems genuine and a bit scared in her eyes. She doesn't want to ruin this.

I put the chicken in the oven and set a timer. I check the water and it's still. I walk back to her, "Nikki, I'm not angry with you. I'm just annoyed that you see me for my past. I am so serious about you."

"How am I supposed to know that, Harry? You won't even let me take a picture of you because you're scared it'll leak or something" she says, and honestly she has a point. But I haven't gone through something like this before. I've never met someone I like so much and I don't want ignorant and jealous fans to ruin it.

"I know, I know" I say with a sigh, "And I want to prove to you that I'm really happy to be hanging out with you. I want to prove that I really, really like you" I say, "Don't you see, I make you this food, we hung out yesterday, I call you beautiful. I don't make anyone food and I hate to spend my money on anyone just because I want to go on a date. But for you, Nikki, I would travel anywhere just for you. I would make you food and I would just tell you how perfect you are everyday because I like you so much."

She's quiet and doesn't say anything, just stares at me. She's probably trying to figure out if I'm being honest.

"I have to see for a little bit, Harry. Just as friends."

I nod, "Okay, that's fair" I tell her and I give her a slight, weak smile. I hope she does give me a chance though.

"The water is boiling" she says, pointing to the stove. I nod and go and pour the pasta in, turning the temperature down a little.

"It's going to be a good dinner" I say. I'm pretty sure you can hear the defeat in my voice. I hope we didn't ruin anything between us.

"I bet" she says and opens her phone, texting away and I frown, I obviously lost her attention.

"So tell me about you, Nikki."