Once (Harry Styles)

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Twelve

I'm pretty sure that life gets a real kick out of throwing everything at you, all at once. Just when you're feeling at your worst, it adds a little extra bonus prize as the cherry on top of everything. Just perfect, isn't it?

When you least expect it, everything just gets worse and worse until you're left feeling like you have nothing. You're alone, and you're cold, and it seemed like just yesterday when everything was fine.  And you think to yourself, why me? But, in all honesty, it happens to every one of us.

Yeah, yeah, I know, you're all probably wishing that I would stop whining for once. Okay, fine, I'm done. I'm just saying, I'd like for things to slow down every once in a while, you know?

*****

Harry and I met through Niall. Yeah, no big, romantic story to tell everyone at parties. We met through a mutual friend, and the rest was history. Simple as that. Well, simple as, my best mate is in an international boy band and I met this guy he works with. 

"Oi, there are the lads," Niall was saying as he pointed towards a table in front of us. "This is Harry, Zayn, Liam, and Louis." He pointed at each of them as he said their names.

Harry was the first to stand up, immediately offering a handshake and a warm grin. "Hi," he said. His hands were soft and inviting. "You can call me Haz if you want, everyone does." 

He moved on to Lizzie next, looking at her a little longer than necessary. In all honesty, I think he would have started to hit on her, but Niall was glaring daggers at him and I struggled to stifle a giggle. Subtly wasn't Niall's strength, except to Lizzie, apparently. He wouldn't finally work up the nerve to tell her how he felt for months. 

"I'm Elizabeth, and this is Allison," Lizzie was saying while we sat down, scooting next to them in a corner booth. While everyone order drinks and food, I took the opportunity to have a closer look at Harry.

I already had seen the rest of the table, and I could already tell they weren't my type. That sounds bad, because I was judging them based on appearance but, come on, I was meeting guys at a club. Liam seemed too serious, although very sweet. Zayn was trying to seem friendly, but I could tell he was sort of nervous from being shy, which wasn't really my thing either. And Louis, well, Louis was even more energetic than me, and I could already tell that would go nowhere.

 But Harry. He was a little bit different than the others. He had this huge, goofy grin on his face like a little kid, and I decided I liked his smile. He wasn't typically the type of fella I would go for, but at the same time there was something I sort of liked about him.

Harry must have seen the way Niall was looking at him across the table, because he turned his attention to me. "Care to dance?" he asked, without waiting for the answer, and suddenly I was being pulled away from the table and onto the dance floor.

I laughed at his abruptness while he towed me through the crowd of people. The club was hot and the lights beat down on the skin that wasn't covered by my blue pencil dress. He found a spot that he deemed appropriate and I began to let loose, throwing my hands in air and waving my hips.

Harry took my hand and twirled me around while I let out a laugh. I couldn't remember the last time someone did that to me. He released my hand after pulling me closer. My blood was pumping and my heart was racing from the adrenaline. I always loved to dance.

A few drinks later we were at the bar, apparently with no qualms about abandoning our table, and playing with the straw wrappers from my cocktail. I rolled my eyes at a bad joke he made, but kept my smile. The alcohol had me feeling a tad more bold than normal, giving me the bravery to ask what I had been wondering all night.