About (Harry Styles)

49.

True self? So she puts on a facade. I shouldn't be that alarmed. The first time we met she was pretending to have an illness. An illness her best friend hasn't even mentioned to me.

I pat Marco on the back with a hand and order him a drink - a real drink. He's been so open with me, a complete stranger, so he deserves to have a real one. I can tell he's hesitant about accepting my offer but again, he doesn't have the courage to refuse.

"One drink wouldn't hurt," he gives in.

"Two waters please," Niall's voice rings from my other ear.

"Slow down there, mate. Water is quite strong. Why would you need two?" I ask Niall who turns his head to us, his cheeks flushed with a slight pink tint. Is he embarrassed or something?

"It's for Ellie."

What? Niall can call her Ellie. Marco can call her Ellie. Surely she hasn't known Niall for no more than a day or two.

What's with the double standards?

Does she have something against me?

"Is it alright if I bring it to her?" I offer. Niall's eyes widen in surprise as he eventually shrugs and nods.

"Sure."

I swiftly take the glasses from the counter and I'm on my way to the other side of the room with not a second thought.

My eyes narrow at my obstinate target. I feel the drumming in my chest pick up faster as I wander towards her, her back to me. She's admiring the dark, gloomy weather outside the window. I think it's supposed to rain tonight.

"Here's your water."

"Thanks," she says to me. The expression on her face falls.She's disappointed that it's not Niall bringing her her drink. Our fingers almost brush against each other's as she wraps her one hand around the glass.

"Niall is entertaining his guests," I say, knowing she's probably wondering why I'm the one here. "I hope you don't mind me being the one to bring you your water."

She doesn't reply, only musters a weak smile. Though I know she's not saying a direct no, and she's sparing my feelings, I still feel dissatisfied and somewhat vulnerable to rejection.

"I heard you're good friends with Marco," I mention and she nods. "I'm curious. How did you two meet?"

"High school," she says quickly. Almost as if she wanted this conversation to be done with already.

"You know, men and women can't just be friends."

"Excuse me?"

"You've never heard of that?" I ask her.

"No. I mean, I have. But what are you trying to say? That there's something between Marco and I?"

"It's just a .. theory I have. He must be very sad about your illness."

She looks confused for a brief second. I have to stifle a chuckle from my throat as she realizes what I'm talking about.

"I think we've established that I'm a good exaggerator and that I'm not sick," she states. I can no longer contain the chuckles at her words and by the irritated look on her face, she's unpleased with my reaction. She asks me why I was there and I tell her I was sightseeing. Though I've already been to the Eye of London like three times, Lou really wanted to go with Lux and since they were staying over at my place, I was basically forced into it.

"What were you doing there anyway?" She asks, her tone starting to get more short with me.

"Where?" I ask, not sure what she's getting at.

"The Eye of .. I don't know, England."

"Oh. London. The Eye of London," I say. "Just sightseeing with some friends.  I mean, I've seen it loads of time before.  I don't know what convinced me to go out, but I'm glad I did."

"Why did you stop talking to me?"

"Did you want me to keep talking to you?" I asks. The thought that she might've wanted to keep talking to me excites me more than it should.

"No, not at all."

"I wanted to," I admit. "But I didn't want to bother you."  I lean in closer to her, whispering the answer that no one is able to hear.  "You were strangely .. cute."

She flushes pink and takes another sip from the glass to distract herself. "And because I wanted to compliment you on your 'acting' skills," I say, straightening myself. "Not a lot of people can pull that off."

"You're making no sense.  Last time you told me to stop 'acting,' and now you're saying you wanted to compliment me?"

Her comebacks are quick and witty which fascinates me. Usually nobody would ever talk back to me like this. She's so different from anyone I've ever met. Maybe she doesn't care about who I am. Maybe she'll actually appreciate me for who I really am and not just my name.

Her eyes screw shut for a long moment, and she puts her free hand to her forehead as if she's sick.

"Are you alright?" I ask her worriedly. She opens her eyes to look at me. They look even more blue when her complexion is pale and her cheeks flushed red.

"Is this water?" She slurs, pointing to her almost empty glass.

It should be water. I grabbed the two glasses the bartender gave me. I take a small sip from my glass and realize quickly that it's not water.

It's the drinks I ordered for Marco and I.

She suddenly collapses into my arms, and I have to take a step back to prevent us both from knocking onto the floor. When the cup clashes onto the floor, everyone's heads turn our way and in a matter of seconds, Marco is by my side. He asks me what happened, and I tell him while Niall tries to calm down the guests. Her friend informs me that she does not have a high tolerance for alcohol.

Well, who would have thought?

Bubble Wrap looks like a tough cookie but can't even take one drink.

He grabs her from me and carries her into the other room, away from the spectators. Since I felt responsible for the whole thing, I followed him and watched him as he set her onto the couch.

As much as I'm astonished to learn that Bubble Wrap has a low-alcohol tolerance, I'm even more so the way Marco looks at his friend. He sits on the coffee table, his arms at his knees as he frustratingly rubs his face with his hands. Does he feel guilty for this even though he didn't do a thing wrong?

I'm about to tell him that I'm sorry and that I should have been more careful, but my phone rings. Once I answer it, I realize I should've looked at the caller ID.

It's my dad. Please don't tell me he's in some sort of financial trouble again. Whenever he calls, it's usually when he needs something from me. He never takes the initiative to call nor the decency to ask how his only son is doing.

Though I really want to stay and make sure Bubble Wrap wakes up okay, I'm sure the first person she wants to see is her best friend's face.

A/n: I know this is a pretty uneventful chapter. The next one will pick up from where chapter 48 left off. Have a lovely Tuesday!

And thank you all so much for your advice on the precious chapter! I really appreciate it so much. I love hearing your perspectives, and I will definitely keep your words close to me as I try and move on from this. I think I will at least try to be friends with him. I'm only afraid my feelings won't go away. But again, I don't want to waste my time thinking about someone who doesn't even think of me for two seconds. Thank you for listening. xx

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