Maedbh's POV
“Can I come? Can I come? Can I come?” Caellum pesters as I stand in front of the mirror, pulling my hair into a ponytail. My nerves were going crazy as I examined my reflection.
“Not this time Cae” I tell him for the twentieth time. He stomps out of the room pouting, probably to go tell Uncle Si, although he’d tell Caellum the same thing. I glance at my phone to check the time, contemplating changing my outfit for the 4th time. I didn’t know why I was so nervous. Maybe because he was the object of millions of girls dreams, maybe because he was my ex, maybe because ever since he’d walked through the bakery doors, I hadn’t been able to get him off my mind. It’s just friends hanging out, I assure myself. The doorbell rings and I frown, knowing I wouldn’t be able to change again, before clambering down the stairs to the door.
“Hey buddy” he grins and I take in his laid back look as I close the door behind me.
“What no guards this time?” I joke, looking towards his car.
“Nah” he says his nose crinkling as he grins. “I’d hate for him to feel like a third wheel”
“This isn’t a date Harry” I warn causing him to laugh.
“I know,” he says assuringly. “But that doesn’t mean I want other people bothering us.” A silence lapses between us as I look out the window at the passing landscape.
“Where are we going?” I ask with a frown when I realize we’re headed out of town.
“You’ll see,” he says simply, causing me to roll my eyes.
“C’mon, just tell me. You know I hate surprises”
“Fine” he chuckles. “We’re going to an art studio.”
“What?” I ask in confusion. An art studio? I thought we were doing dinner. The idea of staring at paintings on the wall didn’t seem like all that fun.
“I know you. You’ll like it, I promise,” he says, glancing over and seeing my expression. But that’s just it. Did he really know me anymore? I’d changed in the past 2 years and he certainly has also. I keep my lips shut though, gazing out the window as we pull up to a small rundown building. I look away from it, raising an eyebrow at Harry. This certainly wasn’t what I’d been expecting. I’d expected some high-end gallery with paintings worth hundreds of thousands.
“Don’t judge a book by the cover” he tells me as he climbs out. I open my door, only to have it closed back in my face. I look out the window at Harry in confusion to see him smirking at me.
“Nuh uh” he says as he opens the door for me. “You should know the guy always gets the door”
“Chivalry is long past dead Harry,” I joke, getting out of the car. He shakes his head.
“I can’t wait to prove you wrong” he says. My stomach flops at his words and I have to forcibly shove down the feeling. He was a flirt, I knew that, I couldn’t fall for his player ways. I get out of the car, avoiding the proffered hand, slipping my hands into my back pockets as I avoid contact. He notices, but doesn’t push it as he holds the door to the building open.
“Harry!” a voice calls out through the dimly lit building. I raise an eyebrow as some petite girl throws her arms around him, kissing him on the cheek. He holds her tightly with one arm but releases her quickly. I feel a flare of jealousy at their contact.
“Chloe this is Maedbh, Maedbh, this is Gemma’s friend, Chloe” he tells me. The jealousy turns to a feeling of foolishness. She was his sister’s friend. That’s it. Not that I had a reason to feel jealous anyways. I had a boyfriend.
“I’ve got you all set up in the back,” she says. Confusion clouds my face. Set up for what? Obviously this wasn’t just some gallery showing. We walk into the next room and I come to a halt as I examine the room.
“What is this stuff?” I ask looking at a bunch of equipment.
“Do you want a lesson or do you just want to go at it?” Chloe asks.
“A quick lesson would be great,” he says with a laugh as she directs us to some weird looking tables. Chloe nods and I’m about to ask again what we’re doing, when a slab of clay is dropped in front of me. I jump a couple inches in surprise, much to the amusement of the dark haired charmer next to me. Chloe sits down at a table across from us and gives us a brief lesson on how to spin the clay and I watch in awe as she forms a beautiful vase in mere seconds.
“I don’t think I can do that” I whisper to Harry, causing him to chuckle.
“Me neither” he whispers back, his breath warm on my cheek. Chloe laughs, no doubt hearing our not so quiet whispers.
“Well I’ll let you two get to it then. I’ve got to run out for a bit, can I trust you not to destroy the place while I’m gone?” she asks Harry, looking at him with suspicion. I watch as he gives her his best angel face and I almost burst out laughing. He was anything but. Chloe seems to follow the same logic, smiles slightly to herself with a small shake of her head. “I’m holding you accountable Styles. Don’t destroy my workplace” she tells him before disappearing out the door. I look down at the mound of clay in front of me, not quite sure where to begin. I hesitantly put my hands on the clay, hitting the pedal like Chloe had said, letting out a shriek when it spins ten times faster than I’d expected, pieces of clay flying everywhere. Harry bursts out into a laugh and I narrow my gaze at him, sticking out my tongue.
“Well if you’re so talented, lets see you then” I say nodding towards his as I wipe some clay off my cheek. He grins, setting his hands on the clay, his fingers wrapping all the way around the gooey mass before he hits the pedal. His eyes widen almost imperceptibly as it spins faster than he was expecting, yet not as fast as mine had. He manages to hold his together.
“You suck” I tell him with a laugh as I hesitantly begin my wheel again, slower this time so the clay stays together. Slowly, the mass begins to turn into a very misshapen bowl.
“Some reason I don’t think this is how it’s supposed to look” I joke, looking down at my lopsided bowl. Bumps and fingerprints covered it, and next to Chloe’s bowl, it looked like what might come out of a dog’s rear end. Harry chuckles as he looks up form his wheel to see my object.
“Nah…” he says shaking his head assuringly. “It quite fits in with that rack of kindergarten bowls” he says, nodding his head to a shelf behind me. I turn around to see a row of bowls that sure enough looked just like mine.
“Meanie” I joke, trying to see his, but it’s covered by his hands.
“You’re hands are too big” I complain, wanting to see his.
“The girls don’t seem to complain” he says with a wink.
“Eww gross” I say my nose crinkling in distaste. I didn’t need to visualize Harry hooking up with randoms. “Not something I needed to know”
“But that’s what friends talk about” he teases.
“So does that mean you want to hear about Luke?”
His face goes blank as a mask settles over his face and I realize I might have gone to far. Dammit Maedbh, why do you always go to far? I scold myself as we lapse into an uncomfortable silence. “We didn’t mean for it to happen, you know.” I say after a couple of awkward minutes. “It wasn’t something we’d planned. When you left… well everyone missed you. But then you continued talking to them. Luke and I… well it was like we were on the outside all of a sudden. You never talked to either of us and everyone realized it. He became the only one I could talk to because he was the only one going through it also.” I blabber on, feeling a need to explain. “Not that it’s your fault” I add. “It’s mine, completely mi—“ The clay smooshes down beneath my fingers leaving my already ugly bowl back in a lump of wet clay. My jaw hangs open in shock and Harry bursts out laughing. “No!” I cry out, desperately trying to reassemble the mound, but it’s no use. I look over at Harry who’s bent over in laughter, his bowl or cup or whatever he’s trying to make, lying abandoned on the wheel next to him. Before he even realizes, I’ve reached over, crushing his bowl. His eyes fly wide, his mouth forming an o when he looks at the remains of his work.
“Oh no you didn’t” he says, his eyes narrowing. I jump up with a squeak, a split second later he’s up also chasing me down. His long fingers wrap around my arm, spinning me around. I quickly swipe my fingers across his face, leaving a trail of wet clay. He releases me in surprise leaving a clay handprint, allowing me to escape. I laugh, as I feel his fingers try to grab my shirt, no doubt leaving a stain on that. I spin around, standing on the other side of an empty table from him. I grin teasingly, ready to run in the opposite direction as him when he decides which direction to go. I let out a shrieking laugh when he dives under the table and I clamber onto the table, but not fast enough. He manages to grab my ankle, pulling me down onto the floor, cushioning my fall with his body before flipping on top to pin me underneath.
“Gotcha” he jokes, grabbing both my wrists in one hand. Jesus how big has his hands gotten? I grin, trying to wriggle out from under him, but it’s hopeless. I was stuck.
“You got some clay on your face” I tease, my eyes flicking to the marks I’d made moments ago.
“So do you” he chuckles, his free hand running over my cheek. His touch brings a feeling of relief as he rewets some clay that had dried, leaving an itch spot. His smile softens as his fingers linger on my cheek and I can feel my heart kick off. “From every blush that kindles in thy cheeks, ten thousand little loves and graces spring to revel in the roses,” he quotes, causing my face to redden. “And there it is” he says, his smile growing slightly as his thumb softly brushes my cheek and my already erratically beating heart starts jumping around like a kangaroo on crack. Jesus these lines. How many girls had fallen for this already? His emerald eyes are locked onto mine and I briefly wonder if he can hear my heart thumping out of my chest. He’s silent for 1… 2… 3…4.
“Harry?” I ask, trying to regain control of my thoughts.
“Yea?” he asks, his voice low.
“I can’t feel my legs”
It takes a second for him to realize what I’m saying. “Oh, sorry” he says releasing me and rolling off. I suck in a breath and sit up, shaking the clay dust from the floor out of my hair. With him not on top of me, it was a lot easier for me to calm myself.
“At least this time we’re not covered in flour and eggs huh?” I ask, raising an eyebrow. He chuckles, nodding his head.
“And we didn’t make a huge mess” he agrees as he stands up. He brushes his hands off on his pants, clay particles flaking off and I do the same before taking the hand up he offered. “I think our pots are lost causes though” he says, looking back at our wheels. I nod looking at our waste of clay until a sound at the door tells us Chloe was back. She looks between us and our pots twenty feet away with a raised eyebrow, holding back a laugh when she sees our disaster.
“Very…abstract” she says, trying not to laugh.
“I call mine Clay Blob” Harry jokes.
“I was going for a replica of Curly’s hair” I say with a grin, glancing towards the curls earning a laugh from both of them.
“You know… I see it,” Chloe jokes.
“Does that mean I’m your muse?” Harry teases. I shake my head with a laugh then wait as Harry thanks Chloe and says goodbye.
“So, you know, I thought we were going for food… I’m still hungry” I joke as we get back in his car. He looks at me with surprise before his eyes brighten with silent laughter.
“Most girls I’ve gone on dates with eat before so they don’t seem like they’re eating as much on the date. I’d forgotten not all girls do that,” he says.
“That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard,” I laugh and he nods his head with a smile flickering onto his lips.
“Mhm” he agrees “Apparently girls think not eating is attractive”
“Yea, if they’re messed up in the head” I mutter under my breath. I don’t think he heard me, but he gives me an amused grin, telling me he probably did.
“So here’s the deal” he says suddenly. “We aren’t dressed for fancy, although if you really wanted to go, I’m sure I could arrange it, and we can’t go to a regular place without being seen. If we’re seen, rumors are going to spread about us dating and everyone will think you’re cheating. Which basically means we’re left with going through a drive-through and eating in the car.” I’m slightly impressed by how practiced that speech was. It sounded like he gave it a lot.
“As long as you don’t tell me we have to be in the back seat to avoid being seen.” I joke hearing his loud laugh burst forth.
“Damn there goes that plan” he jokes. Twenty minutes later, my feet are propped up on the dash, a pint of fried rice on my lap as I try to eat it with chopsticks, laughing at the stories Harry tells me about the other boys in his band.
“And then Niall took the plunger and…” he says through his fit of laughter. BUZZ BUZZ BUZZ. He pauses, a look of confusion crossing his face and I hastily grab my phone, checking the caller id. A flash of guilt runs through me and I instantly answer it.
“Hey babe” I say, holding up a finger to tell Harry it’ll only take a minute.
“Hey where are you? I came by your house but your uncle says you’ve been gone all night” Luke says. Crap. I hadn’t expected him to show up at my house.
“Oh sorry. I’ve been out with H—aley” I say freezing when I almost said his name. I look guiltily at Harry, watching the guard fall down over his eyes when he realizes who was on the phone.
“Oh, ok. Well are you going to be home soon? I can wait. We can go get dinner or something,” he says and my eyes widen with fear. If Luke saw Harry dropping me off… that was just asking for a fight.
“No it’s ok. You can go home. I’ll come over when I get back.” I tell him quickly.
“Ok, see you soon” he says and I can practically hear the smirk in his voice. “Love you”
“Love you too” I say quietly before hanging up. I look down at my lap, fiddling with my phone, not daring to look up at Harry. “You should probably take me home now” I say softly. He doesn’t respond for a couple of seconds, but finally I hear him put the car into gear and wordlessly pull away. The fifteen minute drive had to be the longest fifteen minutes in my life. With no one speaking, the minutes dragged on and on. Finally we pull up at my house though and I breathe a sigh of relief.
“Thanks. It was nice to see you again,” I say hastily climbing out of the car. I just needed to get away from that awkwardness. I slam the door shut and I’m half way to the front door when I hear him call my name. I turn around to see his head leaning out the window.
“The plunger. Liam’s poor stuffed elephant has never been the same”
I crack a grin, chuckling to myself as Harry drives off. That boy really was something else.