EARLY UPDATE 🌞 Comment & vote your beautiful hearts out bc I'll also be updating tomorrow ⚡️
// hbd to my girl halsey 😈
Norah
"Some light reading?" He asks, his eyes shifting from me to the Shakespeare textbook I had in my hands. My eyes, however, were glued to his lips.
"Oh! Um, yeah, I have my English class in a couple of hours," I reply, flustered.
The corner of his soft, pink lips curved upwards, revealing a dimple. God, I could scream right now...but I'm not. I'm fine. He's normal. I'm normal.
I take a seat and for some reason I can't make eye contact with him. I fidget in my seat a little and reposition my textbook. I pick up the menu that had the words "Soho House" typed up on the front.
I almost wanted to laugh. Who knew I'd ever touch a Soho House menu?
I kept conscious that the man in front of me hadn't moved in his seat. The highest up my eyes got away from my menu, was to his hands that wrapped around a iced coffee cup. The cross tattoo on the web of his thumb and pointer finger made my heart speed up just a bit.
I diverted my gaze back to the menu.
Why doesn't this place just have chicken strips?
No, Norah, you don't want to eat chicken strips in front of Harry Styles.
A house salad? Yes, that sounds really good right now.
"Norah?"
Shit.
Fuck.
"Yeah?" I look up and for the first time since I'd gotten here, I look him in the eye.
They were so insanely green. No HQ picture from any concert can do the real thing any justice. The way they just fixated on you makes you feel like the most important person in the world. Which is crazy because I'm just a fan. But it was just...cool how that's how Harry was; how he looked at someone.
"Hi." He grinned and I swear the world grew a little bit brighter.
"Hi, how are you?" I set down the menu. I needed to stop being so uptight.
"I'm good. Are you alright?" He asks politely.
"Yeah, I'm good, thanks...um, so how exactly does this place work?"
"The restaurant?"
I nod. He's emailed me, telling me that this was one specific place we had to go if we were to meet up. Being a fan, I was familiar with the Soho House, obviously, but I wanted to know the celebrity's perspective.
"It's a private member kind of place. Mostly for like A-Listers or those with connections. I call it a sort of safe haven for myself," he gives a breathy chuckle, showing off his white teeth.
"Got it. And...you gave my name -"
"To the manager, yes," he finishes.
"Okay, well this place is pretty cool, then."
He nods. "It is. So, do you carry that everywhere or are you going to study, or..."
What is he talking ab...oh, the textbook.
"I actually walked here. I spent the night at my friend's last night and she doesn't live too far from here. My class isn't that far either, so I'll probably walk there, too. Which explains the textbook."
"Ah, I see. And your friend's name is...Win..." His eyes squint, signaling that her name has slipped his mind.
I laugh. "Winter."
"Winter! Ugh, I knew that." He hits his hand softly on the table.
I shake my head in amusement and look back to the menu for a drink. I was distracted by Harry's quiet tapping of his long fingers on the table.
When they abruptly stopped, I looked up to his face to see him looking at me. He saw me looking stalkerishly at his fingers. Wow, I'm doing really good today holding onto my dignity.
A light chuckle leaves his lips and it's contagious.
How relaxed and laid back he seems, makes me feel even more comfortable.
"Would you like to do my homework that I didn't do?" I ask, pushing the textbook to his side of the table.
He gives a fake, surprised gasp. "What? You didn't do your homework? Slacker!" I laugh.
With one finger, he lifts the cover of the book and flips through a couple of pages.
He goes to the page with a bookmark in it that marked the page full of questions that I should've done. But, instead, I was too busy obsessing over what I was going to wear and what I was going to say at this moment.
"These?" He asks, pointing to the page. I nod my head.
"Here, I'll help. 'What is tragic irony?'" He recites.
This angel is really helping me with my homework.
"When the audience knows that the character's actions will bring a fatal or tragic outcome, while the character themself does not."
He cocks his head to the side. "Sounds right," he chimes.
"'What is- " his eyes sudden bug out of his head. "How do you even pronounce that?"
I laugh and slide the textbook over to my side of the table. I look at the question he was pointing at. I remember having troubles with the word as well until my professor had started using it.
"Soliloquy?" I ask.
I look up at him and his gaze lifts up to my eyes. "Soul-what?"
I smile and read the word again. "Soliloquy."
I watch as his eyes zero in on my lips and then back to my eyes. Does Harry always do that? Yeah, he always watches people's lips. I've just never witnessed it personally, and it's very...charming.
"Got it. Glad I never made it to Uni," he jokes.
"Hi, sir. Ma'am. May I take your orders?" A waiter walks up to our table and I'm taken away by his politeness. It's a lot different from the local Denny's Diner.
"Hello. Uh, can I get the kale salad and a water?" Harry orders. Again, I am watching his lips.
The waiter then turns to me. "I'll have the house salad and water, please."
"Any main dishes?"
I look to Harry and he shrugs. "Whatever you want."
"I'm good with a salad, thank you," I tell the waiter.
He nods his head to us and goes to get our drinks. Watching the waiter walk away was the first time I noticed the subtle stares we were getting around the restaurant.
"We should go to the gym again sometime," Harry suggests, making me divert my gaze away from the people.
"The gym?"
"Don't tell me you've forgotten our..." He begins counting on his fingers. "Our fifth time meeting each other, if you count the unintentional ones."
The dimples in his cheeks show as he laughs softly.
I feel a blush cover my cheeks. "How the hell can I forget the time that I was sweatier than a pig in front of a celebrity?"
"That's not how I remember you looking, love."
There it was. That Harry vagueness.
"Oh, yeah? And how was I looking?" Fuck! Norah! Stop! Flirting! With! Harry! Styles! Just shut your damn mouth!
I didn't miss the smirk on his face or the sudden redness of his neck.
"More like a sweaty goddess," he rasped, his accent making what he'd just said 100 times hotter.
"Here are your waters." The waiter places the glasses on our table.
We both thank him and then we're back to our conversation about how I looked at the gym. This has got to be the most awkward conversation I've ever had.
Harry wraps his lips around his straw in his water and takes a drink.
"So...what do you do for a living?" I ask.
Suddenly, it seemed as if the water in Harry's cup exploded. He pulls the straw out of his mouth and covers his mouth with his hand, trying to hold in his laughter.
I start laughing and he looks up at me and water sprays a little bit out of his mouth. It reminds me of the beginning of Best Song Ever, where he's part whale, comes across my mind. Ha!
Now I'm laughing so hard that tears are coming to my eyes. It didn't even start off that funny, but his laughter is so contagious, I just can't help it. It obvious that he thinks mine is as well, because he starts laughing harder.
"Bloody hell, Norah, you can't just say something like that while I'm drinking," Harry retorts, chuckling and wiping off his mouth and the table with a napkin.
"I don't appreciate you laughing at my question," I tease, trying to play off a serious look.
He puts his hands up. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Er...I'm in the entertainment business."
"Cool, cool. I don't judge. I know plenty of people who make adult videos."
His eyes widen in surprise for a split second before bursting into laughter again.
"Fuck," he whispers to himself, wiping tears from his eyes. "You're bloody hilarious."
"Thanks," I chime, taking a drink from my water.
I watch as a slight smirk crawls up to his lips again. "What do you do for a living?"
"School mainly. I work at a Yogurt Island not far from here, and a pizza place sometimes, as well."
I was actually surprised I'd never seen him at my work, for as often as he gets yogurt and as often as I have my shifts.
"What do you learn at school?"
"English and Sociology and other stuff. I don't know what I'm going to do with my life either and I only have the rest of this year to figure it out."
Being an adult sucks. Don't do it. Stay a kid.
"It's okay. You'll figure it out. If not, that's okay, too. You can always pick up another major, or continue with school and learn more," Harry says.
I laugh. "I'll be in college for the rest of my life."
I really liked talking with him. I've only been holding a conversation for about twenty minutes now, but I could tell that he was a really genuine person, who was easy to talk to.
"Did you grow up here? In the Los Angeles area?" He asks.
"No, I actually grew up in Northern California, near Oregon. My mom and her boyfriend live up there still. I moved here by myself after high school."
He took another sip of his water and his body position leaned in more towards me. "How long have your mom and her boyfriend been together?"
"Six years. My mom and dad divorced when I was three and my dad is in the army along with my brother."
"Older brother?"
I nod my head and drink my water. I honestly hated talking about myself. I'm not sure why. I guess it's because my childhood was complicated and I felt like someone would dig too far into it. And also, it just made me uncomfortable talking about my life.
Favorite color and favorite food? That I can answer. Where's your dad and how long has your mom had a boyfriend? Those answers don't roll off the tongue so well.
"Yeah. His name is Evan."
Harry nods. His eyes travel around my face before he thankfully changes the subject to himself.
"My sister is older, too. I hate it. She thinks she knows everything," he scoffs and rolls his eyes.
I smile. "Do you two have a good relationship?"
Being a fan, I kind of already knew the answer to this question.
"Yeah, we do. We aren't afraid to tell each other we love one another," he answers surely.
Must be nice. My brother and I rarely talk because he's been overseas for a couple of years now. My dad is in Europe somewhere, doing military stuff there, too. Well, unless something has changed in the four years since I've talked to him.
"That's good. Do you miss her a lot?" I ask.
"She goes on the road with us a lot, so not too badly do I miss her."
Suddenly two plates with our salads on them are placed in front of us. The waiter gives us a polite smile.
"Sorry for interrupting. Please let me know if you need anything? Do you two need any parmesan, or..."
"I'm good," I reply. "Thank you."
Harry says the same and the waiter leaves the table.
"Kale?" I can't help but ask as I look down at his salad. Memories of his kale smoothie came to mind.
He laughs. "Stop hating on my kale!"
"Fine, fine, I'll stop." I put up my hands, grinning.
The both of us continue small talk while we eat, laughing every so often at something one of us says.
"Are you walking to your class?" Harry asks.
"My what - oh! Class."
We were so in the midst of talking about the iPhone 6 Plus, that I totally forgot that I had a class I should get to soon.
He chuckles. "Yeah, are you walking there?"
"Yeah, I am."
I subconsciously laid my hand on top of my textbook, picking at the lose pieces of plastic that have been wearing off.
"I could give you a ride?"
My head snapped up in complete surprise. There was no way he was offering me a ride to my class. Of course, it wasn't that much of a surprise because he was an amazing and caring human being. He would obviously do something like this because he had a heart of gold.
"Oh, no, that's okay. You don't have to."
I especially didn't want to be that girl who gets caught up in the "who is she?" "Harry has a girlfriend?" "Why is she in his car?" rumors that start all around Twitter. I did not want the fandom to hate me. I worked hard for my 26K followers on my fan account.
"No, I don't want you to walk alone," he reasons. "There are some disgusting people who just sit in corners and snatch up girls." He rubs the side of his jaw with his hand.
I raise my eyebrows at him and his worry of me getting kidnapped.
"I won't get snatched up. I promise," I tell him.
"I can't just let you walk to your class. I have a car, so just let me drive you. And if you're worried about paparazzi, my windows are tinted to the maximum and there aren't any paparazzi outside. I'm extremely careful when it comes to this stuff, Norah, trust me," he chuckles.
Ah...see? He does this often.
After a couple moments of Harry's awaiting gaze, I nod.
"Okay. Thank you so much, though."
He smiled. "It's no problem."
We finish our food and when I try to flag down a waiter so that I could pay for at least my side of the meal, Harry told me that he'd already given them his card when he got here.
I glared at him and insisted that if we were to meet up again, that I'd pay. He laughed at that.
While we were leaving, Harry asked me to put on my sunglasses just for a precaution. I thought that was reasonable.
A man who was at the front door, opened it for us and wished us both a good day. It was funny how much better you were treated while in the presence of a celebrity.
I spotted a Range Rover right in front and I assumed it was his. I was right because he walked to the passenger side and opened the door for me.
I thanked him and when I got inside, his scent filled the car. If I was honest, this was the best smelling car I've ever been in.
A couple of seconds later, he got in as well and he began to drive away. I start giving him the directions for where my school is, but apparently he already knew where it was because he'd passed by it a lot.
"You know, I always want to get into the passenger's seat when I'm in the U.S," Harry says with a chuckle.
"Oh," I laugh, "because you drive on the other side in England."
"Yeah, one time I really did get in on the wrong side and looked like a bloody idiot."
I shake my head, easily imagining him doing that.
"I bet if you went to the UK, you'd do the same," Harry says smugly.
"Mostly likely," I shrug.
"When's the next day you're free?"
How come it seems that his questions always surprise me?
"My schedule is really hard to explain," I admit.
He looks amused. "Tell me about it."
I feel like slapping myself in the face.
Norah, you're talking to a guy who's been in a band for five years, done three world tours, currently on a fourth, released four albums, a movie, and lots more. And you just told him "my schedule is really hard to explain".
I'm disappointed in myself.
"We should meet up again before I leave," he elaborates. "I'm sure our schedules will conflict, so I'll tex - email you whenever I'm free, and you do the same? Maybe we can try and work something out like that?"
"Yeah, that sounds great."
He gives a satisfied nod and an earth shattering smile. "Good."
________________
AHHH!! They're so adorable (':
NEXT CHAPTER WILL BE UP TOMORROW !
I hope you liked this chapter, too! This was actually the first part of the story I'd ever written. I wanted to get a feel of their friendship using this ☺️
Also, if anyone is good at making trailers or manips, YOUD BE THE BEST HUMAN BEING EVER IF YOU MADE ONE FOR THIS STORY 💞💞💞 you could dm it or tweet it to me !
See y'all tomorrowwww 😙
Twitter: @wtvrharold // WWBADLANDS
Instagram: @harry.reckless
xx