We were halfway through November and I was exhausted. I had gigs nearly every night and I was pleasantly surprised by the growing amount of supporters I was getting. I had Harry to thank for that, every now and then, he would tweet about my shows. He was there almost every night unless he was busy with his band. Their album was due to get released in a little more than a week and Harry was incredibly excited, he had been trying to get me to listen to the album for the past four days but I'd always find a reason not to, I had even used the "I have too much cleaning to do" to avoid it! I didn't want to listen to it, not like it and then fake an appreciative look. I didn't want to lie to him but I didn't want to hurt him either, which was really weird, I never gave a shit about what others felt, I had been living in a trance for the past year and Harry was slowly breaking in and I would be lying if I said that I didn't like it. I felt incredibly at ease around him and found myself laughing wholeheartedly more often in the small amount of time I had spent with him than I had during the past few years. It did scare me a bit though. Even if he promised he'd stay after the contract, a small part of me couldn't help but believe that he would loose interest in me. I mean why would he want to be friend with me anyway? I wasn't anything special, in fact, I was a fuck up, a bitch and a coke addict. That was enough for anyone to run away.
Betty had dragged me with her to a shopping trip and I was currently sitting on one of the chairs in the changing room, bored to death.
"Kale, can you get me the same pants in 14?" Shouted Betty from her room.
"No." I replied back.
"Oh come on, don't be a bitch!"
I was about to tell Betty to go fuck herself when my phone rang.
"Hey ho, hey ho Kale!"
"Styles!" I greeted a smile forming on my lips.
"What are you doing tonight?"
"Uhm, I don't know, right now I'm shopping with Betty but I haven't made any plans for the night yet. Why? You can't get enough of me?"
Harry let out a small chuckle.
"I could never get enough of you Kale."
This was a thing Harry did often, he'd say things like that and make my heart skip a beat. And I was pretty sure he didn't even realize what he was saying.
"It's my last night in LA before flying back to London tomorrow morning and well I thought it'd be great if I could see you?"
"You're going back to London? For how long?" I asked not liking the sad edge in my voice.
"Four days, then we're back in LA for a press conference and then off to London again for Album prep and book signings."
"Sounds like a pretty relaxed week!" I laughed.
"Yeah, that's why I thought it'd be cool to see you tonight," he said.
"Well yeah okay, I'll order some food and we can, I don't know, watch movies or something!"
"Or listen to the album..."
Uh oh.
"Oh shit Harry, Betty's coming back gotta go, talk to you later!" I hung up not giving him enough time to reply.
I looked up from my phone to find Betty peering out from her changing room shaking her head disapprovingly.
"Fuck off," I muttered shooting her an annoyed look.
***
It was 6 in the evening and I was setting the food I had bought on the tv table, waiting for Harry to arrive. Once done, I laid on my bed and turned on the television setting it on a rerun of Bold and Beautiful.
I must've fell asleep because I woke up to Harry's face inches away from mine.
"Jesus Christ!" I shouted scared by his presence!
"Harry Styles."
"What?"
"My name's Harry Styles love, not Jesus Christ," he smiled.
I rolled my eyes suppressing a smile.
"How did you get in?" I asked sitting up.
"Door was open," he said bending down grabbing one of the food container on the table.
"Serve yourself!" I said raising an eyebrow.
"That's what I'm doing," He replied his mouthful raising the box in the air.
I rolled my eyes and grabbed a container too. I brought the food near my nose, taking in the smell of the delicious chicken pad thai. I was about to put it down and grab my fork when a flash went off on my side.
"What the fuck Styles!" I said turning around to see him holding his phone.
"You look cute," he smiled pressing on his screen.
"Right. Show me!" I said leaning over trying to grab his phone.
Having the pad thai in my hand didn't help at all, so I put it down on the table before jumping on Harry.
"Give it to me Styles!" I said.
"No, you'll delete the picture!" He said stretching his arm away.
"You said it was a cute picture, why would I delete a cute picture?"
"You're a girl, girls don't like their pictures!"
"You're generalizing!"
Seeing as he was obviously not gonna give it to me easily, I had to come up with a plan. I took advantage of our position, top half of my body laying on him with his legs wrapped around my waist not allowing me to move, and started tickling his sides. His reaction was immediate: He brought his hands down and tried to push me away wiggling under my fingers. I took advantage of his inattention and snatched his phone away and ran to my room.
I locked the door behind me and ignored Harry's plea to give him his phone back. The picture wasn't bad, my face was plunged in the food box and a smile was apparent. He had published it with the caption "she found her one true love". I rolled my eyes and got a sudden idea. I made a quick research on google image and made a little change on his home screen. I opened my door and Harry's fist nearly met my face.
"Woah, easy there!" I said dodging it.
"Oh my gosh, I'm sorry! I didn't know you were... I... oh God, sorry!" He said his eyes widening with panic.
"It's fine Styles," I said pushing him away. "Your phone," I handed him the sleek black iPhone.
Harry grabbed it and eyed me suspiciously.
"You didn't delete it did you?"
I simply shrugged and walked back to the couch trying really hard not to laugh. I sat with my pad thai in hand while Harry was unlocking his phone.
"KALE!" He shouted. "What the hell is this? It's disgusting!"
"It could happen to your dick if you don't wash it properly." I replied taking another forkful of food.
He threw his phone at me and I avoided it easily.
"Are you trying to kill me Styles? First the fist now the phone?" I smirked.
"Yes! That was disgusting!"
"It was just an infected penis! Man up Styles!" I said rolling my eyes.
He mumbled a "whatever" and joined me on the couch, grabbing his plate on the way.
"So, why don't you want to listen to the album?" He asked between to bites.
"I... uh... I don't want to ruin the surprise?"
Worst excuse ever.
"That's the best you can come up with?" Said Harry mirroring my thoughts.
"That's the truth!"
"Oh come on Kale, I'm not a retard! Why?"
I took a deep breath in. Looks like I would have to tell the truth after all. Even if it was gonna make me look like a vulnerable little shit.
"I just... I'm afraid I won't like it and hurt your feelings..." I said looking down on my plate.
"Hey," said Harry lifting my chin so I was looking at him. "It's okay if you don't like it! But you can't know unless you listen to it." He smiled.
"Okay," I sighed. ''Don't get mad if I hate it'' I smiled.
"Wonderful! Do you have a CD player?" He said jumping to his feet.
"Yeah, I live in the 20s. Of course not!"
''You have vinyl player! And there was no CD players in the 20s
Harry nodded and I stood up to get my laptop.
"The battery's dead and there's no free outlet in the living room, mind coming over here?" I shouted.
"Already here!" Said Harry standing at my door.
I shot him a smile and patted the place next to me on my bed.
"It's the first time I see your room," said Harry looking around.
"Really? Usually my room's the only thing boys see."
I slapped my hand over my mouth when I realized what I had just said. Harry let out a small sigh but made no comment.
"You really have an issue with cleaning eh?" He asked while the laptop was turning on.
"Always had. I'm too lazy to put stuff in their place, it's way easier to just drop them to the floor and look for them after." I shrugged.
"Your mom must be proud!" He said playfully.
His word hit me. I closed my eyes and all I saw were a pair of blue eyes, identical to mine, looking at me full of panic and fear. I opened my eyes and blinked rapidly making the tears disappear. I wasn't gonna cry, not now.
"Kale are you okay?" Asked Harry, his voice full of worry.
"Ye-yeah," I said my eyes not leaving my computer screen. "Here, put your CD", I said pushing my laptop from my laps to his.
"Did I- did I say something wrong?"
"Why would you think that? Because I'm not smiling doesn't mean you did something wrong! Not everything is about you Styles!" I said looking at him.
His eyes widened a bit at my sudden aggressive tone. He looked like a young kid. A young kid I was blaming for something that wasn't his fault.
"I'm sorry Harry, I just... I'm sorry," I said looking down.
"It's okay Kale. Really!" He said before pulling me into his arms. "It's okay."
I pulled out from his hug and wiped the tears away.
"My mother is just not a... good subject."
"Then I won't talk about it again," he smiled.
"Thank you."
"Now what about we listen to this album hmm?"
And we did. And I liked it. It was different from what I had heard of them before, whenever I was at Betty's house and Sammy was around, the only thing I'd hear would be One Direction, the girl was obsessed.
"So?" Asked Harry with a smile once Half A Heart was over.
"Awful," I said with the straightest face I could pull.
"Oh shut your cakehole! You were smiling the whole time!"
"Didn't want to hurt your feelings," I said. "And what the hell is a cakehole?"
"A mouth, a cakehole is a mouth," replied Harry rolling his eyes.
"Did you just roll your eyes at me?" I asked shocked.
"Yes. You do it all the time!" He replied trying to keep a blasé face.
"Yeah well I'm allowed to, you ain't!"
"Why is that?" His smile had reappeared.
"'Cause you're British and have way too long hair." I replied, smiling widely.
"Why that's pretty racist and mean!"
"That's how you love me," I replied lifting my chin up in a 'I'm fabulous and I know it' pose.
"Dream on Cristin," said Harry mimicking my pose.
We both held that position for a few seconds before bursting into laughter.
"Happily and Strong and Midnight Memories are my favourites," I said once we both were breathing normally, laying on my back.
Harry shifted on his arm and looked at me.
"I wrote Happily."
"You did?" I said a bit surprised.
"Yeah, in a field."
"Seriously?"
"Yeah," he laughed quietly.
I smiled to him and he laid back on his back. A few seconds later, I felt his hand get close to mind and squeeze it gently.
I didn't know what it meant and I didn't want to think about it. I just wanted to enjoy the feeling of my hand in his, fitting perfectly.