Chapter Two:
“Bree? Honey, who was that on the phone?” Bree’s mom called from the hallway, she threw her phone onto her bed and opened her door.
She narrowed her eyes at her mother and put her hands on her hips. “Why? What did you hear??”
“I heard enough. Who are you making a date with?” Bree’s mother asked, a stern look on her face. Mrs. Keller was always very strict about Bree dating; partly because she was her only child, and partly because her husband had left her for another woman when Bree was five, so she didn’t trust men. Bree understood where her mother was coming from, but hated that she was eighteen and still had to get her dates approved by her mom.
“I wasn’t making a date,” Bree lied, a little too fast. Her mother narrowed her eyes and put her hands on her hips, too. Bree dropped her arms to avoid looking like her mother. “I wasn’t!”
“I really hope you know this guy, Bree. You said something along the lines of living in Minnesota. Any guy that went to school with you would know that and-”
“Mom!” Bree yelled. “Stop fussing so much! It’s just a boy that I met. I might go out on a date. Who cares??”
“Who is this boy? If you don’t tell me in the next ten seconds, I will ground you and you will not be going out with anyone!” Mrs. Keller demanded furiously.
“His name is Harry.”
“Harry who? And where did you meet him? Who is he?” Mrs. Keller demanded again.
“Harry Styles…” Bree said slowly. Her mom didn’t seem to recognize the name, which wasn’t surprising. She wouldn’t have heard about the popular boy band. “I met him at a concert.”
“Bree! That’s so dangerous! You don’t know this guy and for all you know he could-”
“At his concert, Mom. He’s in a band,” Bree said. “He’s not some crazy pedophile.”
“His concert? Is this the one in Chicago? I thought you said you were going to the One Direction concert or something! You lied and went to a local band? Bree Ella Keller! What have I told you about-”
“HE’S IN ONE DIRECTION!” Bree screamed. “The insanely famous British boy band? He’s in it. Happy?”
Mrs. Keller couldn’t say anything for a long while, Bree wondered if she could. Finally she spoke up quietly, “This isn’t a joke right? Or are you actually dating a celebrity?”
“I’m not joking. And I’m not dating him. I don’t even know if I like the guy. I hate One Direction. Or I did, a month ago… I don’t know. We’ll see. That’s why I’m going out with him, to see if it’ll work out,” Bree said and slumped onto her bed.
“That’s so exciting, though, Bree!”
Bree was surprised at this chance of heart. “What?”
“He’s famous! Let’s Google him! Come on!”
“Moooommmmm!” Bree groaned. “Don’t Google my date!”
“I need to at least see what he looks like,” she said and went over to Bree’s laptop. She opened it and searched “Harry Styles” into Google. She clicked “images” and started scrolling. Bree stood up and went to look over her mom’s shoulder. She had forgotten what he looked like in the last two weeks, and was stunned at seeing him. He really was very attractive, and his hair was gorgeous.
“Wow, Bree. Nice going. He’s really quite cute!”
“Mom!” Bree groaned and shut the laptop. “Don’t call my date cute, please. I’m already freaked out enough as it is.”
“Alright, honey. I’ll let you go. Goodnight,” she said with a smile, kissed Bree’s forehead, and left her bedroom. Bree couldn’t wait until this fall when she could move out and live in a dorm with teenagers, instead of her boring mom.
She sat down in her desk chair and opened up her computer. She went onto YouTube and searched for One Direction’s new album. She was halfway through watching the “What Makes You Beautiful” music video when her phone vibrated in her pocket.
Bree tore her eyes away from Harry’s hot, shirtless body, and looked at the text. It was from Harry, or Ron, and it read:
And what would your address be, love? xx
Bree smiled and typed it into the message, and pressed send. She resumed the video and turned to “One Thing.” Almost immediately, she got a reply.
Thanks, my dear. Now get some rest xx
She smiled and replied:
You too. (: And by the way, I just listened to a few of your songs. Not bad.
She continued listening to a few more songs on the album, and decided early on that her favorites would have to be: What Makes You Beautiful, More Than This, and Stole My Heart. She still had a few more to listen to, but Harry was right, she needed to get some sleep. It was nearly 2:30 a.m.
She turned off her computer and settled into bed. When she was about to turn off her phone, it vibrated.
Great xx And coming from you, that means a whole lot. Good night (:
Bree smiled and turned off her phone. She settled down and closed her eyes, thinking that maybe, just maybe, she had been wrong about the band. She decided on one thing, though, that she was not looking up anything about Harry, at all. She wanted to learn about what he enjoyed, and did in his free time, his favorite color and his favorite food, from him. She knew she could find it in ten seconds if she searched it online, but frankly, she wanted to have a somewhat normal relationship, if it turned into that.
She fell asleep soon after and had a restful, dreamless night.
*Saturday Morning*
Bree woke up and showered as usual, then blow dried her long, naturally straight brown hair as usual. She put on her make up as usual, and went downstairs to eat breakfast as usual.
Everything was the same as it always was, except that in a few hours, Bree was going on a date with one of the most famous boys in the world at the moment. It scared her, when she thought about it, but she hadn’t given herself all that much time to think in the last week. She did jobs around the house for her mom, and even did some of her college paperwork for dorms, and classes and such. All so she wouldn’t get nervous for the upcoming date.
Harry and her had exchanged a good few text messages that week, but the conversations were a little awkward, and short-lived. Harry was always busy with gigs, which was fine with Bree, and Bree didn’t know anything about this boy, so they had nothing in common yet.
Although she had kept herself busy all week, Saturday morning she started to get nervous. Shortly after lunch, though, Bree started having a meltdown when she couldn’t find a good outfit to wear. She called Maddie and she was over in ten minutes.
After about fifteen minutes of looking through Bree’s wardrobe and drawers, Maddie found something. She held it up to Bree. It was the red and white plaid shirt, she bought in Chicago last summer, a pair of white, high waist shorts and a big belt. She looked at it warily; she’d never have put those together in an outfit. She took them and went to the bathroom to change. She looked at herself in the mirror. The shirt was a little baggy, but it showed off her figure very well. She tucked it into her white shorts and put on the belt. She pulled at the shirt a little to let it flow and inspected it. She looked really good if she did say so herself.
She went back to Maddie and hugged her, “Thanks so much! I would die without you!” They hugged for a good few minutes and then Maddie spoke.
Bree pulled away to hear what she had to say.
“So… I have a question… if things all go well with Hazza-” Maddie was cut off by a confused look from Bree. “Oh dear, you really don’t know anything, do you? Well you’ll probably figure it out soon. I’ll start over. If things all go well with Harry, then do you think you could talk me up to Niall? I’d love to date him!!!!”
Bree laughed with Maddie, “Girl, you don’t need talking up! You’re absolutely gorgeous and have a fabulous personality.” She continued after seeing Maddie’s expression. “But, if I get to talk to Niall, I certainly will. I’ll even show him a picture of you.”
“Oh, maybe that’ll be a deal breaker…” Maddie said quietly. Bree shook her head profusely. Maddie was always super self conscious of her appearance, when in reality, Bree was so jealous of how pretty Maddie was that it was crazy they were best friends. Maddie had long, wavy red hair and huge green eyes. She was tall, but not too tall, slender, and had amazing legs that Bree would die for.
“Are you kidding me, Mads? We’re not having this conversation. Anyway, it’s three o’clock, so you’d better go,” Bree smiled and hugged her friend.
“Oh my God, good luck, Bree! I’ll be thinking about you!” Maddie said and returned the hug. “I’ll let myself out so you can finish getting ready! Bye!”
“Bye, girl!” Bree called and looked at herself in the mirror again. She decided maybe to spice things up, she’d add some eye shadow, which she only usually wore for special occasions. She applied a little bit of light blue, enough to compliment her blue eyes, and to tie the outfit together with the blue tank top she was wearing under her plaid shirt.
Her mom came in at one point and almost started crying, saying her ‘baby is so grown up and beautiful’. It was a little embarrassing, but kind of touching at the same time.
Bree was getting more excited as the hour went by, yet also more and more nervous. Finally, it was four o’clock and there was a knock at the door.
Bree ran downstairs, grabbed her purse and her sunglasses, and headed to the front door. Her mom waved goodbye and she opened the door to Harry. He was dressed in a black blazer, with the sleeves rolled up and a tight white T-shirt underneath that left almost nothing up to the imagination, and finally some bright red skinny jeans. She smiled as she saw him admiring her choice of outfits, too.
He looked up at her and held out his hand, “Ready?” Bree nodded and took his hand, letting him lead her out the door. He closed the door behind her and held her hand as they walked to the driveway.
“You look nice,” Bree said, admiring his jeans. She wondered if he was wearing them to the concert tonight.
Harry chuckled, “Thanks, love.”
When they turned the view and Bree saw Harry’s car, she stopped dead in her tracks and her mouth fell open. “Wha… what? What kind of car is that??” she stuttered and admired the car.
Harry laughed and placed a hand on the small of Bree’s back as he guided her toward it. “It’s an Audi R8,” he said and ran his hand over the silver hood. Bree could tell he really liked it, obviously. It looked like it cost a million dollars.
“Wouldn’t it be back in the U.K? Where you live?” Bree asked as Harry opened the door for her and she slipped in. He leaned in and looked at her.
“I convinced them to ship it over for me, because I wanted to impress you,” he said and closed the door. Bree had to resist the urge to say, “awwwww!” because it was really cute. Harry walked around the front of the car and got into the drivers side, which was on the right because it was a U.K car. That might be a problem..
“Uh, Harry?” she said tentatively and looked over to him.
“Yes, love?” he looked at her, waiting for her to ask her question before pulling out of the driveway like a gentleman. She smiled, despite herself.
“Well, umm won’t you get in trouble for driving on the wrong side of the road?” she asked, obviously it was a dumb question because Harry threw his car in reverse and pulled out of the driveway anyway.
Harry glanced at her as he reversed and answered, “Well, as long as I abide the traffic rules, and drive on the right it doesn’t matter what side the wheel is on, right?” He grinned. “Plus, we have Nate, my bodyguard and Tom, our driver, following us in another car in case something goes wrong with the police.”
“Bodyguard? We’re not going to be alone?” Bree asked as he drove out of her neighborhood.
“I convinced them to stay quite far away until we got into more busy areas, but he has to stay close to us then. For your safety, though, and that’s perfectly fine with me. You hardly notice he’s there half the time, too,” Harry smiled and winked at her.
“Oh, in case fans are crazy?” Bree asked, and nodded in understanding. She had heard the fans at the concert. They could be very violent if they wanted to be, she guessed.
“Yeah, and, uh.. well… just so you know… There will be a lot of interest in you, by the press and the media and stuff… so, uh, just stay close to me and Nate and we’ll try and keep you away from most of it. I’m sure you don’t want the whole U.S knowing your business,” Harry said and patted my thigh reassuringly.
“I’m not bothered,” Bree said absently as she looked out the window. “And I thought it was the whole world?”
Harry winced, “Yeah, it kind of is. I just didn’t want to put you off seeing me.”
“Nah, I quite like ‘seeing you’,” she teased and looked around. They were now on an empty country road that stretched for a good twenty miles without seeing anything but farms.
“Want to see what this baby can do?” Harry asked with a grin, thinking the same thing. Bree nodded enthusiastically and held on to the armrest as Harry accelerated. It was so impressive. The car just sped up without any kind of noise or anything. Before she knew it, they were going at least a hundred miles an hour down this straight country road. If her eyes were closed, it would feel like they weren’t moving at all. It was incredible.
Bree whooped and laughed, having quite a lot of fun. Harry just laughed, a loud, deep, booming laugh that made her almost melt into a puddle on the seat. “You like it?” he asked, looking over at her.
Bree nodded, “It goes so fast!”
“I’ve gotten it to 130 before, but I’m not risking it with you. Sorry, love,” he said apologetically and she laughed.
“Not a problem, this is impressive enough,” she said. Harry slowed down to about fifty miles an hour when they got closer to civilization. “You know it’s a fifty five mile an hour road, right?” she inquired, looking sideways at Harry. He shook his head to keep the curls out of his eyes and smiled.
“I’m making up for putting you in so much danger a few minutes ago. I can’t believe I wanted to show my car off so much so that I put you at risk for an accident,” he said it with a smile, but Bree knew he was sincere. She leaned over and patted his knee like he had with her half an hour before.
“You’re okay, Harry. Don’t worry,” she laughed and pulled back. He dropped his hand to his thigh where her hand was. Before she could pull it away, he rested his hand on top of hers and gave her a quick, crooked smile.
She smiled and thought about how she liked the feeling. It was nice. The next hour or so of the drive went by very fast. They talked about what they’d been up to, mainly Bree though because Harry didn’t have much to report, though she made him talk for a while, too, so she could get to know him better. It was fun hanging out with him, and for that car ride, she totally forgot he was famous. She totally forgot. It was a harsh jolt into reality when they parked up outside the restaurant they were eating at.
It was just before six o’clock, so it wasn’t super busy, but the restaurant was near to other stores and restaurants that were. Literally as soon as they pulled into the parking lot, people swarmed around the car, flashed from cameras blinding them. Bree started to get nervous, and Harry took her hand.
“It’s fine, Bree, just stay close until we get into the restaurant,” Harry reassured her, and let go for a second while he got out of the car. He walked around the front and opened her door. She took his outstretched hand and he helped her out. Bree shut the door behind her and held his hand tightly as they moved through the crowd, the bodyguard helping quite a lot.
Bree focused on the ground, and on not looking too scared. It was scary knowing the photos that were being taken of her now would be all over the internet in an hour. Harry stayed very close to her, as promised and they were almost to the restaurant doors when Bree looked up.
The sign said La Belle Vie and Bree gasped and turned to Harry. He shook his head, telling her not to talk until they were in private. La Belle Vie was the most expensive, fancy restaurants in Minneapolis, she remembered from trying to get in with Maddie and some other friends and being rejected because they had jeans on. She looked down at her outfit, and was worried they wouldn’t let her in.
As they passed some people with microphones and cameras, people started shouting out questions.
“Who is this, Harry?”
“Is this the girl you kissed a few weeks ago?”
“Are you two dating?”
“How did you get your Audi here?”
“How are you liking Minneapolis so far?”
They just pushed past and didn’t answer any questions, and to Bree’s surprise, Harry didn’t even wave to the fans. She thought he was maybe just being a little protective of her, and wanting her to get inside as quickly as possible.
Nate, the bodyguard, opened the door to the restaurant and let them in, stopping any fans or media getting in as well. Bree could finally breathe, and she steadied herself against the wall to recover from the dizzy spell. Harry chuckled, “Hard work, eh?”
“Oh yeah,” Bree never missed an opportunity to be sarcastic. “It’s really quite a work out. I bet that’s how you got your six pack.” She blushed when she realized what she said, but Harry just chuckled and leaned in to kiss her cheek.
“Harry, are they even going to let me in here? Do you see what I’m wearing??” Bree said and felt self-conscious.
“I do, and you look absolutely beautiful. And yes, they will let you in, you’re forgetting who I am,” he grinned, using his shiny new fame card.
Bree raised her eyebrows, “Letting the fame get to your head?” She teased, and he winked back.
“Not in the slightest, come on,” he said and took her hand again.
“But Harry, I can’t let you pay for me! This is so expensive!” Bree protested and dug out her purse. Harry stopped her.
“You’re talking to the guy with the Audi. I can spare a few hundred as long as you’re enjoying yourself,” he said and led them up to the counter.
“Styles,” Harry smiled at the lady and she looked down at the computer. She put a fake smile on her face.
“Okay, it’ll be Chelsea with you tonight, and she will take you to your table,” the lady said and turned to another customer.
“She didn’t even blink an eye at you. Reckon she doesn’t know who you are?” Bree whispered as they waited for their waitress.
“Either that or she couldn’t care less. A lot of celebrities come here,” Harry shrugged. Right then, a tall girl with long blonde hair came walking up to them.
The waitress, Chelsea, had a huge beam on her face, and was much younger than the lady at the desk. It was obvious that she knew who Harry was, and that she was struggling to hold it together.
“Right this way,” she said and started towards their table, turning to look at them every few feet, as if she didn’t believe it was happening.
(Okay, I’m going to stop here because it’s late, it’s getting long, and I can’t find a good spot to end it XD Hope you enjoy! And my apologies for any spelling/grammar mistakes, I’m not editing these chapters at all!)