Fluffing up my light blonde hair, I once more went over my outfit in the mirror. I was wearing a deepish red strapless dress, with gold strappy high-heels, a gold cuff bracelet and gold chain around my neck with a red stone pendant hanging from it. I had red lipstick on in a shade that matched my dress and a thin layer of shimmering gold eye-shadow n as well as a little bit of mascara. I'd left my hair down and decided against curling it, letting it hang straight down past my shoulders.Finding my phone,purse, my compact digital camera, and a few other bits and pieces, I threw then all in a gold clutch bag and made my way out of the flat.
Fifteen minutes later I was outside the address Harry had sent me, a flat in a very nice complex. I stood out side, my fist curled ready to knock, but I felt nervous. I knew it was going to be a nice party, not some wild house party. He had already informed me of that. I looked fine, I knew, and it was just Harry. But still I couldn't calm the butterflies raging in my stomach, threatening to make me turn around and go back home. I heard footsteps and laughter behind me, and spun around to see who else had arrived. I was surprised to see Zayn and a pretty blonde I guessed was his girlfriend, Perrie, walking down the hall hand-in-hand.
"Shouldn't you already be in the party?" I called, putting my hands on my hips. They looked up and Perrie gave me a puzzled look, whereas Zayn grinned at me.
"Well, Cassidy, I'm pretty sure you should be too." He said. Perrie looked between us, a puzzled expression still on her face. Zayn noticed and quickly introduced us. "Oh, Perrie, this is Cassidy, that photographer I told you about."
"Oh, right. The one from the Jingle Bell Ball?" She asked. He nodded. She smiled at me and stepped forward, sticking out her hand in a gesture for me to shake it. I obligingly took it. "Hi, I'm Perrie. Nice to meet you." I smiled politely.
"Shall we all go in together then?" Zayn asked. Perrie and I both nodded. Zayn knocked on the door. As we waited for it to open, Zayn leaned over to me. "Oh, and Cassidy, are you trying to give Harry a heart attack or something?" I was about to answer, but the door opened to reveal Harry in a white shirt and navy blue blazer, standing with a drink in his hand. He smiled at Zayn, giving him a friendly hug as he stepped in then politely kissed Perrie on the cheek. I was last to come in. As I stepped through the door, I received no friendly smile or hug or kiss on the cheek, just an open-mouthed stare. He continued to stare even as I entered the flat.
"Harry." I said bluntly. "Close your mouth, it's not particularly attractive." His mouth snapped shut instantly.
"Sorry." He mumbled, closing the door quickly.
Harry led me further into the large flat to the living room where the party was mostly taking place. The room was filled with nicely dressed people, most holding drinks in their hands and chatting to another person. I glanced back to check Harry was still with me, which he was. I felt slightly intimidated, not having been to such a big and frankly quite posh looking flat before. Or such a sophisticated New Year's Eve party. I felt a hand n the small of my back and looked to my left to see Harry standing beside me.
"Are you sure this is a New Year's Eve party? It looks more like the after-party to some sort of big award ceremony." I muttered. Harry heard and laughed softly.
"You'll fit in fine, don't worry about it. One of us will always be with you." Harry assured me.
"By one of us you mean...?" I asked. My question was answered by a loud voice coming from behind us.
"Cassidy!" It shouted. I instantly recognized it as Louis', not even having to turn around to check. He was in front of us in a matter of seconds, grinning. "Well, hello there." I glanced up at Harry but he was just grinning.
"Hello, that was a rather loud welcome." I told him. He shrugged.
"You should know I am loud by now, especially when I've had a few drinks." He said, grabbing my arm and steering me away from Harry. I glanced back to see him frowning after us. "I must say, Cassidy, that you look gorgeous tonight. I reckon Harry will have a hard time keeping his hands off you." Louis murmured in my ear. I felt my lips curve into a smile.
"Do you?" I asked. He nodded.
"And I don't even fancy you." He added. I raised an eyebrow.
"Why ever not? I thought everyone fancied me." I said, letting the sarcasm seep into my voice.
"Because I have a super-hot girlfriend, who I'm taking you to meet right now." He said, smirking.
"What? No, why?" I asked, trying to pry my arm from his grip, but it was firm.
"Because, you can't hang around with Harry all night. I won't let you either, he'll probably drag you off to his bedroom and . . ." Louis began but I quickly cut him off.
"That's enough thanks, I think I get the idea." I said quickly. Louis grinned. "Plus, Harry would probably drag any girl off to his bedroom given the chance."
"Not any, just you. He told me." Louis said.
"Really?" I asked, doubt obvious in my tone.
"Well, no, but I can read his mind so I know. Trust me." He admitted. I frowned at him.
"I'm not sure that's the best idea." I said. It was his turn to frown at me now.
"Rude." Was all he said in response.
Louis parked me in front of three very pretty girls, one I recognized as Perrie from earlier, the other two however I didn't. One girl was mixed race, with currently straight and apparently dip-dyed hair, the other had dark brown hair tied up in a pretty but complicated-looking up-do.
"Ladies, meet Cassidy, our best friend since...October?" He said, his voice sounding questioning as he looked at me.
"We met in October, however you were not my friend." I clarified. He pulled a sad face, the slid in between Perrie and the dark haired girl, slipping his arm around her waist. So that must have been his "super-hot" girlfriend. She was gorgeous though. From a boy's perspective I guess she would be "super-hot".
"You're a horrible person, I can't see what Harry see's in you." He said. All three girls' eyebrows went up slightly.
"Zayn didn't mention you and Harry were dating." Perrie said to me. I shook my head.
"That's because we're not." I told her.
"But he wants to." Louis added. I shot him a glare.
"You said he wants to sleep with me, not date me. It's different." I said. I probably should have been embarrassed about having this conversation in front of people I didn't really know, but I wasn't.
"Well, sleeping with you is just a bonus. He does want to date you though, he-"
"Told you? Sure." I interrupted. He just grinned.
"I can tell I'm annoying you now, so I'm going to go." He said to me. He planted a kiss on his girlfriend's lips. "I'll see you later El, be friendly."
"I'm always friendly." El replied, smiling at her boyfriend. He smiled back, his face full of love for her.
"Of course you are babe. Love you, see you later." He gave her another kiss and dashed off into the crowds of people.
Now Louis was gone, all the girls turned to look at me and I felt the embarrassment I should have felt earlier all rush in now.
"I'm Eleanor, by the way." El said, smiling at me. "This is Danielle, and this is Perrie." She pointed at each girl in turn.
"I met Perrie already, outside when I arrived." I said. Perrie flashed me a friendly smile.
"So you've known the boys since October?" Danielle asked me.
"Well, kind of." I replied. "I met them on my shoot in October and went out for lunch. But I didn't see them again until December at the Jingle Bell Ball. They invited me to the after-party and then we just ended up keeping in touch."
"You're a photographer?" Eleanor asked, quirking her head to the side slightly. I nodded. "Saying that, I remember Louis mentioning something about a photographer. I'm not sure when it was though, but it could have been around October."
"Maybe, but they go on a lot of shoots. It could have been anyone." I said. It was silent for a moment, before Perrie spoke up.
"Do you want a drink, Cassidy?" She asked, seeing my empty hands. Perrie and Eleanor had glasses of what I was guessing was red wine, while Danielle had a glass of coke.
"Oh, I can go get one, it's fine. I'll be back in a second." I said. They nodded and I quickly slipped away from them to the table I'd seen full of food and drink.
As I filled a glass with some coke, not fancying any alcohol, someone tapped my shoulder. I glanced around to see Harry. I smiled at him.
"Hey Harry, what's up?" I asked, picking up my glass and turning to face him.
"Nothing really, just came to see you. Last time I saw you, you were being whisked away by Louis." He said, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.
"He just took me to see Eleanor and Danielle and Perrie. He said I couldn't spend all night with you." I told him.
"Why not?" He asked.
"He didn't say." I lied. thought it best not to repeat Louis' every word, for everyone's sake. Harry shrugged.
"The girls treating you nicely?" He asked.
"Of course." I replied, sipping my drink. It was refreshingly cold and delicious. Nothing like a glass of cold coca-cola.
"Shame." He said. I gave him a quizzical look, wanting an explanation. "Then you can spend all night with me."
"Getting possessive are we?" I teased. "What is I don't want to spend all night with you?" Harry didn't get to answer as Niall suddenly appeared out of no where.
"Hi guys, what you talking about?" He asked cheerily.
"Harry being possessive." I replied. Harry frowned.
"It was a joke." He mumbled.
"It always is." Niall said, grinning. Harry shot him a confused look. He ignored it. "Cassidy, have you danced yet?" I shook my head. "Well, then, may I be the first to dance with you?" He asked, doing a clumsy interpretation of a bow.
"Well, Mr. Horan, I think you may." I said, doing a curtsey. He grinned and held out his arm. I looped mine with his and he led me to the middle of the room where he swiftly started spinning and twirling me around, moving quite well in time with the music. Other couples began to join in and soon the middle of the room was a mass of dancing, laughing couples.
A few hours later and I must have danced with every man in the room, including a two year old boy. As I finished up my dance with Liam, he spun me into Harry.
"Whoops!" I giggled, feeling high with laughter and exhaustion from non-stop dancing. Harry closed his hands on my shoulders, stopping me falling backwards. "Thank you kind Sir." I said, erupting into a fit of giggles. Harry gave me a strange look.
"Can I talk to you for a second?" He asked, his voice somewhat serious. I sobered myself up from my laughing before I answered.
"If you want to." I replied.
"In private?" He added. I hesitated, before nodding. Harry took my hand, engulfing it in his. He lead me out of the room, and just as we did I glanced back to see Louis looking at me, one eyebrow raised. I rolled my eyes and continues on my way with Harry.
Harry took me out into the hallway outside of the flat, where it was much cooler and much quieter. He shut the door behind us, and I leaned against the wall, tiredness threatening to over take me. Harry shoved his hands in his pockets and looked at me. He stood like that, watching me for a moment before he spoke.
"Can I ask you something?" He said, looking down at his shoes.
"Fire away." I said, nodding even though he couldn't see. His eyes were on his shoes and the ground. He stood in silence again for a few moments before speaking.
"Will you go on a date with me?" He blurted. I stared at him, transfixed with shock. Date? With him? Me? He looked up at me now, awaiting an answer. I stood staring still, shocked and confused. I must have heard it wrong.
"Wha. . wait a minute. You want me to go on a date with you?" I spluttered. I could see a red tint on his cheeks. He was blushing.
"Yeah." He mumbled. "You and me."
"But. . .but you don't fancy me!" I said, unsure what else to say. He laughed at that.
"Yes Cassidy, I do. I have done for quite some time now. Did you really not realize?" He asked. I shook my head. He took a step toward me. "Really? Everyone else did." The words to a song echoed through my head. Words to their song. Everyone else in the room can see it, everyone else but you. They were talking about not knowing you were beautiful, but it could be applied to this situation quite easily. Everyone else could see he liked me, but I couldn't.
"I feel like such an idiot. Everyone told me you fancied me. But I was convinced they were wrong." I muttered to myself. Somehow, Harry was right in front of me now. I had to tilt my head up slightly to look him in the eyes. He had beautiful eyes, and I suddenly had an urge to take a picture of them. But now was not the time.
"Is that a no then?" He almost whispered, sadness in his voice.The thought of saying no made my throat start closing. That confused me. I was so confused right now. Did I fancy Harry? I didn't want to say no. But did that mean I liked him? Or was it just me not wanting to be mean and hurt him? I guess I'd have to try. But that could hurt him if it turned out I didn't. But it was the only thing I could think up right now.
"No, it's not." I replied. A smile formed on his lips.
"So it's a yes?" He asked, his eyes full of hope. I swallowed, and nodded. He smile widened, and I felt my mouth curve into a smile too.
Suddenly, the sound of cheers sounded from inside the flat and fireworks boomed outside. It was New Years. Midnight. Harry smiled, realizing this.
"It's midnight." He said, his voice soft because he was so close to me. We were mere inches apart.
"I know." I replied, my heart pounding.
"You know what that means, don't you?" He asked. I pressed my lips together in an attempt to suppress a smile. He just grinned, and closed the space left between us. "Midnight kiss." He whispered, before leaning down and placing his lips on mine. I instantly wound my arms around his neck, pulling his closer. Memories of the first kiss we shared exploded behind my closed eyelids. My heart beat even faster, so hard I was sure Harry could feel it. Breaking off the kiss, I felt breathless and light-headed. Oh yes, I was falling for Harry Styles.