~Flashback~
Isla’s POV
*RING* *RING*
Me and Harry jumped at the sudden loudness and sat up straight, realizing how we had seemed to lean close to each other while we were talking.
*RING* *RING*
We continued to stare at each other for a while longer, a longing look present on his face and one on mine, which he could probably clearly see.
*RING* *RING*
Finally, Harry broke his gaze from me and looked down at his phone.
“It’s Lou,” he said, before answering the phone, “Hello?”
“HARRY!!!” I heard Louis yell through the phone. He was so loud that Harry had to pull the phone away from his ear a few inches.
“What do you want, Lou?” Harry asked, looking annoyed.
“I’m drunked-ed, I need to go home!” Lou continued to shout through the phone, “El is asleep and I’m lonely! Take me home! HEY! That’s the name of our new album! Hahaha, see what I did there!” Then he continued to giggle. I couldn’t help smiling at Harry’s face. He looked annoyed and embarrassed at the same time.
“Ok, I’ll call Paul and we’ll come pick you guys up,” Harry said, “bye, Lou.”
“Bye, curly!” Lou said before the line disconnected.
“Sorry about that,” he said.
“It’s okay,” I said, “it was quite funny, actually. Your friends are hilarious when they’re drunk.”
“Yeah, but they have the wrong timing sometimes,” he said, “I was having a good time talking to you and now we have to go and get his drunk ass home.”
Butterflies were flying in my stomach again. I didn’t know what to say. I was disappointed too that we had to go. I wanted to see him again but I didn’t know whether I should tell him. So, this means I like him? I do. He was really sweet and funny and I wanted to get to know him better.
He said that I could get to know him better another time. Did that mean that he actually wanted to or was he just being nice? All of these thoughts were confusing me.
I knew I had to say something or else I’d regret it if I didn't.
“Maybe we can continue this some other time,” I said, incredibly nervous.
He looked at me and a smile grew on his face, his dimples showing and his eyes sparkling. That alone made me smile myself.
“I would love that,” he said, “um, what’s your number so I can let you know when we can?” He pulled out his phone and I told him my number. Then I took out mine and he gave me his.
“Damn, I forgot to call Paul,” he said, “give me a second.” He tapped on his phone and put it up to his ear. After a few seconds he said, “Hey, Paul. Could you pick me and my friend up at Clara’s Coffee Cove and then we’ll pick up Lou and El at Liam’s and take us home?.........ok, thanks, Paul, you’re a lifesaver. Alright, see ya.” He then put his phone away.
“He’ll be here in a few minutes,” he told me, “let’s go wait outside for him.”
“Alright,” I said, getting up. I walked over to the cash register and the woman came back out from the kitchen. I was about to pull out some change when Harry handed the woman a £10.
“For both of us,” he said, “keep the change.”
“Thank you, dear,” she said, “have a nice night, you two.”
“You, too,” Harry said. He turned around and headed for the door. I followed him and we walked out.
“Harry, I could’ve paid for mine,” I said.
“No, I invited you, so it seemed only decent for me to pay,” he said, smiling at me.
I blushed and said, “thank you.”
We stood by the door waiting for Paul. It was a little chilly and I started to shiver in my short dress. I wrapped my arms around my chest.
“Are you cold?” Harry said, sounding worried. He didn’t even let me respond before he took off his blazer and held it out open for me. I turned around and slipped my arms through the sleeves. Warmth enveloped me as I wrapped it close around my body. I could smell his cologne as it engulfed me, loving the smell of it around me.
“Thank you,” I said, “but now you’re gonna get cold.” He was only wearing a white t-shirt underneath.
“I’m okay,” he said, smiling at me.
My legs were a little cold since they were still exposed to the cold air but I tried to hide it so Harry wouldn’t worry.
I couldn’t hide it well enough because Harry was staring at me.
“I would let you borrow my trousers but I only have boxer briefs underneath,” he said with a grin. I laughed and blushed at the same time.
“It’s okay, I’ll survive,” I said. But then a huge gust of wind blew past us, making me shiver again and out of reflex I quickly moved towards Harry, putting my body against his.
I was shocked and embarrassed at what I just did that I was about to pull away. But then I felt his arms wrap around me and then his hands started to rub my back and my arms. The intense warmth coming from his body and his hands rubbing me stopped me and I leaned even closer to his body. He was so much taller than me that my head rested on his chest. I wrapped my arms around his waist, warming my hands. I couldn’t see his face but I wish I could.
“Thank you,” I said, quietly.
“No problem,” he said, feeling his chest vibrate as he talked. I was warm now but I also felt happy. I felt safe in his arms and I never wanted to let go. He continued to rub my back and my arms. His cologne still filled my nostrils, never wanting to forget the smell.
After what seemed like hours, he said, “He’s here.” I pulled my head back and looked at the car parking in front of us. He still kept his arms around me but he guided me to the back door of the SUV. He opened the door for me and I quickly stepped in and he followed right after, sitting down beside me.
“Hey, Paul, this is Isla. Isla, this is Paul, he’s our tour manager and one of our bodyguards,” Harry said.
Paul turned his body around, sticking out his hand, “nice to meet you, Isla.”
I shook his hand and said, “you, too.”
He faced forward again and he started reversing out of the parking lot, “we’re picking up Lou and El at Liam’s, right?"
“Yup, he’s wasted and he wants to go home,” Harry said casually like it happened every day. All I could see was Paul shaking his head.
“So, yeah we’ll pick up Lou and El and drop them off at their place and then we’ll drive you home, is that alright?” he asked me.
“Yeah, that’s fine,” I said, giving him a small smile. The drive back to Liam’s place was quiet since neither of us knew what to say with Paul driving in the seat in front of us. So we just looked out the window and waited until we arrived at Liam’s place.
After 5 minutes we got there and we all got out and went to go get Lou and El. We went inside and saw that there were only a few people left. Liam and Dani were talking to the group of people left and Lou and El were asleep on the couch.
“I’m just gonna go say bye to Dani and Liam,” I said to Harry.
“Alright, me and Paul are gonna get those two in the car,” he replied, “I’ll come get you when we’re ready.”
I nodded and walked over to Dani.
“Hey, sorry to interrupt but I’m gonna head home with Harry, Lou and El. I just wanted to thank you for inviting me and wish you happy birthday again,” I said.
“That’s alright, babe,” she said, getting up and walking over to me, “hope you had a good time. Seeing as you went out with Harry, I’m guessing you did.” She smirked at me, noticing that I was still wearing Harry’s blazer and I blushed.
“Yeah, I did,” I said, “Sorry I wasn’t here that long. We’ll have a girl’s day next week or something.”
“Don’t worry about it,” she said, “as long as you had fun.”
I smiled and said, “thanks. So I’ll see you next week at practice.”
I hugged her and she said, “yeah, see ya, and thanks again for coming.”
“Bye,” I said, I looked around her shoulder and waved to Liam, “bye, Liam, thanks.” He waved to me and I turned around and headed out. I reached the door but someone opened it before I could.
Harry appeared on the other side and said, “We’re ready. Let’s go.”
I followed him out the door and towards the SUV. He opened the door for me and I looked inside and saw Lou and El asleep in the very back seats. I went to sit in the middle row seat and Harry sat beside me.
We drove off, heading to Lou’s place. After about 20 minutes we stopped and I saw Paul get out of the car. Me and Harry got out also so we could get Lou and El out. Paul helped Lou into their place as me and Harry supported El. Paul got out a set of keys and opened the front door.
Me and Harry followed Paul through the hallway and into a bedroom. We carefully placed them on the bed and put the covers over them. Paul left the room to get two glasses of water and some Tylenol and put it on each of the side tables beside them. Harry found a couple of waste bins and put it beside each side of the bed.
“Alright, let’s go,” Paul said as he headed out the door.
We followed him and headed back in the car. Me and Harry got in the middle seats again as Paul started to drive.
“Where to, Isla?” Paul asked, looking at me through the rear-view mirror.
“81 Tait Road,” I said.
“Alright, I know where that is,” he replied as he continued to drive.
“Thanks for helping,” Harry said.
“No problem at all, it’s the least I could do,” I said, smiling at him.
The rest of the car ride was once again silent.
15 minutes later we arrived at my flat.
“Thank you, Paul, “ I said, “it was nice to meet you.”
“You, too” he said, “and like Harry said, thanks for helping out, I appreciate it.” He gave me a polite smile.
“You’re welcome,” I said, opening the door, “bye.”
“I’ll walk you to your door,” Harry said beside me, “Paul, you can wait for me over there.” He pointed to the corner of the street, realizing that we’d be out of his view.
Paul realized this and he raised his eyebrows and just shook his head, “alright, just don’t take too long.”
“Yeah, yeah, I’ll be quick, sir” he joked. I laughed as we both got out of the car.
I headed towards the front door as Paul drove out of the driveway.
I stopped at the doorstep and faced Harry, smiling up at him.
“Thank you for today,” I said, “I had a great time.”
“Me, too,” he said, “I apologize again for the whole Lou thing.”
I shook my head and said, “really, don’t worry about it.”
He smiled at me and said, “okay. So, yeah, thank you for tonight; for getting ice cream with me. And I’ll call you tomorrow so we can hang out again.”
“Yeah, I would love that,” I said, “just call me anytime.”
We heard Paul honk the car.
“I should go,” he said.
“Yeah, Paul doesn’t seem like the person you want to get mad,” I joked.
He laughed and stayed silent for a bit, looking down at the ground.
“By the way,” he said, “I wasn’t able to answer your question before Lou interrupted me with his call.”
My stomach flipped as I remembered. I stayed quiet, waiting for him to continue. He looked into my eyes and we just stared at each other. My heartbeat was quickening and my breathing was beginning to shallow.
“Do you still wanna know who I like?” he asked.
I nodded. The events of tonight kept playing over and over in my head and it gave me hope that maybe that the person he liked was me.
My thoughts were answered as he slowly leaned his face towards mine and gave me a sweet but long kiss on my lips. The second our lips touched, I felt electricity flow throughout my body. I felt him lightly place his fingertips on the sides of my face as he continued the kiss. Our lips weren’t moving but they were pressed against each other, not wanting to let go. It was an innocent kiss but it was amazing.
We finally pulled back a bit, his fingertips still on the sides of my face, our noses only an inch apart. We slowly opened our eyes and gazed at each other. I could feel his warm breath on my face, fast and shallow.
“It’s you.”
**
Please vote and comment :)