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There is a common misconception when it comes to family, and that is the idea that blood is thicker than water. Whatever water may be- a friend, a lover, or even an arbitrary acquaintance on the street, family is more important. But what happens when those friends, that soulmate, and that new acquaintance are your family? I'd know best after all. My only blood relatives are either dead or a bunch of rich assholes, so at this point in my life, I'd choose water over blood any day.
"I just want to say how proud I am of all of us for finally agreeing on a group costume idea even if Harry blatantly disregarded it and dressed like a fucking Stormtrooper instead," I drawl with a roll of my eyes and a shake of my head as the car slows to a stop at a red-light, only a few minutes away from a massive Halloween party we're all going to. Caroline, our Snow White, sits in the passenger seat while our Megara, Kendall, drives. A pink clad Gigi and a blue clad Taylor are dressed as our Aurora and Cinderella, taking up space in the two middle seats, leaving Harry in the back middle with his friend Kacey Musgraves who is dressed as Ariel on his left, while I sit on his right, staring at the two.
I'm dressed as the only princess that makes sense... Belle of course. I'd be pretty daft if I didn't seize this opportunity.
"Yeah, what's up with that, Harold? I thought we had a deal?" Caroline asks, only pretending to be offended as she turns to look back at Harry and rests her elbow on the center console between herself and Kendall. "Even Kacey followed through!"
The new addition to our group shrugs and gives Harry a side eye, red hair from her wig falling over her shoulder. When she begins nudging him, I shoot her cheeky self a smile as she does everything she can to piss him off. I think we're going to get along rather well.
"Please, Styles. Do tell us why you're such a fuckin' flake," Kacey prods, poking Harry incessantly in the shoulder until he leans so far from her that he's practically on top of me, waving the singer away with his ringed hand and an aggravated facial expression.
"Listen," his deep accent drawls, hand held up and eyes blinking slowly as we all listen intently for his endearing excuse that I'm sure Kendall, Caroline, Taylor, Gigi, Kacey, and I won't care to understand, too pissed that he bailed on our group idea in the first place. However, none of our hatred can last too long when it comes to Harry and how excited he looked when he showed up in his Stormtrooper gear that he stole from the Star Wars set he somehow finagled himself a free pass onto, resulting in a small cameo that he's positive no one will ever be able to find.
"I've just turned down a role at Disney, and-" Harry continues only to get interrupted by Kendall, who's dark eyes I see widen sarcastically in the rearview mirror.
"Woah, Mr. Bigshot!" She guffaws, feigning a state of awe. "Disney? How humble of you to remind us all after weeks of seeing your name on my timeline for that stupid mermaid movie."
"Oh, shove it," Harry sneers, but a smile is quick to follow seeing as his tone of voice was already joking enough as it is. "I don't really want to be seen dressed as a Disney prince and add fuel to the fire since I turned it down and all," he finishes with a shrug and a small knowing grin that barely graces his full lips.
"Oh, shove it," I mock with a false deep British accent. "I think turning down that role was the most imprudent thing you've ever done. Imagine the piquancy you would have brought to that film, Harry. You look like an absolute imbecile if you ask me."
Everyone seems to find humor in my partial joke, and I only say partial because most of- well, all of it is true. Harry however, seems quite peeved seemingly because he knows I'm right. Even though I know the reason he declined to play the role of Prince Eric that I've always imagined him to portray is because he wants to tour, I still can't help but be upset.
"Someone swallowed a dictionary on the way over," Harry grumbles with a small smile as he jabs me in the side with his elbow. I recoil at his touch, my nose scrunched up playfully but eyes spitting fire.
"It's my job to be the dictionary, Styles. I am the dictionary. You thought it was Miriam Webster? No, it's Belle Granger," I bite with a know-it-all expression softening all of the tightened muscles in my face.
Loud laughs echo from the windows of the car and bounce back to the three of us crammed in the backseat. I watch Harry innocently as he tries to keep his cool demeanor, lips pressed together and sharp green eyes narrowed darkly, but anything menacing about him only makes me want to laugh, because he's just that bad at being mean on purpose... unless he really hates you of course.
The longer he tries to hold his bubbly laughter in at my isolated bad attempt at sarcasm, the unceasing giggles of everyone else is becoming too contagious for both of us. As his broad shoulders start shaking, his lips pout out unnaturally, glistening when the headlights of an oncoming car passes and hits against his face.
The first thing I notice is the appearance of a dimple on the left side of his face before his lips curl up into a massive grin, and his eyes twinkle like a sky full of shooting stars, blasting down across the rest of his features and bringing joy to them until a boisterous laughter booms from his lips, body and curly head shaking.
"That was probably the dumbest thing you've ever said," Harry full on laughs now, dazzling sound piercing my ears and drawing a large smile to my own face.
"Like you're any better!" Kacey practically shouts as she comes down from her glorious high. "Do y'all wanna hear the joke he tried to impress me with the first time we met?"
All of our made up faces light up, and everyone who's able, Kendall excluded since she's driving, fully turn and give Kacey their undying attention. My tongue darts out and wets my red lips in excitement to hear this, but Harry seems humiliated already as he throws his curly head into his hands, still shaking with laughter while he pleads, "Please don't! Anything but that!"
"Please do!" Taylor beams, voice pitched slightly lower with mischief as her eyes that perfectly match the color of her dress twinkle with a hint of malice.
Harry sends the blonde a glare that he can't hold for long thanks to her innocent, pink lipped smile. "Of course you want to know!" Harry's hands fly in the air as he smacks his lips together dramatically. "You'll just use it against me!"
All Taylor does is shake her head and shrug her shoulders matter-of-factly as if to say 'duh, that's the whole point.'
"So," Kacey continues, Cheshire Cat smirk large and long nails blurring through the air as she talks animatedly.
"No! No, no, no!" Harry splutters, reaching down between his legs and grabbing his Stormtrooper helmet before shoving it on his head. However, I still manage to see the bright pink of his cheeks that he's trying to hide.
Kacey eyes him the entire time she speaks, rarely dragging her eyes away to meet the anxious stares of everyone else in the car. "When we first met, Harry here thought he'd tell me a joke as an icebreaker. Would you like to tell 'em the joke, babe?"
Although muffled through the massive helmet, Harry crosses his arms over his chest and sinks down into the seat. "No," he mutters.
"Good, then I'll do it for you," the singer gleefully continues. "This kid actually said to me, 'One day I fell on my ass, and now there's a crack in it.'"
Dead silence.
Dead silence plagues us all as everyone's face stills in shock, and the only sounds that can be heard are the roar of cars passing us on the road and the dull Halloween music playing on the radio. There's a small groan that comes from Harry at the quietness surrounding him, but Kacey can't seem to wipe the cocky smirk from her lips.
Suddenly, as if a switch has been flipped, laughter pours from us all like water breaking through a dam, all different types of laughter mixing together. A deep chuckle from Harry can even be heard through it all as he continuously shakes his head that is masked by the helmet he's hiding under.
"Harry!" I jovially exult with brown eyes wide. "What the hell were you thinking? That's the worst one yet!"
I feel a hand tighten around mine gently, and I look over to find Kacey reaching over Harry's slumped body, tears of laughter falling down her face at the entire situation. My stomach even starts to clench, most definitely leaving behind rock hard abs from how hard I've been laughing.
"Y'all have no idea how sad he looked when he realized how hard I was laughing at him and not the joke," Kacey chortles, laughter dying down as she removes her hand from mine to fan the wetness away from her face, the other girls in front doing similar things. Gigi even has a tissue out to wipe at the corners of her eyes.
"That's so mean," my hoarse voice rings out, only laughing harder now and gripping my stomach as I slink down in my seat to relieve the giggling pain at how much Kacey's comments remind me of my younger self.
Somewhere between fanning the tears from my eyes and harassing Harry any chance I get, Kendall parked the car in front of the club, and everybody began getting out. I'm the last person to hop from the car, bending down to pull my white thigh high socks up before standing straight and yanking down the short yellow skirt of my dress.
The last words I hear before my senses are overtaken by the loud music, dark lighting, and thick smoke from the flooded dance floor are from Harry when his chuckles turn into a scoff as he says, "You're all a bunch of bullies."
Upon fully entering the club, purple lights flash against my eyes and loud bass thumps in tune with my heart. My group of friends disappear one by one before I can even realize what's happening, too distracted by the strong smells of alcohol oddly mixed with chemicals thanks to the thick plumes of artificial smoke slithering around the floor.
Taylor, Gigi, and Kendall make a dash to the bar, squealing all the way at the sight of some of their fellow model friends which leaves me to stand awkwardly next to Harry who has removed his Stormtrooper helmet now. Caroline and Kacey are in deep conversation about something regarding their home state since they are both from Texas, meanwhile other partygoers in costumes bump into me left and right.
Harry rocks awkwardly on his heels while I stand with my arms crossed, praying that Caroline and Kacey don't leave us alone, but when I see them starting to drift out to the dance floor, I decide to fight against the onslaught of nerves that overtake me, and let myself hang loose for once.
My life has been nothing but stress, fear, and blood curdling agony for the longest time, so perhaps it's time to finally live freely and watch miracles happen instead of trying to force them upon myself.
"Are you okay?" I finally bring myself to ask Harry, mostly out of respect for how embarrassed he grew. Yet he knows that my inquiry isn't that genuine thanks to the small, almost inaudible spurts of laughter coming from my lips that I'm slightly covering with my fingertips.
After looking around to discover that it's just the two of us, Harry trains his green gaze that appears to be more blue under the purple lighting on me, eyes slightly narrowed as he hugs his helmet close to his chest. "I can take a few jabs, Miriam Webster, thank you very much," he lets out a short laugh as his thumbs start drumming against the hard white material of the helmet.
"Well, if you don't mind me asking," I begin as my hand falls from my mouth, corners still managing to curve up into an even deeper grin, "How's that crack in your ass? Sounds pretty painful. Have you seen a doctor about it, because you might-"
My world goes dark, only small slivers of light visible as something heavy plops on my head. I immediately stop speaking seeing as I'm too taken aback by the sudden darkness and barrier around my ears that muffles my loud surroundings.
"What was that you were saying? I can't hear you anymore, Miriam. Mind repeating yourself?" Harry's deep voice rings out like a beacon as my brain registers that he just put his Stormtrooper helmet on me.
Puffing out a frustrated breath, I barely lift the heavy helmet so I can peek out and see the boy as he laughs victoriously at himself for finally shutting me up. Even deeper dimples appear on his cheeks when he sees how my bottom lip barely pouts out along with the false anger in my eyes. His hand clasps around mine suddenly, and before I know it, he's dragging me along with him, running his hand through his wild curls and only turning back around to tug on my still form harder.
"C'mon, Miriam. Me and my cracked arse want to dance with you," he beams sarcastically as he pulls me closer. I eventually take the helmet from my head and shake out my frizzy hair, holding the massive thing at my hip.
Finally allowing my heel covered feet to willingly follow Harry, I smile sarcastically at the back of his head, chestnut curls sprouting in all different directions. "That's disgusting, Bunny," I address his statement.
"Yet, you're still coming," he quips without even so much as a glance back at me.
His grip on my hand tightens as we hit the dance floor, energy completely different than when we first entered the party. Amongst the other clubbers in their costumes having the time of their lives, I suddenly feel the want to do the same. Harry finally turns to face me as we reach the center of the madness, only releasing my hand to motion for me to return his helmet to him.
"What?" My eyes fall innocently to the massive piece of white plastic resting at my hip before flying back up to meet his gold flecked irises. "You want this back?"
He nods expectantly.
"Oh, no," I shake my head as I slowly back away, but with each snail-like step I take back, Harry takes one forward. "No can do. You shouldn't have pawned it off so easily. Do you know how much I could get for this on eBay? Probably a whole lot more than that jar with your fart in it. Speaking of that," I cock my head to the side, "was that pre-ass crack or after?"
Just as he lunges at me, a wide smile reaches my lips at the same time a surprised yelp passes through them. I side step him and start making my way through the Halloween costume clad dancers who all begin cheering, throwing their miscellaneous drinks into the air when the DJ passes seamlessly from Ghostbusters to Super Freak.
Thankfully, I run into Kacey who is tearing up the floor with some other friends, and her bright eyes glisten upon seeing me. Without thinking, I shove the helmet at her, breathing heavy as I gasp, "Don't give this back to Harry no matter what!"
She scoffs humorously before giving me a stout nod and a grin, acting as if she'll protect the plastic with her life.
Before I can even thank her, a strong hand intertwines with mine. My body spins around at the speed of light resulting in my back hitting against a hard chest, breath passing heavily through my lips. A pair of arms wrap around my waist to keep me in place, our bodies rocking in line with the beat.
Without even turning around, I know it's Harry, but I do anyway to see how his eyes have darkened despite the ghost of a grin on his lips.
Whipping my head back to the front, my stomach jolts and a chill races down my spine as he leans down, allowing his gravely accent to sing the first words of the song into my ear. "She's a very kinky girl," he coos as he grips my waist tighter, a memory striking in my brain that I've been in this position before, only then there was so much in the way- more like someone.
Now there's no boyfriend.
Now there's no Bennett to stop me from confronting Harry with the fact that I've never let my love for him die.
So what's stopping me?
As the music seems to grow louder along with the beat of my heart, his arms loosen and fall only for his hand to reach down and take mine. Spinning me out again, my hair flies around me, repeating the same motion as he twirls my body effortlessly into his chest, our noses brushing slightly seeing as we're face to face now.
My breathing becomes more labored, coming out in small puffs while my eyes slowly travel from his clenching jaw to his lips, all the way to his eyes that always take me by the throat and refuse to let me go. That's simply how captivating they are.
Just looking at Harry, the memory of what happened at the Met Gala seems so distant and unimportant.
Taylor is right.
I should just talk to him...
I've held off long enough.
"She likes the boys in the band," I find myself whispering to him as my hands find their way to the back of his neck where my fingers automatically glide through his curls. Meanwhile, his large hands have slid down to rest just above my hips, taking full control of my quickly numbing body and moving us along to the rhythm.
I've just got to do it.
"She says that I'm her all time favorite," Harry smirks down at me causing every thought forming in my brain to turn to mush, killing anything coherent.
He has no idea.
"Harry, I-"
Harry, I'm gonna make you love me.