Coexist

Harry's POV

She got out, and I drove away. I called Zayn and told him that I was coming over. He was with Perrie, and I didn't want to intrude, so I called Lou, he was with El. Next stop - Liam. Unfortunately he was with Danielle, so I finally called Niall. He was with Ed, but I didn't mind. They were at Niall's, drinking.

"Hey" I said as I entered Niall's house. I didn't need to knock or ring the doorbell because Niall NEVER locked his door, especially when he was drinking, because when he was drunk, he couldn't unlock doors.

"Oh hello my dear friend" Said Ed, putting his arm around my shoulders. "How have you been" He then put a bottle of beer in my hand. "Come, join us"

Niall was lying on the couch drinking his beer. They were drunk, yes.

"How'd your date go?" Asked Niall. How did he know?!

"What?" I said confused.

"Oh, Harry Styles found yet another gir-" He said, and then paused "Pardon, another woman. How old is she Harry? Do tell" Said Ed. He was teasing me about the whole dating-older-woman thing.

"16" I said, and smiled to the ground, blushing.

"What's her name, mate?" Asked Ed.

The next few minutes I was telling them about how I met her and our date. They were laughing at all the things I was laughing when I was with her. All the random things she would say, and in the end they made sense. And then I asked Niall how did he knew I was on a date.

"Papz follow you Harry." he said and took a sip from his beer "I just figured you are dating one of the girls in the photos from the park."

How did I not see that coming?!

"Honestly" He continued "The girl with the long dark hair is prettier, but you know…whatever floats your goat." I laughed. He showed me the pictures. The girl he was referring to was in fact Sophia. In the photos I was talking to Mia, so it seemed like I was into her. It's not that she was't pretty, she was, but Sophia was beautiful. She was this 10 year-old stuck in a 16 year-old body. It was really cute.

"So when are we going to meet her?" Asked Ed. "Or does she not know?"

"Oh come on Ed, you know it's not real.." I said. It was the whole Haylor thing. It was just management making us look like we are hiding our relationship when there was no relationship to begin. But we had to. Nobody knew it was management though. Only the guys and Ed, of course. I started drinking and cheered up. We turned the music on really loud. We got so waisted, Ed didn't want to go home and didn't want to sleep over at Niall's because, as he said, 'Niall has a terrible mattress taste.' which meant that the guest bed wasn't comfortable. So he came with me. I was far from sober and we barely drove home, almost died, because Ed water to steer the wheel. I parked my car and we got in.

"Well, I am not tired" He said with closed eyes. "Have an idea. Let's drink!" He smiled, and went to get something to drink

"I think it's enough drinking for tonight, Ed." I said, but I still wanted to drink. We fell asleep in the living room on the couches, and It was around 4 p.m, when my phone rang.

"Answer it." I said to Ed, as I was half asleep,and still a little drunk..

"Hello, you've reached Harry's hot line. How may I be of service?" Answered Ed. I started to laugh, because he was trying to impersonate me, and it wasn't going well. "Well this is Harry's hot secretary, I can give you the same pleasure he can." He said. I laughed harder.

"Who is it?" I asked him, as I separated my face from the pillow

"And may I ask who is this?" He said, and then turned to me "It's Sophia" And then got back on the phone "Well Sophia it's nice to meet you"

I immediately jumped from the couch, and took the phone from Ed's hands.

"Hey Soph." I answered, trying to sound normal.

"Wait, is that your lady friend?" Said Ed, having the biggest smile on his face, and then shouted loudly so Sophia would hear him "Sophia, it's nice to meet you. I am not really Harry's secretary, although I am HOT!!!!"

"Who was that?" She asked.

"Oh, it's Ed. He's drunk. Why are you calling me so late?" I asked.

"Harry's drunk too!" Shouted Ed, and then fell on the ground and broke a vase.

"I just want to postpone our date." She said.That was weird, because we never settled on a day, we just said we would do it again.

"Oh…Well ok, we can do it some other time" I said, a little confused.

"And by postpone our date, I mean not to go on it" My phone almost fell out of my hand.

"What?" I asked.. I didn't understand.

"I'm sorry Harry. I really am. Goodbye" She said, and she hung up. I was left speechless, and slowly put my phone down.

Sophia's POV

I hung up. I really didn't want to do that. Just...

*FLASHBACK*

I got home at around 11:30, maybe it was later, I don't know. Apparently, Mia told Stella about mu acquaintance with Harry, and it was a big deal for them.

"Well hello, mrs Styles" Greeted me Stella from the stairs as I walked in. I blushed and smiled. "Well come on, tell us everything."

As we sat in my bedroom, we talked. I told them everything, from the way we met, to tonight, and Mia had no problem in listening to the beginning again. They were fangirling about it, and I sort of did the same. Then they put on the One Direction new album, Take me home, and we listened to it, as we talked.

"So, is the Haylor thing real?" Said Stella. I looked at Stella confused

"What Haylor thing?" Asked Mia. She was just as surprised as I was.

"You know. Harry and Taylor. You don't know?" She wasn't being intelligible. "Oh come on. You've heard the rumors. 'Country singer, Taylor Swift and Harry Styles from famous boy band One Direction together? Or just publicity for their new albums?'" She sounded like the front page of a magazine. Me and Mia looked at each other."You really haven't heard of that?" She asked, in disbelieve.

"No…Is it true? Are they going out?" I asked worried.

"Oh god, I don't want to be the one who makes you all paranoid. But it's possible. There have been pictures, and everything." She said. I was starting to get paranoid.

"It would explain why he said not to tell anyone about our date…" I said. It was true. Why else would he say that? It's not like he hasn't dated other girls before.

"Could be" Said Stella.

"Stell!" Said Mia "Come on, don't say that. Those are probably just rumors. He was really sweet…" Mia said, but it was only to comfort me, even though she didn't believe those words.

"Hey, I love One Direction, and even I know that that's all an act. I mean come on. No one is that polite all the time, and that sweet to all the fans and people around them. Everyone has their bad days. And they almost never snap…so…" She said. It was true. Well I think it was, because I don't know much about their lives, but Stella was a directioner, and all this came out from her. She saw me frown and Mia too "But come on, I could be wrong." She said, I faked a smile, and Mia too.

"It's late" I said "And I am really tired. We'll talk tomorrow ok?" I said, and they agreed. After we said our goodnights, i dressed in my pajamas, and laid under the blanket.

What if Stella is right? I mean, I might me looking to much into this, but still. What if he is with Taylor and just went out on a pointless date with me. Well…he did ask me out on a second one…but still…Those were my last thoughts, and I drifted off to sleep.

-

The next mooring, I woke up around 1pm. Jet-leg was out to get me. I got downstairs. We had pancakes for breakfast. Winter break was almost over. Few more days. It was pretty cold, so I went in my room to put on a sweater and leggings. Stella got in from the front door, while I was talking to Tina and Kyle and my mom on Skype. I left them to talk, while I went upstairs with Stella.

We had a nice talk about her and hey boyfriend Liam Cooper. He was a year older than her, and they've been going out for about a year. They had the cutest love story ever. She was telling me a lot of things, starting from the beginning, how they met and everything. The subject then turned to me. My past relationship. Unfortunately, I could count them on one finger, and I was 16, so there, that was a short story. After that, Mia got up, and she came in Stella's room. She joined in the conversation and talked about her love life. It turns out, me and Mia were the same. Even though Stella was one year older than us, I liked hanging out with her. She was good company. And after Mia's love story that was also short, like mine, they again turned on the subject 'me and Harry'.

"Look," Said Stella finally "You can just ask him about it. Don't ruin it because of something that might not be true." But by the time she said that, I was convinced that it was real.

"Stella, she can't be that naive!" Said Mia. "He would probably lie to her if it's true, and she will end up hurt!"

"Mia, don't say that! In the end it could really be nothing!" They were fighting over it. It was kind of funny.

"Do I have a say in this?" I asked.

"Of course" Said Stella.

"No, you don't" Joked Mia. We started to laugh. "Think about it" Said Mia

After a minute of silence, Stella spoke

"I hate to admit it, but Mia might be right. I am not saying it is true, I am just saying that if it is true, he would lie anyway, and you will be a fool. Harry is a player. He goes on a lot of dates. But in the end it's your decision, not ours."

"Yeah" Mia added "We are just trying to look out for you" She said, and smiled. I hugged both of them. I heard Tina call us for lunch. We had macaroni and cheese. I guess my mom told them that that's my favorite. After the nice lunch, I went upstairs, very sure of what I was about to do. I got my phone, and dialed Harry's number, as Mia and Stella watched me.

*END OF FLASHBACK*

"It's the right thing to do, isn't it?" I said, hoping they will confirm and I will have something to remind me that it was.

"I guess" Said Mia. She was unsure. "I mean, it was Harry Styles.." She said that in a bad way like 'he is Harry Styles, ladies man' "But then again…he is Harry Styles" This was said in more of a admiring way. LIke it's a once in a lifetime opportunity. Like, out of all the girls I was the one he accidentally saw embarrassing herself. But I really didn't see him as the second Harry Styles anymore, nor the second one. I was seeing him as a normal guy. Who happened to be in a band, and is very famous and has 9 000 000 followers on twitter. Why do I know that…?!

Anyway the rest of my day went normal. I chatted with Hex on Skype, and introduced him to Mia and Stella. After Stella left to meet with Liam, and Mia went to piano lessons, Hex told me that he took a liking in Mia. It was really sweet. He had a girlfriend Claire, but she was Satan herself. The typical stereotype cheerleader. She liked romantic chick-flicks, long walks on the beach, candle light and boys, but disliked surfing, math and wearing anything that hides her rack. I don't know what he sees in her, probably because they have sex all the time, but how can he put up with her when they are not 'doing it'? Anyway, I wasn't jealous, I just liked making fun of her. I told him about Harry, and swore him to secrecy not to tell anyone. He was really happy, but when I told him about how I ended it he became a little mad at me.

"How can you do that?!" He said.

"Oh come on, Hex. He isn't right for me. I don't do player boys." I said. It was true. Unlike Claire, I wasn't craving for attention and heartbreaks.

"He likes you, Phia." He called me Phia, because he hated calling me Soph, or by my full name. So he came up with Phia when we were together, and has been calling me that since then. "I am a guy. I would know."

"Hex don't do this. I already told him not to, you know… " I was confused. Why was he saying this. I frowned.

"It's still not late, you can fix it. Call him" He said.

"Are you mental?! I Can't call him now. I will just embarrass myself further, and besides he will blow me off… " I was looking for excuses. He started to laugh.

"Come on Phia, call him and apologize. Be the better person."

"Too late" I said, as I showed him my phone. It was on silent, so it was vibrating and it was Harry.

"Answer it!" He said.

"You keep quiet!" I said and I answered it "Hey."

"Speaker" Said Hex, whispering. I put it on speaker, and put my finger on my mouth motioning him to be quiet.

"Hey, Soph" Hex pulled his tongue out and acting discussed because he called me Soph. "Can we talk?" Harry said nervous.

"Yeah, sure" I said

"Not over the phone. Can I pick you up in 10 minutes? It's not a date, just talk." He said. Hex was nodding like a bubble head.

"Ok, see ya in a few" And I hung up after that. "What am I suppose to do now?! He's going to ask me about it, what am I suppose to say?!" I was panicking, and Hex just laughed.

"Come on, he likes you. If he didn't he wouldn't call you and ask you to meet up on a none-date. Write me when you get home. I'm going to bed, time difference and everything. I will read it later."

"Ok, thanks. Love you loads" I said.

"Love you too" He said, and I hung up. I got dressed really quick, and waited until I saw his car outside. I went downstairs.

"Hey, Tina, I'm going to go out with a friend, is that ok?" I asked for permission.

"Yes of course, darling. Just be back until 11:30. That's the girl's curfew, and so is yours" She said, and smiled. I smiled a 'thank you' and went outside. I nervously got in his car.

"Hey" I said.

We went to a little pub, where nobody would recognize him. We didn't say a word on the way over there. When we sat, he ordered a beer, and I ordered Sprite.

"So.." He started.

"So.." I repeated him.

"I am just going to say it directly - Do you like me?" He asked. Wow, thanks for making me that much more nervous.

"I don't know" I said. How was I suppose to respond to that?

"Well, I like you" He said, and blushed a little, but that did not make it not true. He had a sincere gaze at me, it was making me even more nervous, if it was possible. "I really do. And I don't know why you said that out of the blue…So I at least deserve an explanation." He said, and smiled. I could see he was nervous too, so it made me feel slightly better.

"Look, let's just be realistic here" I started. "You are Harry Styles, and I am…well…me. And I don't like players, and guys who just look to…you know… 'have fun' and stuff. I don't want to be THAT girl." He was listening to me very carefully. "On the other hand, I also don't like to be the naive girl, who has blind trust in a guy then that guy leaves her to rot while he is out partying with another girl just like her and does the same thing over and over again- " He cut me off, and I caught my breath, because I was running out of it while I was talking.

"Hey, hey. I can't deny the first part. But I really like you. You are funny, and interesting-" I cut him off.

"Woah, hold your horses." I said. Bad phrase, Sophia! "Look, all this is great, but I can't deal with the hate, and you going away on tour, because I hear you have one coming up real soon, and I have school to focus on, my scholarship. And don't get me started on the whole Haylor thing-" He cut me off after he heard me say 'Haylor'.

"Wait wait, back up" He said. "Haylor….Haylor isn't real" He said, he was very convincing, but then again, he is trained to do that to the media.

"Come on Harry, it's really obvious." I said. I researched Haylor on Google, and many things came up, including pictures.

"Look, it's made to look obvious. It's all management ok?" He said. He is probably lying.

"Harry-" He cut me off again

"No, no really. At first I didn't want to go along with it, so I denied it, but then I had to, so I just went along with it" He explained "It's honestly not true. I like Taylor and she is great, but we're just friends, and she knows that, and sees me the same way" He smiled. I couldn't help it but to smile too. "I don't mind keeping 'us' a secret. You think the hate won't bother me? Or the going away?" He was right. I smiled, because I didn't know what to say to that "So it's up to you. If you like me, we can try to make things work. " He said, and smiled nervously.

"Harry-" I said, it didn't sound like a good 'Harry', so he cut me off.

"Look, just think about it, ok?" He said. He was adorable, so I smiled like an idiot. He started to laugh a little nervously.

"So.." I said, making a decision in my mind. "A secret, eh?" He smiled widely, and I started to laugh. It was a very familiar moment…I loved it.

Notes