You Know What They Do To Girls Like Us

I slept easily after Harry left, but I couldn’t stop thinking about what he had said. As I get ready, different ideas keep going through my head about what might have happened. But my thoughts are completely cleared when Sara bursts through my bedroom door.

“Guess whaaat?” she sings with a huge smile on her face and prances over to where I’m getting ready. I’m trying to pick clothes from this giant closet.

“Hmm?”

“We get to go outside today!” she squeals and flops on her back onto my bed.

“For real?” I murmur as I look through pairs of shorts.

Sara groans. “Do you not realize how exciting this is?” She waltzes up behind me and starts looking through blouses.

“Not really exciting if we have to stick to our master the entire time,” I pick a pair of light denim shorts.

“But we get to see what it’s like, all the people, fresh air,” she hands me a completely different set of clothing.

I raise my eyebrows at her choice.

“It’s winter,” she crosses her arms after I take it. “And we’re going out.”

Sighing, I reluctantly change into what Sara has picked out for me.

“So anything knew with Louis?” she takes a book off a shelf and starts flipping through the pages.

“I actually haven’t seen him in a while,” I fiddle with my hair, but eventually give up.

“And why is that?” Sara comes over and starts side braiding my hair.

“I’m actually not too sure,” Now that I think about it, why haven’t I? “I guess I’ve just been too lazy to get out of my room. And then there’s the whole job thing which Louis is very against.”

“Ah, oui,” concentrating on my hair, her voice sounds far off. “He told me about it.”

“He told you?” What else has he told Sara?

“Mhm,” she hums and leans against the bathroom countertop. “He really likes you. I can tell by the way he smiles down at the floor when he talks about you.”

I can’t help, but blush at the thought of him acting like that.

“I don’t know…” trailing off, I think back to Harry. Why is he still in the back of my mind? “Harry told me I couldn’t talk to him anymore – especially not during the masquerade ball. There’s basically zero chance of anything working out in the first place.”

“Lui est un tel cul,” Sara scoffs. “He is such an ass. We’ve got to find some way to do something for you and Louis. We can’t do anything today because we’re practically chained to our masters.” My eyes widen. “No non, not literally! Maybe early tomorrow morning? I can drop by Louis’ and let him know what time you’ll come?”

“Yeah,” I smile at her eagerness.

“Yay,” she smiles back. A knock is heard at the door.

“I’ll go now,” Sara gives me a quick hug. “Maybe I’ll see you later?”

I give her a nod and follow her into the bedroom. When she opens the door to leave, Harry is revealed on the other side.

“Oh, hello…” Harry trails off like he is desperately searching for her name. “How are you?”

“I’m fantastic,” her grin stretches from ear to ear. Before she walks out she turns to me quickly and winks.

“Guess everyone’s excited about going out?” he looks to me, but still holds the door open.

“You aren’t?” I grab the scarf that Sara picked out.

“International boyband, remember? Getting away from the outside is a privilege for us,” he smirks.

That fucking smirk.

“Alright, well,” I stand awkwardly facing him. “Are we going?”

“’Course,” he steps aside to let me through the door. Since when did he act like a gentleman?

We walk through the hallways in silence before we reach the giant staircase leading to the main entry hall. I’m almost overwhelmed by the amount of people buzzing in and out of the hall. Waiters and butlers and maids and Paula.

“Alright everybody,” she manages to announce above the buzz. “Have fun!”

And with that Harry, I, and all the other boys and girls are ushered out of the building.

The cold winter air instantly hits me. Somehow I had forgotten about snow in the winter, and the crunch beneath my boots brings back innumerable feelings. I look up at the sun and spots form in my vision, but I don’t care. Just the feeling of natural light feels good on the skin of my face. I wrap the scarf around my neck and look around. We’re not in the city just yet. An extremely tall stone wall surrounds the grounds of the House. I can already see photographers and fans behind the iron gates we are about to exit out of. Subconsciously I grab Harry’s arm out of nervousness and fear. The only thing I am aware of right now is the sound of hundreds of girls screaming and the bright flashes of the paparazzi’s cameras.

“Don’t worry about them,” Harry’s deep voice reverberates in my ear. “Just focus on pushing through.”

I nod slightly. Though I pry my hands away from Harry’s arm, he holds my arms to guide me through the mass of pushing and shoving people.

Once we get in the car, it’s like the air stops. The shouts of the crowd are just a dull murmur through the tinted windows of Harry’s car. Or at least I assume it’s Harry’s because he’s driving it.

“So eh,” I find myself fumbling for words after a few minutes of silence. “Where are we going?”

“We’re going to go to a small coffee place, grab coffee, and then come back to the House,” he states as if he has memorized it from a textbook.

I don’t say anything for a few seconds.

“So this is all planned,” I watch him in the reflection of the rearview mirror. “It’s just a sort of schedule for publicity.”

“Exactly,” he meets my gaze in the mirror and I quickly look away to the streets we pass.

Annapola looks normal in the daytime – something I could always never quite figure out. During the night it looked like it was pure strip clubs, bars, and parties. But during the day it looked like a regular city with boutiques, restaurants, and town homes. Not a trace of darkness could be seen.

The trip going to the coffee shop was relatively short and kind of let me down to be honest. We pressed our way through the crowds occasionally stopping at all the right moments to smile at cameras like we were instructed to.

“Is it just me or was that exhausting?” Harry buckled himself into the driver seat.

“Very exhausting,” wrapping my hands around the warm coffee, I nodded in agreement. “The struggle of the first world is so real.”

I glance over at Harry and take pride in the fact that he is unsuccessfully trying to hide a smile.

Five minutes in and we are almost halfway to the House. I’m dreading having to step foot into that sugar coated castle again. Taking my cup of coffee from the cup holder, I focus on all the people we pass. It almost feels strange to see human beings other than the ones I have lived with these past months.

“Shit,” I shut my eyes as I look down at my lap. Coffee is splattered across the crotch of my pants.

I hear a muffled chuckle on my left.

“Excuse me?” I raise my eyebrows at Harry who is trying so hard not to laugh that he can’t even look at me.

“Nothing,” he smiles straight at me, but glances down at my pants. “Would you like some napkins?”

“Yes, I would very much so,” glaring, I take the napkins and hastily dab at my pants.

A minute passes by with only the sound of me dabbing away at my ruined pants.

“It looks like you wee-d your pants,” Harry bursts out laughing and rests his chin on the steering wheel.

“You twat!” I throw my damp napkins at his head, but I’m laughing as well.

“Imagine the gossip headlines if they see you: Harry Styles’ girlfriend was more than pissed when she found out he was cheating on her!” he laughs.

“Oh my God, stop or I’m going to actually piss myself!” I wheeze out which makes him laugh even harder.

“Oh God,” he gives a final ‘ha’ as he pulls into the grounds of the House. He opens his window to talk to the guard at the gate. When he turns back to face the front I notice a stern look has taken place across his face.

I sigh. Back to Normal Harry.

“Soggy knickers,” he says nonchalantly.

“We are not talking about this ever again!” I yell.

He laughs and his dimples make me question who the real Harry is.

Notes

Heyo, gems. :) Hope you liked the chapter! Who even is Harry anymore? Let me know your thoughts in the comments! Thank you for reading. :)
~christi ellie
p.s. I watched This Is Us on youtube and let me tell you it was worth every second. <3