Harry POV

Harry tied his hair up in a bandana, carefully tucking the last of his curls just behind his ears. He plucked a stray eyelash off his nose and checked that a particularly big spot had been covered up by concealer. Seeing that it had, he let out a sigh of relief and grabbed his phone and his wallet.

"Niall!" He called, and soon heard his friend thundering up the stairs.

"Yep?" Niall stuck his head round the door, an easy grin resting on his face.

"You ready?"

Niall patted his pockets before inspecting himself in the mirror, smoothing his quiff down even more. Harry tapped his foot and crossed his arms while he waited.

"Think so."

"Good." Harry snapped and grabbed his coat off the bed. "Now, can we actually go?"

"Sure." Niall said, maintaing his cool, as per usual.

He rushed downstairs and clambered into the car, Niall following just behind him. Though he would never admit it if Niall asked him, there was a pit in Harry's stomach and he could feel his hands getting a little sweaty. It's just that he hadn't been on a date - a date where there was no set up to it at all, where the paparazzi hadn't been called beforehand. It may be a bit of a weird time to have a date, but it was an actual, proper date.

"There is someone for me there, right?"

"Yeah. Her names Kristen."

"Emma might fall for me instead." Niall said, his smile only widening when Harry shoot him an irritated look.

"Kristen could fancy me." Harry retorted, though Niall only shrugged.

"Or maybe neither of them will fall for you." Sean, Harry's personally bodyguard, suggested.

Harry and Niall erupted into giggles - though Harry's were spiked with nervousness.

"As long as they're hot."

"Niall, stop being so obnoxious."

Niall rolled his eyes but didn't say anything.

Harry watched Holmes Chapel roll by. He had missed the town when he had been on tour, though now he had been back here for a couple of weeks, he was already starting to remember why he had been so eager to leave. There were around four cafes, only one supermarket which was a long drive away and all his close friends appeared to had moved on.

Still, at least Niall was willing to hang out with him - he'd come up a couple of days ago after visiting his family.

The car pulled to a stop and Harry wiped his hands on his jeans. As he got out the car he couldn't help but check for anybody watching him, but management had lied and said that all the boys were in L.A. doing some song writing, so it meant that they didn't need to worry about being hassled (unless they made it obvious where they actually were, but Harry had old pictures of L.A. on his phone which he'd been posting so nobody suspected).

He got out the car and took a few deep breaths. Niall patted him on the back and slung an arm round his shoulder as they strolled into the cafe, Sean staying inside the car, only a phone call away if anyone did spot them.

Emma and Kristen were already there, whispering at the back of the room. Harry could see Niall look both of them up and down, his eyes lingering on the skirt Kristen was wearing. He elbowed his friend, part embarrassed, part amused and part appalled at his behaviour.

With a heart beating a little faster than usual, Harry made his way over to the table.

Notes