The Good Girl and the Bad Boy

The first thing I did when Harry left was calling Perrie. It took longer than usual for her to pick up, and when she did, she sounded slightly breathless.

“Ally?” she said. “What’s up?”

“I could ask you the same thing”, I said. “You sound … weird.” She didn’t answer. “Wait, are you with Zayn? You are, aren’t you? Oh my God, I’m sorry, I’ll call you later …”

“It’s fine, Ally”, she said. I heard a male voice in the background, and Perrie giggled. “What’s up?”

“Well”, I said. “Don’t freak out, please, but … I went on a date.”

“You did? That’s great! With who?” Her excitement was insulting.

“Harry”, I said.

It was quiet on the other line for so long I was starting to get worried she’d hung up on me.
“Harry?!” she yelled after what felt like years. “You went on a date with Harry?”

“Uh … yeah”, I said. “I did.”

“Oh my God, this is big news, Ally, really big news. You went on a date with Harry?” I made a mental note to not tell Harry about her reaction. For some reason, it seemed to be quite insulting.

“Yes, I went on a date with Harry”, I said, a little annoyed. “And it was wonderful, thank you for asking.”

“I’m sorry”, she said. “I’m really happy for you. I’m just … shocked.”

Okay, maybe I could understand that. I was shocked too.

“So, what did you do?” she asked.

“Well, first, he took me out for dinner. Then he took me to the park.”

Another stunned silence. “He took you to the park? Wow. That’s … wow.”

I smiled at the memory. “Yeah, I know”, I said. “The dinner was kind of awkward, but the park was just so … I don’t know, romantic. It was great. And then we watched the sunset and we kissed.”

“Well, that’s … that’s great”, Perrie said. “You’re being careful though, right?”

“Perfectly”, I said. “Don’t worry, Perrie. I think … I think he might be changing. At least a little. He didn’t push for anything tonight, and it was just perfect.”

“Just be careful, alright? I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“You sound like my brother”, I said.

“I care about you, Ally”, she said. “I don’t want to see you get hurt.”

“Don’t worry”, I repeated. “I’ll be fine. And I’m happy. And besides, you’re the one who helped him convince me, and I’m sure you helped him more than that time we were shopping.”

She didn’t say anything.

“I have to go”, I said. “But I’ll talk to you later, okay? Have fun with Zayn.”

I went straight to bed. I was exhausted after the date, and although I didn’t want to admit it, my head hurt. It wasn’t anything serious, I hoped. I’d had to move my book signing from Tuesday to Friday, which was tomorrow. I couldn’t postpone it any longer.


When I woke up the next day, I hurried to get ready for the book signing. I wanted to be there a little early, to talk to my publisher about a few things. A concussion complicated everything.

“So you’re feeling better now?” my publisher inquired when I arrived.

“Yes”, I said. “I’m supposed to be careful for a while, until it’s completely healed, but I’m allowed to get back to work.”

“Good”, she said. “The signing starts in an hour. You should get something to eat before that. We’ve made precautions because of your concussion, so we’ll take a break during the signing. And if it gets too much, you have to say something, okay?”

I nodded yes.

“Good”, she said. “Get something to eat, and be here in a half hour.”


The signing went great. I always loved these events, to get a chance to do something for my fans after everything they did for me. Although it felt pretty weird to see them act the same way I used to act (and still did), but over my books. It was unreal.

Doing a book signing when you were recovering from a concussion wasn’t ideal, though. My head hurt so much I was worried something was seriously wrong.

The walk home felt like ages, and when I came home, I was so tired I was ready to go to bed, and it was just five in the afternoon. Then I found someone waiting at my door, and when I saw who it was, I wanted to cry.

My father turned around, and his eyes widened when he saw me. “Ally”, he said. “I was just … I wanted to talk to you. We haven’t met in such a long time, and I missed you.”

I straightened my back. “He gave me a concussion”, I said, and I knew from his expression that he knew exactly who I was talking about. “A concussion. I had to cancel meetings, postpone events … This can’t continue. If you’re ready to believe me about him, and to do something about it, then we can talk. If not, you can get the hell away from me. I’m tired of dealing with your shit.”

At that moment, my phone started ringing, and I almost started weeping of relief for the interruption. “It’s Ally”, I answered.

“Hey, Ally”, said a familiar voice, and my insides melted. “Is the signing finished?”

“If it wasn’t, I wouldn’t have picked up”, I answered.

“Did it go well? Are you okay? Is your head still okay?”

“Whoa, Harry, easy”, I said. “I can only answer one question at a time. It went great. I’m okay. My head hurts a little, but I’m sure it’s fine.”

“Are you sure? Maybe you should go to the doctor, just to be safe. I can take you. Give me five minutes, and I’ll be there.”

I snorted. “I’m fine. Really, don’t worry about me. Sheesh, you’re starting to sound like my brother.”

My father was staring intently at me. “Ally …”

Hold on, Harry”, I said, and turned to my father. “I’m not interested in talking to you. Not now, not ever. You never gave me a reason to listen to you, and I’m done with this. Please respect that, and leave me alone.”

A moment’s stunned silence, and then he turned around and walked away. I breathed a sigh of relief.

“Is everything alright?” Harry asked me, worry evident in his voice.

“Yeah”, I said. “I just really needed to say that. I don’t think he’d ever leave me alone otherwise.”

“Who was that, anyway?”

“My father”, I said. “Look, you can come over if you want, but I don’t need to go to the hospital. Really. I always get a headache after the signings. Hysterical teenage girls aren’t the quietest crowd.”

Harry huffed. “Alright, I’ll be there in a few. See you soon.”

“Yeah, see you soon”, I said, and hung up.

I barely had time to change into a simple dress and spray on some perfume before Harry knocked on my door.

“Coming!” I said as I sprayed some water on my face, careful to avoid messing up my make-up. Then I turned around to go to the door, and almost had a heart attack when I noticed Harry standing there.

“Oh my God, you scared the life out of me”, I said accusingly.

“Sorry”, he said, but he didn’t seem too regretful.

Suddenly I became way too aware of how I looked. I probably looked exhausted, with my hair in a messy ponytail, simply because I didn’t have time to do anything else. I was scared that it’d be awkward after yesterday, that he might’ve changed his mind, that he regretted it, that he thought we shouldn’t see each other more. If we were seeing each other at all. What if I had misinterpreted everything?

I was so caught up in my own thoughts that I didn’t notice he coming closer to me until he put his hands on my waist. “Hey”, he said. “Are you alright?”

My heartrate quickened, and I had to take a deep breath before I could answer. “Yeah”, I said, unsure of what to do, what to say. I’d never done this before, and I was terrified I’d do something to ruin everything.

He frowned. “No, you’re not. What’s going on?”

I bit my lip. How does anyone do this? I wondered.

“I just …” I started, then trailed off, unsure of what to say.

“What?” Harry asked, worry laced in his voice.

I opened my mouth to say something, and then changed my mind. It was quiet for a moment, before I blurted; “What is this?”

“What?”

My cheeks turned red, but I continued. I needed to know what we were, what he wanted us to be. Even if he didn’t feel anything about me, it would still hurt less to hear it now than if I let this continue, let myself fall, because, if I was being completely honest with myself, I knew it wouldn’t be long until I was completely in love with him, and that scared me.

“What is this?” I repeated, then continued. “What are we?”

Harry was quiet for a moment. “I don’t know”, he said. “I don’t know what this is, or where it will lead, but I know one thing. I know that I care about you, maybe even more than care about. I know that whatever this is, I don’t want it to stop. I want to continue this, to see where it leads. I like you. I like you, and it scares the hell out of me, but I like you.”

I stared at him, wide-eyed, for a moment, and then I reached up and kissed him, because, really, there were no words, so I decided to show him.

Harry didn’t hesitate. He pulled me closer to him, so close that I could barely tell where he ended and I started, and I became acutely aware that I only had on a dress.

He kissed me with an intensity that had me gasping for air, but I certainly wasn’t complaining. He bit my lower lip, and I gasped. He took the chance to slip in his tongue, claiming dominance.

I tangled my fingers in his soft hair, trying to get closer. One of his hands left my waist, down to the hem of my dress, and under my dress, up, leaving a trail of goosebumps in its wake, and I was shocked at my immediate reaction to his touch.

Then he pulled his lips away from mine, and I whimpered at the loss. He smirked. “I was going to act like a gentleman tonight”, he said.

“I’m not complaining”, I said, and my voice sounded weird. Breathless.

His smirk grew. “I noticed that”, he said, and then he let me go. I shivered at the loss, but I didn’t complain. I was touched. I knew how hard it was for him to pull away. Well, I could see, at least. It proved to me that it wasn’t just about getting me into bed anymore.

“I was actually buying you dinner”, he said. “Well, order some. You look – looked – too exhausted to go out.”

I probably didn’t look all that tired anymore. I nodded. “I just … need a moment. Okay?”
He nodded and left the bathroom. I closed and locked the door, and then I looked in the mirror. I barely recognized myself. I looked feverish, my eyes way too wide and somehow lighter, my lips swollen. I wasn’t sure whether to be excited or horrified, and decided to go with the former.

I splashed some water in my face, not caring about the make-up this time, and then cleaned my face so I didn’t have mascara in my face. Then I went into the living room, only to find Harry looking for a movie to watch – one we hadn’t already seen.

He looked up when I came. He searched my face, and seemed satisfied, because he returned to searching for a movie. The doorbell sounded, so I went to open. I paid for the food, and brought it to the living room.

The evening was great. After we ate, we didn’t pay much attention to the movie, but spent most of it kissing. I didn’t mind it at all. And when I followed him to the door, and he kissed me good-bye, I realized something.

I was in love with Harry.

Notes

Sorry I haven't updated in a while. I've been really busy, and I haven't had any inspiration to continue. Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Comment and vote, it always makes me happy to read your comments!