Louis' POV

I finish off testing the lights on the Vauxhall Corsa that I'm working on. It's taken me all morning to discover that it's a fault in the alternator. I start to write the fault down and am soon interrupted by Harry, who's running late this morning.

"Where have you been?" I ask as I look at him. He sighs as he explains he had the dentist, I smirk as I know how much he hates going there.

"Where were you last night?" Harry asks as he starts to put his overalls on.

"I told you I was with Emily." I smirk and Harry rolls his eyes.

"All night?" He asks and I shake my head. "Exactly so you could have come to mine." He adds as he shakes his head in frustration.

"Well I was kind of hoping that I'd leave with her. But she seemed really against me going back to her's." I frown as I still have no idea why Emily was so uptight. I wasn't intending on pressing anything up on her. But it could have been nice to spend even more time with her.

"I've told you she's not what you think. I don't believe she's this innocent girl that you're chasing." Harry snaps and I look at him as there's no need for a negative reply.

"She's done nothing wrong Harry." I groan annoyed at his perception of Emily. I am confused enough as it is without him trying to make it worse. So instead the best thing is to change the subject.
"So what did I miss?" I ask and Harry looks at me surprised by the sudden change. "last night.." I say and he shrugs.

"Well we had a few ciders, food and watched The Avengers. Obviously we both wanted you there." Harry says as he starts to read my paper work.

"Well I'll come next time." I smile and Harry nods. "So what did you both talk about?" I ask and he looks at me and smirks.

"Oh wouldn't you like to know.." He scoffs and I roll my eyes. "We spoke about you." He adds and I frown.

"Why?" I ask and he taps his nose, that's so typical of Harry not to tell me as it winds me up.

"You would have known if you actually turned up." Harry states as he walks away and starts to call one of the customers. I shake my head as I look away and I land on Bella at reception. Some guy is what looks like flirting, is leaning on her desk and Bella is smiling sheepishly.
I look away again as I don't want her to catch me but I feel slightly concerned about the guy. Does she care or is she okay? By the smile on her face, she seems pretty keen.

"Mr.Lucas has agreed for a new alternator." Harry says as he walks back up to me. I nod as I look back at Bella as I see the guy take her hand and kisses her, she blushes shyly as he looks up at her.

"Who is that prat?" I ask as I try to work out whether he's a customer or not. Harry laugh as he shrugs unsure.

"Looks like Bella's pulled." Harry says and he glances at me. "Jealous?" He asks and I snap my attention to him.

"Really? Are you ever going to give up. I don't think you realise just how boring this gets Harry " I snap and Harry looks away from me and I can see that he's trying not to laugh.

"Whatever mate." Harry coughs to clear his throat as we start getting to work. Sometimes it's good being a mechanic, the hours are simple and we get plenty of time off especially around festive holidays. But it does get boring, like any other job I suppose. There seems to be no thrill here, no excitement to keep you through the day.

It used to be funny with Harry, I always wished I worked with him but lately, he's changed. I don't know why but he seems far more distant from me since me meeting Emily. I know he isn't jealous or anything like that, I understand some mates can hate it when you meet a girl and she takes up most of your time, but he's got something against Emily. He's only met her once.

I glance back over to reception and I watch the guy leaving at long last. Bella keeps her eyes on him and flicks her hair back, she really does like him. I feel more protective of Bella because her last boyfriend treated her like shit, she deserves someone nice and someone who can take care of her.
I look back to Harry as he starts asking me about a few replacements we need, so I take the file and I jot them in.

"This is going to get pricey." Harry sighs as he wipes his hands. I nod as I can't believe that some drivers still use their car when it's in such poor condition.

"Is that everything?" I ask as Harry finishes identifying the problems. He nods as he takes the file and we begin to work on changing everything over. My phone vibrates in my pocket and I quickly take it from my overall pocket.

"Let me guess... Emily?" Harry laughs and I looks at him and shake my head. His eyes widen with shock.

"It's Holly.." I answer him and I read out loud the text she has sent me,

If you're serious about Emily, then you need to meet me. There's something you should know. Don't tell her I've text you either.

How the hell did she know about us? Emily was certain that we kept things quiet especially to stop Holly finding out. As I finished Harry looks at me and he frowns concerned.

"Meet her." He demands and I run a hand through my hair. What is there to possibly know? Holly must be jealous, it's the only way she can break us up, by making up rumours.

"No, I'm not falling for it." I say as I put my phone in my pocket. "How low can someone get? All out of jealousy." I shake my head and Harry too shakes his.

"If I was you, I would go and see what she has to say." Harry says and he turns away from me as he continues to work. I rub my forehead as I know he's got a point but I strictly believe Holly's just jealous and I don't have the time for pathetic games.

---

Bella's POV

I glance one more at the number that James has left. I can't believe that he wants to meet me, he only popped in to get his car serviced and I ended up getting his number. This never happens to me.

I'm not quite ready to be in another relationship but it's nice to be able to hang put with someone different I suppose. The problem is my confidence is slightly shattered just because I haven't had great history with guys. We have to pick a few sour grapes just to find the sweet ones.
I guess I need to remember that every guy is different and every relationship will never be the same. I'm not sure if meeting a stranger is my sort of thing though, look at Louis, he and Emily have a weird relationship. She seem to like Louis chasing her because he doesn't leave her alone. Emily certainly has him wrapped around her little finger, I never understood how Louis could be so taken by a girl he doesn't really know.
That is why I'd never jump into secret dating with James, I'd only he prepared to meet casually and get to know each other first. Maybe I'm just a bit more boring than Louis?


Prehaps I'd be a bit more spontaneous if the guy was Louis. Would I feel a strong connection towards him by not even knowing him? Maybe. I know for sure I'd never get his attention like Emily did.
Louis is always with girls who are nothing like me, it's weird that I've watched him be with so many different personalities. The only girl I liked was Annie, I met her briefly but she was friendly and polite. I could see why Louis would have fallen for her.

Thinking about relationships Harry hasn't been with a girl for ages. He's more quiet about his love life than Louis. If Harry has any kind of problem, he doesn't tend to talk about it. I'm not sure why he bottles everything up because he knows Louis and I are here for him. Plus his family and other friends outside of work as Harry's quite a popular guy. But he's always introduced us to his girlfriends, he tends to go for nicer girls and I've always seemed to get on with them pretty well.

"What you doing tonight?" I jump as Louis creeps up behind me. I turn to face him as my hand hovers over my heart.

"I don't know yet.." I answer and he smiles. Oh my, his smile is so warming. i wish i could just get a little closer to those lips of his. Ugh, Emily is so lucky.

"Harry's asked us all to go for some drinks tonight. I wanted you to come." He says excitedly and I can't help but smile at him. He wants me to come along, I don't know how to feel about that. I try to stay calm and casual.

"Sure!" I say over happily, I mentally curse myself for being so keen. I'm not usually this bad around Louis, but it seems to be since Harry knows about how I feel, I'm on edge about Louis finding out.

"Cool! I'll let Harry know." Louis winks and he goes to walk away but he turns to face me once more. "Emily's coming and I can't wait for you to meet her." He adds with the biggest smile yet. As my heart slowly deflates, I try to keep my smile fixed.

"Great!" I fake enthusiasm and he walks back towards Harry. I sigh as I let the smile quickly fall from my face. I don't want to meet Emily, I don't think watching her and Louis all over each other is my idea of fun.

Notes

A couple of chapters to go and this whole thing is going to get messy.
I hope you like so far!

Thanks for reading!

xx