The Misfits

I drummed my fingers gently on the shingles as I looked out on the city from my rooftop perch. It was a cloudy day and the people below were all bundled up as they walked by. They looked so small from up here, and I briefly wondered if this is what it felt like to be a bird. I come out here looking for something to draw. For my next piece I wanted part of this view.

“There you are.”

I turned to see Harry climbing through the window. I set my sketchbook down next to me and turned to look at him. Those green eyes paired with that gorgeous smile were enough to make me melt.

Yesterday after Maeve’s photo shoot I met with Perrie for lunch. The two of us ended up talking for hours covering every subject from boys to school to music. She had given me some dirty details about how torn up Harry had been over our argument. I felt bad he had been so distraught, but also secretly relieved he had been feeling the same way.

“How are you love?” he asked.

I let out a laugh as he sat down next to me and gave me a smile. “What are you doing here?”

He shrugged his shoulders before turning to look at me again. “I came to see you. What are you doing up here?”

“Sitting.”

“And?”

“Drawing.”

“Ah,” Harry said, snapping his fingers. “Should have known. You know, I’m convinced that’s the only thing you ever do.”

“How did you get in?” I asked, changing the subject with an eye roll. A smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth, though he did his best to hide it. His hair was blowing gently with the wind effectively making him look like a male model.

“El. Although I guess I could have just scaled the building.”

“Yeah right.”

“Hey! I’m a great climber!”

“Oh really? Have you ever been?”

“Yeah. I went one time when I was like seven,” Harry scoffed. I let out a snort and Harry shot me playful glare. “Come on.”

I frowned. “Where are we going?”

“Climbing.”

“What?” I laughed.

“What else are we going to do today?” He asked.

“I was going to dr—”

“No more drawing!” He cried, stomping his foot on the rooftop and looking remarkably like a five-year old. I couldn’t help but laugh. He took my hand and pulled me up. “Come on, we’re mixing things up today.”

I rolled my eyes and followed him back into the bedroom to change before we headed downstairs. Maeve was sprawled out on the couch lazily and looked up when we entered the room.

“Adios dorks,” Maeve smirked. I stuck my tongue out at her in response as Harry pulled me out the door. “REMEMBER SAFE SEX!”

“ALWAYS MAE!” Harry bellowed before I could shut the door. I spun around to yell at him but he pulled me into a kiss before I had the chance.

“You’re not funny,” I said once he released me.

“Hey that’s my line,” He smirked before dodging my hand as I went to whack him playfully on the arm.

“Harry Edward Styles you—AHH!”

Harry had picked me up and thrown me over his shoulder. I let out another yell as he made his way to the car. After setting me down gently in the passenger seat and kissing the top of my head he ran over to the drivers side. I let out a laugh at the situation as he flashed me a dimpled smile.

Within seconds we were on the road with the music blasting. We engaged in a brief jam session, singing at the top of our lungs and dancing like idiots as we made our way to the gym. As we pulled into the parking lot I noticed a familiar face waiting for us.

“Hey. I know you!”

“How ya been Lia?” my Dad asked. As he pulled me into a tight hug I prayed he wouldn’t think anything of Harry and I hanging out together.

"Did you do this?" I asked turning to Harry. He gave me a sheepish grin in response. Why was he amazing?

"So, how's life been treatin ya darlin?" My dad asked. I hadn’t seen him nearly three weeks and I will admit I had missed him a lot. I immediately told him everything I had been up to the past few weeks (minus the fight between Harry and I). In turn he informed me he had just gotten back from visiting his family in Ireland and that Clodagh and the kids send their love.

As we talked, Harry took the time to visit with the other climbers. There were three girls in particular who had caught his attention for they burst into tears the moment he stepped foot in the door. I loved the way he talked to and about his fans. He genuinely adored every single one of them.

The anxiety of my father discovering our secret began to diminish as Harry retuned and we were given our gear. If my dad suspected anything between Harry and I, he was hiding it well. I started to put on my harness as Harry and my father talked.

“Are you rock climbing with us Pauley?” Harry asked.

“O’ course!” He boomed. “Have ya ever rock climbed before?”

“Yep,” Harry replied. I let out a snort and Harry shot me playful glare. “Hey! I’m great at climbing.”

“You are not.”

“Wanna bet?” He asked. My dad had begun talking to the spotter and was now completely deaf to our conversation. “Whoever makes it to the top first…gets a reward.”

“What kind of reward?”

“Any kind they want,” he whispered. “Bet you can guess what mine’s gonna be.”

He pinched my bum, causing me to squeak. What a cheeky little bastard.

“Harry!” I hissed as my dad made his way back over to us. Harry shot me a devilish grin while simultaneously making my heart flutter. He was the worst.

After my Dad double-checked everything on both of us to make sure we were strapped in tight we began. Rock climbing was way harder than I thought it would be. Harry and my dad didn’t have a problem with it, but Harry had to work out for tour and it was my dad’s job to be ridiculously strong. But the only upper body strength I had came from being a nanny and having to lift the kids.

“Come on Lia!” my dad called down. “Yer almost there!”

We had nearly reached the top now, Harry a few feet above me. He looked so funny with his harness and helmet on.

“No cheating!” Harry called down.

“Zip it Styles!” I yelled back up. He let out a laugh as I grabbed hold of another anchor. “I’d like to put in a formal complaint.”

“Oh?”

“You work out…that’s an unfair advantage.”

“Or maybe I’m just better at climbing,” he laughed. I had caught up to him with only another few feet to go until we were at the top.

“Nope. I’m vetoing this deal.” I said slightly out of breath.

“No, no, no. A deal’s a deal Tootles.”

“What happened to making sure I didn’t feel obligated?” I asked playfully. I knew exactly what he had in mind for his ‘reward’ though as he wanted me to, but I also knew he would never force me into anything. He had frozen at my words, suddenly very concerned that I wouldn’t want to sleep with him. “Although by the looks of it, I’ll be the one getting the reward.”

“What!” He snapped out of it just as I hit the buzzer. “You little sneak.”

“Eyes on the prize Styles.”

“Isn’t that where they are?” I shot him a glare which he returned with a cheeky grin.

“Are ya two jus’ gonna hang out up here all day?” asked my dad as he reached the top.

“We were waiting for you!” Harry cried out before turning to me and whispering, “So what will it be Tootles?”

I giggled again at Harry’s appearance, his unruly hair was trying to escape from his helmet. “Hmm, I’ll let you know when I decide.”

I shot Harry a smile before pushing away from the wall and letting myself be slowly lowered back down to the Earth, landing gently on my feet. Harry and my father descended after me and when they weren’t looking I snapped a picture of the pair and posted it online. The two of them dressed in their outfits was simply too good to pass up.

"Well tha' was fun," said my dad once he had returned to the ground. “What are ya two hooligans up te now?”

“Let’s get food!” I suggested. After a brief discussion the two agreed and we headed to a nearby café. It was a small little place and we quickly headed to the back table, attempting to draw as little attention to ourselves as possible.

“Have you decided yet?” Harry asked as I picked up a menu.

“No, I just go the menu,” I scoffed.

“Not the menu! Our deal.”

“Oh!” I laughed. I felt his hand rest on my knee under the table, needing some kind of contact. He began lightly running his fingers over my skin effectively making my heart race. I did my best to ignore it, not wanting to raise suspicion from my father. “Ya know, I think I’m gonna save it for a rainy day.”

“I swear woman, you will be the death of me.”

My father raised an eyebrow at us as I let out another laugh and explained. “I told Harry he owes me for making me climb a wall.”

“So now yer gonna hang it o’er his head?” My dad laughed.

“Yep. Oh hey, have I shown you my new paintings? I’m almost done with the fourth.” I said, changing the subject before he got too nosey.

“They’re amazing,” added Harry as my phone was passed to my father.

“I need ten. But I think I’m gonna cheat and make the last two or three drawings, painting is too hard.”

My dad passed the phone back to me looking at me in awe. I’m not going to lie; it felt good to be appreciated by him. “How much are ya sellin them fer?”

“You’ll have to fight me for them,” replied Harry. I smacked him on the arm playfully as the waitress came over and took our order. Once she left, Harry turned his attention back to me, “Oh! How was the photo shoot?”

“Photo shoot?” my father frowned.

“So much fun!” I smiled. “Want to see some photos? Here's Mack's...and this one's mine!”

“I want one of these,” replied Harry. The waitress returned with our coffee, accidently spilling a bit of mine because she was staring at Harry. As she turned away I shot him a glare.

“Look at what you did,” I hissed, pointing to the coffee stain on the paper in front of me. “You’re too intimidating Harold.”

My dad snorted. “Yeah, ‘bout as intimidatin as a cupcake.”

I burst into laughter while Harry pouted. As we fell into conversation I pulled out a pencil and started doodling around the shape of the coffee stain. I couldn’t help but admire how Harry and my father spoke to one another, it reminded me of Hugh and Archie. My father looked at Harry with pride and endearment as if he was his own son and I couldn’t stop the smile that spread across my face.

“What are you up to Tootles?”

“It’s Snoopy!” I turned the paper towards them so they could see. I had turned the coffee stain into a drawing of Snoopy and his plane. My dad let out a laugh as Harry took a picture on his phone.

“Do ya draw wherever ya go?” My father mused.

“Yes.” Answered Harry.

“It looked like Snoopy, I couldn’t resist.” I replied in defense. They both let out another laugh as our food was brought out to us. Sitting there with Harry and my father, I was happier than I had been in a long time. As we ate a thought crossed my mind, “Are you still heading to your parents today Harry?”

“Yeah, I was planning on leaving tonight,” replied Harry. He had been mentioning how wanted to visit back home before he left for tour but I had been in denial about when he was actually leaving.

“So that means I won’t see you guys again before you leave for tour.” I set down my fork, suddenly loosing my appetite. I had just got them back and now they were leaving again.
Harry let out a gasp and turned to me excitedly. “You should come.”

“To your parents?” I froze.

“To visit us on tour,” Harry laughed, rolling his eyes. He looked like he was about to burst from happiness and I couldn’t help but break into a smile along with him. He squeezed my arm affectionately and asked, “When’s your break?”

“End of October?”

“We’re in North America then,” said my dad. I looked up at him with a frown. Hold on, was he in on this too?

“Perfect!” Harry beamed. “Elaine and Sophia wanted to come out too, you can all come together!”

I stared at Harry before looking back to my father who merely shrugged in response. I let out a laugh in disbelief before turning back to my food, not really knowing what to think.

Notes

I'm writing instead of doing homework
So that means more chapters are coming
And I'm gonna fail my class
ahhhhhh