Change My Mind

STEFANIE

As I walked back into the large conference room I could feel the tension that filled the room. None of the boys were even looking at each other, let alone talking. I knew without a shadow of a doubt that I’d interrupted something. As I closed the door behind my, the sound of it closing was enough to draw Louis attention. He met my eyes and smiled brightly up at me, his humdrum expression changing the instant he saw me. I felt a warm flutter in my heart when I saw his smile, but it quickly turned into a knot in the pit of my stomach and I started to turn away.
“Hey,” he said and at the sound of his voice all the other guys looked up and noticed me standing in the room.
“Hi, guys,” I said addressing the entire room, “I know it has been a long day and I promise I won’t keep you long, we just have a couple things to go over,” I promised and stayed true to my word.
Once I got their feedback on Erin’s designs, I went over their rehearsal schedules and the times for their fittings. “Okay guys, that’s it!” I said as I organized all the papers in front of me, grabbing them in one neat pile as Niall, Zayn and Liam left the room. “I’ll text you guys with the information in about an hour with the info for the pool hall.” I turned and headed for the door and found myself face to face with Louis, or more accurately face to chest. “Um…sorry,” I said with a slight giggle as I looked up to meet his eyes.
He stared down at me a moment longer before he finally spoke up, “It was my fault.”
“I’m just gunna,” I began, pointing to the door as I attempted to maneuver around Louis.
He shook his head as if attempting to wake himself from a trance and chuckled, “Yeah…right…sorry.” Without another word, he turned and left the room, leaving only Harry and I remaining. “Ooops, sorry,” Erin said sliding in through the door as Louis walked out.
“Stef, I just wanted to go over a couple of things with you when you get a sec,” she said and just as quickly as she came in, walked back out.
I looked over at Harry, “I’ll see you later.” I said with a smile as I turned towards the door.

HARRY

Before Stefanie could walk out of the room, I knew he needed to stop her. I wanted to know more about Erin and being as Stefanie was the only one that seemed to know her, I figured she was a good place to start.
“Wait,” I called out and Stefanie stopped in her tracks to turn around to face me.
She raised her eyebrows at me questioningly.
Now or never… I shifted uncomfortably before blurting out, “Do you by any chance know it Erin if single?”
When Stefanie’s face lit up, I was admittedly confused. That was not the normal reaction I got from women if I was pointedly asking about someone else. Normally they were disappointed, but Stefanie seemed genuinely pleased.
“No, she’s not seeing anyone,” she replied, pausing for a minute before adding, “Why do you ask?”
Um…maybe because she’s hot as hell and the second I saw the hazel eyed goddess I knew I wanted to get to know her better? I thought, but there was no way in hell I was about to speak those words out loud. I thought about several different answers to Stefanie’s question. And in my mind every single one of them was a valid reason. From Erin’s gorgeous caramel colored eyes, to the delicious curves of her hour glass shaped figure or even the delectable way she chewed on her full bottom lip before she answered anyone, like she was really thinking about the perfect answer; which admittedly I wouldn’t mind doing for her.
“Harry? You okay?” Stefanie questioned and I realized I still hadn’t answered her.
“She seems sweet….and she’s stunning….I don’t know, I guess I was just wondering,” I replied lamely and hated how much of a tool I sounded like. I was embarrassed and said the first thing that popped into my head to get me out of the room, “Never mind…uh…I’ll see you later.” I grabbed my coat and my keys and hurried past Stefanie, leaving the room as quickly as possible with my head hanging in embarrassment.

STEFANIE

“So, have you given anymore thought to my proposition?” Liam asked walking up behind me and wrapping his arms over my shoulders. He and I had arrived at the pool hall early thanks to Liam’s crazy ass driving. He would not let his whole plan of flirting with him to get a reaction out of Louis go.
“I already told you, playing games isn’t my style,” I retorted, taking a step forward maneuvering myself out of his grasp. Liam sighed and then shook his head.
“Isn’t it better than not knowing and beating yourself up about it?”
Before I could answer Niall and Erin walked around the corner, joining us in the private billiard room the boys had rented for the night.
“Told you she would be here,” Erin laughed, turning to face Niall, “Stefanie is early to everything!”
“Which is the complete opposite of my dear friend Erin here,” I paused grabbing Erin’s arm, “who is habitually late for everything!”
Like a child I stuck my tongue out at Erin before returning my gaze back towards the guys, who were looking at Erin and I like we’d lost our minds.
“So who all is coming?” I asked, choosing to ignore Liam and Niall’s stares.
“Um…well us,” Niall began, “And Harry, Zayn, Louis and Eleanor.”
I tried to ignore the instinct to roll my eyes at the sound of Eleanor’s name but I couldn’t help it, it was a knee jerk reaction. I knew before I even looked over at Liam that I would find him staring back at me pointedly.
I was right.
I shook my head quickly ‘no’ understanding exactly what that look was conveying. Liam chuckled and then his eyes shifted away from me, looking over my left shoulder. I glanced in the direction he was watching and found Louis and Eleanor walking in hand in hand with Zayn and Harry directly behind them. I forced a smile on my face as I greeted them.
“Hi guys!” I said excitedly, the tone of my voice coming out entirely too high pitched. All of them eyed me curiously, well almost all of them. I couldn’t help but notice that Harry’s stare was transfixed on Erin, whose eyes were purposely staring down at her feet as she attempted to hide the color that was forming on her cheeks.
“We’ve got two tables,” Liam interjected breaking the awkward moment I had caused, “So we can play teams.”
“You’re mine,” Niall called, draping his arm over Erin’s shoulders and it was then that I noticed Harry’s expression change. He from elated to very, very angry with two little words. Damn, he must really be into Erin.
“Well, Stef is mine, obviously,” Liam stated, wrapping an arm around my waist and I couldn’t help but wonder if he’d planned to go ahead with his scheme whether I had wanted to or not. Even though I hated to admit it, it was temping to look up and gauge Louis reaction to Liam’s gesture but I resisted, I wouldn’t play this game. I just wouldn’t. Louis and Eleanor teamed up while Harry and Zayn did the same and thanks to Liam’s big mouth he and I ended up sharing a table and playing against Eleanor and Louis.
This was going to be a long night.

“Do you want to break?” Louis asked, holding out a pool stick to me. I nodded my head woodenly, trying to ignore the butterflies that began to form in my stomach as Louis’s ice blue eyes met mine. As I grabbed the stick from him our fingers grazed for just a moment, sending an electric current from my fingertips all the way to my toes and judging by the way his eyes widened at that moment I was almost sure he had felt it too.
“Come on Bethany we don’t have all night,” Eleanor snarled and I quickly ripped the pool stick away from Louis.
“It’s Stefanie,” I snapped, leaning over the table to take my shot. As I aimed I let everything around me fade away so that I could concentrate. I made my shot and couldn’t help the smile that formed on my face as I sunk not one but three of the solid balls. Just I couldn’t help the smirk I sent in Eleanor’s direction.
“Nice shot baby girl,” Liam complimented, place a quick kiss on my cheek. The sound that came from Louis’s mouth was somewhere between a grunt and sigh.
“Baby girl?” he questioned, his voice thick with sarcasm and before he could say anything further I took another shot. I missed completely, still distracted by Louis’s comment. Eleanor slid past me, setting herself up for her turn. She not only missed, but scratched sending the Qu ball in the left corner pocket.
“It’s okay babe,” Louis said taking a seat on one of the stools in the corner. She walked towards him sticking out her bottom lip in a pout. As she reached Louis I turned away, only to hear the sound of her laughter a moment later. Without thinking, I glanced toward the sound of her laughter and immediately wished that I hadn’t. Louis was still sitting in the stool, with his legs bent and open. Right in between his thighs sat Eleanor. She had one arm wrapped around his neck and the other one resting on his knee. I hated the tightness in my chest as I looked at them. I needed to get over these feelings for him and somehow tonight was just making it all worse.
Louis’s eyes locked on mine. But instead of seeing the same something I’d seen earlier when he handed me the pool stick I saw nothing. He didn’t look fazed by me at all. Had my crush gotten so bad that I had imagined what I’d perceived earlier? Then Louis did something that made everything I’d just been thinking get shot to hell. He wrapped his arm around her waist and turned her so that she was facing him, placing a slow kiss on her lips. It wasn’t him kissing her that got to me, it was the way he stared at me as he did it. His eyes never left mine. He was baiting me and unfortunately for him it worked.
I walked over to Liam, leaning into him as I whispered in his ear.
“I’m in. Game on.”

After Liam and Louis both taking their turns there were only four balls left on the table, one of which was the eight ball and only one of the others were Liam and I’s. It was my turn and I decided that now was the perfect time to play Liam’s little game.
Before I could think too hard about what I was about to do I reached over and lightly ran my hand over Liam’s arm as I walked towards the table.
“This shot looks a little tricky, do you think you could help me?” I asked, keeping my voice soft and seductive. Liam played his part perfectly, meeting me eyes as he replied, “Of course baby girl.”
I took the stick, bent over the table and a moment later I felt Liam’s warm body close in behind me. His hand covered mine.
“Just slow and steady baby girl,” he murmured in my ear as he adjusted his hands over mine on the stick. Liam guided me into making the shot and the ball rolled into the corner pocket flawlessly.
“I did it!” I yelled, turning around in Liam’s arms to hug him.
Louis let out a frustrated sigh, slamming the stool against the wall as he got up and walked away from the table without a word.
Apparently, Liam was right, it bothered Louis to see me with Liam.
The question was why didn’t that make me feel any better?


HARRY

It started out as a fun night out at the billiard hall with some of my friends…then slowly people started acting strange.
First there was a little tension between Louis and Liam, then there were whispers between Liam and Stefanie, now Louis is putting on a show of snogging Eleanor and she looks thoroughly confused by the whole thing. Then again I think we all are. I do my best to catch Louis' attention and when I finally ask him to follow me to the bar so we can talk under the guise of buying a round of drinks.
Just as we are about to walk up the three short steps to the bar area Erin’s laughter catches my attention. She’s got her hand on Niall’s chest as she giggles at some inside joke they’re sharing, and I roll my eyes pretending not to care. We walk up to the bar and order four pitchers of beer before I turn to Louis and give him a small smack on the shoulder, “What the hell are you doing mate?” I ask a little too loudly drawing the attention of the two guys sitting across the way.
“What do you mean what am I doing? I’m helping you carry these pitchers back to the group.” He said, and I honestly wasn’t sure if he really thought he was getting away with what he just did.
“I saw the way you were ogling Stefanie while snogging Eleanor. You know…your girlfriend? Seriously mate…all pretense aside, what are you doing?”
Louis looked over his shoulder at everyone playing down below before running his hand through his hair. He sighed, closing his eyes before looking at me. “I hate seeing them together…Stefanie and Liam. I know it’s wrong because I have no claim over her but when he calls her baby girl and the way they laugh together…it just—I just can’t stand it.”
I looked at him and then looked down to see Niall and Erin hugging after celebrating Erin sinking a shot, and I knew what he meant. I’d only just met Erin but the idea of Niall possibly ‘getting the girl’ drove me insane. Niall and I have never fought over a girl but she might be the exception.
“I know what you mean Lou, I feel the same when I see Niall and Erin together.” I said looking at him, “But you can’t just use Eleanor like a prop to make Stefanie jealous. It’s not fair to either of them.”
“Okay. First of all, you and Erin are both single so you really don’t have a fraction of a clue of what I am going through. I know I shouldn’t be thinking of Stefanie in that way, and I know I shouldn’t be using Eleanor to make her jealous! I love Eleanor and we belong together, but part of me wonders what it would be like to be with Stefanie…”
“So then the question is…Are you meant to be with Eleanor? You’ve never entertained the idea of being with someone else. That’s just not who you are and it’s one of the reasons I look up to you…but you two have been miserable lately. Maybe it’s time you both stop trying to force what clearly isn’t there anymore.”
“So what? Just break up with Eleanor after all this time? For what? So I can explore something that’s not guaranteed with Stefanie?”
“If you want…nothing is guaranteed with El, either…I think you know that. You just have to let go. If you are meant to be with her, you’ll find your way back to each other.”
“Harry, you’re one of my best mates but you have no clue what it’s like to be in a real relationship. You don’t just bail when things get hard.”
He threw fifteen euros down on the bar, picked up the two pitchers that were placed in front of him, and walked away without saying another word.


ERIN

“I googled it…this is supposed to be one of the best restaurants around here,” Stefanie reassured me as we opened the door and walked into Gaucho. I shrugged my shoulders and smiled. We had decided to go out for a nice dinner, to celebrate the fact that I was joining the tour while simultaneously trying some on London’s finest cuisine. Plus, I needed to get to the bottom of what I had witnessed at the pool hall the other night.
The restaurant was definitely lavish and absolutely beautiful. We followed the hostess back to the center of the dining room before taking our seats in front of an exquisitely carved, cylindrical glass sculpture.
“This place is amazing,” I said, glancing around the room and Stefanie nodded in agreement. A moment later the waiter stepped over to our table and took our drink orders, then proceeded to tell us all about the Bife De Lomo, which was the restaurant’s signature dish. Stefanie and I glanced at each other for moment and then both nodded in agreement.
“We’ll have the house special, please,” Stefanie said giving the waiter a warm smile. As soon as he turned to place our orders she glanced over at me with a huge smile plastered to her face.
“So,” Stefanie began, “A certain member of a very popular boy band happened to express an interest in my very best friend early today.”
I looked over and Stefanie and raised my eyebrows in confusion, “Huh?”
Stefanie rolled her eyes and chuckled, “Simply put…Harry Styles thinks you’re hot.”
She had to be joking. Where was this even coming from?
“What are you talking about?” I replied, not fully able to process what she was saying.
“Haaaarrrryyy Styyyyl—“Stefanie began, speaking very slowly and making fun of me. Laughing I held up my hand and cut her off, “I heard ya, it just shocked me a little.”
“Why?” Stefanie replied, sounding completely stunned, “You’re a total hottie!”
“Mmmhmm,” I replied rolling my eyes, “As are you, my friend” I finished, holding up my wine glass to clink it with Stefanie’s. We laughed for a moment and with a glimmer of embarrassment I realized that the entire restaurant was very quiet and Stefanie and I were drawing more than just a couple offended looks.
“Seriously though,” Stefanie smiled, “What do you think…you and Harry…Harry and you?”
I shrugged my shoulders, biting down on my bottom lip, “I don’t know honestly, I mean, he’s so much younger than me, and—“
“He’s only seven years younger than you…that’s not that much,” Stefanie interrupted and then waved her hand urging me to continue.
“Okay even if that’s not a valid reason, he’s a player. I’ve seen a lot of the magazine articles and pictures of him while the band was on break for the last eight months. He was pictured with a different girl every other week. The last thing I need in my life is another Chris,” I argued.
Stefanie was shaking her head before I had even finished, “Don’t buy into that crap, E. You know just as well as I do that just because it is in a magazine, does not mean it is true. Those girls could have just been his friends or something. Harry is nothing like Chris. I can promise you that.”
The look on Stefanie’s face told me that she knew she wasn’t convincing me. So she continued, “I’ve been around him a lot the last month, he’s a good guy. Plus you didn’t see him when he was asking me about you…He was nervous and genuine, all the ‘players’ that I know wouldn’t be that shaken up just asking about a girl.”
“Whatever,” I replied smirking, “So what’s the deal with you and Louis and for that matter you and Liam?”
Stefanie raised her eyebrows and tilted her head, “What about us?” she asked, feigning innocence.
“I have to admit, normally I can figure out what’s going on in your head just as easily as I can figure out my own thoughts. But I was at that pool hall last night and the way you were physically acting with Liam was definitely not PG,” I began, trying to put into words the thoughts that had been running through my mind since last night, “I was convinced that you and Liam had decided to cross the friends line. But…”
“But what?” Stefanie asked, resting her elbow on the table and her chin in her hand, looking at me like she was waiting for me to figure it all out.
“But then I began to notice that even though your body was all over Liam, your eyes never left Louis’s…and his never left yours. Even when he was practically making out with his girlfriend, he was looking at you. It was like you two were acting out what you wanted to do to each other on Liam and Eleanor.”
“Huh,” Stefanie sighed shortly, “And you said you couldn’t figure me out. You don’t give yourself enough credit.”
I met her eyes, motioning with my hands to get her to elaborate.
She sighed and took a sip of her wine before saying, “It’s a mess. First of all there is nothing going on between Liam and I. He was simply trying to convince me that my feelings for Louis weren’t one sided.”
“Wait, your feelings for Louis?” I questioned excitedly, unable to help myself. Stefanie rolled her eyes, chuckling as she replied, “Do you want to hear the story or not?”
I sat back in my chair, smiling, “Sorry, please continue.”
“So, Liam came up with this whole idea to have me flirt with him and see how Louis reacted. Because Liam was convinced that Louis liked me too. Which after last night, I have to agree with him. Louis was definitely jealous and he obvious does like me. Which just makes me feel even worse about wanting him.”
Without her saying the words I knew she was thinking about Luke and the disaster her life had become because of him.
“Every part of me wants to run. If I don’t see Louis anymore I can’t cause any more damage to his relationship. But this is my job. Hell, this is the job, the job I’ve been waiting for my whole life. I can’t just walk away from it,” Stefanie sighed. At the end of her sentence, her voice began to crack and my heart broke for her.
“What am I going to do, E?”
I shook my head, unable to come up with a response, because honestly I didn’t know what to tell her.

LOUIS

“Excuse me, Erin?” I said pushing open the door to the wardrobe room, “Are you ready for me?”
I’d had mixed emotions about this fitting all day. I wanted to talk to Erin about Stefanie…well more specifically about Liam and Stefanie but at the same time I didn’t want to give away my feelings.
“Huh?” Erin said, whipping around to face me looking like her thoughts were about a million miles away.
“Oh! Sorry Louis. I didn’t realize you were here already, come in.”
“I’m not interrupting anything I hope?”
Erin replied immediately, “No sorry, I just kinda get lost in my own world when I’m working. Okay so first I’m going to have you try on a couple outfits so I can get a sense of what size you are and what you are most comfortable in.”
As I tried on the first few outfits, Erin asked me a lot of questions…questions that weren’t related to the clothes I was trying on. Part of me hoped that she was asking on a certain someone’s behalf. Maybe Stefanie wanted to know more about me.
God…this was pathetic.
“So how long have you and Stef been friends?” I blurted out, letting my thoughts dictate the direction of the conversation. I didn’t miss the small smile that played on Erin’s lips.
“Wow, it’s been over twenty years. We met when we were just kids,” she said happily and I stayed silent, urging her to continue.
“We were complete opposites, but it worked for us.”
“How so?” I asked, my curiosity getting the better of me.
“Well…” Erin began, while taking my measurements, “I was always a very introverted kid, shy to a fault. I still am in a lot of ways but Stefanie was always so outgoing and just had this way of bringing me out of my shell. She’s always been brave and sure of herself and tried like hell to make me the same way and honestly when the two of us are together I am.”
“Yeah, well she certainly seems to have the effect on Liam as well. I’ve never seen him act the way he does with anyone like he does with her,” I commented unable to keep the bitterness out of my voice. Erin eyed my curiously, gnawing on her bottom lip like she was trying to figure something out.
I turned to walk back into the dressing room and the sound of her voice stopped me.
“You know they are only friends right?” she asked so quietly I barely heard her. A sigh of relief rippled through my body and at that moment it fully hit me how relieved I was that Liam and Stefanie weren’t together.
As I continued to try on a few more outfits my mind started to wander back and forth between Eleanor and Stefanie. The way Erin spoke of Stefanie, only made me what to get to know her more; which scared the hell out of me. I’d been with Eleanor for two years now and could honestly say that in that time frame another girl had never even caught my attention. Of course I noticed little things about women or if an attractive girl walked by I could appreciate the view but it never went further than that. Ever.
Until Stefanie showed up…
I was the first one to admit it was strange that I liked Stefanie so much. For so long Eleanor had been my world but for some reason, Stefanie intrigued me from day one. Sure that day, it had been a purely physical attraction but once I started getting to know her it was like I couldn’t get her out of my mind. Stefanie was brilliant, and adorable and sweet. I couldn’t seem to shake this feeling I had growing inside of me. I did my best to convince myself that it was just a little crush and that it didn’t mean much but even I knew if I said it out loud it would be a lie. Stefanie acted differently towards me than anyone else, even Liam who had seemed to become someone important to her. She was like a mystery, and I wanted to figure her out. I could tell she had a million special qualities, and I just wanted to be one of the lucky people that she shared these things with.
That being said…I knew I was screwed.
As I came out of the dressing room one last time I stood there in a daze and didn’t hear Erin say that she was done tucking pins in so that she could alter the outfit.
“Hello? Louis?” Erin said waving her hand in front of my face trying to regain my attention.
I shook my head as I snapped out of my train of thought, “What? Oh sorry. What was that again?”
Erin looked a little confused by the look on my face, “I said I was all done and to be careful when taking this off because of the pins.” She tilted her head, “Are you okay?”
“Oh yeah, I’m fine. Just a little tired I guess. Is there anything else you need me to try on?”
“Nope.” Erin said brightly, “We are all done for today. Go have a good time at the press conference.”
As I got dressed into my own clothes I thought about what Erin said. How was I supposed to have a good time when I couldn’t seem to concentrate on anything other than Stefanie?

Right after my fitting, we were scheduled to do a press conference which I admittedly was grateful for. It would give me a chance to concentrate on something other than Stefanie and Eleanor. It would be nice to do something with guys, even if it meant dealing with annoying reporters. As I settled into the last remaining seat, behind the table on the platform I found myself sitting between Liam and Harry. And of course seeing Liam instantly made me think of Stefanie and thinking of Stefanie not being anything more than Liam’s friend caused a goofy smile to form on my face.
“What’s got you so cheerful, mate?” Harry asked. I shrugged my shoulders and watched as Harry turned his attention back to the sea of reporters, obviously not wanting to push the subject.
“Oh…never mind,” Harry chuckled and I followed the direction of his gaze and found my eyes meeting an all too familiar pair of beautiful brown ones.
Stefanie was here and she was looking right at me. My smile returned immediately and before I could stop myself I lifted my hand to wave to her.
She smiled shyly, biting her bottom lip and quickly looked up at the monitor that was next to her. I thought Erin had said that Stefanie was brave and sure of herself? She didn’t seem that way now. Hell she was blushing and damnit I found that so endearing. I couldn’t resist the urge to see what other kind of reactions I could get from her. I kept my eyes transfixed on her, mentally willing her to look my way. Within seconds she did. Feeling playful, I stuck my tongue out at her and chuckled to myself as her eyes grew to the size of saucers before the sound of her endearing giggle sounded through the room. I had an overwhelming urge to hear that melodical sound again so before I could think too much about it I twisted my expression into another funny face. She giggled again and it felt like my heart was going to burst through my chest.
“What the hell are you doing?” Liam asked and at that moment I realized that everyone in the room was staring at Stefanie and I. My eyes met hers once again and she was blushing like crazy, taking steps backward like she was attempting to disappear amongst the camera crew.
But no luck there…She’d taken about three steps backwards when I saw her foot get caught one of the thick black cords running all along the floor. She waved her arms frantically attempting to catch her balance but inevitably she fell flat on her butt.
Before I could even react Liam was already up from the table and running towards Stefanie, grabbing her arm and pulling her up from the floor. The two exchanged a few words back and forth before Stefanie looked away from Liam, glancing around the room.
“It’s cool, I’m okay everyone, totally meant to do that…all part of the show,” Stefanie said, smiling around at everyone, showing off the confident side of her personality that Erin had described. Instead of being embarrassed she embraced it and made everyone laugh.
I couldn’t decide which side of her I like more, but which ever one it was the one thing I was sure of was that I liked it entirely too much.

Notes

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