Where We Are ❀ H.S

The Beginning / [2/2]

4 Months Ago

I stared at this man in awe. His British accent causing a swarm of butterflies to attack my insides almost immediately. Holy shit.

He held his hand out for me to shake, so clearly he had some manners. It wasn't until I took a bit too long staring at him with my hands at my sides that he noticed and flashed an awkward grin at me. Two prominent dimples on both cheeks popped out, creating two incredibly adorable weak spots for me.

It was as if I was watching it all unfold from another perspective, and then suddenly jolted back into my body. I was aware of the awkward tension I had just created by staring at his empty hand and his face looking at me and then at his hand. Immediately I shook it.

"Haha, sorry," I said sheepishly. "I'm Ava Noelle." We we're still shaking hands. At this point it was like we were too scared to stop. Too scared that the already awkward conversation would just get more unbearable to watch. I was getting firsthand embarrassment just looking at him switch his eyes between mine and our hands.

Just then, two of the other four boys came up to us. The noticeable blond and a handsome olive-skinned man with longer eyelashes than mine. He had dark facial hair but it was leaning more towards stubble. Both of them had up hair do's, having a clean cut as well. Clearly they all clean up nice. The blond had bright blue eyes with soft freckles on his cheek and down to his neck. He was around the same height as the guy next to him, however both of them were shorter than the chocolate curled man in front of me.

I didn't even notice that Harry and I were still shaking hands until the blond one came up to us, staring at my hand in Harry's and then looking back up at both of us. He had a puzzled look on his face.

Personally, I just prayed that a huge sea monster sprung out of the water and ate me whole before I could embarrass myself even more.

I let go of Harry's hand after shaking it for what felt like hours. Then I brought my attention to the blond and the olive-skinned man with honey brown eyes, standing right in front of me.

"And who's this petal?" The blond spoke up, pointing at me but looking at Harry.

"That .. would be Ava," Harry stated, looking at me with a tilted grin. I couldn't help but smile back.

"That would be me," I said nervously. I stuck my hand out in front of the blond as an invitation for him to shake it. Luckily, he did and the interaction wasn't as close to awkward as the one Harry and I shared just a couple minutes ago.

"Hi, Ava. I'm Niall and this is Zayn," the blond said, pointing to his friend beside him. His Irish accent becoming more prominent. He waved his pointer finger around in the air and scrunched his face up in confusion. "What are you doing here, may I ask?"

"Uh, I'm actually here with my friend, Lydia," I said turning to point to Lydia. As I turned back, I realized that all three of them turned their attention over to the blond with the fuzzy yellow beanie and black puffer, who was too focused on taking pictures from different angles to even notice. "Your security, Patrick, let her take some pictures of the bridge for her project. We won't be long, though. I'm sure she's almost done," I assured nervously, scratching the back of my neck and avoiding eye contact.

"Don't worry, that's fine. The lads and I just finished the last scene for our music video. Wanna take a look?"

I thought for a moment before giving Niall an answer. Should I ditch Lydia?

"Yeah, I'd love to!"

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The shot was flawless. All five of them were on the speedboat I saw earlier, looking like they were having the time of their lives. Not to mention how I got immediate goosebumps just hearing their voices mixed with this rocky song. It was a mix of rock and pop and it suited them perfectly. I just kept replaying that scene in my head: