me after you ; h. styles

old lover's hippie music.

A few weeks later, the phone rings at around ten. Stella is in the library and her grandparents are asleep.

She runs over to the kitchen, picks up the phone, and says, "Hello?"

"Stell!" Harry's voice shouts on the other side of the line. Stella flinches away from the phone. In the background, Stella can hear music, laughter and shouting. "Stella, you've got to get over here. We're having so much fun!"

Her eyebrows furrow in confusion. "What are you on about? Are you smashed?"

"Totally smashed, but come quickly. I'm at the old pub and I'm buying drinks for everyone!" He shouts and everyone in the background cheers.

"Harry, what—"

"Bye, Stella!" He shouts and then quickly hangs up.

Stella stands there for a moment asking herself what just happened. Harry is clearly drunk and she is tired. She sighs and walks out the kitchen, walking over to the front door. There she slides on a pair of shoes and grabs the car keys.

When she steps out, she locks the door and then heads over to the car. After turning the engine on, she pulls out of the drive way and then makes her way into town. She knows exactly where Harry is. There is only one little pub out here and it's not hard to miss. It's mostly filled with people over fifty years old since the majority of people that age live out here. Stella wonders what Harry is doing there and how he ended up there.

He had been over a few hours ago and had left to do some work from home. Had he finished already and then gone off for a drink? Or maybe he never went home at all.

The drive to the pub isn't very long and once she parks, she walks toward the entrance. She can hear the loud music inside, she can even hear Harry... singing or screaming? After she has shown her ID, she heads in and is met with quite a site. Harry is on the small stage singing karaoke with a beer in his hand while everyone in the pub cheers him on.

Hey, yeah, ra-ta-ta-ta

Cause I'm beggin', beggin' you

So put your lovin' hand out, darling

Stella stands at the end of the bar, which is farthest away from stage and continues to watch him. She wonders how many drinks he's had. From the looks of it, probably a lot.

"Can I get you a drink, darling? It's on him," the bartender says behind her and he's pointing up at Harry.

Stella shakes her head. "I'm fine, thanks."

Harry looks like he's having the time of his life, singing and dancing. The more people cheer for him the more excited he gets and the more he dances around. He raises his hands up, as if he's asking everyone to cheer louder and when they do he smiles widely.

This is a side of him Stella hasn't seen before. At least not in person. She had seen his performances online, but that's obliviously different than seeing it in person. That is not the quiet and shy man she knows. This one is confident and loud, and even a little cocky. Everything about him on the stage is so captivating and Stella can't take her eyes off him. It's like he's got her under his spell.

Close to the end of the song, Stella cheers for him, clapping her hands and even whistling loudly over everyone else's cheers. Harry notices this and his eyes spot her.

"Oh! Everyone!" He says into the microphone. "That back there is my good friend, Stella, and she's also here to sing you a song!"

Her heart begins to raise and everyone in the pub cheers and turns around to look at her. If there was a spot light in this pub, it would surely be pointing at her.