Smile for the Camera (Harry Styles x OC)

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Tea at my parent's house was exactly as it has been for two decades. Nice, simple, predictable. Mum had made her peach cobbler, which was delicious, as it always is, and they had the same small sandwiches and tea that they always do. I realized that I hadn't eaten anything all day when I ate four sandwiches and two slices of cobbler.

The conversation was a bit interesting. I told them all about how Hailey's doing and the concert. Granted, it was a bit difficult to explain the feelings I had in the front row with all that adrenaline. They just listened patiently, asking for details when my memory flagged, reacting the right way in all the right places, being the perfect parents.

A couple days ago, I might have found this warmth and family time comforting, a perfect way to end a Monday. But now...now I find it boring. Boring and predictable.

I love my parents, I really do, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel some sense of relief when Mum suggested that I go home and finally sleep. I was tired for sure, but that wasn't the only reason I wanted to get out of there. I would have been worried about driving being so tired, but the brisk, icy bite of the early winter wind woke me up enough to get home safely.

And now that I'm home, it's all I can do to keep myself awake long enough to shower properly and pick out clean pyjamas.

As soon as I step out of the shower, my phone rings. I dry my hands off with the towel I've just wrapped around myself and answer.

"Did I catch you at a bad time?" Hailey asks in that bubbly, over-excited voice.

I look at myself in the mirror, covered only by a towel, red hair hanging in thick strands around my face, dripping onto the floor.

"Yeah, kind of," I answer.

"Great!" she replies, completely ignoring me and launching into what she wanted to call about. "I just thought you should know that you are officially more lucky than me right now. It was just confirmed that Harry Styles is back in London. "

My heart drops. "He...um...he is? How do you know? Do they have pictures?"

Pictures that include a mysterious red-headed girl that they've never seen before? Pictures of me with him?

"Of course. Pic or it didn't happen, right?" she says, making my heart beat a million times a minute. I feel like I'm going to pass out. "Someone got pictures of him leaving the airport. He packed really light and was in disguise, you almost couldn't tell it was him. Some people are speculating that there was an emergency back home, but he got into an Uber, and the fans lost him pretty quickly, so no one knows what's up."

I want to feel relief. I want to sigh and heave that weight of potential unintentional fame off of my shoulders, but I can't. Not yet. I wasn't with Smiles when he left the airport, but that doesn't mean someone didn't see us inside together. If they saw through his disguise then, people could have seen through it earlier.

I take a deep breath and try to make my voice as casual and unpanicked as possible. "You're right, that's strange. Was he traveling alone? Were there any friends with him...in the pictures?"

"No! That's another weird thing. He didn't even have security or anything. " She pauses, giving me a chance to heave that sigh of relief. When she speaks again, her voice has a playful, singsong tone. "If I didn't know any better, Gale, I'd almost say you sounded interested. Becoming something of a Harry Styles groupie, are we?"

"No," I respond. That was more defensive than I meant it to sound. I wet my lips. "I just...you really like him, and I thought it was time I stop teasing you for it and start being a supportive friend. His music wasn't that bad, and I did have a good time at that concert."

"I knew you'd love it!" she exclaims. "Ok, I'll let you go, just thought you should know Harry's in the same city as you now. Be on the lookout, you might bump into him!"

My heart skips a beat. "I-"

"You never know!"

"Oh, yes, I do," I mumble. Her words are uncanny.

"What?" she asks, thankfully not understanding me.

"Nothing," I respond more clearly. "I have to go. Talk to you later?"

There's a moment of silence before she speaks, sounding rather unsure. "Ok...uh...yeah, I'll talk to you later, bye."

"Bye."

I sigh as I listen to the little blip after she hangs up. Setting the phone down, I hike my towel up higher and start to rub myself down to dry the droplets of water that haven't fallen to the slick tile.

My limbs feel heavy and slow, almost like I'm trying to maneuver in a vat of honey, but I know it's just the exhaustion. It's been about thirty-six hours since I've had a good night's rest. So I dress, set my phone on the night stand and fall into bed, not even managing to pull my covers up before falling asleep.

>< >< >< >< ><

I wake up much the same way I fell asleep, groggy and slow, but I did sleep through the night and that's definitely daylight streaming in through the windows. Seven thirty, just like every morning.

I force myself to get up and scrub a hand over my face as I put on slippers and a bathrobe before getting a coffee started. Coffee going at sevent thirty-five, just like every morning.

While the water's boiling, I brush my teeth and wash my face before spending a minute to braid my hair out of my face. Then, I shed the bathrobe and slippers in exchange for an outfit that I'd already picked out the night before. Dressed and bright eyed by seven forty, just like every morning.

I start cooking myself some eggs, sipping my coffee while I do so. I make some toast, then plate the eggs and sit down at my kitchen counter with the remainder of my coffee. I eat alone, listening to the faint chirps of the birds that haven't had the sense to find somewhere warmer yet before the snow comes in. I finish eating at eight, just like every morning.

I rise and take my dishes to the sink. I wash the single plate and fork mindlessly, but halfway through washing the cup...my phone chimes to let me know I've got a text message.

My parents usually aren't up this early, and Hailey should be at work right now. That leaves Kaden. He must have just woken up with the worst hangover ever. He's probably asking for me to call the clinic and tell them he can't come in today.

But when I dry my hands off and pick up my phone, it wasn't Kaden who texted me. It was Smiles. And the message reads:

"Did I say something wrong?"

Thank you so much for reading! I know this chapter isn't long, but I've been really busy, and I wanted to give you guys something.
xoxo, Tilly