Heartbreaker [h.s.]

Chapter Eighteen (part 1)

"Alright everyone, finish up," Stephen says as he checks his watch. "We need to be at sound check in twenty minutes."

Everyone vaguely nods at him in unison without looking up from their plates. Breakfast was quite uneventful this morning to say the least. I dunno about the guys but I was tossing and turning all night, so hearing Charlie bang on my hotel room door at the crack of dawn has put me in a sour mood already.

I look around the table. Louis is currently stuffing his face with an omelette; manners nowhere in sight. Niall is eating fucking Fruit Loops like a child. And Charlie is sitting there quietly, sipping on her coffee and nibbling on a bagel, scrolling through some article on her phone.

Her energy seems low right now-I hate that I notice that. But I guess that's just what happens when you're around someone 24/7. I don't make it a habit to notice those type of things about people, especially her because she gets on my last nerve, but I feel like I know her decently well after a little over a month on the road together. Whatever-I don't pay any more attention to it.

We all finish up our breakfast and head toward the lobby where Stephen is waiting for us, his phone is glued to his ear, the usual dent between his brows. He gestures for all of us to move quickly which really makes me want to slow my walk down just to be an asshole.

I do just that and Charlie glances back at me with daggers for eyes; she's clearly not amused by my antics this morning. I give her a little wave with just my fingers and she rolls her eyes in response. The girl seriously needs to get that stick out of her ass-maybe she needs me to fuck her silly so she's not so uptight. I'd be more than happy to help her relax. She turns her head back with a dramatic flip of that copper hair as I snicker at her, annoying her further.

Is it sad that it brings me joy?

Stephen takes notice, lets out a big exasperated sigh, covers his phone for a second and says, "We don't have all day, Styles!"

The automatic doors open for us, the humidity of Nashville in the summer hitting me like a suffocating inferno. Jesus Christ. I almost wish I had thrown on a pair of shorts-and I rarely ever wear shorts outside of working out but this heat is something else.

"Fucking hell, it's hot," Niall says, reading my mind.

"And humid," I add with a disgusted curl of my lip. I could feel the hair at the nape of my already sticking to my skin.

"There's sweat going down my asscrack," Louis says.

"Why do you insist on crossing the line?" I grumbled. Always the one to take it too far. I don't need to be hearing about the lads ass, fucking weirdo.

"Welcome to a southern summer, boys," Charlie states, clearly not phased by it at all. She has a bit of a pep in her step relishing in this sweltering heat. It's easy to forget sometimes that she's from the fucking boonies in Mississippi. Her accent doesn't come out often and her attitude is so New York; she is not a sweet, hospitable Southern girl. She's all grit, confrontation, and determination. And she's sexy as hell-but that's beside the point.