Far Away.

Chapter 3

I snapped my head towards the direction that the three, light knocks came from. And suddenly, I was very nervous and self conscious.

"Okay," I sighed, "biggest boy band in the world, seen many pretty faces, drop-dead-gorgeous girls, constantly flinging themselves at these boys, they could pick any one of them-"

"You give some pretty sucky pep talks, Em." Bailey interrupted.

I shoved my hand in front of her face,

"I don't need you." I said, sticking my nose up in the air. "I'm gonna make it some day! You'll see!"

I skipped down the stairs, flinging my arms in the air. She followed me downstairs, laughing and grabbing her things. When we reached the front door, we both paused, momentarily and looked at each other. I gave her an encouraging nod and linked our arms. She reached her hand out to turn the knob, very, very, painfully, slowly. Just as her fingers brushed the brass knob, she stopped.

"Our entire lives are about to change." She whispered, dramatically.

I rolled my eyes and smacked her hand off the door knob, so that I could quickly fling it open. As soon the door had enough space to get her through, I shoved her out the doorway. I heard some shuffling and an "OOOOPHF!"

I headed out to see where the noise came from. There lay Bailey. On top of Niall. They were both on the ground, laughing and furiously blushing at the awkward situation I had- accidentally -thrown them into.

"Sorry, boo," I laughed "but, on the bright side, at least you had something cute and cuddly to cushion your fall!" I gestured to the smiling, blonde boy beneath her.

He got up off of the cement and helped her up too. Only, when he stuck his hand out to help her up, he didn't let go until they reached the car. I put my hand to my heart and looked up at the sky.

"Suh cute!" I wailed, fake sobbing, before catching up with them.

It wasn't until I got in the car that I noticed Niall was the only one with us. I was surprised at how disappointed I was that Harry wasn't with us. Maybe I did like him more than I thought.

"Where's Harry?" I asked as we buckled in our seat belts.

"Oh he's cooking at home and I was kinda eating . . .some of the ingredients, so Harry sent me to get more cooking stuff on the way to pick you girls up. But, shhhh, I'm really not allowed to drive! It's a secret!"

Niall sounded like a little kid, breaking the rules or staying up past his bed time. Bailey and I started giggling while he drove down our street.

"Ooooh! A rebel! I like that!" Bailey smiled playfully.

Niall looked at us in the rear view mirror and put his shades on, being all dramatic.

"Hey, this is serious. If I get locked up and thrown in the big house, it's on you girls-- and Harry. "

We all put on our best serious faces for about 15 seconds, before busting out laughing. About 5 minutes later, we pulled up an incredibly long driveway. It curved and swirled a bunch, then, we arrived in front of a house. IF you could call it that. It was almost a mansion, but not quite. It was 3 stories high, but still had a welcoming look about it.

"Wow!" I gasped, while we hopped out of the car and walked towards the front doors.

Niall put his hand on the handle- pausing for effect - then, swung the door open. I curiously looked around the the house, but before I could really take in its beauty, Harry came running, at full speed, toward me. He was wearing an apron and had flour smeared across his left cheek. He also had a whisk in his right hand, but he was swinging it around, as if to ward off evil spirits, chasing him.

"EMMA!!!" He boomed, his voice echoing off the walls and ceiling.

Once he reached me, he instantly latched onto me, half hugging me, but mostly cowering behind me. The only thing going through my mind was: "Harry Styles knows my name. Harry Styles just hugged me." I was about to ask him why he was being so touchy and hiding behind me, but he answered my questions before I spoke them.

"Save me, please, Emma!" He whimpered like a small child. He got down on his knees to hide better and gave me the puppy eyes. He even pouted his bottom lip out for the full effect. How could I say no to that?! I ruffled my hand in his curls (God, they felt amazing), and smiled down at him, hugging my thighs.

"Save you from what, Harry?"

"From b-boo bear..." His eyes widened in mock horror and he stared down the hallway that he had just recently come from.

That was the nickname Bailey had given me around a year or so ago. I was gonna ask him how he knew that she called me that, and why I would need to protect him from...myself...? But then I heard it. Thunderous footsteps at a quick pace, coming down the hall, getting louder and louder with each step. That must've been what he was going on about. I giggled as a figure appeared in the entrance of the hall. He was trying to look big and manly by his stance, but I couldn't see him that well, due to him standing in the shadow.

"FEE . . . FIH . . . FO . . . FUMMM!!!" He said, stomping closer with each word.

I heard laughter behind me and turned around to see a red-faced Niall, clutching his stomach. Bailey was laughing uncontrollably and gripping Niall for support. I had almost forgot that they were there up until now.

Just as he stepped into the light, he turned his back to us, and started to walk away, casually. Harry got up and wiped some non-existent sweat from his forehead.

"Wow, that was a close o-" he got the breath knocked out of him by the figure from earlier, tackling him to the ground.

They rolled around, pinching each other, slapping one another's faces and butts, and biting each other until they finally came to a stop. Harry was on the top, pinning the other boy down. They were both grinning like mad men. Harry put his hand up in a victory fist pump and looked over at me to wink. The other boy took this advantage to flip them over, Harry now being pinned down on the bottom. He struggled, but the other boy had strategically positioned his weight so that Harry couldn't get free. The mystery boy had clearly won. The only thing I could see of him, in the blur of the tackling, was that he had on bright colored pants and a striped shirt. And so he shall be Stripes. For now, at least.

"Never take your eye off of your opponent, ya hear?" He sounded like he was trying to do a Jersey accent or something, but he was clearly not from America.

"Yeah, yeah." Harry replied.

"Say 'uncle'!" Stripes said, twisting Harry's wrist.

Harry grunted a bold and brave "NEVER", before stripes twisted down on his wrist harder.

"SAY IT!!!" He demanded.

Harry winced and sucked in a large breath of air.

"UNCLE! UNCLE!"

Stripes grinned in satisfaction, then got up and brushed himself off. He then seemed to notice my existence and stepped over to me. It was only then that I got a good look at him, and when I did, I gasped- quite loudly. His skin was sun-kissed; not dark, but lightly tanned. He had light brown, messy hair, lightly tossed to one side. His lips were a soft pink, shaped perfectly to fit each other. He showed off his white, gleaming teeth, pulling his lips into a smile. His eyes were framed with long, thick lashes. His eyes- I saved for last -were shockingly blue. They reminded me of the sea. I couldn't stop myself from staring. He was gorgeous. Absolutely gorgeous.

"Hi, I'm Louis Tomlinson."