Material Girl (Harry Styles AU)

Chapter Twenty-One: pt. one

The day after christmas I woke up in my old bedroom's bed, feeling like a teenager with Justin Timberlake's posters stamped on my ceiling and several others from my teenage years where I praised popstars and listened to their catchy hits (not that I still didn't dream about JT in that one particularly awful denim ensemble every night).

Christmas dinner with my family was other festivity where I could perfectly denote my mother's clear oblivion towards her other family and although I hated to think of her just in my head I also slaved myself thinking how much of us she was missing. Like Charlotte and my older brother Logan were expecting a child that was on his fifth week of being fabricated in Lottie's yet to be swollen womb and that Georgie entered a contest where she could win a photography course with Travis Locklear, a famous photographer I reckoned for the way my aunt Daisy's eyes lit when Georgie brought the name up.

She wasn't the only thing on my mind thankfully, yet my other thought didn't make me too proud of myself either, because the other thing I was cracking my brain about was Harry and how neutral things were between us after we almost kissed at Mara's Christmas bash.

In the majority of the holidays all I did was eat my granny's famous mince pie and her infallible mash with gravy, hear my brother complain about the untidy streets of Newcastle, where his newly resided in, and Harry's kind eyes nagging me all the while in the back of my head.

It happened to be worrying to spend so much time thinking about Harry. About his ways of making me feel comfortable, his manner of baring the real me so effortlessly, and his amazing ability to be always present in my head even when no one says his name.

These were supposed to be two and a half days of mental retreat, where the wheels in my head rested and if they needed to work out it would be just to know how many glasses of champagne I couldn't drink before driving myself unconscious. It was the reason I was so quiet at the table. Pretty unlikely for someone who talks her tongue off in such stupid topics. This dull looking and silent Prim it contrasted the usual witty and happy Prim I was amongst my family.

Just while I was feeling this 'I want to stay in bed today' sensation, my dad thought it would be amazing to go to the city like a 'family' for a gourmet lunch. Thanks god Stuart had a reason to skip the invitation which I didn't listen to. Chloe also had other invitations from her friends and didn't even stay the night at our house. Months ago I'd celebrate the fact that I wouldn't have to eat lunch having to look at her incredibly pretentious face like she was too superior to be sitting with us, but now that my concept of Chloe had been modified I was sad that she had to leave.

Yet I was silent with only Clarisse sitting opposite to me, Georgie beside me and my dad in front of her, sitting next to Clarisse. They discussed politics and economy, two things I couldn't give my opinion about due to my null knowledge in these sciences clearly the opposite case to my father who couldn't stop talking even if he tried- undoubtedly he was my progenitor, of course.

I took a minute before the food we'd ordered had arrived and pulled out my phone to check if someone had messaged me. Eventually I could read a message from Zayn who asked how was my christmas night which was very considerate granted that he didn't celebrate the holiday and all he did with his family was feast and drink, not really rejoicing around the whole birth of Jesus thing yet reuniting with all his family members.

It was something I appreciated, the fact that he cared how I spent the day he didn't even cherish but there was something within me that still didn't bring me to be crazy about him, I couldn't pinpoint what was, all I had clear was that he wasn't what my mind wandered about all day and instead it was on another thing.

"What do you say, Noelle?" My father repeated and at the sound of my name my head shot up as I lowered my phone to my lap and I brought my attention to him although I didn't know what he was previously discussing on or about.