It's you

Chapter 2 "She will be joining us"

"She's so cute when she's sleeping" I heard someone whisper by the wooden door. I couldn't actually recognise the voice.

"Yes she is. I'm happy she's finally getting some rest. I got so worried when I saw her on the floor!" I recognised Harry's voice.

"Yeah, I think the travelling has worn her out a bit" this time I recognised Louis' voice

"Yes, I hope she will feel better before we leave for tour. No matter how fun it might be, it's still quite stressing." Harry said with a caring tone.

"She probably will." Louis answered.

"Hey Boys how about you stop all this whispering and come in?" I told them sitting up.

"Hey Girl, sorry if we woke you up" they said in sync . I looked around taking in Harry's room. His mahogany king-sized bed was horizontally placed in the right corner of the wall across from the door, matching the large closet at the entrance of the room. There was just one white wooden nightstand as the other side of the bed was pushed against the wall, and the open compartment underneath the drawer was filled with books, Harry loved to read. A big white armchair was placed near the high window on the left, from which the dim orange light of the English sunset was coming through. I would always find him watching the frenetic life of the city from the balcony, he didn't admit it much but he missed being "normal". The black and white photos placed on the wall across the bed were centred in white frames and stood out from the dark grey colour of the walls.  Beneath the frames there was big dresser matching the bed, on top of which there was a beautiful picture of Harry and his mum in a silver frame. They took it on her wedding day, she was radiant and he looked so happy for her. A white lamp stood in the corner of the room, but Harry rarely used it, he didn't like it quite much. From the white ceiling a geometrical iron chandelier was hanging. Before coming in Louis turned on the lights and the 7 light bulbs lit up.

They sat next to me. "So. I gather I'm cute when I sleep?" I asked cheekily.

"Yes, yes you are Babe." Harry responded smiling. I smiled back. "You have 15 new messages on WhatsApp. Is there someone special in your life that requires your attention maybe?" he said cheekily

"Oh Harry" I blushed "There's no one special in my life at the moment, but you'll be the first to know when there will be"

"What about you Haz? Such a heartbreaker as yourself must have gotten used to the phone lighting up every 3 minutes" I said sweetly, as nothing happened.

"Actually.. yes. I've been meaning to tell you for quite some time know but I wanted to have you in front of me do it.  A month ago I went to "Cherie" the night club outside London. There I met this girl named Jennifer. She was sitting up from the high chair of the bar when she almost fell. I caught her and just like that we started chatting. And... well... we just clicked. we spent the night together, and many others after that. and Oh my, She's beautiful, and perfect and uughhh" .he threw his head back in the air and his eyes had literally become heart-shaped. "You'll love her.  I'm sure" he added.

"I'm sure I will" I tried to fake a smile. Louis looked at me like he was trying to tell me I could've done a better job at lying and I just rolled my eyes Harry didn't notice

"I'm gonna go take a quick shower and I'll come downstairs ok?" I said getting up from the bed and leaving the room. They both nodded and Louis followed me out.
"Could we talk one sec" I told him.
"Sure", he followed me into my room and shut the door behind him.

"You know how frustrating it is for me, don't you? Pretending like I am his friend and that I can be happy for him being with anyone else but me?" I whispered sitting on the bed next to him.
"I know and I can only imagine how hard it must be. But right now things couldn't be any different. I know you both, ok? Really well, probably better than anyone else in the world and I am sure you would fit together perfectly. But you must give him time to realise it on his own. It takes some time to change perspective on someone: going from "my cute best friend" to "sensual young woman, I am attracted to" is a very hard and long process, especially when you guys have always been so close. It will happen, trust me. Living together will help in this, but in the mean time, please, I'm begging you, you can't get so upset over him. You came here to have a good time and relax. He loves you and cares about you deeply, but until his feelings evolve,  please continue doing what you've already been doing-" he answered sweetly.
"Ignoring my feelings for him, watch him from afar, cry myself to sleep a few times and continue like nothing's happening?" I interrupted
"No. Moving on with your life. Having your own experiences, living your life normally yet still loving him in your heart. And believe me. There will be a time when he'll regret every single second he wasted not being by your side". He said standing in front of the bed and held his right arm stretched out. I reached it and he pulled me on my feet.
"I love you!" I said hugging him tight.
"I love you too. Now, let's go down! I think the other lads are starting to cook something for dinner" Louis cheered.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Hey Baby.Are you feeling better?" Eleanor asked as I joined her and Zayn on the balcony.
"Yeah! Absolutely recovered" I said as I lit up a cigarette.

The stunning brunette took a sip of coke from her glass and continued "Ire tomorrow we were planning to go clubbing. Would you like to come?"
"Of course! You know how much I enjoy going to night clubs, why would you even ask?!" I cheered
"Ehm..." She tensed up
"Zayn..." El looked at him for help
"C'mon guys just tell me! You're freaking me out!" I scoffed
"ok so, Tomorrow- tomorrow night..." El tried again.
"Tomorrow night we will go to Cherie, where Harry and Jennifer met and-" Zayn said
"Well.... Ok. I think Harry met a different girl in every club he walked into. Avoiding all of them would mean probably not being able to get out of the house ever again" I joked.
"Ire, let him finish!" Eleanor scolded me.
"Jennifer will be joining us tomorrow." Zayn finished.

"Wow! Ok, you left me kinda speechless! Uhm... I would be lying if I said iI'm looking forward to meeting her " I laughed.

"Yeah, we thought you should know." El admitted

"Did he invite her?" I said harshly. Zayn nodded silently taking the last puff of his cigarette before putting it out on the glass ashtray.

"Did he absolutely have to? It's going to be our first night out, I wish we could've spent it just between us. I mean do you guys even like her?" I blurt out.

"Honey, Harry really cares about her and he enjoys spending time with her. He had planned for her to join us tonight, but since you didn't feel well he thought it best for her to meet you tomorrow". El exclaimed.

"Well... that was nice from him, I guess." I scoffed

"Stop acting like a jealous baby, Irene! You know where you stand" El said.

"I know but... you know..." I said sadly.

"Hey people! What are you up to?" Louis joyfully said as he came outside followed by Harry. We all sat around the table as the last ray of sunlight left space to a deep blue coloured sky.

"Nothing much... Just talking" I answered quickly. "How's the food coming? I'm kinda hungry" I asked. I finished my cigarette and took another one. Zayn lit it up and passed it back to me. "Thanks" I mouthed.

"The chicken's almost ready. It'll be another 20 min or so. We already set the table and cleaned everything up so we decided to come here and check out what you guys were doing!" Harry explained.

"Oh, ok" I smiled, taking a puff of my cigarette.

"Irene! You're having another one? How many fucking times do I have to ask you to quit this stupid habit of yours! It's bad for you and you know it. I don't understand why you would do it to yourself. " Harry said, sounding really pissed. To be honest he did quite hate the smell of cigarettes and he had repeated plenty of times he hated watching me smoke.

"Harry, I am 22, I know it's bad for me, but I don't really care. We will all day anyway, so I might as well enjoy life while I can!" I spat back carelessly. Getting up as I felt the tension growing.
"You don't fucking care?" He shouted back. He got up from his chair and stood in front of me. He placed his hands on my shoulders and started shaking me slightly "Irene, you don't fucking care?" he repeated. His voice was lower, deeper, harsher. Our faces were a few centimetres apart. His deep green eyes were looking straight into mine, I could hear his hot breath tickling my cheeks. His lips were so close I felt I could taste them, and boy did I crave them.
"Harry. Why do you care so much?" I whispered.

As he let go of me, I turned around quickly and entered the house. I heard Harry trying to reach me, but I had already rushed to the bathroom, locking the door behind me. As I saw my reflection in the mirror, I noticed my checks were still red. I washed my whole face with ice cold water hoping it would help me calm down. My heart was pounding.