Rock and Roll

Chapter Eight: babysitter

"Why?" Valentine asked. She did not want to babysit all day when she could make herself useful doing literally anything else.

"Oh come on! Please? I'll pay you over time and everything." Niall said. It wasn't really a question. He knew that she knew that if she didn't she would probably lose her job. At least he was being polite about it.

"Why can't you go yourself?"

"He'd be a total priss. I don't feel like being frightened by a very tall man today thank you." he said. His hand rested gently on her knee, and he traced tiny shapes into her skin. She supossed that he was trying to be coaxing or seductive or something. It just made her clench her fists. She brushed off his hand quickly.

"Never touch me again and I'll do it." she said harshly. He had gotten what he wanted, even if he had trekked into dangerous territory. He had an odd feeling he almost got one of his fingers broken. It was a feeling he would have expected to radiate from Harry. He swallowed nervously.

"Great. I'll let you know when to head over today." Niall said.

"What exactly is he training for?" she asked watching him stroll around the store making sure everything was in its proper place.

"The Olympics." he said dryly.

She arrived at the gym at half past two. It was a little nippy outside causing her to stand shivering outside waiting for Harry to show up and unlock the doors. Apparently one of his friends owned the gym and let him use it whenever he wanted. She shoved her hands in her pockets, chasing warmth and finding none. She would bring a thicker jacket next time. It was a little early in the year do it to be this cold, so all she had was a thin hoodie and black skinnies. They didn't match, but she really couldn't care less.

A man around her age approached, with shoulder length hair, wearing nothing but a thin white tank top and running shorts. His many tattoos were visible through the sheer fabric and on his arms. They were colorful. How he could stand the cold was beyond her. As he drew closer she let out a loud groan.

It was the cocky, clumsy, tea guy. He looked up at her and his eyes widened.

"Open the door." she said. She tried not to sound angry, but the cold had made her more irritated than normal. When he stood frozen on the spot, she took matters into her own hands. She impatiently snatched the key from his hand, and unlocked the door herself. She stepped inside the warm building and took off her shoes at the entrance. She made her way to the corner of the room and plopped down pulling out her phone.

Harry was awestruck. He had been right. She looked incredible in black lipstick. He couldn't remember why he thought she wouldn't.

He shook his head and stepped inside, firmly closing the door behind him. He put in his ear buds and started warming up. For some reason he wasn't bothered by her presence. It was almost certainly the fact that she never looked at him once the whole time they were there. He wondered if Niall was even paying her for this. All she did was sit quietly in a corner and scroll on her phone. Eventually they forgot the other was there.

He was taking a short water break when he noticed she was shouting something at him. He took out his ear buds and looked at her.

"Niall never said what you were training for. What is it?" she asked. There was something very straight forward about her. "Hey sweaty, can you hear me?"

"If Niall didn't tell you, you don't need to know." he said. He ignored her having called him sweaty. He returned to what he was doing, but left one ear bud out this time. After another half hour he decided to call it a day.

"Oh great we're leaving? Wonderful." she said. She stood walking over to her shoes. She was struggling to get on the left one when Harry spoke again.

"You never gave me your name."

"That's true." She grumbled. She didn't like small talk, so as soon as she got her shoe on she was walking briskly out the door and in the direction of the subway. It seemed like she was doing everything in her power to stay as far away from him as possible.

"Hey wait up!" Harry called after her. He had a train to catch too. He double checked that he locked the door, and jogged down the street after her. The cold air stung his face, but his body was still relatively warm from the activities earlier.

"What?" She asked. She turned and glared at him.

"I'm sorry. About everything." He said. She blinked. She probably wasn't expecting another apology, and certainly not one that was so sincere sounding.

She only nodded at him. He accepted that it was probably the best he was going to get. Her hand reached up and brushed her hair out of her face. She had on bright green nail polish.

"Is there a reason you're still staring at me?" She asked. He coughed and turned away. They walked together in silence until she got on her train. He waved as the doors closed, choosing to ignore how she rolled her eyes.

His own train arrived shortly after. His head was swimming with new ideas.