Operation Haylor

Chapter 1 of Gotta Be You

Enjoy the first chapter of Gotta Be You! ;)

 Harry slipped his hand in mine under the table as the servers left. A moment later the doors burst open again. I didn't have time to turn around before two arms wrapped around me from behind.

 “Hey!” the person yelled excitedly in my ear. “I'm so sorry I'm late!” she said.

 Was it? No. Couldn't be. “Ow,” I said. Her greeting was loud. The person released me as I turned around in my seat.

 “Ah!” I yelled. I sprung out of my seat. It would have fallen over if Harry hadn't quickly grabbed it. “Carmen! What are you doing here?” I exclaimed, throwing my arms around her.

 Carmen was my best friend in Pennsylvania, excluding my mom, since she had moved there a year ago. I met her when I was at Target with my mom. Carmen, One Direction super fan that she is, recognized me as Harry's girlfriend. My mom and I were standing in line at the Starbucks near Target's entrance, trying to decide what we wanted to drink, when she bounced up behind us.

 “Oh my gosh,” she breathed. I spun around and looked at this brown eyed, brown haired girl, beaming at me and bouncing on her tiptoes. “You're Jules, you're Harry Styles' girlfriend,” she said excitedly.

 I smiled at her. “I know.”

 “Can we take a picture?” she asked.

 “Sure,” I told her. She pulled out her iPhone, pressed her cheek to mine, and we grinned at the camera.

 “Thanks so much,” she said.

 “Absolutely,” I told her.

 “So how are you?” she asked. “What are you up to?” she rambled excitedly. She took a breath and opened her mouth to ask another question.

 “My mom and I were getting some coffee,” I told her, cutting off whatever she was going to say. I opened my mouth to invite her to sit with us when she cut me off.

 “Oh! Of course, you're standing in the line, so sure. Would you mind if I had some with you?” she asked, her eyes full of hope.

 “Sure.” I laughed. “I was actually going to ask you if you wanted to join us,” I told her.

 “Really?” she asked, her eyes full of pure joy.

 “Yeah. Just come sit down with us when you're done ordering,” I told her.

 Carmen had chatted mine and my mom's ears off. I loved it. And her.

 At the same time a week later, she was there again. She bounced up to me and my mom as we entered Target and followed us around as we shopped, bouncing and chatting.

 She was there the next week, and the next week, and the next week.

 “Hey Carmen?” I finally asked her. “Do you want my number and we can hangout? You don't have to follow us around Target if you don't wanna,” I told her.

 “I love following you around Target!” she said. “But I would also love your number,” she said.

 I smiled at her. “Great.”

 We hung out all the time after that and became the very best of friends. I hadn't gotten to see her since we moved to California.

 “Harry flew me out here!” she told me. “Congratulations!” she said. “You did say 'yes' right?” she asked.

 “Of course I said 'yes'!” I told her.

 “Right,” she said, smacking her forehead. “Of course you did! It's Harry!”

 I placed my hand on Harry's shoulder and looked down at him dreamily. “Of course it's Harry,” I repeated. I leaned down, grabbed his face in both of my hands, and kissed him. “You are amazing,” I told him. “I love you. I can't believe you did all this for me,” I said.

 “I love you,” he told me. He gently grabbed my face in his hands, too, and gave me that same dreamy look I was giving him before kissing me back.

 “Aw!” Carmen said.

 I wrapped my arms around his neck and snuggled into his chest for a moment. “You can watch the engagement with her later, Carmen,” Harry told her, grabbing my hands in his. They were so much larger than mine. He could fit both of my fists in his one hand.

 “I can't believe you thought of recording it,” she said. “You're so sweet Harry,” she told him.

 I nuzzled his neck. “He is,” I said.

 Then I hugged Carmen again. “How long are you here for?” I asked her.

 “I'm not sure,” she said. “Harry got me an open ended ticket.”

 “Well you can stay with me as long as you want!” I told her.

 “Thanks!”

 “Of course!” I said. “How on earth did you keep all of this a secret from me?” I asked her.

 “I have no idea,” she spilled dramatically. “It was so hard. I was so afraid I wasn't going to be able to,” she said.

 I wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “You deserve a prize or something,” I told her. I sat down and made room for her on my chair with me. “Sit, sit,” I told her, patting the space I'd left her.

 She sat down with me and I watched her eyes search around the room. She found her target and stared Niall down from across the room. He was sitting at the table in front of us, chatting with his girlfriend, Demi Lovato. “Can I meet him?” she asked me, still intensely staring down Niall.

 “He has a girlfriend,” I warned her. “And I really like her. She's great.”

 “I see his girlfriend. I've heard all about his girlfriend,” she said, her eyes still on Niall.

 “Alright, but you gotta act normal okay?” I asked her. “And be nice to Demi,” I added.

 “Of course I'll act normal,” she assured me, finally ripping her eyes off of him.

 I looked hard into her eyes for a moment. She never said anything about Demi.

 She sighed. “Alright. I will be civil to Demi,” she told me.

 “Alright, come on,” I said. I took her hand and we walked up to Niall and Demi. “Hey guys,” I said cheerily.

 “Hey Jules,” Niall said. “Congratulations!”

 “Yeah, congratulations!” Demi said.

 “Thanks guys! And thanks for coming to this! I can't believe Harry,” I told them, looking around. “This is so amazing,” I said.

 “I know!” Demi said. “He's so sweet!”

 “So, do you guys know Carmen?” I asked them.

 “No,” Niall said. “Hi, Carmen. I'm Niall and this is Demi,” he told her.

 “It's amazing to meet you,” Carmen said calmly, extending her hand to Niall. He grabbed it and I watched as something flickered across both of their faces. They didn't let go soon enough and Demi gave me a weird look. I sly poked Carmen's side. She finally dropped Niall's hand and extended her hand to Demi. She smiled big. “Hi,” she said.

 “Hey,” Demi said. I could see the suspicion in her eyes. I could tell she wouldn't be taking her eyes off Niall while Carmen was around.

 “Alright,” I said, patting Carmen's hand. “Well, Carmen and I should walk around a little I guess. You'd like to meet the other boys, wouldn't you, Carmen?” I asked.

 “Absolutely,” she said. “It was so awesome to meet you both,” she told Niall and Demi.

 “Yeah, you too. See you round,” Niall told her.

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