a world alone // harry styles

Three

Maybe I should've been nicer about this situation, but the thought of needing anyone or needing help terrified me. I learned to be stable on my own and I didn't need Harry jumping in and ruining that for me.

I stole a look at Harry, trying to read him through his actions. His eyebrows were furrowed into a deep frown, his eyes staring meanly onto the street ahead of us. His jawline was clenched in frustration and his index finger was tapping the wheel at a quick, rhythmic pace.

This was the first time I had actually taken the time to observe him. He was a babe, with tattoos peeking out from beneath his tight-fit, maroon-colored V-neck. I was peering at his arms, observing the muscular tightness across them when he spoke.

"Its not nice to stare, Stribley." He said gruffly, making me jump slightly as I realized how obvious I had been.

"I wasn't staring." I rolled my eyes, sulking back into the soft, leather seat.

"What do you call this?" He asked, leaning over dramatically and staring at me with wide eyes.

"That's staring, and being a creep." I fought a smile and he flipped his curls out of his eyes, putting a hand up sassily.

"I wasn't staring." He mocked my tone and voice perfectly, this time causing me to erupt into giggles.

He looked over at me with a small smile and shook his head, a small giggle escaping his plump lips.

We pulled into the parking lot of what looked like a towing company, sliding into a front part beside the door.

The lights were all off and we were the only car in the lot, the clock now reading 5:00, definitely too late. I sighed and stamped my foot in frustration, resting my face in my hands.

"Hey, don't worry, Stribley. I can give you a ride home and a ride to school, it'll all be okay." Harry said, reaching out to stroke my back soothingly. I sat up abruptly, looking at him confusedly.

"You're actually offering to be my driver?" I asked with wide eyes and raised eyebrows, his hand still rubbing small circles in between my shoulder blades.

"Of course, Stribley. Now, are you hungry? I could use some food." He grinned, backing up and pulling out of the parking lot.

Wow, not even a full day since we first met and he had already developed a pet-name for me, saved me twice and was now offering me food.

My head was spinning at how someone could be so friendly and compassionate, yet so rude and blunt at the same time.

"Yeah, I'd love food. But could you stop calling me Stribley, please? It's annoying." I responded, looking at him thoughtfully.

"Not as annoying as you. What do you want to be called?" He retorted and I shrugged, sarcasm going through me.

"Maybe..I dunno, Laina? That's what people typically call me." I joked, rolling my eyes and crossing my arms.

"Well I'm not exactly typical, so I'll have to come up with something the next time we meet. I'm feeling Taco Bell, hope you like Mexican." He responded, swerving into the drive through of Taco Bell, nearly colliding with another car.

The next time we met? How many times was he planning on meeting?

I took another glance at him, the once bad-ass looking boy now resembled a child as he grinned happily, eyeing the frozen slushy drinks.

"Hard or soft? You look like you like 'em hard. Four crunchy tacos it is." He said and rolled down the window as I raised an eyebrow.

"Excuse me? Are you trying to be fresh with me?" I asked, slightly titling my head and mocking him from Drama earlier.

"There's the southern slang I've heard about." He looked at me and smiled so wide that his eyes looked like little crescents.

I let out a small chuckle and felt heat creeping onto my face for the billionth time today.

He leaned over and ordered, and after a bit we had scarfed down two slushies, four crunchy tacos and three orders of nachos. Harry asked for directions to my house and I gave him my neighborhood, North Gate.

As we entered the neighborhood, I saw a few of the more troublesome ones hanging out by a patch of woods that connected the neighborhood to the main highway a mile or two back.

He skidded to a stop when he noticed them standing there, and much to my surprise, rolled down the window when we got beside them.

"Hey, Harry!" The leader of the group called and walked over, leaning two grimy, tattooed arms on the window sill of Harry's door.

"Afternoon, Nat. Sulking around with your pack again?" Harry snickered and Nat chuckled, nodding.

"Who's this hottie?" Nat asked and tilted his sunglasses down so he could see me better. I shifted uncomfortably, turning my mouth into a flat line with a small wave.

"She's not a hottie, ass-wipe. She's beautiful, don't use your douche-slang to describe her. This is Laina." Harry said and I blushed again as Nat gave me a smile.

"I gotta get her home, I'll see you at the meeting tomorrow." Harry said quickly and gave a little two-finger salute to Nat and the other guys of the group, and they all returned it.

"Make sure you actually bring your share tomorrow. Have a nice night, Laina." Nat spoke to Harry and then smiled at me, and I replied with a smile and a thank you as Harry sped off in the direction of my house.

"Your share at the meeting?" I asked nosily and Harry shot me a look, turning the radio on and ignoring me. That was strange, literally everything about his personal life was secretive to me.

He seemed really shady sometimes, and now was definitely one of those times. I know it was totally cliché for me to be curious about the bad-boy, but I couldn't handle myself.

Tomorrow morning he would be picking me up, giving me a solid 30 minutes to look around his car or question him. Now that I knew Nat was friends with him, I always had the advantage of living in the same neighborhood as him.

As Harry pulled into my driveway and up to my garage, I knew that tomorrow was sleuthing day.