Safety

Chapter 8.

Harry led me through dancing sweaty bodies to a side of the room. There was a boy there that perked up immediately when he saw Harry. He dropped my hand as he went to hug the boy that I now recognized as Louis, one of Harry's friends. I stood there awkwardly as they hugged.

"Hey Lou!" Harry shouted over the music to the blue eyed boy.

"Hey Haz." Louis shouted back. Haz must be a nickname for Harry. I'd never heard of that one.

Louis had brown side-swept hair and vibrant blue eyes that were currently rimmed with red. The red solo cup he held in his hand was filled to the brim with alcohol and he wore jeans with converse. His shirt was of a band that I had heard of only a few times, 5 Seconds of Summer. I'd never listened to their music before, to be honest. If they're good enough to have their name plastered onto a shirt, then maybe I should listen to their music.

Louis was handsome, as Liam was, but neither of them compared to Harry. Everything seemed to fall back to the curly haired boy. Every time it did.

I watched as Louis turned his attention to me, eyeing me up and down in a more-than-friendly manner. "And who is this lovely lady?" He slurred, staring at me intently, winking.

Harry suddenly pulled me to his side, wrapping an arm around my waist protectively. "She's-" he glanced down at me, "A lady, not a slut. Now go find yourself one, since that's all you're ever capable of getting." Harry spat, and even I was shocked at Harry's sudden change of mood. Why did Harry get so protective when Louis asked about me?

I was more shocked than Louis was apparently, who just laughed in response before muttering, "Protective boyfriend." And scurrying to the dance floor, red cup in hand.

My cheeks flared at the word 'boyfriend' that had slipped out of Louis' drunken mouth. Harry ignored it and walked me somewhere else to break the awkward tension that was threatening to come up soon. We walked through the crowded room to the kitchen, where a blonde haired boy was rummaging through the fridge.

"Niall!" Harry quickly got Niall's attention, who stood straight up and banged his head on the fridge's door in the process.

"Ow, mate! I've got to put a bell on you or something! Don't scare me like that!" He said, rubbing his head with an annoyed expression on his face.

"Sorry." Harry said in a sing-song voice that clearly wasn't serious, and smirked at Niall. I remembered the blue eyes boy well because of the little escapade that had happened in the cafeteria of school with Niall and Sarah. That was a day I still haven't forgot.

"Hey..Clara, right? Liam said you were Harry's friend, and I suppose you're her?" Niall turned to me, pizza slice in hand. I almost giggled.

"Yes, this is I." I smiled at Niall, who returned the gesture and turned back to his fridge.

"How do you guys like the party? I was trying to make the 'Back To School' party just as sick as the one we had last summer, remember Harry?" Niall said, his back still turned to us as I now saw that he was rummaging through the pizza boxes that were stacked in a disorganized manner.

I looked up to Harry, who still had his arm around my waist. He was smiling at the memory of Niall's summer party.

"Yeah. I remember." He chuckled. "You got a little to knackered that day." Harry pointed a finger out at Niall, who simply rolled his eyes.

"And you suspect that we won't get even more knackered tonight? God Harry, you're such an idiot." Niall said, who now had closed his fridge. "Go enjoy the party, mate. The dance room isn't in here, ya know."

Harry nodded swiftly before looking down at me. I hope he didn't feel when I got chills from the way he squeezed my side a bit before muttering a "Ready?" To me. I nodded nervously, and we walked out of the large kitchen into what must've been the main room. The front door was at the front of it and there was no furniture in the room to make room for the dance floor, I supposed. There was a fairly sized electric disco ball looking object hanging from the ceiling. It shot out beams of multicolored light into the floor, where everybody cheered and danced to the electronic dance music that was playing extremely loud.