Somewhere Inbetween (Harry Styles AU)

Chapter 10

The sun shines through the small room, and the sound of people talking wafts throughout the house. I roll over and instantly cringe from the brightness. My head is pounding. I sit up slowly, throwing the covers off of me only to discover I’m only wearing my panties and my shirt. I’m confused for only a moment, and then I suddenly remember sleeping with Harry. Wait, but why am I in my panties? Did I have sex with him? I’m panicking now. My duffel sits on the floor near the door, and I charge towards it to find pants. I slip on a pair of black jeans and peak my head out the door.

The talking has stopped, and an odd smell taking its place. I casually maneuver my way through the tiny house as if I didn’t just lose my virginity last night. In the kitchen, I find the source of the odd smell; some kind of vegetarian food sizzling lightly in a pan. To my right, there’s a glass sliding door, and I decide to continue my search for people there. I find everyone except for the two mysterious girls and Janet sitting around a table playing cards.

“Oi, look who decided to show up,” Louis shouts, causing everyone to turn and look at me. I must look a mess. A panicky mess.

“Liam made vegetarian bacon, but honestly he’s the only one here who likes that shit, so I left you some real bacon in the microwave,” Niall says with a cheery smile.

I nod and straighten myself out in an attempt to look a lot more confident than I feel.

“Thank you,” I say to him and turn my attention to Harry. “Um, Harry. Can I talk to you in the kitchen?”

He nods and stands. He’s so tall and attractive. Why do I even feel bad about sleeping with him? Woah. Clearly, that wasn’t sensible. I follow him uneasily into the house and slide the door closed behind me.

“What’d you need,” he asks.

“Oh, um,” I pause, trying to come up with an excuse to dodge the real reason. “I just wanted to know what was cooking in the pan.” I raise an eyebrow.

“The pan’s still on?” He practically shouts this. Shaking his head in frustration, he swiftly moves around the counter to turn off the burner.

“I have told Liam a million times to not leave stoves on, especially after what happened last time,” he shakes his head again. “So, is that all, Arabella?”

“No. See, um, last night did we,” I’m stuttering and making hand motions between us.

“Did we what,” he asks.

“Well, I, um, woke up with only my underwear, so I just thought-” at this he cuts me off.

“No, we did not. You were really drunk and so sick. I washed your clothes and helped you into bed. Then, you insisted I sleep in the bed with you,” he explains and it all becomes clear. A huge weight comes off my chest, my anxiety level dropping dramatically.

Harry makes his way over to the microwave, removes the bacon, and places it in front of me at the bar.

“Eat,” he says and gives me a dimple stained smile. I nod my head and dig in just as the others enter the kitchen.

“Mate, are you coming to the protest today,” Liam asks, slapping Harry on the arm.

“You know I don’t go to those anymore,” Harry responds.

“I know, but we all thought you might want to for old times sake. It’ll be great. We have black shirts and everything just like we used to,” Liam says, trying to encourage his friend.

“What protest,” I chime in curiously.

“Nothing. Stay out of it,” Harry says to me and turns back to Liam. “Look, as lovely as possible jail time sounds, I’m not going to be attending and neither will these two.” He points at me and Natalie.

Niall sighs and shakes his head. Liam shrugs and begins to clean my plate in the sink for me.

“We need to chat,” Louis announces, motioning for Harry to follow him back outside. He closes the sliding door behind him, muffling the conversation.

“What protest,” Natalie asks, repeating my question.

“It’s a LBGT protest,” Liam responds.

“Why’s Harry so against it,” I ask, taking the glass of orange juice Liam offers me.

“Well, there have been times in the past where the protests haven’t gone the best. Cops have been called, full on riots at times. It can be dangerous. We’ve all been arrested quite a few times,” he says, indicating the other boys. This is when Zayn speaks up.

“It’s all worth it, though.”

“That’s kind of why we’re all here. Obviously we’re not American. The attitude towards gay rights in London are a lot better than here, and I guess we all just wanted to help. Plus, Harry’s dad moved out here after the divorce, and we all followed,” Liam explained. Divorce. Well, there’s something Harry and I have in common. The door opens and Harry and Louis reenter the kitchen.

“Um, Bella, you and Natalie need to go get dressed. I’ll bring you the black shirts in a minute,” Harry says sternly. We don’t ask questions. It really doesn’t seem like the right moment to ask. You can feel the tension in the room, and I just want to get out.

Natalie and I chat about each one of Zayn’s colorful tattoos while fixing our hair in the small bathroom. I tell her about my sex scare with Harry, and she’s laughing hysterically when he enters. He throws two black t-shirts at us and closes the door firmly behind him. We shrug at each other and change into the shirts.

“No, no, no. That’s all wrong,” Louis shouts at Niall as we exit the house, but Niall’s just laughing uncontrollably and pointing at the top of Harry’s van. There’s a huge gay pride flag hanging very awkwardly on the side. The other boys are shaking their heads in frustration and moving to fix Niall’s terrible flag hanging job. The more time I spend with these guys the more they grow on me. They each have their own individual personalities that fit so well together. I’m pulled away from my thoughts when Liam orders us all to fill the two cars. Natalie and I return to Harry’s van, obviously. Niall files in behind us and pulls Natalie onto his lap. Harry puts in some band I’ve never heard of, and we’re off.

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Sooo sorry for the extremely late update. School happens. But please vote and all that other important stuff. :)