The Run Away Girl || Harry Styles

Chapter 10

ALICE'S POV

The moment I walked into the restaurant, my eyes instantly found Harry and the other four boys. The rumors outside on the streets that One Direction was inside were obviously true.

Knowing Harry and I were in the same room, yet unable to speak made dinner wildly exciting. It was like we both had to hide this massive secret from everyone around us. It was scary, yes; but also completely thrilling knowing that my one-time celebrity idol- my now crush- and I had to work together while sitting so far apart.

From the moment I stepped through the restaurant doors, Harry never once took his eyes of me except to occasionally look at the rest of the boys and his waiter. Obviously, he couldn't full-out grin, so he smiled with his eyes. He even winked at me once after their main course came and the other boys were distracted with the arrival of their food.

Judging by the way he was being so discreet, I assumed Harry hadn't told the others about today. His sly actions were probably an attempt to keep them oblivious. Plus, an overwhelming number of paps were sitting outside like predators waiting to get the newest 'juice' on the world's favorite boy-band, and Harry's little crush on me would certainly make headlines.

My mom, however, caught on to Harry's staring almost right away. Even though I had tried to hide the identity of the famous band we were eating across the room from, it took her no time to figure it out. Given the whispered 'one direction' buzz that was floating throughout the restaurant and the number of girls that had timidly approached their table, I would have been shocked if she hadn't put two and two together.

"Did you see that silly One Direction band is here tonight? That's why all of those people with cameras are outside." I almost laughed. As if I didn't know.

"Yes ma'am," I answered politely.

"Oh, so you did know! Thank goodness you are not behaving like those crazy teenage girls who keep coming up to get pictures, making fools of themselves."

"Mhm."

"It's absurd to think all of these young women have this fantasy that they will be in a relationship with One Direction one day. I'm proud that you are not acting all hyper around them. "

"Okay." 

"So, do you not like them anymore, Alice? You used to be so- so... obsessed, yes, that's the right word."

I groaned, not even bothering to come up with a verbal reply. My mom could be so brutally blunt. It was almost like she was saying these things just to push my buttons. The paradox of what she was saying and what had happened to me today made her words less hurtful, though. Either way, what she had said was rude and it made me angry to say the very least.

"Well?" my mom broke the silence, waiting for me to answer.

"Well what? I like their music, I'm just not obsessed with them anymore," I responded harshly, totally lying. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that it might conatin some truth. I wasn't obsessed with Harry anymore, I knew him as a person now. I loved him for Harry; not Harry Styles.

"Well, he keeps looking at you," my mom pointed out, stating the obvious. Having her say those words out loud- as if she was confirming the fact that Harry was unable to take his eyes from me- made the reality of our strange relationship hit me.

Eventually, after an extravagant round of deserts that had all five of the boys loudly raving and a few more fan pictures, the checks came to their table. Once they paid, they got up one by one and made their way to the door.

I watched as Harry discreetly leaned into Liam and whispered in his ear. Liam nodded and Harry subtly separated from the other four, walking away. Liam purposefully began to usher the other three boys to the front of the restaurant where they gathered in a circle and began to causally talk.