Living with Styles

six

*Harry's POV*

She thinks I don't care about her. She doesn't understand why I did what I did. She won't even let me explain myself. Gosh, teenage girls are so difficult.

It's been four days since she blew up at me and she hasn't talked to me at all. I rarely see her, because she's locked away in her room. Occasionally, she'd come out and get some food or go to the bathroom, but she wouldn't even look at me.

It's 4:00pm. The boys invited me over for dinner. Should I invite Bella?

I contemplate this for a while, then I finally knock on her bedroom door. "Bella?"

"I told you to stop it with the pet names." She sniffs.

"You let the boys call you that."

"That's different. I don't completely hate them." I watch the doorknob wiggle and the door swings open. Bella is in plaid sleep pants and a Laker's sweatshirt.

"Speaking of the boys," I change the subject. "They invited me over for dinner, so get dressed. We leave in 20."

"What if I don't want to go?"

I look at her and smirk. "I know you wanna go."

She rolls her eyes and shuts the door.

-

*Bella's POV*

"Bella!!" Niall exclaims as I walk into the same house we were at the previous week. "How have you been?"

"To be honest, I haven't had the best week." I take a seat on the couch next to Perrie.

"Hello, Bella." She gives me a warm smile.

"How have you been, Perrie?" I try to make small talk.

"I've been great! Zayn got me this beautiful charm bracelet." She shows off her wrist.

"Wow. That's brilliant." I say as I look over all the charms. "You're a lucky girl."

Zayn walks in and takes a seat on the other side of Perrie and nods at me. "Bella. Nice to see you again." He smiles.

"It's nice to see you, too." I smile back.

It's so nice being welcomed into Harry's group of friends. I know they already know about my mom, because that's why Harry had to leave the band. So it could possibly be that they felt bad for me. Either way, it still felt good to be around people again.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Bella Get-All-The-Books Styles." I hear a voice say.

"Hi, Louis." I grin. "Um, have you seen Harry?" I ask.

"Yeah, he's in the kitchen. Helping Liam cook dinner." He replies.

"Are you thirsty, Bella?" Niall asks. "I can get you a root beer."

"Um, I think I'll get it myself. Thank you, though. I was heading to the kitchen anyway." I smile at Niall.

I walk into the big kitchen. Harry's at the stove and Liam is getting something out of the fridge.

"Smells like spaghetti." I sniff.

Harry, obviously startled, turned around. "Don't scare me like that." He glares at me.

I walk over to the fridge. "Hi, Liam." I greet him.

"Oh, hi, Bella!" He grins.

"Is there a root beer in there?" I gesture to the refrigerator.

He looks around in it and pulls out a bottle. "Yep. Here you go." He tosses it and I catch the glass bottle before it hits the ground.

"Nice one." I hear Harry say.

"Thank you." I say smugly.

-

*Harry's POV*

Bella seems to have really hit it off with my friends. I like the way she acts around them. She pretends to at least like me and doesn't make any rude comments.

Dinner went well. I learned that Bella loves spaghetti, but not as much as she loves chicken tenders with a side of ranch.

After dinner, Niall and Bella go into the living room.

I help Liam with the dishes.

"Are you taking good care of her, Harry?" Liam asks. "I know how you can get." He starts cleaning up dishes.

"I'm doing my best. It's just difficult. She's difficult. She hates me." I run a hand through my hair.

"She hates you?" Liam looks up from the dishes.

"Yeah, and she won't let me forget it."

"She doesn't let it show, then." He continues to scrub a plate.

"She's different when she's here. It's like, she doesn't want anyone to know how much she's hurting inside. Which is kind of a good thing, I guess. It's better than her just moping around." I say as I put the now-dry dishes into the cabinets.

-

*Bella's POV*

Niall sits on the couch and motions me to sit next to him.

"Are you doing alright?" He asks.

"I'm ok." I lie.

"You can tell me. You don't have to keep it all inside, Bella." He pats my back, trying to be supportive.

"I miss her. I miss her so much." I put my hands to my head. "And having to deal with Harry doesn't help." Tears brim my eyes.

"It's okay. You can cry, I understand."

I understand. No, no you don't. Nobody does. No one knows what I'm going through. Not even Harry.

Niall hands me a tissue. "It's ok. Everything will be ok."

No it won't.

"Thank you, Niall." I smile weakly. I barely know this boy, but all he wants is for me to be happy. Why does he care about me? Does he even care about me? I push the questions away as Niall embraces me in a hug.

"Niall? Bella? Do you want dessert?" Liam walks in and asks us. "We're having chocolate pie." He smiles.

"I think you know, I'd love a piece. Or three." Niall gets up and walks over to the kitchen. I wipe my eyes and follow Liam through the door.

Perrie is at the counter with a delicious looking chocolate pie. She's already cut three pieces for Niall. "Do you want a piece, honey?" She asks, cutting a triangle of the pie.

"A small one, please." I take the plate she hands me and sit down at the table.

-

*Harry's POV*

"Are you enjoying your pie, Bella?" Louis asks her.

"Yes, it's delicious." She replies in a mousy voice.

"Good. You should be." I smirk. "I made it."

"Yes, and thank you for that, Harry." Perrie replies, in place of her.

After a while, I decide it's time to go home.

"Bye, Bella." Niall says and gives her a hug.

"Goodbye, Niall." She stifles a laugh.

"See ya later, Bella." Louis says. "Bye, Harry."

"See ya, Lou." I say.

Zayn and Perrie each say their goodbyes, as does Liam.

"Goodbye, everybody." Bella says in a cheerful type way.

In the car, Bella starts talking.

"Thank you for taking me." She says, looking ahead.

"Well I couldn't just leave you alone." I reply sarcastically. "Besides, they like you." My lips turn up into a small smile.

"I like them, too." She says.