All You Need Is Love: A Harry Styles/One Direction Fanfiction

Chapter 33

"Come on Car!" my mum called from downstairs.

"In a minute!" I shouted, flinging a jumper over my head. I threw my maroon woollen coat around me and slipped a pair of boots on.

"You know, it doesn't help that you only woke me ten minutes ago!" I called down to her.

"It's twelve o'clock!" she argued back. Huffing to myself, I grabbed my bag and jumped down the stairs.

"Okay," I sighed, and she locked the door behind us. We got into the car and she quickly drove out of the driveway, heading to our local tesco. It was Christmas Eve, and my dad was coming home today. I was so excited, i hadn't seen him in what felt like so long! However as he was here for Christmas, I was having Christmas dinner with him, my mum and Gary, which I predicted was going to be seriously awkward. My mum drove the car to tesco and we ran inside. It was quite busy, but we got out as quickly as possible, loading all of our bags into the back of the car. Then we were back again, almost as though we had just left.

"God mother," I sighed, throwing myself onto the couch. "How long is it til dad gets home?" She stopped packing the food away to glance at her watch.

"Four hours," she smiled. I smiled back, closing my eyes and being glad that I could rest. All of a sudden my eyes snapped open and I jumped up, scanning the room for my bag.

"I have to go out!" I cried, widening my eyes quickly. Dammit! How...how even had I forgot something like that!?

"Where?" Gary asked, coming down the stairs. I...what? Had he been here before? Was I missing something? Was I going blind?

"Anywhere where there's shops!" I called back to him, running into all of the rooms as I looked for my phone. I found it sitting on the fireplace and sighed, stuffing it into my bag and running upstairs. Dear Lord, I was never going to have enough time! I opened my money box in my room and grabbed a big amount; I had no clue what I was looking for after all.

"I'll be back before four!" I quickly said, rushing past my mum and Gary and closing the door behind me before they could say anything. Running along the street, I skidded to a stop at the corner and dragged my hands through my hair, looking around in all directions. The wind swirled around me and I pulled my coat tighter, grasping at my bag. Craning my head to the left, I saw a black taxi driving down the street and widened my eyes after noticing it was empty.

"Taxi!" I called, and it stopped in front of me. Okay, so far so good. I climbed inside and came face to face with a middle aged, friendly looking man.

"Where to, love?" he asked in a thick cockney accent. I smiled at the sound, it always made me laugh. Somehow I hadn't grown up with it - although I was from London I didn't have a strong accent. I wasn't too posh but I wasn't exactly total cockney either. Snapping out of my thoughts, I smiled back at the man.

"Oxford street, please," with that, he began to drive.

"What you doing there?" he asked in a friendly tone. I sat up, smiling at his attempt at conversation. "Last minute shopping?"

"Yep," I replied. "I didn't really plan on coming out today but these past few days have been kind of crazy so I still have a few presents to buy," I explained.

"Christmas is always crazy," he laughed. "Say, who you buying for? Family?"

"Yes," I nodded. He turned the radio on and as the song began to blast around me I swallowed quickly. I felt a blush rise on my cheeks and pushed my hair out of my eyes. "And...erm, boyfriend." Even saying it out loud...I still couldn't believe it somehow.

"Young love ay, wouldn't mind going back to those days!" he turned to look at me and I laughed. His eyebrows narrowed slightly and he turned back to the radio, listening intently.

"You've got that one thing," I quietly sung in sync, bopping along to the music.

"Say love, is this you!?" I heard and so turned my gaze back from the window to him. He was holding a newspaper. Oh my God. The newspapers. I couldn't see it perfectly through the glass panel but I was still able to make out a picture of me and Harry on the front cover with a bold headline. Wow. I hadn't checked my phone, I hadn't checked twitter, I'd had several glances in tesco (which I now understood why) and I was now heading to the busiest shopping street in London...on Christmas Eve. Oh boy.

***

"Good luck, love!" the driver called as I climbed out of the cab.

"Thank you!" I called back and waved as he drove away. Aw, what a pleasant man. Turning my gaze away from the taxi, I came face to face with Oxford street. I began to think and figured I was seriously going to need a coffee in this icy weather. I crossed the road and quickly ran over to starbucks, the heels of my boots clicking lightly with every step I made. Opening the door, I sighed as the warm air closed in on me. There was only a small queue, which made me relieved; I seriously needed to begin shopping. Walking over to the back, I opened my bag and took out a few spare coins I noticed laying at the bottom. I tapped my foot on the floor, patiently waiting, though all of a sudden a conversation near me caught my attention.

"That's her!"

"It can't be!"

"Sarah, I swear! Did you not see all the pictures last night? Come on!"

I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned around. Three girls a couple of years younger than myself were standing there, eyes wide.

"Are you...Carly Gilbert?" one of them choked. I raised my eyebrows slightly and smiled.

"Erm...yep?" I said, hoping it sound promising. They all began to scream and I smiled encouragingly. Were they actually screaming because of me? I wasn't even famous!

"You're Harry Styles' girlfriend!" one said. "You...you like...kiss him and stuff!"

"Oh my god!" her friend chirped. "Can we please get a picture with you?!" she asked.

"You...you want a picture with me?" I said, bewildered.

"Yes!" they all cheered. They each took a turn standing with me for a picture whilst the others took them on phones. I didn't really know what to do; I had no experience whatsoever so I just bent down slightly and smiled with each of them.

"Thank you so much! Tell Harry I love him-"

"-Oh my God, tell Niall he's so cute!" I began to laugh with them, feeling so much at ease. I was expecting all of the fans to hate me, but after this, I couldn't help but feel slightly less afraid. I paid the man behind the counter and he smiled, handing me my coffee to go.

"Have a good Christmas!" I called to them and they all smiled brightly, whispering to each other. I opened the door and sighed heavily, beginning the long hunt for presents.

***

Two hours and lots of shopping bags later, I was still stumped somehow.

"Thank you so much!" the girl said.

"You're welcome!" I smiled as she and her mum walked away. Allowing my thoughts to take over, I realised that that was about the sixth time someone had came up to me. It was insane; I really didn't know why they wanted pictures with me, they had only just found out I was dating Harry, for all they knew I could be some crank just after popularity. Which, oh my god I wasn't, seriously. I loved him. I felt myself blush thinking about him which was mad because he wasn't even here. I sighed to myself, feeling really guilty. I still had no idea what to buy him for Christmas. Sure, I could get him clothes or something, that's what most girls would but their boyfriends, right? But for my birthday he'd bought something really special for me, so I wanted to for him as well. I strolled along the busy streets, sliding between people because of how crammed it was. Though all of a sudden a shop caught my eye, so I made my way out of the crowd and across the street. Staring up at the huge sign, I debated with myself. Was I really that childish and pathetic? 'Yep,' my voice answered and I realised that I obviously was so stepped inside.

***