Forbidden {h.s}

Forty Three

When we arrived at the hall there was a crowd of people waiting for us.

Many of them greeted me and complimented my outfit as I walked inside the hall.

Harry stayed by my side the entire time, never letting go of my hand once.

My father was the first to greet us at the door.

"Hey, dad" I said, giving him a quick hug.

"Hi, Courtney, Happy Birthday!" He said, smiling at me.

"This is Harry" I said, looking to my side where Harry stood smiling at my father.

"It's a pleasure to meet you" Harry said, shaking his hand.

"It's a pleasure to meet you too" My father awkwardly, not removing his eyes from Harry's free hand on mine.

"Um, I'm going to go and say hi to the rest of the guests" I said to break the tension. "See you in a bit".

I pulled Harry's hand in the direction of the One Direction boys and their girlfriends all standing in a group at the back of the hall.

"Hi Courtney!" Niall said as we approached the group of One Direction boys. "You look amazing".

"Thanks, Niall, so do you" I said, earning a wide smile in return.

"Happy Birthday" Mia said, pulling me into a hug.

"Thank you".

"Have you gotten any presents yet?" She asked, a warm smile still on her lips.

I nodded.

"Harry surprising me in my bedroom was one of the best" I laughed.

"Courtney, I'm not kidding when I say you caused him anxiety for the past three weeks" Louis said, rolling his eyes at Harry who scowled at him.

"What, it's true, Harry!" He said, reading Harry's expression.

"Just because you don't have a girlfriend" Harry muttered.

Louis furrowed his brows but then returned his attention back to me.

"Anyway, he went totally ballistic at the whole band, refusing to rehearse and engage in conversations" Louis said.

I didn't know how to react, so I faked a quiet laugh.

"Can we please change the subject?" Harry asked in an irritated tone.

Louis gave me a look that had I told you so written all over it.

I shrugged it off and turned back to Harry.

"I'm just going to go and say hi to Jess" I said.

"I'll come" He offered.

I raised my eyebrow at him but didn't protest; I missed him too much these past three weeks to let him be away from me again.

Jess was sitting at a round table, talking to Jana.

"Hi, Courtney" She said as Harry and I approached her. "And hi, Harry".

Harry gave her a small smile.

"Is One Direction here?" She gasped, putting two and two together with Harry's presence.

"Yea" Harry said. "They're just in the back of the hall over there if you want to go and talk to them. I'm sure they'd love to have some company".

Jess beamed at him and scurried over to the back of the hall.

"So much for having a conversation" I jokingly muttered under my breath.

Harry laughed and nodded in agreement.