bravery.

Chapter 7

"You sure you want to go to this?" Asks Harry, messing with his hair as he looks in the mirror. His friends are having one last party before school starts, and Harry asked if I wanted to come. Now I realise he thought I would say no and was just being polite, but I don't trust him to not make out with someone else. I should, but I don't.

"Yeah, it'll be fun." I grin.

"There will probably be people there smoking- it might not be good for you to-"

"Harry." I say, and he turns away from the mirror to look at me.

"What?"

"I'm going to go to the party, and I'm going to be fine. I'll be wearing my cannula anyway. Don't worry about me, okay?"

He lets out a breath. "Okay. But-"

"You just don't want your friends to find out about us, do you?" I say and frown.

"I mean- I just don't know how they'll react, baby. It's not that I'm embarrassed of you- I'm not, at all. In fact, I would enjoy showing you off." He smirks. "I want you to come, really."

"Okay, then I will. And don't argue!" I say, and giggle. He smiles at me softly.

"Okay, fine."

"I'm going to go get ready." I say, and stand up. "I'll be ready in 10." He nods and I head out of his room into mine. When I get there I head into the bathroom and stare at my reflection in the mirror. I'm determined to make Harry proud to have me as a boyfriend tonight. I want to make his jaw drop. I run my fingers over my slightly swollen cheeks and frown. Since I don't have my beanie I guess I'll have to do something with my hair. I search through a small bag of toiletries I brought and pick out a jar of hair product that I've never even opened. My mum got it for me to try to get me to take off the beanie. It reminded her of my dad, which to me, was a good thing. But not to her. It just brought her too much pain. I shake my thoughts and open the hair gel, dipping my finger in. I rub it between my hands and decide to try a quiff. I pull up on my fringe until it looks just like I want to. I smile at my reflection. Already looking better. I stare at my mothers makeup bag, which I took for some reason, that's sitting in the closet. After a moment I grab it and search for her eyeliner. I run it under my eyes leaving a small black line. I look at my reflection. I don't quite recognise myself, but I'll admit, I look hot. I shuffle out of the bathroom and open my closet. I select a pair of black skinny jeans with the tag still on it and a plain white tee shirt. I normally wear sweats and a baggy sweater, because let's face it, I don't have the best body. But tonight is different. I pull both the items of clothing on then take a deep breath and step in front of the tall mirror in my room. My eyes widen. I look 100% different. Which is good. I pull on my black converse and take one last look before walking back to Harry's room and knocking on his door. I lean against the door frame so I can get a good breath and he opens the door.

"You ready- Holy-" He trails off and looks me up and down. I feel slightly insecure about how tight the jeans are but I pretend I'm confident.

"Do you like it?"

"You look- wow-"

"Is "wow" a good thing?" I ask, grinning at him, even though I know it is.

"God, yes." His phone buzzes in his pocket but he keeps staring at me.

"Are you um- gonna check that?" I ask after a moment, pulling him out of his daze.

"Oh. Yeah." He grabs the phone out of his pocket and checks the message. "It's Zayn, he's here to pick us up."

"Zayn?" I ask, and. My eyes widen.

"Don't worry. It's going to be fine. Lets go, hottie." He winks at me. "Grab you? oxygen tank."

I nod and scoot past him into his room, placing the cannula into my nose and dragging my oxygen tank behind me. "After you." He smiles, and motions at the stairs.

"why thank you." I smile back and start down the stairs. Once we reach the bottom, we head into the living room.

"Mum, were leaving." Harry shouts.

"Have a good time!" she shouts back from the kitchen, and Harry opens the door, leading me out. I see Zayns familiar face in the car parked in front of Harry's house, and I'll admit, I'm nervous. Zayn's even hit me a couple times. I swallow and follow Harry out to his car.

"What's up, man." Harry says, walking up to the open passenger seat. I stand behind him and quickly take my cannula out. I don't want Zayn to recognise me, if at all possible.

"Get in, Styles." Says Zayn, and Harry moves over so I'm not behind him anymore.

"You can sit in the front." He smiles at me and I see Zayns eyes move to my face.

"Who's this, Harry?"

"Look at him for a second, you'll figure it out." Says Harry and smirks. I watch Zayns eyes study my face and avoid eye contact.

"Oh my god. Tomlinson?" he asks, looking back to Harry.

"Mm." Says Harry and opens the back door of the car, climbing in.

Zayn glares at me for a moment before speaking. "Are you getting in or not?"

I jump slightly at his harsh tone. "Actually I think I'll sit with Harry, thank you." I say, and hear Harry laugh. He scoots over and I climb in next to him.

"Alright. Lets go." Says Zayn. He doesn't say anything the whole way to the party, which is only about 10 minutes, but seems like forever. Harry squeezes my hand a couple times to comfort me. We pull up to a two story house with lots of cars on the street. My eyes dart over to Harry.

"It'll be fine." He mouths and I nod. And put my cannula back on and climb out of the car. We enter the house and STARSTRUKK by 3OH!3 booms over the speakers. I look around, overwhelmed. There are red cups everywhere, girls in basically just their underwear, and a lot of guys from school who I've always been terrified of.

"Can I talk to you for a moment, Harry?" Asks Zayn, pulling me out of my train of thought. He doesn't wait for an answer and drags Harry into what I'm assuming is the kitchen.

-Harry's POV-

"Dude, why'd you bring that loser?" Asks Zayn, and I lock my jaw. The song changes to Scar Tissue by Red Hot Chili peppers and a couple girls walk into the kitchen, giggling about something.

"Look. His parents are dead and he's living with me. So be nice to him, alright?"

"Since when do you care? You hate him."

"Yeah, I do." I lie. "But I feel bad for him." I feel horrible talking about him like this. The innocent boy sitting out there, probably scared to death, whose trust I definitely do not deserve.

"Fine. Let's have some fun with him then."

"What- do you mean?" I ask, furrowing my eyebrows.

"Let's get him drunk." Grins Zayn.

"Zayn, I don't think-"

"Oh come on, Harry. Have some fun!"

I sigh. "Okay, fine."