Cut!

Take 6 - She's Not Afraid

A/N: Please comment as you read. It'll mean the world to me.

On my way to lunch the next day, I stopped abruptly in my tracks as I caught sight of a popular magazine on the table. On the cover, my own face stared back at me, complete with cobwebs and smudged make-up.

Darn it.

I nudged Marcus and gestured to the magazine, but he merely shrugged. He was used to dealing with this.

But I wasn’t.

I marched over and grabbed the magazine, reading the headlines.

“Ludmilla Hanson and Harry Styles on romantic outing?”

I gulped. What? It had been a coffee—a poor tasting one, but a coffee nonetheless. How could they turn that into a romantic scene?

Okay, I could see how. I just didn’t understand why.

“You shouldn’t take it to heart.”

I looked up to see Zayn watching me, his arms crossed over his broad chest.

“I’m not.” I smiled. “I’m used to it…”

At least, Ludmilla was. I remembered the countless of rumored boyfriend’s she’d had over the years. It was odd, to meet whoever was my supposed brother-in-law in a magazine. Nevertheless, Ludmilla had never let herself phase, and neither would I.

In fact, I was going to handle this better than Ludmilla would. I took a deep breath and glanced at the magazine once more before dropping it on the table.

“Are you okay?” Zayn asked.

I nodded. “I’m fine.” Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Harry step into the lunchroom, and with a small wink to Zayn I skipped over to Harry.

“Hi!” I said and threw my arm over his shoulder. “Did you hear? The news of our “romantic outing” yesterday had spread already.” I air-quoted the headline.

He looked surprised at first but then decided to play along. He wrapped an arm around my waist, before adapting a poor imitation of a French accent. “Oui, Oui, I saw, ma’ dear. What an exquisite outing indeed, my love pours for you in streams.”

As he took my free hand in his and looked at me with his dark green eyes, I was almost expecting him to make a Pepe Le Pew and kiss up my arm.

For a moment, I didn’t know how to react, but he returned to normal and grinned at me. “We’ll live, I think. Or… does it bother you?”

It must have been my eyes playing a trick on me, but he looked sort of…. Vulnerable.

“I’m fine,” I said for the second time that day.

He smiled. “What’s for lunch? I’m starving.”

“I think it’s turkey sandwiches,” I gestured to the long-table with refreshments.

“Yum!” He widened his eyes and rubbed his stomach, before sending me a grin. Then he skipped over to the food.

Shaking my head slightly, I looked around.

Zayn was watching me from the side, and I squirmed a bit under his stare. What’s his problem? Did he disapprove of how I handled things with Harry? I mean, I knew they were close, but I hadn’t done something wrong…

Had I?

With the question still on my mind, I moved over to the refreshments and grabbed a bottle of water and a sandwich before taking a seat near the window.