The Fangirl Next Door - h.s

Chapter 7: rules.

A/N: this is Lucy's car!

I went home and I had the best sleep of my entire life, though it didn't last long due to Cora running in my room screaming the next day.
    "LUCY LUCY LUCY WAKE THE FUCK UP!"  My face is greeted by a pillow and I groan as loud as I can.
    "Can't this wait until it's not the morning?" I mumble, rolling to the other side of bed.
    "It's not the morning it's literally one in the afternoon. GET UP!" She hits me again and I bolt up, I never sleep in, and if I do it's till eleven, not one!
    "What the hell are you so excited about?" I ask, pushing her to the side, trying to get some space.
    "IAN CALLED!" I look at her blankly.
    "He has been calling you a lot, is that really why you woke me up?" I push her harder and she falls all the way off my bed, hitting the floor but scrambling to follow me as I walk into the bathroom. Wow, she didn't call me a bitch, she must be really excited.
    "He asked me to go on an actual date with him, like not just hanging out but like a date date, where you go eat food or, I don't know what people do on dates, normally I just skip to the end of the night with guys, but HE ASKED ME ON A DATE!" She jumps up and down, my arm in her hands so my body moves with her, though my feet are still planted firmly on the ground.
    "When?" I ask her.
    "Tonight." She squeals, and I pull my arm from her.
    "I'm excited for you I am, but I haven't had a chance to threaten my brother yet, so I need to do that before anything serious happens, now go away." I point to the door and she opens her mouth to say something again. "GO!" I yell and she pouts, walking off. I dial his number while brushing my teeth, and place it on speaker phone.
    "Hey baby sister, how's the neighbor." He jokes with me and I spit in the sink, rolling my eyes.
    "He's great, that's not why I called. So I hear you're going on a date with my best friend?" I brush my hair out of my face and walk back to my bed.
    "Oh shit yea, I totally forgot to ask you if you were cool with it, but since you told me to talk to her I figured you were, she's actually really awesome." He boasts and I ignore all of it.
    "Yes I know she is, that's why I live with her. I love you, and I know you're my brother but I swear to God Ian I will not hesitate to ban you from this house. You hurt her and you're done here, I will harass you and post really embarrassing photos of you all over social media, you understand me?" I bark into the phone.
    "I understand Lucy, anyway I do really like her, I don't see this as being something just for fun, she's a good person." He tells me and we only talk for a few minutes. He does ask about Harry but I don't say much, knowing Cora will tell him enough tonight. I don't really know what I'm getting ready for, I have no plans today, not a single one, but I do know I don't want to sit inside all day, for once. Should I go to Harry's house? I should, but what if me showing up there first is weird, he always comes to me, so I shouldn't go to him should I? Maybe I should just stop this all together. He's been hurt so many times and I don't want to be someone to add to that, I wouldn't forgive myself. I'll talk to Cora, she'll know what to do. I walk out of my room and into Cora's, not bothering to knock.
    "Cora, can we be serious for a second." She pats her bed.
    "Yes, serious sister talk, let's go." I sit down next to her and I sigh.
    "Harry opened up to me last night, and he told me about his past and he's a really sweet guy, and I'm afraid to let this go any further because I don't want to hurt him. I don't want to add to the hurt he's felt." I open up to her and she sighs.
    "To be completely honest with you, I think the reason none of your other relationships worked out, you broke up with them was because you weren't emotionally available. By that I mean you were mentally dating Harry Styles and the rest of those one direction boys for years, so now that you're actually dating Harry Styles, it shouldn't be a problem." She tells me and I look at her, giving her the bitch I'm not kidding face. "Okay, okay, I'm sorry. I know you don't want to hurt him, so make rules, make rules for yourself to follow." She tells me and I run to my room, grabbing a piece of paper and a pen. "I didn't mean make an actual list you freak of nature." She groans and I ignore her.
    "Okay rule number one, no public dates. That's fair right? I mean I don't want to be seen by the paparazzi. They'll tear me apart for being obsessed with him." Cora nods and I write down number two and look to her.
    "Number two can be limiting how much time you spend with him. Only three times a week, and that's it. I need friend time." She points a finger at me and I write it down.
    "Number three, limit all physical touch, only if completely necessary, like if I'm about to fall off the roof, or I'm being attacked by a shark, or if I'm tied to a railroad track and he needs to save me." I start writing.
    "This isn't some country western film Luce this is real life, and that rule is dumb, bitch get on that Harry Styles dick, you know how big it is already." She jokes and I glare at her.
"No. I will not ever see his penis because sex and all the things that come along with that lead to having feelings, I have feelings already, because I always have, but him on the other hand does not and I want to keep it that way." I tell her.
"Okay fine, you can be the virgin Mary, don't get mad at me if I fuck your brother though." She tells me and I cringe, actually throwing up in my mouth a little bit.
"Never again. I am okay with you and my brother being together, but don't tell me details, or you're getting kicked out." I point and she puts her hands up in surrender. I write down number four and continue my list.
"Number four, limit how much time you spend around the band, if they like me, it will be easier for Harry to like me." I tell her, but Cora has lost all interest at this point. I hear a knock from the door and I ask Cora to go get it so I can put my list in my room and put some clothes on. As soon as my shoes are tied I start to walk to the door and then the knocking noise is coming from my bedroom door instead of the front door.
I freeze, Cora doesn't knock, she just barges in, my brother doesn't come to my door, he just yells from downstairs except for special occasions. I open my door a crack and am greeted by exactly who I thought would be there. I see the boots first, then the jeans, a button down shirt that is hanging low, showing off his tattoos, then the hair and his perfectly sculpted face.
"Hi!" I accidentally squeak and try to walk out of my room while keeping the door closed, but his hand rests on my door and he pushes. "I thought you didn't want to see this." I mumble and he walks in, the smirk and the amusement all over his face.
"I changed my mind." He is in my room, he's also all over my fucking walls, I haven't felt embarrassed until now. He looks over my room and walks to the record player, the vinyls in a crate I had painted myself.
"Do you have... ahh here they are." He laughs pulling out the two One Direction vinyls I own. The newest album, and four of course. I sit on my bed and watch him go through my immense stack of records. He nods and then makes noises, showing interest in every one he flips through. "You have a nice collection, and I'll admit, the posters aren't that weird, you've got them up to look nice, not crazy." He motions around the room and walks up the the wall with the heart shaped picture wall. "Did you ever see us on tour?" He asks pointing to the where we are tour poster from last year. I shake my head no.
"That was from one of my subscribers, she sent it to me. I never had the money to see you guys live, although trust me I wanted to." I tell him and he reaches his hand out to help me off the bed and I hesitate, no contact Lucy, okay but it's just his hand, it's okay. I take his hands and get off the bed.
"Well, now you do." He touches the tip of my nose with his finger and smiles. "And you've got backstage passes." He tells me, he's so cute, wow he's so incredibly cute, and INCREDIBLY OFF LIMITS. NO LUCY.
"Backstage passes that are going to cause me to go into cardiac arrest." I mumble under my breath.
"What was that?" He asks, turning back to me as we walk out of my room.
"Nothing!" I cover, ignoring his smile, and walk to the front door, opening it. "Wait, where are we going? What are we doing?" I turn to him on the front porch, and close the door behind him.
"Um, I'm not sure, I was following you." He tells me and I swing my keys, getting an idea.
"Let's go for a drive." I tell him and he tilts his head. "I know where I'm going, no paparazzi, no fans." I tell him and walk to the baby blue Bronco.
"Well, one fan." He laughs and climbs into my car, but I glare.
"I will never speak to you again, and go back to fangirling over you in my room. Don't test me Styles." I point at him and he shakes his head, laughing at me. My phone automatically connects to the bluetooth and plays the last song I was listening to. Hey Angel blares over my speakers and I jump to turn the volume off but he stops my hand.
"Don't stop on account of me darling, your car, your music choice." He smiles and his hand stays on mine.  I slip it away quickly and put my hands on the wheel and back out of the driveway, listening to his voice on the radio, until I hear his voice in the car right next to me and I stop at the stop sign and turn to him.
"Not to be a complete fangirl, but if you sing that part of the song while I'm driving I will crash the car." He laughs out loud and I go on my phone, changing my to my other playlist so that One Direction won't play as much. The song Oh! Darlin by the Beatles plays and I start singing along, not really thinking about who is sitting beside me until the volume gets turned down.
"You can sing?" He asks and he hasn't taken his eyes off of me since he turned the volume down.
"Me? No, that's funny. HaHa good one Harry. Ha." I reach for the volume again but he covers the knob.
"You were just singing, Why didn't you tell me you could sing Lucy?" He is smiling so I know he's not mad but I wish I had thought about it.
"I used to do theatre, and I had lessons for a while, I took music theory in high school, I actually used to post covers if you go far enough back on youtube, but I don't sing much, just in the car, and in the shower." I tell him and he shakes his head.
"I'm still trying to find one thing wrong with you, I can't though." He turns the volume up a bit. Nothing wrong with me except the fact that I'm literally obsessed with you. "Let me see your phone." He asks and I hesitate, I should've changed my screensaver, why the fuck am I so dumb? "What?" He asks. "Oh, is there something you don't want me to see? Oh-" He stops once I hand him my phone and sees the picture of all the boys hands. The photo is taken from underneath, you can hardly see their faces, just their hands but still, it's them nevertheless. He smiles at it, ignoring it completely and opening the music app. "Sing this one, but sing with me." He tells me and he turns on a One Direction song.
"Love this one." I mumble at the first few notes.
"What do you mean you love this one, it's barely started! How do you know the song so quickly?" He laughs, and I can't help but laugh at his facial expression of pure shock.
"Your band is pretty much the only thing I listened to for years, I could guess every song within the first few seconds." I tell him, making myself look more like a freak as each minute passes. Shut the heck up Lucy.
"I'll put that to the test in a second, but first I need you to sing with me Lucky." The nickname throws me off, but he doesn't look phased. Change Your Ticket plays, and this is the best song for driving with the top down. I sing the harmony as Harry sings his part and he can't stop smiling at me through all of it.
"What the hell are you smiling at?" I turn the volume down.
"You're singing harmonies with me right now, I don't think you even know how cool this is." He lets his arm rest on the door of the car and he looks back at the road continuing to sing his own song with me. This is a surreal moment for me, never did I ever think I would be sitting in the same car with Harry Styles, especially not singing one of his songs with him, and him wanting to be here, enjoying every bit of it. We sing a few more One Direction songs together, and I'm surprised he wants to listen to his own music, but then I think about it and of course he does, he's so passionate about the band, it makes sense that he enjoys his own music. I pull up to a spot, driving over then rocks and parking. "I've gotta have you sing with all of us, you have no idea how cool it would be Lucky, we can do one of our songs and-" I cut him off as I join him in the front of the car.
"No, not happening. I'm going to be a nervous wreck when I meet them, there's no way in hell I'm going to sing with them, I don't even know how I did that with you." I walk in front of him, leading him to the trees ahead. The trees hang low, and they're pretty dried up and cracked as they dip over the small cliff. It overlooks the beach, it's a hideaway, a place no one knows, nOt EvEn CoRa. He sits down right next to me and looks over.
"You're singing in front of them. That's that." He tells me and he shakes the sand from his hands.
"No." I tell him and he shakes his head.
"You can think that, but you're wrong." He fights back, he's persistent, I'll give him that, but it's not going to happen.
"What is this place?" He asks me and I look out, thankful for the shade from the trees.
"This is Lucy's place. I come here a lot." I tell him. "And it's perfect for us, because no one knows it's here, and no one has ever seen it but me." I set my hands behind me and he does the same, his hand resting on top of mine. Hands are fine Lucy, it's hardly any contact at all, he probably didn't mean to, he probably doesn't even notice his hand is practically holding yours right now.
"So how many guys have you brought here?" He asks, and I almost get offended until I see his face, he's joking.
"About sixteen, I've had sex right where you're sitting actually." I keep a serious tone and his face panics as he looks down under him. "Oh my god, I'm joking Harry, I told you, no guys since I moved to L.A, remember?" He breathes out and looks at me.
"You can't make jokes like that, I can't tell if you're joking." He puts an over dramatic hand on his chest and I roll my eyes.
"Almost everything I say is either sarcastic or over dramatic, just to warn you." I laugh and he nods.
"Note taken." He nods. We sit in silence for a few minutes, just watching the waves, but I don't feel awkward or nervous, which is a first. "Hey Lucy?" He asks, breaking the silence.
"Hey Harry?" I ask back.
"Does this scare you?" He asks and I look at him in confusion.
"Does what scare me?" I turn my face towards him more, fully taking him in and he really does look great right now. The way the wind blows his hair back, he looks carefree, which isn't an uncommon look on him, but it's so different in person.
"Just being here right now, it feels right? I don't know how to put words to it, but it does. It's kind of scary don't you think?" He asks, turning to me once more, waiting for my response.
"I got over the whole being scared around you thing, but it does feel odd how completely comfortable I feel right now. Not because you're who you are, but because I'm just awkward in general, around anyone, I met you only about two weeks ago and i don't feel awkward at all." I tell him and he smiles, but his face soon turns serious his eyes lock onto mine, then they look to my lips and I'm frozen in time. No he's not, he's not, he's getting closer, no. BITCH RULE NUMBER THREE. "WOW! Look at that bird." I say way too loudly, pointing off in the distance. He turns his head quickly, looking towards where I pointed.
"I don't see a bird." He looks at me and back out where I am still pointing.
"Must've flown away, wow would you look at the time, I think we should get going, we should-" He cuts me off by putting his finger over my lips.
"We don't need to go anywhere, just stay here with me. We don't even have to talk, just watch the ocean." He urges me, I feel like most of the time we've spent together is him convincing me to stay. I sigh and give in, mostly because I don't want to leave at all, I enjoy spending time with him, but I can't kiss him despite how badly I want to.
We sat there until the sun started dipping low, then we got in my car and I let him drive us back, but I still played my own music. No One Direction this time, but I still sang, some songs he did too, and it was hard to take my eyes off of him. Since the top is missing from my car his hair was blown all over the place, the moonlight lighting up his face. He looked beautiful, and he wouldn't let go of my hand either. So I broke the rule, yet again, but like I said before, it's just a hand, what harm can it do. He pulls into my driveway and gets out of the car, insisting that I wait to get out, and I do. He runs to my side, opening the door for me and I almost melt into a puddle at his feet. We arrive at my doorstep and he stops me from reaching the door by grabbing my hands, holding them both as he towers over me. Curse my parents for being short.
"Lucy, I have to see you again, I'm just telling you now, it's going to happen." He never fails to keep a smile on his face, which makes all of this so much harder because good lord that dimple has a special place in my heart.
"I would love to see you again Harry." I can only hangout with him one more time this week. Considering the fact that I saw him yesterday, and today. One more day, that's it Lucy.
"Now that there are no birds around. Can I kiss you Lucy Collins?" The way my name sounds rolling off his lips could send me into a coma right here right now. GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER LUCY, NO!
"No you cannot Harry Styles." I smirk and he does too, amused at this.
"What game are you playing here?" He asks, watching me as I reach for the door.
"No games, I don't like games. Goodnight Harry." I blow him a kiss. "How's that for a kiss, huh?" I ask.
"Not enough. Good night Lucy." He waves his hand and I close the door and I am instantly greeted by a smack to the back of my head.
"Bitch! Harry Styles just asked to kiss you and you said no? Are you fucking retarded?" I rub the back of my head and look at her with a confused look.
"First of all, OW. That was uncalled for. Second of all, no I'm not, and don't use that word, third of all, don't fucking eavesdrop on my conversations you psychopath." I walk past her and notice Ian sleeping on my couch. "HEY DICKHEAD!" I yell and he leaps up, ready to jump into action. I laugh at him and go straight to the kitchen.
"Your sister just told Harry Styles he couldn't kiss her!" Cora tattles on me and I groan.
"Are you retarded?" He yells across the room.
"That's what I said!" Cora joins.
"No I'm not fucking- you two are getting on my nerves. AND STOP USING THAT WORD! I'm going to bed, goodnight, and don't you dare wake me up tomorrow unless the world is ending." I point at Cora and she makes an X over her heart.
"Promise. Goodnight. LOVE YOU BITCH!" She yells as I reach the top of the stairs.
"Love you both! AND DO NOT FUCK ON MY COUCH!" I yell and slam the door. Good god sleep sounds like the best thing right now, well besides kissing Harry, but I can only have one of those things, because kissing him is not an option.