olivia [zarry]

chapter five| like how I pictured it

[Part 2 of 2]

"You do know that you can blink, don't you?"

At that, Harry slowly does, and he's not entirely sure if that was the girl sitting beside him at the bar just then or just the voice in his head trying to talk some sense into him, but either way, it works.

He looks over, and the brunette sheepishly smiles at him, however, so he figures that it was her. She's very pretty and appears to be around his age.

"Excuse me?"

"Crap. I can't believe I just said that out loud." She covers her mouth and laughs slightly out of embarrassment. Harry can tell she's already had a few drinks. "It's just that, and I don't mean to be intrusive, but I've been sat here observing you for a while now, and I kept thinking, 'I know he's pretty, but you don't have to stare, bro,' you know?" Upon seeing his befuddled look, the girl subtly gestures over to where Zayn and Olivia are sitting at a booth not too far away.

Oh. He scoffs and straightens in his seat, scrunching his face up. "What? That's ridiculous. I'm not-" He pauses. "I'm sorry, do I know you?"

The stranger smirks at his words, lifting her glass to her lips to take a swig of her drink. "Wouldn't you know if you knew me?"

"I suppose I would," he allows. "... Harry." He extends his hand, because he's polite and has no one else to talk to at the moment.

"Alexis," she beams, shaking it. "I should have lead with that, shouldn't I?"

"I'm not sure the start of our conversation would have been as memorable if you did," he grins, and she follows suit. It's nice to make friends. "So what brings you here, Alexis? You all by yourself?"

She nods. "Well, currently I am, but I came here tonight with my roommates and best friend. They've ditched me to go off with their dates though, but I guess that's what I get for agreeing to be the fifth wheel. Shucks to be me, huh?"

Harry chuckles. "That's too bad. I seem to have found myself in a similar situation, actually, so I guess we're in the same boat." It's why he's found himself sitting at the bar alone. Nothing like being by yourself on New Years Eve, right? He wants to laugh at how pathetic he must seem as he sips at his drink and his eyes scan the crowd for his friends.

He easily spots Louis and Liam first. They're dancing enthusiastically in the middle of it, with hands sultrily pressed to hips and necks pressed against lips. Harry's surprised they haven't disappeared together yet. He's proud of them, actually.

Next, his eyes land on Niall, who's unsurprisingly snacking on something and chatting up a few girls nearby. He's grinning at them endearingly, and they're giggling at everything that he says. Niall was always good at charming strangers easily.

Ultimately, Harry's eyes come to a stop on Zayn, whose arm is wrapped around Olivia as she laces their fingers together and hits his chest with a laugh for something that he says. Zayn laughs as well and presses his lips to her forehead in apology, so Harry blows a breath out and finally turns to look away. His stupid eyes keep going back to them for some reason. They're traitors, really.

"That his girlfriend then?"

"Hmm?" He asks distractedly when he hears that, glancing over at Alexis whom he sort of forgot was there.

"The hot bird talking to your dark and handsome Greek god of a friend over there." She nods in their direction. "You said we're in the same boat, so I'm assuming they're together? I know it's none of my business, but I'm a sucker for things like this, and I think I'm invested at this point. How could I not be with how I've seen the way he keeps glancing over here and making eyes at you? And you're doing the same thing, so why aren't you with him right now?"