Moments || H.S

two ; mahogany ukulele

"Where did you find that?"

I look up to see Harry with furrowed brows. "What?"

"The ukulele," he laughs, sounding genuinely confused, "I swear you didn't walk in with that... did you? Did you walk into my house with a ukulele and I didn't even notice?"

"It was poking half out from under your bed, I grabbed it on my way past." I chuckle, holding the ukulele up higher. It's small and mahogany, little carvings making their way up the body of it. It's pretty. Harry nods thoughtfully, taking a seat next to me on the couch. We sit for a while, just talking, my soft playing of the ukulele filling the room.

"May I?" He asks, holding his hands out to me. I stop strumming and turn to face him completely, handing him the ukulele. He holds it in his arms, looking at me expectantly, "aren't you gonna to teach me how to play?"

I laugh, causing a gentle smile to raise to his lips. He looks so innocent, holding something as small as the ukulele. I lean forward, pointing to the bottom string on the 3rd fret. "That's a C." I say, watching him put a finger where I pointed, "ah yeah sorry- I didn't tell you... you're probably best to use your ring finger for that one." I correct. He nods, switching fingers and playing one single down strum. He looks up at me, beaming.

"I did it." He grins.

"You did, yeah. Now this one is just as easy, it's an-"

The sound of the front door flying open echoes throughout the house, interrupting my words. Harry looks up at me briefly before whipping his head around to the doorway. Voices trek their way around the rooms, a brunette boy eventually appearing before us.

"OI OI! LADS!" the brunette yells, turning his head slightly back to the hallway, "I found the kid. In the lounge room with a GIRL!"

Footsteps thunder towards us, and soon enough the one boy in the doorway turns into four boys staring at the two of us with wide eyes. Oh my god, what have I gotten myself into?

"Hey! That's my ukulele!" One boy cheers, breaking the silence as he pushes himself to the front of the group. He's blond, sporting a thick Irish accent. "I thought I lost that!"

I laugh awkwardly, and Harry turns to me for a moment. He mouths a sincere sorry.

"Alrighty, Harold. Introduce us, will ya'?" the tallest of the group says. The rest nod enthusiastically.

"Well... um. This is Ave... Avery Masters. We, uh-"

"We met at the X-Factor auditions." I finish Harry's sentence, looking to him. He nods in agreement.

"Nice! We all did too. I'm Liam." The tall one smiles at me, "nice to meet you, Avery Masters."

"I'm Niall." The blond one says, "that's my ukulele Haz is holding. It's pretty cool, aye?" I agree with him, making his smile grow larger and his cheeks turn slightly pink. 

"Zayn." Another introduces himself quietly, picking at his fingers. He seems shy but sweet. 

"And I'm Louis. Thought I'd save the best for last." Louis gives me two thumbs in excitement, "we're his bandmates... thought I'd add that in case you didn't know."

So, this was One Direction.

Weirdly enough, they are both everything and nothing like I anticipated. Harry doesn't mention the band as frequently as he should- I think wanting to spare my feelings from his up-and-coming success. It was an understatement to say that I was crushed after not getting through, but I've learnt to see the upside of it now.

 There was always a chance that if I did get through, my relationship with Harry could have been entirely different. There would be a level of unhealthy competition between us, much to my dismay. The way things are now are just better than any other possibility.

I give them a warm smile, "Nice to meet you, boys."