Study Abroad (Harry Styles)

Chapter 8 - Family

I've texted my mom a couple of times to let her know my flight information. I also told her that I was bringing along a new friend I've met in London. I failed to tell her the fact that he's male, and she's obviously not surprised at the fact that I've already made a new friend. That's the thing about my family. They have no idea just how awkward I actually am. They have no idea how utterly self conscious I am. My family thinks I'm this crazy girl who loves life and makes friends on the spot. Which is not the case at all.

Yes, when I get comfortable with somebody, I do become quite an extrovert as I feel comfortable with them. I'm great at public speaking as long it's all people I know, but make me present an assignment in front of peers and I'm the epitome of pathetic. It's strange really. I don't know what you call me or this personality I have, but it's extremely annoying which is why I want to change it. It's why I love having Harry around me; he's changing me. Slow but surely, even though technically I haven't known the kid a whole day yet.

Smiling contently after my little banter with Harry about football, I hear my stomach growling. Harry obviously hears too, because he soon offers if I want to get something to eat. We still have about 2 hours to kill until we board, so I agree as there is no way I can make it all the way home without something in my stomach.

We look all around the airport for something to eat before deciding on a restaurant called 'Giraffe.' As soon as we're sat down, Harry opens the menu and I do the same. He's treading lightly, I can tell and I think it's because he doesn't know if he should talk or what he should say. It's an unfortunate situation. Little did he know that he woke up this morning he was going to be flying across the world with somebody he didn't even know yet.

"I'm going to completely honest with you," he starts cracking a small sad smile, "when you got that phone call, I immediately thought it was going to be your roommate trying to get you out of our date."

For the first time tonight, I laugh a genuine laugh. He's making the best out of this terrible situation, and I couldn't be any more thankful for him trying to take my mind off this situation, even if it's only for a little while. He has no idea how much this means to me. Harrys smiling now, realizing that his comment has brought some happiness to me. It's actually funny though. That's probably what I would have thought too. We hadn't even said anything else to each other besides hello, any normal person would have thought it was a way to get out of a situation.

"Does this count as our first date?" He asks, still smiling.

"You're cheeky, aren't you?" I decide to answer him by avoiding the question. He just hangs his head and smiles. The mood surprisingly has lifted a bit, all thanks to Harry.

Our waitress comes and greets us and asks us for our drink orders. For the record, I ordered a water and Harry ordered a lemonade.

"My mom is picking us up from the airport. She knows somebody is coming along, but I don't think she knows just exactly who it is. Just warning you. My brother will be there too, and he will probably be a dick towards you, as will my dad. Very protective, and your going to be the first guy I have them meet."

"You've never had a guy over before?"

"No." I look away, embarrassed. I know Harry would never openly embarrass me- he's proved that plenty of times, but I can only imagine what he's thinking.

Instead of making fun of me or not saying anything like I thought he would do, he simply asks "how?" I don't answer, so he takes this opportunity to completely make me uncomfortable by saying, "that's insane. I get that you may not be the one to make the first move, but how is it that no guy has ever made a move on you? You're beautiful, Charlotte."