It had been 3 days since Ranae and Amy last saw the band and Amy was already smiling and texting away none other than Niall.

"You know you look really stupid smiling at your phone, Amy," Ranae finally told her.

They were off-duty that day and having lunch before heading down to their favourite thrift store to grab some good finds. Their friends or co-workers admire their sense of style without knowing that almost every outfit they had on them cost them less than 20 pounds. Amy always looked out for classic vintage items like denim blouses or pastel sweaters then pair them up with with simple leggings or skirts. Ranae had a more laid-back style of loose fitting striped tops or fennel shirts with jeans and sneakers. Their friends back in school used to joke that Ranae and Amy make a good lesbian couple since Ranae could passed off as a tomboy. Besides her dressing, everything about her was soft and sensitive as opposed to Amy who was more hardheaded. Differences aside, Amy and Ranae made the best partners-in-crime who always have the best time of their lives when they were together.

"But he's so...cute!" Amy squealed before she lowered her voice and whispered, "he asked me if we could hang out!"

Ranae took a bite of the garlic bread and let out a soft laugh. "Amy, I'm sure he's nice but are you sure you wanna..."

"Oh come on, Ranae! What could possibly happen right? And by the way, when I said we, I meant you and me with the rest of them!"

Ranae quickly took a sip of her iced tea as she was almost choking on the bread again. "No way, Amy. I am not gonna end up being hated by random people on Twitter, Instagram, wherever just because of them. I like to keep it low, you know that!" Ranae retorted.

"Ranae, I think you've stayed in your shell for far too long. You hardly hang out with a guy for more than a day!"

"And that's because I don't want to and you know why," Ranae answered flatly.

"Those guys in uni were dickheads, come on. They're bunch of geeks who only appreciate those girls with their boobs hanging out."

Ranae almost choked on the bread again. "Amy, I'm eating, damn it! Look, it's not that I'm all hurt over what they said about me. I know my self-worth. And that's the exact reason why I'm not going to hang out with them. I'm fine with seeing them around when we're on duty and all but not more than that. No way."

"Fineeeee," Amy whined. "But I am going to go see them tonight, at Niall's. They are bringing their girlfriends over too."

"Well have fun then. And please, don't do anything stupid," Ranae warned.

"I won't, I promise. But you gotta drive me over."

"What? Why? Can't you take the bus or something? Or ask Niall to pick you up?"

"Ray, I don't know what bus goes there. And plus, he doesn't drive. You've got a GPS which makes it all easy. Come on, it's the least you could do, pleaseeeeee."

"Fine. But I'm not picking you up. Take a cab home or something. I'm gonna have an early night. We're on duty tomorrow, remember?"

"Yes, I remember. Now come on, enough stuffing those garlic bread in your mouth. You gotta help me pick up something nice for me to wear later!"

-

Harry was about to enter Niall's apartment with a pack of beer and two pizza boxes when he heard a car pull in. It was a black mini cooper with tinted windows and for a moment he was afraid it was a pap since he could not see the people who were inside it. Not until the door opened and he saw Amy come out and then waving goodbye as the car drove off. When Amy looked at his direction, she waved and jogged towards him.

"Hello Harry, need help?" Amy asked seeing his hands full.

"Hi Amy, thanks," he smiled and then told her, "you could help me get the door."

"You look nice by the way," he added on as they entered the apartment. "Ranae's not coming?"

"Aw, thanks Harry. Nope, she's not unfortunately," Amy replied and then waved at the people who were already inside the apartment.

-

After playing a few rounds of Monopoly while eating pizza and drinking tons of beer, they were beginning to feel lethargic but did not want the night to end just yet. So Niall suggested to order more pizza and while they waited for their order to arrive, the boys figured they should get to know Amy a little bit more.

"So how's uni like? I mean, I ask Eleanor all the time but how's yours?" Louis asked Amy.

Amy gave a sheepish grin before she answered, "Uni was alright. Just glad to have Ranae around."

"You two are very close, huh?" Liam remarked. "Were you guys in the same class all the time?"

"Yeah, sort of since we're course-mates. We're just glad we're done with it," Amy laughed.

"So you intend to work in a hospital someday? Or set up your own clinic?" Eleanor asked, cheerfully.

Amy hesitated and rubbed her hands nervously. "I don't know actually, haven't got that figured out. Just hoping after volunteering, I would get a better idea. Ranae's got her mind set though. She's like that."

"Aw, I'm sure you will figure it out soon, Amy," Eleanor reassured her since she knew how it felt after graduating recently too.

"Yeah, I hope so. Ranae's all set to travel to places like Ghana and those places that need medical help especially for children. I mean I would love to, that's why I signed up to be a medical volunteer at Operation Smile but I'm not sure if I'm gonna be as strong as her to be miles away," Amy explained, trying her best not to sound overly emotional in front of people she hardly knew.

"It's hard, really," Zayn said looking at his fiance, Perrie, who was sitting next to him and smiled. "But in time you learn to make it work."

Just then, they heard the bell ring and Niall went charging towards the door screaming, "OH YEAHHHHHH!"

-

The next day Amy was late by half an hour for her duty at St Thomas Hospital that Ranae had to come up with a reason, telling Sara that Amy was having a bad stomach in the morning. Sara told her to ask Amy to stay at home and rest anyway since they were not short-handed that day. Ranae was annoyed at first but brushed it off the moment she saw Joshua, the 3-year-old boy who have been at the recovering ward for almost a week.

"Hey there, Joshie," she greeted him as she stroked his soft cheek gently. Joshua was still on medication to hasten the recovery so he was sound asleep. Ranae took the file from the end of his bed and checked for any updates on his recovery. She then pulled the blanket up to cover his shoulders when she saw him shivering slightly. "You'll be fine, munchkin," she whispered with a smile.

She checked the time on the watch strapped around her wrist and figured it was time for her lunch break. She left Joshua's room and made her way to the cafeteria at the first floor.

She felt rather lonely since Amy wasn't around so she decided to sit at a corner hidden away from other people. She should have given Amy a call so she could accompany her while she had her lunch but after what happened, she was not in the mood at all to talk to her at that point of time. She unwrapped her sandwich and took a bite while she checked the newsfeed on her Instagram.

"Is this seat taken?" she heard a man's voice asking her.

Without looking up she told him, "yes it is, there are plenty of other seats at the other corner."

The man sat with her anyway and went, "someone's bitter today."

She was perplexed by the man's inability to sense that she wanted to be alone so she frowned and finally looked up to him.

"Harry?"

He nodded and then smiled and waved. He placed his right elbow on the table and then faced her with his head resting on his hand. "Are you alright?"

Ranae blinked her eyes and then frowned. "What are you doing here? I thought you guys are with Jeff today."

"Nah, we were called out for an interview this morning at the last minute and then I thought I swing by to pay the kids here a visit," he explained before flashing another smile and stressed on the next few words, "Sara let me."

Ranae took another bite of her sandwich and nodded before she shifted her attention back to her phone.

"Why are you hiding here all by yourself, huh?" Harry asked.

Ranae blew the fringe that was on her face and sandwich and then answered, "I'm not hiding. Just wanted to have my lunch in peace."

"I'm not disturbing your tranquility, am I?"

Ranae snorted, "No, you're not, Harry." She looked up at him asking, "Have you eaten?"

"Yeah, I'm good. But your sandwich looks nice though, can I have some?"

Ranae frowned again and her jaw dropped slightly. "You're not being serious are you?"

"Why not? You're always clean, aren't you? Sanitised," Harry said sarcastically trying hard not to laugh.

"Oh, now you're disturbing my tranquility, mister. Go pick on someone your own size," Ranae defended herself.

Harry shook his head and laughed. "I was kidding! I'm sorry."

Ranae was left with a small piece of the sandwich and before she could put it in her mouth, Harry leaned forward and took the piece in his mouth. His mouth also caught the tip of Ranae's index finger and thumb, making her flinch. As he pulled the piece away from her hand, he looked up to meet her hazel eyes. When he realised that she was clearly not pleased with what he did, his playful smile faded as he drew back, munching on the sandwich softly.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have," he murmured nervously.

Ranae wiped her fingers with a napkin and smiled half-heartedly. "It's alright. I'm fine. Anyway, my lunch break is over. You wanna go upstairs to meet the children?"

Harry nodded, avoiding eye contact with her and followed her closely from behind. "I'm sorry," he mumbled under his breath again but Ranae did not utter a word.

Notes

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