-Emily-

“Girls, he’s waiting outside! We have to go!” Maria shouted from the hallway. What? Liam was here already? No! I was nowhere near ready! Liam offered to pick us up since we decided to join the party tonight, even though I tried to convince them that it would be super awkward to crash some random dude’s party. Well, that was my excuse anyway… My real reason for not wanting to go was probably Harry. I didn’t really want to admit that to myself though, but I honestly didn’t want to see him. I don’t know if it was because I always felt so nervous and awkward around him, or if it was because I couldn’t stand another embarrassing moment like the one we had yesterday, even though nothing really happened. But I guess that was basically my problem. Nothing ever happened! Did I want it to? I wasn’t quite sure about that either… Al I know is that whenever I’m around him, I don’t think clearly. Add booze to that, and you know you’re headed to catastrophe.

I took one last glance in the mirror, finally deciding on an outfit. I was a bit unsure how to dress, since we didn’t know if we were heading out to a club after the party or not. But I guess that’s what so great about summer. You can practically wear anything you’d like! “I’m coming!” I shouted back at Maria as I grabbed my clutch and sandals and headed out to her.

Maria was rocking her new skirt with some heeled sandals. “Great! We really need to get going. He’s not allowed to park outside… Sarah? Eleanor?” She kept on shouting while glancing down at her phone.

“We’re here!” the two girls said in unison stepping out from Sarah’s room. Wow! They both looked amazing. Sarah in a tiger-printed t-shirt and denim shorts, and Eleanor in a flower-printed jumpsuit. I guess everyone had made an effort to look their best today.

---

As Liam parked the car I could already tell where the party was. There were actually a decent amount of people here and the music was load enough. “Who’s party is this again?” I said, as I shut the door closed, looking over at Liam, hand in hand with Maria.

“Oh, it’s Nick Grimshaw’s party. He’s a good friend of all of us, but he’s one of Harry’s closest friends,” Liam said as we started to walk towards the house. “I think the boys are already inside.” Great… I thought to myself as I started to feel the strangely familiar butterflies return to my stomach. I rushed over to Sarah and Eleanor so I didn’t have to walk inside alone.

When we reached the top of the stairs, Liam went on in without knocking. As soon as he opened the door I could hear loads of people chatting and singing to the music. “You made it!!” Louis shouted from the other side of the hallway, making his way over to us. “Come on in, you guys! We were just about to play some beer pong!”

Beer pong? I could live with that! I was actually pretty good at it! I remember playing it a lot during high school-parties when I was younger. “We’re in!” I said on behalf of the girls and myself. Maybe this wouldn’t be such a bad party after all.

When we got into the living room, I noticed that I almost didn’t know anyone. Well, I had seen some faces before in magazines and such, but I really didn’t have guts to go and speak to any of them. Instead I followed Louis who was already on his way to the kitchen where the beer pong was being played. Maria and Eleanor weren’t too keen on playing, so they stayed behind with Liam. We started pairing up into two teams. Louis and Sarah, who had somehow become best friends over the past week, decided they wanted to be on the same team. “But who am I supposed to be playing with then?” I said, crossing my arms playfully, while looking around the room. I didn’t know anyone.

“Uhm, you can team up with… NICK! Get over here!” Louis shouted over the load speakers playing ’99 Problems’ by Jay-Z. Nick must be the guys Liam talked about, the host of the night.

A tall and somewhat skinny guy started to make his way over to us, Nick I presume. I noticed how he had long brown hair, just like Harry. “You alright, Lou?” he said smiling while pulling his hand though his hair, just like Harry. God I have to stop this…

“Yeah, fine thank you!” Louis answered before introducing us to Nick. “Wanna play beer pong? We’re one short..” he continued.

“Beer pong? Yeah, sure! Why not!” Nick said cheerfully, taking a place beside me before continuing, “okay, Emily! Those bitches are going down!”

“Bitches?! Oh, you’re on!” Louis said back, before throwing the first ball into one of our cups. “Drink up!” he continued while high fiving Sarah.

---

After playing, laughing, drinking and shouting for about fifteen minutes, Nick and I finally managed to win. Louis, who weren’t too happy about it, decided to spill the remaining cups over the table, making a full on mess. However, since it was a party, people just started to laugh. The kitchen was packed with people by this point; people I still had no idea who was. The only people I knew were the ones playing and Maria and Liam standing next to me.

“Good job, Emily!” Nick said, giving me a fist bump. I smiled back at him. “So, I hear you’re from Norway? How did you meet the lads?” Nick then said, taking two beers from the fridge before handing one over to me.

“Oh, thanks! Yeah, I live here though, but the girls are visiting for the summer. It’s actually a funny story…” I started to say, before I realised I wasn’t very funny at all. “Uhm, well, we met Liam at a club one night and he and Maria hit it off. After they had gone out on a date we were all invited to a club later and that’s when we met the others.” I continued, leaving out the part about Harry and Sarah and the spilling of drinks. He was Harry’s friend after all.

“Oh, how nice! Well, I’m glad you guys could make it. It was nice meeting you!”

“Well, thanks for having us!”

“No problem!” Nick said while running his hand through his hair while smiling. Suddenly there was a load crash coming from the living room. “Uh, I have to go check on that. It probably looks like a hellhole in there by this point… “ he continued.

“Yeah, probably a good idea. See you later!” I said laughing at him as he left the kitchen, before turning towards Maria and Liam.

“I’m just gonna go to the bathroom. I’ll be back in two minutes.” I said, smiling at them. They were having some discussion about God knows what, and I really needed a break from all the noise and alcohol.

“Okay, do you want me to come with you?” Maria said, like any other girl would at a party.

“No, no! I’m fine. You stay here with Liam!” I reassured her, before heading up the staircase.

There weren’t too many people upstairs. I’m guessing it had something to do with the lack of room. The hallway was very narrow, not much room for people dancing and partying. I realised I had no idea where the bathroom was, so it took me a while before I could find the right door. Once I found the right one, I stepped inside and closed my eyes while leaning over the sink, feeling a little bit intoxicated. I took a deep breath before I fixed my makeup in the mirror and decided to head back out. I turned the doorknob to open the door, but was surprised as someone stepped inside, instead of letting me out. Well, it wasn’t just anyone. It was Harry.

“What do you think you’re doing!?” I said as he closed the door behind him. We locked eyes and stared deeply at each other whiteout speaking for the second time in twenty-four hours. The feeling that I had felt the last time returned to my stomach, and I was suddenly lost for words- again! What is he doing? Did he follow me? Why won’t he let me out? I began to think to myself.

He chewed on his lower lip while he kept his eyes locked on mine. The pit in my stomach grew as he took a step closer to me. I knew exactly where this was going - I could see it in his eyes. He came closer and I suddenly found myself trapped with nowhere to go. Not that I wanted to go, but this wasn’t exactly how I planned my night. Just as I opened my mouth to ask him what he was doing, I was cut short by his lips crashing into mine. He pushed me against the wall behind me, as we kept on moving our lips in unison. It felt so great. This feeling. I didn’t know how much I’d missed his touch until now as his hands were everywhere in what felt like seconds. I couldn’t help but let out a faltering breath from my mouth as he left a trail of kisses down my neck. I ran my hand through his long curly hair, begging him not to stop.

We practically stumbled over each other as we moved over away from the wall before he lifted me up to sit on the sink. But we didn’t break the kiss once. I felt the want in between my legs as he stepped in between them, still kissing me hungrily. I could feel the smirk on his lips, knowing how weak I was right now. I hated how he had this effect on me, like I couldn’t control myself when I was around him. His body was pressed into mine and I could feel the warmth coming from his body. I reached my hand up to his neck before breaking the kiss. Our faces hovered next to each other, out noses toughing, his breath fanning my face rapidly. He moved forward to reconnect our lips, but every time he tried to do so, I moved further away, teasing him. He gave out a breathless laugh before he began smirking. “Stop teasing me,” he said as he stroked my lips with his thumb.

I smiled up at him, feeling confident with him for once, and pressed my lips back to his. Harry’s fingers dug into my hips, pulling me towards him. He began kissing and nipping at my neck once again, so I leaned away to give him some space. God I wanted him so badly right now! He started to push up my top, his hand moving up to cup my breasts, and that’s when I wondered how many times he had done this before. But then I quickly remembered how that didn’t matter. I so wanted him to carry on. I couldn’t stop myself from letting out a little sound begging him for more. But then he suddenly broke our kiss and looked at my face, studying my reaction. No, don’t stop! my inner thought screamed. He smiled a soft smile at what must have been a very shocked face. He reached up and kissed me on the forehead before he smiled at me once again. I felt his hands leave me as he started to pull away, but I wasn’t able to move. He walked towards the door, opening it, before he turned back around to face me. He smiled his cheeky grin and then put his finger in front of his lips, as if to say “shhh.” Then he left.

I sat there for what felt like minutes, completely taken by surprise and lost for words. I scrambled myself and got down from the sink before I took a look at myself in the mirror. I tried to fix my hair that was all over the place and quickly applied some more makeup before leaving the bathroom. What just happened? What was all that about? I thought to myself as I moved down the stairs back to the party. What did he mean by, ‘shhh’? Did he want this to be a secret?

“There you are! I’ve been looking all over for you!” Maria said as she stepped in front of me.

“Oh… hi! Uhm, yeah sorry… I got lost,” was all I could say. I wasn’t one to keep things from my friends, but somehow I felt like I should listen to what Harry had meant. What ever that was...

“Well, okay. At least you’re here now! You can come and sit with me and my new friends!” she said cheerfully, before dragging me along towards the backdoor leading to the backyard. I still couldn’t get my mind off what had just happened, but gave Maria a soft smile as I followed her outside.

-Sarah-

“Sarah, it’s your turn to go get us some beers!” Niall said cockily from the other side of the couch.

“Yeah, Sarah! Get me another one too, would ya’?” Louis and Ashton both agreed.

“I would, if you would just be so kind to ask me nicely! I’m not your servant!” I said pretending to be offended.

Ashton, who was sitting next to me, leaned closer and pouted. “Please, sweet Sarah! Would you be so kind and go get some beers for me and the other lads?” I couldn’t help myself from laughing. That was the lamest attempt at puppy-dog-eyes I have ever seen, but I smiled back thankfully and got up from the couch.

“Thank you,” I heard all of them shout behind be. I snorted. Guys…

I grabbed four beers from the fridge, one for each of us, and headed out of the kitchen again. The rest of them can get one themselves, I thought to myself, but my thoughts were suddenly elsewhere when I saw a bunch of girls giggling at the other side of the room. I stopped in my tracks when I saw who they were giggling at. Harry. He stood talking to one of the girls while leaning against the wall. He was flirting with them. The girls were all obviously trying too hard to get his attention, not that it seemed like he minded it. He looked like he rather enjoyed himself – right in his element – surrounded with girls completely mesmerized with him.

He crossed his arms and cocked his head to one side as one of the girls moved closer to whisper something in his ear. His face looked shocked at whatever she had said to him before he started grinning his cheeky grin. He was flirting back! That asshole! I can’t believe he was doing this right here – at the same party as Emily was at. I took a look around, trying to spot her, but she was nowhere to be seen. I hadn’t seen her in almost two hours to be honest, since not since we played beer pong. I knew how much she liked Harry. Even though she wouldn’t admit it herself, it was obvious how much she had grown to like him. I can’t say I understand why, but she was still my friend, and no one messes with my friends.

I saw Harry place his hand on the back of one of the giggling girls and suddenly dropped one of the beers from my hand. It made a load crash as the glass broke and the beer spilled all over the floor. I knew that many had now turned their attention to me, who just simply stood there like an idiot, but I kept my eyes locked on Harry’s. Once he turned around to see where the noise came from and met my eyes, his face turned from being amused to confused. I kept my eyes locked on his, staring at him angrily, but after a few seconds had gone by, he shock his head and turned his attention back to the girls as if nothing had ever happened. What a jerk, I thought to myself. I tried to look for Emily again, and thanked god that she didn’t have to see him right now. I looked down at the mess I had made and headed back to the kitchen for some kitchen-roll to clean it up with and grabbed a new beer.

I gave the beers to the guys, but quickly excused myself to go find Emily. She had to be here somewhere! I thought I had looked everywhere when I heard a load and familiar laughter. Maria! Maybe she knows where she is! I followed the laughter outside to the backyard and felt a wave of relief as I saw Maria and Emily sitting with a bunch of people drinking and talking. I walked over to them and smiled at them.

“Heyyy, you,” she slurred, clearly drunk. “Where have you been?”

“Hi yourself! You’re a bit drunk aren’t you?” I said laughing at her. She was never drunk, well not like this anyway.

“Yeaaaah. They made me do it!” she said, pointing at a couple sitting on the other side of the table who lifted their hands in defence.

I laughed at her again, “I’m sure they did. Look, maybe we should head home soon?”

“No! Why??” she said now sad. God, she was being such a baby.

“You’re leaving?” Maria jumped in, also looking sad.

“Well, it’s getting late and I want to be able to get you two home while you’re both still able to walk by yourself,” I then said taking a seat next to Emily.

“Fiiine…” they said in unison, which only made them both crack up. Well, at least they were having fun!

“Right. I’ll call a taxi. You two wait here!” I said pointing at them.

“Alright, mum!” Emily said jokingly before downing the rest of her drink.

---

On our way home, both of the girls were rambling, not making any sense. Instead of listening to them, I turned my attention out the window, not really looking at anything. All I could think about was how glad I was that they were having a good time, and how glad I was that Emily didn’t have to see the way Harry was tonight. I knew I had to tell her, but telling them now when they were this drunk didn’t seem like such a good idea. No. I would tell her tomorrow when she was sober. Then I would tell her what a complete asshole Harry was, and that she should be happy that nothing else had happened between them.

Notes

Dun dun duuun! So, what did you think?

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