"When in a relationship, a real man doesn't make his woman jealous of others, he makes others jealous of his woman." - Steve Maraboli


Harry's POV


"Hey, I remember you!" Louis exclaimed, shaking the guy's hand while I stood there looking stupefied. "You worked at that diner me and Harry went to."

"Yeah." Connor nodded his head before averting his gaze to my direction. "How have you two lads been?" He asked us with a smile.

I cleared my throat with a cough, suddenly capable of speaking again. "Eh-I mean, life has been pretty good. And yourself?" I returned the question.

"Same here. I'm taking an art class at Cambridge this summer, and it's been great. My teacher is pretty amazing," Connor gushed. I raised my eyebrows at him in suspicion before crossing my arms.

"My girlfriend works as an apprentice with this artist there too. You're talking about Armando Rivera, right?"

"Yeah, he's an absolute genius. I had no idea Lucy was your girlfriend though," He confessed. "She's never mentioned having a boyfriend before."

"That's probably because we recently got together. Anyway, Louis and I have a few more errands to run, but we'll see you around, yeah?" I forced a smile no matter how much it was killing me to be so polite.

"Sure. You guys should stop by Al's diner sometime with your girlfriends again. Free drinks on me," Connor promised us.

"Cool, we'll have to think about it. See you later mate," Louis called back to him as we walked in the opposite direction.

Once Connor was no longer in my sight, I ran a hand through my curls and scoffed. There was just something about him that made me uneasy, and I knew Louis could tell because he bumped my hip with his elbow. I glanced back at him with my eyebrows furrowed, lips set in a frown.

"You okay, Haz?" He asked softly. "You seemed a little tense back there."

"I'm fine," I snapped. "I just don't want that Connor guy to get any ideas about stealing my girl. Something about him never sat well with me," I admitted as we approached my apartment complex.

"I dunno. He seems like a decent lad. I wouldn't be so quick to judge if I was you," Louis joked, cracking a smile.

"Yeah, yeah." I rolled my eyes while taking out the keys to the front door. "I think I'm going to give Lucy a call once we get upstairs."

"That may not be the best idea," He advised with caution. "She and Anya are having a girl's night. No boyfriends allowed."

"I'm sure she can make an exception just for me." I winked back at him as I opened the lobby door. Louis shook his head with a faint smirk and followed close behind me while I ascended the stairs.

It wasn't long before we reached my floor or before our breathing finally evened out. Louis was still bent over beside me, gripping his knees while complaining about the flight of stairs we walked up despite the fact that my building had an elevator. I laughed off his comments and unlocked the door to my apartment, tossing my keys onto the table once I came inside.

I plopped down onto the sofa and stretched my legs out in front of me as I scrolled through the contacts on my phone. Once I reached Lucy's name, I clicked her number and decided to send her a text message first just to be safe.

To Lucy:

Hey babe. Are you busy right now?

Sent at 11:12 am

"Hey Harry? What the hell happened to all of your food?" Louis called from the kitchen.

I smiled in satisfaction as I thought back to the events that occurred in the previous night. Lucy couldn't keep her lips and tongue away from the delicious meal I prepared for the two of us, and neither could I.

She's the only girl I've ever cooked for besides my sister.

Before I got the chance to respond to Lou, my phone vibrated in my hand, and I viewed the IM that opened up on my screen.

From Lucy:

Sort of. Anya is making popcorn for a movie marathon we're about to have. What's up?

Sent at 11:17 am

To Lucy:

Nothing much. I went to the store with Louis and had fun watching him explain to the cashier why he was buying a bottle of lubricant. It was funny :-)

Sent at 11:18 am

"Did you check the pantry Lou?" I asked him once I received confirmation that my message had been sent.

"Oh, no. I didn't," He replied as I laughed quietly to myself. "That explains a lot."

From Lucy:

Omg. Those two are like cats in heat.

Sent at 11:20 am

I laughed even louder at Lucy's text and ended up receiving looks of confusion from Louis in the kitchen. Turns out he isn't the only one with a hilarious girlfriend.

To Lucy:

You mean like we were last night? ;)

Sent at 11:22 am

"You really need to do some grocery shopping, Harry," I heard Louis say as he came back into the living room carrying a bowl of sun chips and two diet cokes.

He handed me one of the Coca-Colas and reached for the remote control to turn on the telly. I stopped paying attention to him once he began surfing the channels and sent another text to Lucy.

To Lucy:

I don't know about you, but I certainly had a good time.

Sent at 11:25 am

From Lucy:

I can't believe we're having this conversation. I'm blushing so hard right now. You already know I did as well Harry...

Sent at 11:25 am

To Lucy:

When can I see you again? I want to take you somewhere special.

Sent at 11:28 am

From Lucy:

You can pick me up after work on Wednesday so I guess then. :)

Sent at 11:29 am

"Hey, there's a match on!" Louis nudged my shoulder to get my attention.

I typed a quick 'goodbye' message to Lucy before shutting down my phone and grabbing a handful of chips. The rest of my afternoon was well spent on watching the game with Louis while we stuffed our faces in chips, but every so often my thoughts would drift back to Lucy and the memory I had of holding her in my arms as she slept at night. And that was when I realized I hoped I never had to let her go.

To Lucy:

See you soon baby.

Sent at 11:32 am

Notes

Holy guacamole! Over 40,000 of you awesome people have viewed this story. I literally dropped my fiber one bar to the floor when I saw this, but that's okay. I'm so thankful for those of you who continue to support me in my journey to finish Picture Perfect. It's been an amazing ride so far, and I hope you will decide to stick around just a little longer to see how this lover's tale ends.

Please comment, vote, & subscribe if you haven't already. It means the world to me when you do <3

PS. Did anyone see the billboard music awards last night? Our boys looked dashing, and that shout out to Zayn was pretty sweet too. ;)

Love
-M