Carmen's POV

I have been listening to my father and Harry talk all night about The Beatles and Rolling Stones and Mick Jagger and all these other classic artists that they are both obsessed with. The. Entire. Time. I could not be more bored.

"Okay!" I exclaim, interrupting yet another argument. "Can we please talk about something else?"

My Dad laughs and Harry smiles at me. Neither could be more annoying right now.

"Sorry," my Dad says. "We can talk about anything you'd like. Anything at all."

"I found that book you wanted me to read," I tell him. I turn to Harry. "The reading thing comes from my father."

"Is that so?" Harry asks. "She's got a stack about ten books high on her desk, you know."

"In her bedroom?" my Dad asks. Harry's eyes go wide and I look at my father with a scolding expression. "What?"

"Dad, I live in a house full of girls and I'm not going to hang out where they can all listen in. All of my friends go in my room, it's not a big deal."

"Nothing happened," Harry butts in. I look at him with wide eyes. Not helping, Harry.

"How long are you staying?" I ask, switching the conversation desperately. "We have our last game at USC for a few weeks on Saturday and I was hoping-"

"I'm sorry, Angel," he says, smiling sadly at me. "I'm only here until Wednesday."

"Oh." I try not to look too disappointed, but the truth is that I'm devastated. It's been years since my father has been able to watch me play. "That's all right."

"I'm sorry," he repeats. "I really do want to watch you play, and I'll make sure the next time I'm back I'm here on a weekend so I can do that."

I nod and look at Harry, who tries to give me an encouraging smile. It doesn't work well, but it's nice to have him here. Otherwise I'd probably be a mess all night.

"How about dessert?" Dad suggests. I nod.

"I'll have what I always have," I say. "I'm just going to use the restroom. I'll be right back."

My Dad probably knows that I just need a minute; he's used to me being emotional when he's in town. The older I get the less I see him. Maybe he figures that I need him less, but I don't. I need at least one parent and most of the time I have none.

When I get in the restroom I take a few deep breaths and give myself a tiny pep talk. I can cry when I'm in bed tonight on my own. At my Dad's place, probably. The door opens and I immediately try to right myself, but I realize it's Harry and then I'm more alarmed than anything else.

"Shit, am I in the wrong bathroom?" I whisper harshly. He laughs and shakes his head. "Okay, then what the hell are you doing in here?"

"I wanted to make sure you're okay," he says, sliding his hands in his pockets. "I could see you were upset."

"Oh." That's incredibly sweet. "Umm...yeah, I think I'm okay. It just sucks." I try to smile, but it's pained at best.

"Yeah, I can imagine. Do you need anything?" He steps forward and I kind of wish he would hug me. I shrug and he steps forward again. "I'm here to help."

"I'm okay."

He smiles. "You don't have to be so tough all the time, you know."

I almost move to hug him, but then the door opens and an elderly lady steps in. She seems extremely surprised and I have to cover my mouth so I don't laugh at the expression on Harry's face.

"Sorry, I was just leaving," he says quickly. He looks back at me. "You're alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks, Harry."

He nods and steps around the woman, whose disapproving eyes stare me down for much longer than necessary. Stop judging, we weren't having sex. With one last look in the mirror I head back out to the table. When I sit down the dessert is on the table and my Dad and Harry are bonding again. Good to know they get along so well. It actually is nice, especially since I feel more emotional than I usually do when my father visits.

---

"You're staying at the apartment, right?" Dad asks me. I catch him look at Harry in the rearview mirror, and I realize he probably thinks Harry is my boyfriend. I guess it may have looked that way when I asked him to come with us, but still. I would have told him about something that huge since I've never had a boyfriend.

"Yeah, I'll sleep there tonight," I say. Harry sitting behind me seems to weigh on me, though. In a good way. "I just need to go back to the house first. Can I meet you there?"

"Sure, I'll drop you off. I can pick you up again when you're ready."

"I can drive her," Harry offers. "I live just down the street, anyway."

"You do?" I can't help but smile at the slight distaste in my Dad's voice. I always wanted a Dad around to act all protective and fatherly. "All right. I guess that's fine."

He pulls up to my house and Harry gives him the most pleasant of thanks and goodbyes before he gets out. When we walk up to the house I can't help but laugh.

"What?" he asks, laughing as well. I open the front door.

"You're such a kiss-ass," I say, walking through the house.

"Your Dad is scary! Plus, he's in the army. That's intimidating as fuck and I don't want him to hate me."

"Why?" I ask, walking backwards in the hall that leads to my room.

"Why what?"

"Why does it matter to you?"

I stop in front of the door and he pushes his fingers through his messy curly hair. I can imagine what my Dad thought of Harry's appearance, but I also know what I think about it. I love the way he looks. He's got all these adorable features that combine to make an incredibly sexy exterior. The hair, the dimples, the green eyes. That combined with his burly arms and the tattoos, not to mention the skinny jeans. It all combines- all contrasting looks- to make him irresistible, even to me. And right now his exterior seems nervous and unsure from my question. That makes me a little bit happy.

"Umm...you know, just because it's nice when people don't hate you," he says. I can see he's trying to keep a smile from his face. I think I just caught something, but I'm not sure if I want to call attention to it yet. Let's see where Harry takes this.

"Of course," I continue. "You wouldn't want that. But I'm not sure why it matters since we're friends and he's never here..."

"I guess," he says, stepping a little closer. "But to be fair, I think he thinks we're dating."

"Yeah, I got that feeling too." I laugh a little.

"So then it would matter," he says, small smile on his face as he looks at me.

"But it's not true," I remind him. He tilts his head to the side in thought.

"Maybe not. But it could be."

"Oh?" My heart starts beating fast and he places one hand on the doorframe behind my head.

"I mean, we would look good together," he says lowly. He looks down at me with blazing green eyes. "That old lady in the bathroom clearly thought we were doing something...provocative."

I laugh. "Yeah, you should have seen her after you left."

"She kind of ruined my moment," he says. His eyes flicker to my lips.

"What moment would that be?"

"I hadn't quite figured it out yet, but it would have happened if she hadn't walked in."

I nod. "That is unfortunate. For you, I mean. It really isn't much of a loss for me."

He raises his eyebrows. "I'm not going to lie, Carmen, that one hurt a little bit."

I laugh a little and he smiles a heart-stoppingly beautiful smile that makes my knees feel weak. I want to know what would have happened if we hadn't been interrupted earlier. Harry hasn't tried anything lately, other than holding my hand the other night, and I think he can tell that I want to see what's going to happen. Things are different with us now. While we're friends, there's also a flirtatiousness to our relationship that I've never experienced with anyone before. For the first time in my life I feel like I can be myself. He makes me feel like me, like I don't have to hide behind sarcasm or fear or try to be someone that I'm not. I really love that about him. I feel like I can trust him completely.

"Carmen..." He leans down a little closer to me and his eyes search my face for something to tell him what I want. I know what I want.

I hook one hand around the back of his neck and pull his lips down to mine. He's clearly surprised, but he kisses me back fiercely, his hands on my back so tight that there's no distance between us at all. My heart feels like it might explode right out of my chest and my stomach is in so many knots that I can't breathe, but it doesn't matter. I can't help but regret the way I've treated him before, but I can tell that none of that matters now. The hand that was on his neck slides up into his hair and the other one rests against his cheek. It's probably been a few days since he's shaved and he's sexy as hell.

He steps forward and walks me into the room, kicking the door shut with his foot. He sits down on the edge of the bed with me between his legs, but I take the initiative to bring my legs up to either side of his hips. There isn't a centimetre of space between us and I wish we could get closer somehow. His lips part mine easily and we breathe each other's air, his tongue is hot against mine and I want more. So much more.

But I get the opposite. Harry pries his lips from mine and our foreheads press together instead, our breaths heavy against each other's lips. I don't want to stop.

"Is something wrong?" I whisper nervously. He shakes his head immediately and I let out a breath.

"Nothing at all," he says. His hands are still moving slowly up and down my back. "But I did tell your father I would bring you to his place."

I smile. "This is pretty similar to what we did there."

He pulls back from me. "What?"

"His place is where we..." I take a deep breath and he raises his eyebrows. "That's where I took you. The night we met."

"Oh." He smiles slyly. "That's interesting. I wonder how he would feel about that."

"Oh trust me, he'll never know. He definitely wouldn't like you then."

He laughs a little and I reach up to push a few stray curls back from his forehead, his eyes closing as I do. A low hum rumbles in his throat and it makes my stomach clench.

"I really wish you didn't have to go tonight," he says quietly. His eyes open again and I smile small.

"Yeah," I breathe. I'm having an internal argument between going to spend time with my Dad or staying here with Harry. Not that I intend to sleep with him tonight, but it would be nice to have a little more time. But my father is only here every few weeks, or months, and I don't know when I'll see him again.

"Okay." I kiss him once more and climb off his lap. "I'm going to get my things."

He groans and tries to grab my hand, but I wriggle free and get my bag together for school tomorrow. I keep the basics at the apartment, so I have makeup and a toothbrush and everything at both places. All I need is clothes and I already called Marla to tell her I wouldn't be able to work in the morning. She completely understood, as usual, but now I have Harry here asking me to stay.

"When do you have practice tomorrow?" he asks, still sitting on my bed. I set my now full bag by the door and stand between his legs again, twirling some of his hair around my finger.

"It's at five," I tell him.

"Maybe I could come here after that," he suggests. "If you're not spending time with your Dad."

I can't help but smile. He's so thoughtful. "I'm not sure what he's doing, but I'll be staying at the apartment with him until he goes home again."

"Oh, okay." He smiles, but I can tell he's disappointed.

"Maybe you could come see him again," I suggest. He laughs a little.

"Maybe. I don't want to steal you from him, though."

"I'll be in class tomorrow. Maybe I'll see you at the library before my practice?"

He smiles. "There's a good chance of that."

"Okay." I sigh and force myself to walk away. "Let's go get your car."

"Alright fine," he says dramatically. I put my bag over my shoulder and he opens the door. "Your father has impeccable timing."

We walk down the street hand in hand, laughing about nothing and just joking around. Harry makes me feel lighter, somehow. Free, I guess. That's a good way to describe it. I'm not sure why I pushed him away so much before, but I regret it already. I guess if it got us here, then it'll have to do.

We pull up to my father's building in silence and I already feel sad about leaving. I want to spend more time with him. Which is crazy, since my father is never home; the timing is annoying. But then, if my father hadn't come then he might not have kissed me. I don't know. I've never felt like this before.

"Get out of my car," Harry says teasingly. I roll my head to the side to look at him. "Seriously, if you don't go now I'm going to kidnap you and take you back to my place."

My heart races at his words but I try to play it off. "Careful, Styles. My father is military, remember?"

"It would be worth it," he says. He leans across the console to kiss me. "Goodnight, Carmen."

"I'll see you," I mutter. I kiss him once more and get out of the car before I can convince myself otherwise. One last look back before I walk into the building makes me realize how much I already like Harry. I didn't even realize and I'm not sure how I missed it.

Notes

weeeeeeeeeee finallyyyyyyyyy

so...not sure where its going to go now :P we shall see. im excited :)

thanks for the votes!! please keep rating the story :)

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ps. i know i say vote all the time, but its actually called rate on the site...so i'll try to stop :P