Harry's POV

Oh fuck. She does not look impressed.

When Carmen starts walking towards me I stand from my place on the front step. Her friend waves and walks right by us, Carmen stopping in front of me. Her her is pulled back in a ponytail, her cheeks rosy either from practice or from being angry with me. She's wearing a dry-fit tanktop and baggy sweatpants and honestly, she looks hot as hell.

"What are you doing here?" she asks. Irritation is evident in her tone and suddenly I don't even remember why I came here in the first place.

"Umm..."

She folds her arms and raises her eyebrows, waiting for me to explain myself. I don't know why I ever thought this would be a good idea.

"I wanted to talk to you," I finally choke out. Smooth, Harry, good start.

"Okay..."

"Umm...okay look, I know you don't like me." She laughs a little and rubs her forehead. I don't see this going as well as I'd hoped. "But we're both friends with Liam and we go to the same school so we're going to cross paths."

"Harry, this isn't high school," she says tiredly. "We don't have to be friends."

"I know, I just think for Liam's sake maybe we should at least try to get along," I explain. She sighs. "He doesn't need to be constantly playing referee between us."

She bites her bottom lip and looks away from me, probably mulling over my reasoning. I know the key to getting her to tolerate me would be using Liam as an excuse. I plan on sticking around and it's true, we share a friend that is going to eventually grow tired of listening to our bickering. Well, more listening to her hate me while I flirt like a wimp.

"Fine," she says finally. "I guess Liam doesn't need to listen to us fight all the time."

"To be fair, I don't try to fight with you. You just hate me for no reason," I tease, smirking at her. She rolls her eyes.

"This is going to be a lot harder than I thought," she mumbles. She steps up to her door. "If you want me to try to pretend to be your friend, you're going to have to stop calling me Carter."

"I just get confused." She rolls her eyes again as she opens the door and I just laugh. It's so easy to get her going.

"Goodnight, Harry."

"See you around, Carmen."

When I use her real name she smiles at me. It's small, but it's there and that's a start. After she disappears I just stand there for a minute, smiling at the door like a fucking creep. I don't know what this girl is doing to me. Why do I decide to feel like this about someone that can't stand the sight of me?

I finally make myself leave the house. When I get to the end of the driveway the front door opens and a girl I recognize from when we were here this morning runs over to me.

"Hi," she says happily. She looks back at the house and then to me. "I'm Kayla, I'm a friend of Carmen's."

She holds her hand out for me to shake. "I'm Harry."

"How do you know Carmen?"

"Uh..." Oh, we fucked last weekend and now I can't get her out of my head. "I live with her friend Liam."

"Oh, okay." she nods and I can see that she's trying not to smile. She can probably see that I'm lying. "Anyway, I just wanted to say that she might seem like a bitch, but she really isn't."

I laugh and scratch the back of my neck. "I don't think she's a bitch."

"She was sure acting like one with you a few minutes ago."

"Nice to know you were listening," I joke. She just laughs and shrugs.

"We don't have a lot of secrets in that house. Anyway, Carmen really is a nice girl. She just doesn't really let people into her life very easily, so she acts like she hates people more than she actually does. My guess is that the harder she pushes the more she actually cares about you."

"I'll keep that in mind." Since she pushes me away like I'm a serial killer.

"Have a good night," she chirps. She heads back into her house and I find myself walking back to my own wondering how I'm going to do this.

I've never had to try this hard. That sounds really arrogant, but it's true. I've never really had to chase girls before, they're just there. Carmen is different; she doesn't fall for the playful gestures or subtle comments. None of that works on her and maybe that's why I'm so intrigued by her. She's not like other girls.

Maybe that's why I can't get her out of my head.

---

"Harry, what the hell is wrong with you? Relax, mate. Have a beer or something, you're driving everyone crazy with your pacing."

I roll my eyes at Liam and plop down on the couch, my knee bouncing incessantly while I look at the window every five seconds. Now all the boys have figured it out and it's annoying as fuck for me.

Yes, I like Carmen. As much as I hate to admit it. It's been about two and a half weeks since we agreed to get along for Liam's sake and it's actually working. Mostly. She still snaps at me sometimes and I can't help but try to get a rise out of her since it's so easy. I know she's not going to flip because of Liam, so it's even funnier for me. I don't do it to be a pain in the ass, I just really don't have another way of interacting with her since she doesn't have real conversations with me very easily. Teasing is all I've got.

Tonight Carmen and her friend Ivy are coming over to watch some movies and just hang out. Liam wanted to do something fun for her since her volleyball season officially starts next weekend and she won't be able to party at all, but she wanted to have a low-key night with a few people and some drinks. Honestly, I'm glad she didn't want to have a party. It would be a lot harder for me to talk to her and a lot easier for her to avoid me.

I'm pathatic. I know.

"When are they coming?" I ask for the thousandth time.

"You have a problem," Liam says. "Why don't you just ask her out and get it over with?"

"Who says I want to ask her out?"

He rolls his eyes. "Don't try to pretend, Harry. this trying to be friends thing was a good ploy, but it's not getting you anywhere."

"She agrees to hang out with me, doesn't she?" I bite back.

"When there's other people around," he says. "Usually me. I'm tired of looking at you stare at her like a creep."

"I don't stare at her," I mumble, folding my arms and slouching down in my chair. I know I'm not getting anywhere. I don't need anyone pointing out my pathetic attempt at getting Carmen to like me.

When the front door opens I have to stop myself from jumping up and running over there. Carmen walks in, her hair hanging straight like it usually is. It reaches about half way down her back, an impressive length since she's taller than most girls. She's wearing a loose tshirt and sits perfectly on her hips and baggy jeans with rips in the front that are rolled so they end a few inches above her ankles. She could probably make a garbage bag look sexy.

"Hey," she calls. Her friend Ivy comes in behind her and Liam walks over to hug Carmen. He always fucking hugs her. Why doesn't she hug anyone else?

"You brought the good stuff," Liam jokes, taking the coolers out of Carmen's hand. She punches his arm and follows him into the kitchen, Ivy behind them. Carmen doesn't like beer at all and she says she doesn't handle shots well, so she usually just drinks coolers. She's a huge lightweight, so it works apparently.

I watch her hop up on the counter, swinging her legs out and telling Liam a story. She's so fucking open with him, she tells him everything. I could ask her a question only to get a one word answer and Liam could ask the exact same thing and get a fucking speech. And whenever she opens her mouth he looks like she's a goddess or something, telling the most interesting story in the history of the world. I don't understand how he got to be so close with her. I think he spends more time with Carmen that with his fucking girlfriend.

Louis, Niall and Zayn come down the stairs next. Louis has a giant crush on Ivy, Carmen's friend, and she's basically in love with him. Why can't it be that easy for me? Fucking Louis.

"Stop killing them with your mind," Zayn says, sitting on the other couch. I tear my eyes away from the four of them and Niall sits beside me. When I glare at him he moves. I want Carmen to sit there.

"You need to figure your shit out," Niall says, sitting next to Zayn. "This is getting ridiculous."

"I don't know what you're talking about," I say calmly.

"You're an idiot," Zayn says.

"Do you think I'm not trying?" I say quietly. "Fuck off."

They don't get it. To say Carmen is hard to get would be the understatement of the century. She's gorgeous, funny, athletic, smart, fun, she doesn't care about what anyone thinks and, despite the fact that I've already slept with her once, incredibly unattainable to the male species. Apparently I'm not the only one that's tried, according to Liam, but I am the only one that's stuck it out while she's basically pretending I don't exist.

"If you don't do something tonight I'm going to say something to her," Niall says, smiling at me.

"You better fucking not," I warn.

He shrugs. "You should probably make a move, then."

Fucks sake. They need to leave me alone.

"You guys piss me off," I mumble, standing from the couch and heading to the kitchen. The ones in there are already drinking, so I take a beer from the fridge and lean against the counter next to where Carmen is sitting. This is way too much pressure for me. I'm usually alright with girls, but that doesn't mean I don't get nervous.

"Hi."

I can't help but look surprised when Carmen says hello to me. She instigates a conversation? Never. When I don't respond she rolls her eyes.

"Dont look so surprised," she says. "I am capable of being nice."

"Could have fooled me," I tease.

"I'm not that bad."

"My self esteem has taken a major hit from you."

She rolls her eyes again. "I highly doubt that. And even if it did, you were way too confident anyway."

I laugh a stupid, giddy laugh. Even if she's insulting me, she''s talking to me without any encouragement or instigation from anyone else and to me that's progress. I'll take what I can get.

"What did you bring today?" She holds up her bottle so I can read the label. "Mike's hard. Classic choice."

"Don't make fun."

"I'm not, those are actually really good." She takes a sip, eyeing me while she does probably to see if I'm serious or not.

"Well you can have one if you want," she says quietly. She looks away from me, taking a longer sip. Apparently being nice to me doesn't come easy.

"Thanks." She nods and I look over at Liam, who is of course watching us with a stupid smirk on his face. Why can't they be cool.

"What movies did you bring?" Louis asks. Carmen hops down from the counter, her arm brushing mine as she does. Fucking goosebumps on my arms, what is that shit?

"I brought a bunch so we could choose," she says. "I've got Titanic, The Heat, 21 Jump Street and Safe Haven."

"The Heat," Niall calls from the living room. Everyone agrees and we move into the living room. I make sure to sit on the couch I was on before. I told the boys that if they sat beside me before Carmen had a seat I would personally cut hem in their sleep.

It's strange watching Carmen interact with the boys. If she and Liam have been friends for so long I'm not sure how we've never met her until now. The last two weeks she's been hanging out here a lot more and all the boys like her now. She likes them, I think, and Liam likes that she is finally spending time at our house. The volleyball girls aren't exactly the most pleasant, so I don't think he likes going there all that much.

"Liam, do you guys have popcorn?" Carmen asks once the disc is in. He nods as she heads back to the kitchen and starts to get up.

"I'll help," I offer. Everyone smiles at me as I stand from my seat, but I just flip them all off and walk towards Carmen.

"It's here," I tell her, reaching up to one of the cupboards. "We should probably make a few bags."

"I can do it," she offers, taking one out of my hands.

"Can I still steal one of your fruity drinks?" I ask. She nods and places a bag on the microwave. I would never drink this lemonade shit at a party, but it tastes so fucking good.

"It's starting!" Louis yells. He's sitting on the ground leaning against Ivy's legs. I don't even think they've done anything yet and he's got an in with her. I don't get it.

"Then pause it!" Carmen shouts back. I raise my eyebrows at how aggressive her tone is. "Sorry. It's basically my favourite movie."

"Lou is annoying as fuck, yell at him all you want."

She laughs and takes the complete bag out, shoving the next one in while I pour the finished one into a bowl. I can't help the stupid smile on my face every time she laughs or smiles at something. It's contagious.

"Have you seen it?" she asks.

"What?"

She rolls her eyes. "The movie, Harry."

"Oh. No, I haven't. Is it good?"

"It's so funny." The next bag finishes and she quickly puts it in a bowl before getting herself another drink. "Come on, if they want more they can make it themselves."

"Alright," I laugh. I grab a few more beers in my free hand and put them on the table with the bowl of popcorn. Carmen keeps on with her and sits exactly where I hoped she would. I probably can't really do anything, but she's next to me and that's something, right?

I find myself watching Carmen more than the movie; she definitely wasn't lying when she said she loves this movie. She is practically laughing the entire time and that's the only reason I end up laughing. I'm not even sure what the plot was, but I did catch a bunch of lines that were pretty funny.

"Melissa McCarthy kills me," Liam says when it's over. He looks at his watch and settles back into the couch. "What should we do?"

"Let's play a stupid drinking game," Ivy suggests. "You know, the ridiculous ones you play in high school."

"Like what?" Carmen asks.

"I don't know. Truth or dare or spin the bottle or something."

"We can't play spin the bottle with this many guys," Louis interjects. "Not happening."

"Louis, you don't want to kiss me?" I joke. He laughs and shakes his head.

"Okay, let's just play truth or dare," Carmen says, shrugging her shoulders. This should be interesting.

We move the table out of the way so we can all sit on the floor in a circle. Niall looks fucking excited for some reason. Ivy goes first and dares Zayn to chug a beer. Boring first dare. Liam tells us a truth, the weirdest place he's ever had sex with Talia. The football stadium, apparently. Niall gets dared to give Zayn a lap dance, which is funny as hell. He picks me next.

"Harry, truth or dare," he says.

Fucking Niall. Either way I don't see this ending well for me. A dare gives me an excuse for doing something fucked up. Truth means saying something embarrassing just because I have to, and he would make me say something embarrassing.

"Dare," I say hesitantly. He smiles and looks at Carmen. During the pause I look at her as well, and she looks between us with a confused look.

"I dare you to kiss Carmen."

Notes

i know not very original :P but its not HOW thats important, just that hes going to kiss her. maybe.

how is carmen going to react?!?!!?

so just in case you missed it, the movie part skips ahead like two and a half weeks kind of thing. At this point it'd be like the middle of october.

comment, rate,