THE DEATH OF ME

To my surprise, Harry takes us to the mall. I don't know why, but I was expecting him to take me to a place unknown like the shack. He leads us inside and I am amazed at how he is headed straight to Top Shop without blinking, knowing his way around so well.
He is stopped by two little kids asking for a photo, and I step aside, not wanting to be noticed with him.

When he is done he orders me with his head to continue into the shop, and we step in.
I never entered this store, since I never got anything from them, so there was never much point in looking.

I notice Harry glancing around, probably for the girl he asked Louis about being here.
"Are you here to get yourself a new skirt?" A curly girl asks Harry stepping in front of him.
I watch the smile appear on his face as he leans down to hug her, wondering if she too is one of the women Liam mentioned always clinging to Harry's arm.

"How's it been?" Harry asks, as the girl took a few steps back after letting go of him, making me decide she is not like Lola, my mind made by the way she is dressed, the almost no makeup to her face, and the space she keeps between her and Harry.
"I'm great, thanks. Louis phoned, you must be Cassie," She turns to smile at me.
I glance up at Harry, confused about what is going on here. Why would Louis call her?
"Yes, this is she. How long do you reckon all this might take?" Harry inquires, making me feel like a little child watching the grownups talking.

"Not long, she isn't as bad as Louis made her sound," The girl winks at me.
"So I will be back in two hours, Cassie, Eleanor here will help you pick out some new things, don't worry about the cost, it is all covered," He turns back to her.

She nods, and without one more word Harry leaves, leaving me alone with the girl.
"So.. Are you ready for a makeover?" She smiles at me. I am slightly hurt by the way things were going along here. I am not a fashion icon at my school, all right, I might even be quite bad at dressing the way the girls around me do, but I am quite content with who I am and the way I look, not looking to change, not for a job, not for Harry- not for anyone.

"What is it?" She asks, her forehead wrinkled.
"I um.. It's just.. I'm not all right with total strangers deciding how I should look and what I should wear- I mean, where does that Louis bloke get off thinking he can order me around and send me to a store to meat with a stylist or whatever so I can work at his falling apart shack," The words just tumble out my mouth before I have time to stop them, mortified by spilling my frustration on a stranger- all I know she's related to him somehow.
Eleanor let out a giggle, as she links our arms together.

"Cassie, I like you- we're going to be fast friends," She walks us to a stand of jeans.
I can't help but like her. She didn't take me too seriously, and wanting to be my friend even though I wasn't as pretty and well dressed as she was.

"Now look, Louis could be quite sassy with his comments, but he will come around soon enough, so don't let him get to you. Also, you have nothing to worry about, you are a pretty girl, and-" She pulls my shirt tight at the back, "You have a good body, we will find you something that suits you," She promises "Without changing you,"
I offer her a weak smile, thankful for her kindness.

"All right, so I will pick out some jeans for starters, you must be what? A 4? 2? We will get you some dresses- no don't pull a face, they will be lovely, some tops, we should get you a uniform that actually fits you…" She trails off, adding things to the pile in her arms.
After about an hour of adding things and making another pile in my arms as well, Eleanor steers me to the changing room.

"I have this policy, that once you enter the changing room you don't walk around the store again, so you better take anything and everything you might like, because after that I'm out", She finds an empty compartment and pushes me in.
Eleanor chats along as she makes me try on all of the things she picked out, checking them out herself making sure they fit me properly.

The list of things that made the cut was quite large.

Two pairs of jeans, one a light dirty blue, and one black that is cut at the knees. They were both tighter then what I am used to but Eleanor assured me I will get used to it.
Red skinny pants, and a short jeans skirt that is fried at the hem. There were two dresses as well. A white lace dress that came up to just above my knees, and a black dress that on the right side got up to my knees and on the left side got down to the middle of my leg.
A brown vest made it in, and black and white shirts, that were much tighter than anything I have ever owned. There were also some button down white uniform shirts, that I must admit look much better then what I have.

She even got some bras, explaining that the moment the bra is a good fit, anything I wear would look amazing.

I just nodded feeling embarrass of my body, and just wanted to get this whole thing over with.
"Your shoes, I like, you should stick with them since they are so you, but maybe get another pair- a different colour?" She thinks out loud to herself.
Eleanor pays for the whole bunch with a credit card and I feel my cheeks go red, feeling humiliated she has to pay for all that.

"Oh don't worry, this is Harry's," She winks when she slides it back into her purse.
"Now, let's get some makeup," She claps her hand and links our arms together once more.
"I don't do makeup," I inform her, deciding this is the time to put down my foot and stand up for myself.

"Neither do I, well not that you would notice. You need a tiny little bit, to hid imperfections, not plaster it on your face, don't worry, you will still be you, trust me," She gives my arms a squeeze and pushes me into the drug store.
Eleanor has makeup, councilor, blush and mascara picked out for me in no time, and we are out the store when my phone rings.

"Where are you?" Harry asks when I answer.
"We just left the drugstore," I tell him. He hangs up and a moment later I find him walking our way.
"How was it? Was she all right?" He asks Eleanor, taking the bags from my hand.
"I'm right here you know," I roll my eyes.
"It was ace! We should definitely do this again," She turns to me with a wide smile.
"um.. yeah.. sure," I stutter not used to people wanting to hang out with me outside of school.
Eleanor gives Harry back his credit card and hugs me goodbye, making me promise to shop with her again soon.

"She's not that bad is she," He asks me as we walk out to the car park.
"No, she was rather nice actually," I reply, which makes Harry smirk.
"Shit!" I stop in place, remembering Nan's shopping list.
"What is it?" He stops and turns to face me.
"I forgot to shop for groceries, I need to go," I turn.
"Wait let me put these in the car and I'll come with you," Harry offers.
"No, it's fine really, and also I will pay you back for those," I point at the shopping bags.
"Don't be silly, I am coming and you don't pay me back, this is my way of showing you I'm sorry for getting you fired," He gives me a cheeky smile, making those dimples of him pop, and for a moment I forget what we were talking about.

"Wait here," Harry orders, and I am tempted to walk off just because of his tone, tough stopping myself by remembering he just paid for that shit load of clothes he is holding. I wait for Harry to get back, than we both walk quietly together, to the grocery shop. Harry gets a cart and I look over the list Nan wrote for me.

"Soya milk? That sounds disgusting," He remarks reading over my head.
"Well, I'm allergic to milk so it's a must," I say filling a bag with vegetables.
"Really?" Harry raises his brows.
"Well yeah, I don't eat things with a lot of milk or cheese because I will get sick, but I can have things with just a little milk, like milk chocolate and stuff," I explain, putting some fruit in the cart as well.

"What happens if you do drink milk?" Harry questions, intrigued by this new information.
"Well, I get nauseas and puke," I shrug, moving on to some tin cans. Harry was pushing the cart for me, as we walked together through the lanes and picking out the things on the list.
When I am done, and packed everything neatly, I pay the cashier, happy Harry gave up and put his credit card back in his wallet.

He pushes the cart to the car, and I wonder if it is his black racing car that he came with.
It's not.
It's a black SUV, and Harry piles the groceries in the back before taking the cart back. I get in and sit in the passenger side waiting for him to show.
I look around the car, noticing there isn't anything personal of his in it. How many cars does he own anyway?

Harry opens the driver's door and scoots in. He buckles and starts the car.
"Is this car yours?" I inquire, not able to keep my mouth shut today.
"Yeah, why?" He drives us out of the car park and onto the main road.
"Well, it's just, you have nothing personal in it, so I was just thinking it's strange," I shrug. I already learned from my short time with him that he doesn't like when I ask questions like these or make such assumptions, but I just couldn't help it, I wanted to know more.

"Well, I barely drive it since I'm usually on the bike or in the racing car, but we couldn't have taken all these bags on the bike so I went back home to get it," He explains. I nod and make myself comfortable. Harry leans in and puts the music on. A soft male's voice is sound, and it is so sweet and so comforting, I closed my eyes and listen to his lyrics even though I had no idea who he was.

"He's good isn't he?" Harry asks softly. I nod my head and keep my eyes closed, tired of this long day of shopping and talking, not remembering when was the last time I had walked and talked so much.

I feel a nudge of my shoulder and open my eyes. Harry has parked outside my house, and it downs on me that I've must have fallen asleep. My cheeks flush and my fingers find the ends of my hair. Harry's hands cover mine, tugging at them slightly to leave my hair alone.
"Thanks for the ride," I tell him, not meeting his eyes, feeling shameful of falling asleep this way and then him pulling my hands away.
"It was no problem really, come I'll help you bring the things in," He opens his door. I step out of the car and stretch, as Harry gets all of the top shop bags, handing them over as he got the heavier ones.

"Where is your Nan?" He questions, noting the dark windows of the house.
"At her sister's, she isn't doing so well these days," I shrug and unlock the door.

"So you are staying by yourself?" There is something in his voice that makes me turn to look at him, as I nod.

"You cannot stay alone like this! I won't have it!" He says in an angry voice

Notes

So I was touched by your comments!
And I have decided to continue updating this story, just because of your comments! You made my day telling me how much you like it and look forward to my updates! It means the world to know people are actually reading and enjoying it. Even though I would love for more people to read and comment (just like anyone else) I have decided to keep going- since I just love writing and since you read it- so I guess what I am trying to say is that it's enough for me!
So thank you for your kind words!
xx