What Makes You Beautiful
Ooh, everything I need I get from you
I wanna write you a song
One as beautiful as you are sweet
With just a hint of pain for the feeling that I get when you are gone
I wanna write you a song
‘I Want To Write You A Song’ – One Direction
“What about paparazzi?” Bella asked as she slipped her arms into the sleeves of a simple black cardigan. Her eyes wandered over Harry’s tall figure. Those tight skinny jeans hugging his legs in all the right places, his torso covered with a simple dark blue button-down shirt, rolled up to just below his elbows. His signature black ankle boots sat on his feet, making Bella feel underdressed in her black Converse.
“It’s more subdued than it is in the main city. We should be fine.” Harry said as he walked out of one of the living rooms. Bella quickly followed him, grabbing her bag off the edge of the large couch, slinging it over her shoulder.
“What if they start taking pictures of us? What do I do? What if they ask me questions? I wouldn’t know what to say.”
“Bella, love, calm down.” Harry stopped when they reached the front door, turning to face her. He jingled his keys in his hand and moved his fingers through his hair. His gaze was gentle and Bella took a deep breath, unclipping the lock of her bag and looking inside to see if she had everything she needed.
“You have nothing to worry about. If a situation like the ones you just described happens, just don’t say anything. I’ll talk if I have to.” Harry declared before popping on a pair of sunglasses and a fedora hat (which suited him very well). He put the key in the door and opened it. Spring sunlight bombarded the both of them. Bella quickly put on her sunglasses to minimise the sun’s strong glow and just as she stepped out of the front door, she felt Harry’s hand close around her wrist. She looked up at him and even though she couldn’t see his eyes, she knew his gaze was soft.
“Everything’s going to be OK, alright?”
This moment was another moment when Bella wanted to kiss Harry. His lips looked so kissable, just waiting for it, begging for it. The sunlight complimented his slightly-tanned skin and his brown hair shone, the curls gathering around the base of his neck. He looked so delicious, just like a present waiting to be unwrapped, the promise of a muscular body and smooth skin beneath. Bella nodded at him and his fingers fell away from her wrist.
Harry shut the door behind him before they exited the driveway and out onto the street. He pointed to each house as they walked past, explaining to Bella who lived there and what they were like. She listened intently, trying to not get distracted by his beauty. On the whole 10-minute walk to the café, no-one disturbed them. Not one person. But that was sure to change very soon.
The café Harry led Bella into reminded her of the bakery she worked at back home in Newtown. Behind glass cabinets were various pastries and sweets. On the counter were jars of cookies and chocolates with price tags on them. Above the counter was the menu, brown letters on a pale yellow background. There was tea and coffee, hot chocolate and milkshakes, sandwiches and sausage rolls. The café itself wasn’t busy, only about half-a-dozen people sat inside. One of the workers, a middle-aged man, turned around from the coffee machine. Bella assumed he knew Harry well because he welcomed him with a smile.
“Ah, Harry! Good morning, mate.”
“Morning, Luke. How are you?” Harry said, approaching the counter, taking his sunglasses off, the fedora hat keeping his hair out of his face.
“I’m very well. Who’s this beauty you’ve got with you?” Luke asked, his eyes moving to Bella. Harry beckoned her forward and placed his right arm around her shoulders.
“This is Bella. She’s from Australia.”
The worker’s eyes lit up.
“Australia, really? Where in Australia?”
“Newtown in Sydney.” Bella answered.
“Haven’t been there but I’ve been to the Gold Coast. Beautiful place, Australia. What brings you here to London, Bella?” Luke asked. She was just about to respond but Harry beat her to it.
“She’s staying with me for a bit. Friends hanging out, you know.”
Friends? Bella asked herself. What we were doing this morning was not what friends do, Harry. She thought, looking at him. Harry looked down at her and patted her shoulder, almost as if he was telling her to go along with him.
“Of course, of course. Great idea. What would you two like?” Luke asked, gesturing to the menu behind him with his hand.
Ten minutes later, Harry and Bella sat in the corner of the café opposite each other. Harry had ordered a coffee and Bella had decided on a cappuccino. For food, Bella was halfway through eating a ham, tomato and cheese toasted sandwich and Harry had finished his spinach and ricotta roll. He placed his elbows on the table and rested his mouth against his clasped hands.
“So, when did you start working at the bakery?”
“Ever since I was 15. I love it.” Bella smiled.
“Do you get discounts?”
“Yeah, sometimes. Family can also get discounts as well. I get food for free if I’ve done a really long shift. It gives me something to do with my time. When did you start working at your bakery?” Bella asked, taking a bite of her toasted sandwich, which was still hot.
“I was 14. Cleaning was the worst part of the job though.” Harry sighed.
“Tell me about it.” Bella chuckled. The number of things she had in common with Harry was way more than she had thought. They both loved to wear skinny jeans, loved to drink coffee, both worked at a bakery, both loved music and movies. One of Harry’s favourite films was Love Actually and so was Bella’s. Part of their conversation was dedicated entirely to what they loved about the film and their favourite scenes.
“Apart from the lads and me, who else do you listen to?” Harry asked.
“Being Australian, I tend to love of Australian musicians, no surprise, really. INXS will always be one of my favourite bands. My mum introduced me to Savage Garden and both Kylie Minogue and Jessica Mauboy have some really catchy songs. More recently, I’ve been listening to Sia and Coldplay.”
“I love Coldplay too. I went for a whole week singing Paradise.”
“I’d like to see that.” Bella laughed, finishing her toasted sandwich.
“Maybe you will one day.” Harry said softly, lowering his forearms onto the table. It was just part 11 o’clock now and what happened only an hour ago still lingered in Bella’s mind. What she discovered was how easy it was to talk to Harry after being in such an uncomfortable situation. As she sat across from him, she imagined him singing Paradise in the shower. She knew he’d be able to hit the notes perfectly but for reason, that’s not what she thought. She thought of Harry in the shower, with much less clothing than he was wearing now. Wait, why am I thinking about him being naked? Bella cursed herself. She wiped her mouth with a napkin and pushed her plate to the side, resting her left forearm on the table. She quickly decided to turn the conversation to something else.
“About the tour, where are you guys going next?”
“We start again in Cardiff, Wales, on the 5th of June. We go around Europe until the 27th. Then it’s the North American leg and there’s another leg after that but we don’t know exactly where we’re going. It should be fun though.” Harry said.
“What is it like without…uh,…Zayn?” Bella asked, biting down hard on her bottom lip. The moment Harry’s eyes locked with hers, she regretted asking the question. Why did I ask that? It’s obviously a hard subject for him to talk about. She tried to redeem herself by apologising.
“Oh, God, I’m so sorry, Harry. I don’t know why I asked that. I know it’s personal for you…”
“No, it’s OK, Bella. It’s still affecting all of us but we couldn’t just cancel the rest of the tour. We couldn’t do that to our fans. They mean so much to us.”
Bella nodded in agreement.
“Losing Zayn was a shock but we could see he wasn’t enjoying it as much as we were. We knew something was up with him. We were angry at first but now, all we feel is disappointment, really. However, we’re still on good terms with him. No hard feelings.”
“That’s great, Harry. I can’t possibly how it was for you and the others when he decided to leave. But it’s good that there’s no animosity between you four and Zayn.” Bella said, trying her best to be confident and comfort Harry. He had comforted her last night, in a way she hadn’t imagined at all, and she tried to repay him.
“Yeah, it’s all good.” Harry nodded, moving his hand across the table. Bella could have sworn he moved his hand closer to hers. His fingers were adorned with his three rings while Bella’s hands were free of her rings today. She caught sight of a necklace dangling over Harry’s chest, with a cross pendant. It was simple but beautiful. She wondered what the significance of it was but she didn’t want to interrogate him further. Thankfully, it was Harry who struck up the conversation again.
“You remember I told that three weeks of our break is going to be planning the rest of the tour?”
“Yes, I remember.”
“We’re going to be doing more than that.”
“What do you mean?” Bella questioned, her eyebrows furrowing in confusion. She had no idea what he was talking about. Her eyes caught the movement of his hand, his fingers inching closer to her thumb. Harry smiled at her softly.
“It’s a secret so you can’t tell anyone, OK?”
Bella nodded. Her heartbeat increased when Harry leaned forward, his eyes locked to hers. From the look on his face, she thought he was going to kiss her. But there was no way Harry would do it in public. She knew that. And she wouldn’t let him. If they were to ever kiss, Bella wanted it to be private. Just the two of them.
“We’ve started making a fifth album.” Harry whispered.
The muscles in Bella’s face made her lips form into a smile. She had no control over her body when she was with Harry. She smiled, she blushed, her heartbeat quickened, her blood boiled, her eyes shone. Bella didn’t know what Harry did to her. But whatever it was, it was good. Really good.
“Really? That’s fantastic! How far are you into making it?”
“We started discussing it at the beginning of the year but we’ve only been writing for about three weeks because when Zayn left, we had to start over. We’re probably going to go off and write with other people then come back with songs and we’ll see how it goes from there. It’s what we’ve done for all of our albums.” Harry said.
“Have you got any ideas for songs yet?” Bella asked.
It was in that moment when Harry laid his hand over hers. She felt just like she did when she was in the car with him driving to his house last night from the airport. An emotion washed over her, like a cleansing feeling. It was an intimate moment in a public place. Bella blinked at Harry through her long eyelashes and for another time, found herself being mesmerised by the colour of his eyes. She had never seen a colour like it. Sometimes, they were green. Then, they were a blue-green. His eyes were morphing colours like he was a magical being.
“To tell you the truth, I’m getting bombarded with inspiration right now.” Harry said. He folded his fingers around the edge of her hand so that their fingers were touching. They were so caught up in each other that they weren’t aware of anything or anyone around them. Bella was worried about paparazzi when they left the house but at the moment, she couldn’t care less. Her entire attention was focused on Harry. Does he mean me? I’m inspiration? How? Just the thought of Harry writing a song about her made her cheeks turn pink, which was no doubt Harry’s goal.
“Are you ready to go home?” He asked. Bella liked the way he said “home”. Like it wasn’t just his home. It was theirs.
“Mmm-hmm.” She nodded.
“Let’s go then.” Harry squeezed her fingers with his own before letting go of her hand standing up, pushing the wooden chair out to step to the side. Bella grabbed her bag off the floor and hooked it over her left shoulder, standing up next to Harry. They both waved goodbye to Luke who said he hoped to see both of them soon. Being the kind gentleman that he was, Harry opened the door for Bella to leave first. She smiled at him as she passed him, her eyes shining.
They walked back home the same way they had walked to the café. During the walk, Harry’s fingers found Bella’s again and their hands interlocked perfectly, like their hands were made for holding one another. Bella could only look at the footpath, a shy smile on her face. Harry smiled too, his shoulder brushing hers as they walked down the street back to his house.
What neither of them saw was a single paparazzi taking photos of them from the other side of the street.
Just imagine him without the jacket:
One as beautiful as you are sweet
With just a hint of pain for the feeling that I get when you are gone
I wanna write you a song
‘I Want To Write You A Song’ – One Direction
“What about paparazzi?” Bella asked as she slipped her arms into the sleeves of a simple black cardigan. Her eyes wandered over Harry’s tall figure. Those tight skinny jeans hugging his legs in all the right places, his torso covered with a simple dark blue button-down shirt, rolled up to just below his elbows. His signature black ankle boots sat on his feet, making Bella feel underdressed in her black Converse.
“It’s more subdued than it is in the main city. We should be fine.” Harry said as he walked out of one of the living rooms. Bella quickly followed him, grabbing her bag off the edge of the large couch, slinging it over her shoulder.
“What if they start taking pictures of us? What do I do? What if they ask me questions? I wouldn’t know what to say.”
“Bella, love, calm down.” Harry stopped when they reached the front door, turning to face her. He jingled his keys in his hand and moved his fingers through his hair. His gaze was gentle and Bella took a deep breath, unclipping the lock of her bag and looking inside to see if she had everything she needed.
“You have nothing to worry about. If a situation like the ones you just described happens, just don’t say anything. I’ll talk if I have to.” Harry declared before popping on a pair of sunglasses and a fedora hat (which suited him very well). He put the key in the door and opened it. Spring sunlight bombarded the both of them. Bella quickly put on her sunglasses to minimise the sun’s strong glow and just as she stepped out of the front door, she felt Harry’s hand close around her wrist. She looked up at him and even though she couldn’t see his eyes, she knew his gaze was soft.
“Everything’s going to be OK, alright?”
This moment was another moment when Bella wanted to kiss Harry. His lips looked so kissable, just waiting for it, begging for it. The sunlight complimented his slightly-tanned skin and his brown hair shone, the curls gathering around the base of his neck. He looked so delicious, just like a present waiting to be unwrapped, the promise of a muscular body and smooth skin beneath. Bella nodded at him and his fingers fell away from her wrist.
Harry shut the door behind him before they exited the driveway and out onto the street. He pointed to each house as they walked past, explaining to Bella who lived there and what they were like. She listened intently, trying to not get distracted by his beauty. On the whole 10-minute walk to the café, no-one disturbed them. Not one person. But that was sure to change very soon.
The café Harry led Bella into reminded her of the bakery she worked at back home in Newtown. Behind glass cabinets were various pastries and sweets. On the counter were jars of cookies and chocolates with price tags on them. Above the counter was the menu, brown letters on a pale yellow background. There was tea and coffee, hot chocolate and milkshakes, sandwiches and sausage rolls. The café itself wasn’t busy, only about half-a-dozen people sat inside. One of the workers, a middle-aged man, turned around from the coffee machine. Bella assumed he knew Harry well because he welcomed him with a smile.
“Ah, Harry! Good morning, mate.”
“Morning, Luke. How are you?” Harry said, approaching the counter, taking his sunglasses off, the fedora hat keeping his hair out of his face.
“I’m very well. Who’s this beauty you’ve got with you?” Luke asked, his eyes moving to Bella. Harry beckoned her forward and placed his right arm around her shoulders.
“This is Bella. She’s from Australia.”
The worker’s eyes lit up.
“Australia, really? Where in Australia?”
“Newtown in Sydney.” Bella answered.
“Haven’t been there but I’ve been to the Gold Coast. Beautiful place, Australia. What brings you here to London, Bella?” Luke asked. She was just about to respond but Harry beat her to it.
“She’s staying with me for a bit. Friends hanging out, you know.”
Friends? Bella asked herself. What we were doing this morning was not what friends do, Harry. She thought, looking at him. Harry looked down at her and patted her shoulder, almost as if he was telling her to go along with him.
“Of course, of course. Great idea. What would you two like?” Luke asked, gesturing to the menu behind him with his hand.
Ten minutes later, Harry and Bella sat in the corner of the café opposite each other. Harry had ordered a coffee and Bella had decided on a cappuccino. For food, Bella was halfway through eating a ham, tomato and cheese toasted sandwich and Harry had finished his spinach and ricotta roll. He placed his elbows on the table and rested his mouth against his clasped hands.
“So, when did you start working at the bakery?”
“Ever since I was 15. I love it.” Bella smiled.
“Do you get discounts?”
“Yeah, sometimes. Family can also get discounts as well. I get food for free if I’ve done a really long shift. It gives me something to do with my time. When did you start working at your bakery?” Bella asked, taking a bite of her toasted sandwich, which was still hot.
“I was 14. Cleaning was the worst part of the job though.” Harry sighed.
“Tell me about it.” Bella chuckled. The number of things she had in common with Harry was way more than she had thought. They both loved to wear skinny jeans, loved to drink coffee, both worked at a bakery, both loved music and movies. One of Harry’s favourite films was Love Actually and so was Bella’s. Part of their conversation was dedicated entirely to what they loved about the film and their favourite scenes.
“Apart from the lads and me, who else do you listen to?” Harry asked.
“Being Australian, I tend to love of Australian musicians, no surprise, really. INXS will always be one of my favourite bands. My mum introduced me to Savage Garden and both Kylie Minogue and Jessica Mauboy have some really catchy songs. More recently, I’ve been listening to Sia and Coldplay.”
“I love Coldplay too. I went for a whole week singing Paradise.”
“I’d like to see that.” Bella laughed, finishing her toasted sandwich.
“Maybe you will one day.” Harry said softly, lowering his forearms onto the table. It was just part 11 o’clock now and what happened only an hour ago still lingered in Bella’s mind. What she discovered was how easy it was to talk to Harry after being in such an uncomfortable situation. As she sat across from him, she imagined him singing Paradise in the shower. She knew he’d be able to hit the notes perfectly but for reason, that’s not what she thought. She thought of Harry in the shower, with much less clothing than he was wearing now. Wait, why am I thinking about him being naked? Bella cursed herself. She wiped her mouth with a napkin and pushed her plate to the side, resting her left forearm on the table. She quickly decided to turn the conversation to something else.
“About the tour, where are you guys going next?”
“We start again in Cardiff, Wales, on the 5th of June. We go around Europe until the 27th. Then it’s the North American leg and there’s another leg after that but we don’t know exactly where we’re going. It should be fun though.” Harry said.
“What is it like without…uh,…Zayn?” Bella asked, biting down hard on her bottom lip. The moment Harry’s eyes locked with hers, she regretted asking the question. Why did I ask that? It’s obviously a hard subject for him to talk about. She tried to redeem herself by apologising.
“Oh, God, I’m so sorry, Harry. I don’t know why I asked that. I know it’s personal for you…”
“No, it’s OK, Bella. It’s still affecting all of us but we couldn’t just cancel the rest of the tour. We couldn’t do that to our fans. They mean so much to us.”
Bella nodded in agreement.
“Losing Zayn was a shock but we could see he wasn’t enjoying it as much as we were. We knew something was up with him. We were angry at first but now, all we feel is disappointment, really. However, we’re still on good terms with him. No hard feelings.”
“That’s great, Harry. I can’t possibly how it was for you and the others when he decided to leave. But it’s good that there’s no animosity between you four and Zayn.” Bella said, trying her best to be confident and comfort Harry. He had comforted her last night, in a way she hadn’t imagined at all, and she tried to repay him.
“Yeah, it’s all good.” Harry nodded, moving his hand across the table. Bella could have sworn he moved his hand closer to hers. His fingers were adorned with his three rings while Bella’s hands were free of her rings today. She caught sight of a necklace dangling over Harry’s chest, with a cross pendant. It was simple but beautiful. She wondered what the significance of it was but she didn’t want to interrogate him further. Thankfully, it was Harry who struck up the conversation again.
“You remember I told that three weeks of our break is going to be planning the rest of the tour?”
“Yes, I remember.”
“We’re going to be doing more than that.”
“What do you mean?” Bella questioned, her eyebrows furrowing in confusion. She had no idea what he was talking about. Her eyes caught the movement of his hand, his fingers inching closer to her thumb. Harry smiled at her softly.
“It’s a secret so you can’t tell anyone, OK?”
Bella nodded. Her heartbeat increased when Harry leaned forward, his eyes locked to hers. From the look on his face, she thought he was going to kiss her. But there was no way Harry would do it in public. She knew that. And she wouldn’t let him. If they were to ever kiss, Bella wanted it to be private. Just the two of them.
“We’ve started making a fifth album.” Harry whispered.
The muscles in Bella’s face made her lips form into a smile. She had no control over her body when she was with Harry. She smiled, she blushed, her heartbeat quickened, her blood boiled, her eyes shone. Bella didn’t know what Harry did to her. But whatever it was, it was good. Really good.
“Really? That’s fantastic! How far are you into making it?”
“We started discussing it at the beginning of the year but we’ve only been writing for about three weeks because when Zayn left, we had to start over. We’re probably going to go off and write with other people then come back with songs and we’ll see how it goes from there. It’s what we’ve done for all of our albums.” Harry said.
“Have you got any ideas for songs yet?” Bella asked.
It was in that moment when Harry laid his hand over hers. She felt just like she did when she was in the car with him driving to his house last night from the airport. An emotion washed over her, like a cleansing feeling. It was an intimate moment in a public place. Bella blinked at Harry through her long eyelashes and for another time, found herself being mesmerised by the colour of his eyes. She had never seen a colour like it. Sometimes, they were green. Then, they were a blue-green. His eyes were morphing colours like he was a magical being.
“To tell you the truth, I’m getting bombarded with inspiration right now.” Harry said. He folded his fingers around the edge of her hand so that their fingers were touching. They were so caught up in each other that they weren’t aware of anything or anyone around them. Bella was worried about paparazzi when they left the house but at the moment, she couldn’t care less. Her entire attention was focused on Harry. Does he mean me? I’m inspiration? How? Just the thought of Harry writing a song about her made her cheeks turn pink, which was no doubt Harry’s goal.
“Are you ready to go home?” He asked. Bella liked the way he said “home”. Like it wasn’t just his home. It was theirs.
“Mmm-hmm.” She nodded.
“Let’s go then.” Harry squeezed her fingers with his own before letting go of her hand standing up, pushing the wooden chair out to step to the side. Bella grabbed her bag off the floor and hooked it over her left shoulder, standing up next to Harry. They both waved goodbye to Luke who said he hoped to see both of them soon. Being the kind gentleman that he was, Harry opened the door for Bella to leave first. She smiled at him as she passed him, her eyes shining.
They walked back home the same way they had walked to the café. During the walk, Harry’s fingers found Bella’s again and their hands interlocked perfectly, like their hands were made for holding one another. Bella could only look at the footpath, a shy smile on her face. Harry smiled too, his shoulder brushing hers as they walked down the street back to his house.
What neither of them saw was a single paparazzi taking photos of them from the other side of the street.
Just imagine him without the jacket:
Notes
Over 2,000 views! Thank you, you beautiful people! Next chapter, Bella will be introduced to Harry’s family! How will it all go down? Your speculation gives me joy :)
blankspace1 xx
@Kammy
Good on you! Keep up the great work! xx
12/6/16