Chapter nine

Several hours had passed, and we were all still sitting in the living room. The guys were hilarious, and even though I’d only met them that day, I felt like I’d known them forever. Liam, Louis and Niall were all sitting on the couch, Zayn in the chair next to them and Harry in the chair across from them with me laying princess style in his lap. It was sitting like this that I heard a phone ringing. After a couple more shrill rings, I realized that it was my ring tone. I stood up and walked down the hall towards the entrance way where my bag sat on a table. I rummaged through it and answered quickly.

“Hello?” I said.

“Hi, darling,” my mom called out. “How’re things?”

“They’re good.” I replied, wondering why she was calling me. My mum liked to check up on me, but not every day and we’d just spoken.

“Are you settled at Harry’s?” She asked me.

“Pretty well,” I answered as a roar of laughter came from the living room and I smiled inwardly.

“Are you at a party?” My mother asked me in her authoritative tone.

“No, mum,” I soothed. “Harry’s band mates are over, that’s all.” I explained and my mum let out a grunt, unconvinced, but she let it go.

“Well,” she started. “I just got a call from your professor...” She drifted off. I waited for her to continue, but she didn’t, clearly waiting for encouragement.

“Okay,” I said confusedly. “About?”

“Well, here’s the thing, hun. The enrollment in your program has dropped so significantly that they no longer want to waste professors on it. Basically, what they said was, that it’s early enough in the semester to cancel the class and let students enroll in others.”

“Wait, wait, wait,” I said, letting that sink in. “Are you saying that I’m no longer enrolled?” I asked, shocked. Where does a university get off just cancelling courses?

“Unfortunately,” my mum said, sounding as unimpressed as I was.

“Well that’s bullshit.” I said simply.

“What is?” Harry asked from behind. I spun around and held up my finger, telling him to wait.

“Yes, well,” my mum mumbled. “They’re saying that you can switch into another course or wait and see if this one is picked up again next semester.” I sighed and angrily rolled my eyes.

“Well, seeing as this is a prerequisite, I guess I have to wait for next semester.” I sighed again.

“Well, your father and I have written and complained to the school,” she said, as if that was supposed to help.

“Yeah mum, I’m sure that’ll really help.” I laughed humourlessly.

“Aw, sweetie, I’m sorry. But on the bright side, you can come home for a while!” She said excitedly.

“Yeah, I don’t know, mum.” I said, not wanting to hurt her feelings, but there was no way I was going back home now, not with things perfect the way they were. “Harry and I are just getting settled in, and besides, I was just out there visiting you guys.” I pointed out.

“Yes, well, mothers always miss their children, no matter what.”

“Aw, mum, I miss you, too,” I said, suddenly getting an idea. I looked at Harry, who was confused by my expression and looked at me questioningly. “Mum, what would you and dad say to coming over next week and staying over for a night?” I asked her. Harry smiled, obviously pleased with my plan.

“Oh, Sarah, we wouldn’t want to impos-”

“Mum, trust me you won’t be imposing, we want you to come over for dinner. And the choice of room will be yours.” I laughed.

“Well,” she said, clearly debating it. “Does Harry mind?” Hearing her through the phone he shook his head.

“Of course not! Oh, come on mum! Say yes.” I begged.

“Monday.” Harry mouthed at me.

“Mum, listen, Harry and I are making you guys dinner on Monday, end of discussion, I’ll text you the address and see you then, love you, bye!” I said super quickly, not giving her the chance to back out. Harry laughed at me, wrapping his arms around my waist from behind me, resting his chin on my shoulder and watched as I texted my mum our address.

“And, send!” I said, putting my phone back in my bag and swiveling around in his arms to face him, wrapping my arms around his neck. “All done.” I smiled and he kissed me, a soft sweet, lingering kiss.

“Oh, God,” Niall screeched as he walked around the corner with the other boys. “You two are at it again. Christ, you’re worse than rabbits!” He laughed. Harry ignored him, and just stared into my eyes, reaching a hand up to tuck stray strands of hair behind my ear. I was so distracted by this that I almost forgot we weren’t alone.

“Niall,” Zayn said in confusion. “What the hell do rabbits have to do with anything?”

“They fuck a lot, everybody knows that.” Niall said as if it were supposed to be obvious. “Why do you think there’s so many of them?”

“You do talk a lot of random shit.” Louis laughed. Niall mock laughed back before walking towards the kitchen.

“Don’t tell me he’s actually going back for MORE food!” I gaped; shocked that one boy could physically contain that much.

“I can hear you!” Niall yelled from the kitchen, startling us all for a second, before calling out a few seconds later. “And yes I am.” We all laughed. Liam shook his head, but went ahead and followed Niall. Harry tucked me under his arm, and we walked back to the living room with Louis and Zayn.

“So what was your mom saying?” Harry asked me.

“Well,” I breathed out, my previous irritation returning. “My stupid university has gone and cut my program, which is a prerequisite, so I can’t switch into something else, meaning that I have to wait until next semester to see if they pick it up again.” I rolled my eyes angrily.

“What does that mean?” Harry asked me. “Are you not going back to school?” I shook my head at him.

“Not by the looks of it, not until September at least.”

“Aw, babe,” Harry comforted me, squeezing my shoulders. “I’m sorry.” He kissed my forehead. He sat down in the chair; his arms open wide waiting for me. I sat on his lap and wrapped my arms around his neck.

“Oh well,” I sighed, stroking his hair. “I’m pissed off that this screws up my graduation date and stuff, but I can’t deny that there are some positives.” I said, giving his lips a quick soft peck.

“Positives like being able to come on tour with us!” Zayn said just as Liam and Niall made their reappearance, another full plate of food in hand.

“Sarah’s coming on tour?” Niall asked excitedly. “Sweet!”

“What about university?” Liam asked me, concern on his features.

“The school cancelled her class so now she has to wait and see if they’re going to offer it next semester.” Harry explained. I nodded.

“Aw, sorry to hear that, love.” Liam said, reaching over and patting my knee before sitting on the couch next to Niall and Louis. “But on the plus side, I think we’ll have another member on our side in the argument against Simon tomorrow, won’t we Louis?” Louis nodded enthusiastically.

“Absolutely.” Harry said.

“Argument?” I asked.

“About letting girlfriends come on tour, duh!” Louis reminded me. “Come on, girl, do keep up.” I laughed.

“Play nice now, Louis.” Harry laughed, kissing my forehead.

“Well, he might say no to you guys, but he won’t say no to me.” I said.

“Pssh, you’ve never met Simon.” Zayn said, shaking his head solemnly.

“And he’s never met me.” I said simply, to which Louis, Liam and Zayn laughed.

“I wouldn’t laugh, lads,” Harry said, smiling despite himself. “There’s a reason she always gets her way.”

“I do not ALWAYS get my way,” I looked at him, scrunching up my eyebrows. “But I do put up a good fight.” I laughed.

“Well,” Liam said. “We’ll take any help we can get.” He said as Niall set his empty plate down on the coffee table.

“Well,” he said looking at me. “This should be entertaining.”
--

That night, Harry and Louis made us all dinner, where more laughing, joking and teasing took place, a lot of it at mine and Harry’s expense, before we all decided to call it a night. Eleanor and Danielle were arriving early in the morning, and everybody wanted to be awake enough to greet them.

“Goodnight, love,” Louis said, pulling me in for a hug and kissing my cheek before disappearing to his room.

“See you guys in the morning!” Niall called, already half way up the stairs with Zayn close behind him.

“Goodnight!” I called up to them. Then, I walked into the kitchen to grab a glass of water before heading to bed myself. When I came back out into the hall, Liam and Harry were in the middle of a discussion.

“Simon’s going to be difficult about it, he was with the rest of us, so don’t take it too personally.”Liam was saying to Harry in a hushed whisper. Harry placed a hand on his arm as he caught sight of me.

“What are you two talking about?” I asked them.

“Simon’s reaction to us tomorrow,” Harry told me honestly. “He’s always worried about our images and how our girlfriends fit into those images.” Harry rolled his eyes; I could tell that this was his least favourite part of his new life.

“Don’t be offended though, love,” Liam comforted me. “He just takes some time to warm up to people.” He explained. I nodded at him. At that moment, I wasn’t concerned about meeting Simon or what he thought about me, I was worried because of the look on Harry’s face. I rubbed his arm, trying to get his attention.

“It’ll be fine,” I said, but he still looked unconvinced. “Besides,” I joked. “I’m so loveable and charming, I’m sure we’ll get along famously.” Harry gave me a smiled and kissed my forehead, wrapping his strong arms around me.

“That you are, sweetheart.” Harry said. Liam smiled at us, patting Harry on the back as he started for the stairs.

“I’ll see you two in the morning, sleep tight!” He called. Harry and I followed him shortly after and made our way to our bedroom. We quickly brushed our teeth and then walked back into the room. I removed my bra from underneath my shirt and stripped out of my leggings. Harry watched as I threw my clothes in the laundry hamper.

“That’s such an amazing skill.” Harry laughed.

“What’s that?” I asked him with a smile.

“The way you just take off your bra like that without even ruffling your shirt, fascinating!” He joked. I laughed at him.

“Well, it’s all just part of the girl handbook.” I said, crawling into bed next to him. He breathed a laugh. We were quiet for several minutes, and I thought he’d fallen asleep. I got up and turned off the lights on the night tables before crawling under the sheets again. Harry turned on his side, wrapping his arms around me and pulling me in close to his body, resting his chin in the crook of my neck.

“I love you,” He breathed, his eyes closed. I swiveled my face around to kiss the corner of his mouth.

“I love you, too,” I smiled, settling back into my pillow, where sleep soon overtook me.

--

My eyes gradually opened, and Harry and I were still in the same position as when we’d fallen asleep. I reached over to the night table to turn the clock towards me. It was eight thirty. I felt Harry’s hands on my hips, pulling me back into the bed with him.

“Mmm,” he moaned. “What time is it?” He asked his voice low and husky with sleep.

“Eight thirty, time to get up.” I said, rolling over onto my other side to face him. When I was successful, he pulled me even closer.

“Five more minutes,” he said, eyes still closed, furrowing his brow. I laughed and kissed his full lips. I felt his mouth turn up in a smile as he started moving his lips with mine, his hand sliding down my body until he reached my thigh which he grasped firmly and pulled over his legs, pulling me into his lower body. Then there was a knocking at the door. We broke away from each other, leaning our foreheads against one another. “Uhh,” Harry sighed in exasperation. “What?” He called out. The door cracked open and Louis’ voice sounded from behind it.

“Please confirm that you both are decent.” He called.

“Affirmative,” I called back. Louis’ little head poked out from behind the door with a cheeky smile followed by the rest of his body and Zayn. I sat up to talk to him, forgetting about Harry’s tank top I was wearing. It was very loose and very low cut on me, something the two boys did not fail to notice and I watched as they immediately went wide-eyed. Harry must’ve noticed, too, because he became suddenly alert as he wrapped me in the comforter, sitting next to me shirtless.

“So that’s why you’re always locked up in here, Harry.” Zayn said, giving him an approving nod. Harry grinned despite himself, he was so adorable.

“We’re just making sure you two are up,” Louis said, too distracted to care about Zayn’s teasing. “El and Dani are gonna be here in an hour!” He said, rushing out the door. Zayn gave us a wink before following suit and shutting the door behind him. I removed the duvet and watched as Harry got up off the bed, reached for a pair of jeans and began trying to put them on. He got them just past his knees before he really began to struggle and I laughed loudly.

“What’s so funny?” He asked me. I continued to laugh.

“I know you like to wear your jeans tight darling,” I said in between giggles. “But I do believe those are mine.” I rolled off the bed, still laughing. Harry looked down at the jeans then back up to me and started laughing too. He made a silly face and began waddling around the room like a penguin.

“Stop,” I squealed with laughter. “You’re going to stretch them!” I jumped away from the bed and grabbed hold of his shoulders. I pushed him backwards, onto the bed where I jumped on top of him, straddling him with my legs.

“Oh, now you’re asking for it!” He grinned mischievously. His hands reached up under my shirt and began tickling me, causing me to laugh even harder and gasp for air. “Say I look sexy in these jeans!” He laughed. “Say it!”

“Alright!” I tried to say. “You look-” my air choked off as I began laughing again as he continued to tickle me. “You look sexy in my jeans!” I got out at last. He sat up, pulling me into him and kissing me.

“Why thank you!” He smiled triumphantly. I trailed my fingers along the edge of his boxers, and then I traced his ‘might as well...’ tattoo.

“Now,” I said cheekily. “Take them off before you ruin them.” I untangled myself from him and walked over to the dresser. He playfully smacked my bottom as I went.

--

Harry and I, now fully dressed, galloped our way down the stairs still laughing and teasing each other until we reached the kitchen where Niall, Liam, Louis and Zayn were sitting at the table eating bowls of cereal.

“Finally, there you are,” Liam said not looking up from his breakfast.

“We were afraid to go up and get you with all that racket going on.” Zayn laughed. Harry and I smirked at each other as we pulled out two bowls and spoons and joined them at the table. Louis pulled out his phone and checked the time for what looked to be the millionth time this morning.

“It’s so freaking adorable how excited you are, Louis,” I smiled. The lads laughed but Louis just gave me a big smile, nothing able to bring down his mood. And all of a sudden; the doorbell rang. Louis and Liam went sprinting for the door the rest of us trailing behind them. Louis flung the door open to reveal two girls. He immediately scooped up the girl with long wavy brown hair and the curly haired girl jumped right into Liam’s arms. When the two couples were done embracing, they turned to face the rest of us.

“Sarah,” Louis said bringing the girl over to me. “This is Eleanor, Eleanor this is Sarah.” He smiled, quite proud of his introduction. Eleanor extended her hand with a shy smile.

“Nice to meet you!” She said warmly as I ignored her hand and instead gave her a hug.

“You too! I’ve heard so much about you.” I smiled at her. Liam and the curly haired girl came over next and she immediately hugged me introducing herself as she pulled back.

“I’m Danielle, but you can call me Dani,” She said warmly.

“Nice to finally meet you, Dani,” I smiled and Harry gave my shoulder a soft squeeze in encouragement.

“Well, please, come and make your selves comfortable in the living room and I’ll make some tea.” I told them. Without needing to ask twice, they all started piling into the living room, a thousand conversations happening at once. I walked into the kitchen with Harry right behind me.

“Need any help?” He asked me as I filled the kettle, his arms encircling my waist.

“I always love your help, Mr. Styles,” I winked at him. “Why don’t you get out the tray and tea pot?” I told him as I retrieved mugs from the cabinet.

“Absolutely!” Harry said, immediately finding them and setting them down on the counter. The kettle went off and I poured the water into the teapot and placed it on the tray. Harry scooped up the tray and I grabbed the milk and sugar. We walked down the hall towards the living room, where we set everything down on the coffee table. Louis was sitting in one of the chairs with Eleanor in his lap while Liam and Danielle assumed the same position in the other chair leaving Zayn and Niall sitting on the couch. Harry sat next to Niall as I began making the tea for everyone.

“Dani, how do you take your tea?” I asked her.

“Just milk, thanks,” she smiled at me as I handed the mug to her.

“And Eleanor, how would you like yours?” I asked.

“Milk and sugars fine, thank you,” she smiled sweetly. I made her drink and handed it to her as well.

“I’ll have the same,” Louis said. I looked at him teasingly.

“Was I offering you any?” I winked at him and he laughed loudly as I handed his mug to him.

“Liam?” I asked.

“Milk and sugar’s good, love,” he said.

“How about you Niall?”

“Four sugars, please,” he smiled.

“No wonder you have so much energy all the time,” I joked.

“Ha ha,” he winked at me.

“Zayn?”

“Two milks, love,” he said.

“Coming right up,” I poured the milk and tea and handed it to him. Then I made Harry’s tea, not bothering to ask; he always took two milk, two sugars.

“Aw, how sweet, you know just how he likes his tea,” Louis teased. I stuck my tongue out at him and everyone laughed. I handed Harry his tea and he kissed me cheek.

“Thanks, darling,” he smiled. I finally poured my own and sat down between him and Zayn. Harry adjusted himself, and rested his arm around my shoulders.

“It’s so weird seeing you like this, Harry,” Danielle laughed. “You two are so cute!” I blushed and looked up at Harry who was just looking at me, a grin stretched across his entire face.

“You think its bad now, wait until you hear them going at it tonight,” Niall said, slurping back his tea. “That’s just adorable!” He laughed, mimicking Dani’s tone.

“Niall!” I laughed. “I’m going to find you a girlfriend, and when I do, expect no mercy!” I warned him and Harry laughed loudly.

“Oh, yes!” Eleanor agreed. “Now that Harry’s all settled, we must set our matchmaking talents on Niall.” She winked at me.

“There’s bound to be a few candidates on tour, right ladies?” Danielle added.

“Absolutely, making it even MORE important that we go.” I laughed. “No one can argue with that logic.” Louis laughed.

“And yet, Simon will try.” He said with a smile.

“Oh well,” Danielle said, seeming unconcerned. “He’ll give in just like he did with the fragrance premiere.” She turned to me. “You’re coming too, right Sarah?” I looked to Harry.

“I don’t know, am I?” I asked him, having never heard of this before. He ran his free hand through his hair.

“I’m so sorry, I completely forgot!” He laughed at his own absentmindedness. “Of course,” he said. “There’s no way I’m going without you.” He said, kissing my forehead.

“Yay,” Dani laughed. “That means we must go shopping for your dress! You free Monday?” she asked me.

“Not Monday, sorry,” I said. “My parents are coming over to spend the night with Harry and me.” I explained. “How about tomorrow?” I offered.

“Sounds like a plan!” Eleanor said. Harry gave me a gentle squeeze, clearly pleased with how well I was getting along with the girls.

“Are boyfriends invited on this outing?” Harry asked.

“Absolutely not!” Danielle gaped. “You’re going to be totally surprised at the premiere when your smoking hot girlfriend walks in.” She winked at me and I laughed. Harry held up his hands in defeat.

“Welcome to my world,” Liam laughed. And in that moment it was a world I was glad to be a part of.

--

We’d been hanging out for a couple of hours when the doorbell rang for the second time that morning. Harry pulled out his phone to check the time.

“Shit!” He said jumping to his feet. “It’s one thirty, that’s Simon!” For some reason, this created butterflies in my stomach. The lads rushed to the front door, while Eleanor, Danielle and I made our way to the kitchen.

“We’ll go in, in a bit,” Danielle explained.

“Sure,” I agreed more than happy to prolong my introduction to Simon. “More tea, girls?”

“Absolutely,” Eleanor smiled. We sat around, drinking tea and chatting for a while before the conversation taking place down the hall became too heated for us to ignore any longer.

Notes

Here's a nice long chapter :) Over 2000 views! That's incredible thank you so much for reading! I appreciate every single view. As usual feel free to rate/comment/subscribe, cause that always makes my day! I love you loads for reading this!