You + Me + Him

Early 2016

Harry came back to the condo to pick Alyssa up around six that evening so they could catch an early dinner. He made her pick the restaurant, you know, since she was paying.

“I don’t know what you like to eat!” Alyssa protested.

“Food, Alyssa. I like to eat food,” he deadpanned.

“Ha ha. No shit,” she said, glaring at him.

“Just pick. It’s like if you were taking me on a date, you’d choose the restaurant and pay for me,” Harry said, sending Alyssa a playful bob of his eyebrows.

“Oh, really?” She laughed.

“Yeah. We’re throwing gender roles out the window tonight, Alyssa,” Harry said, nodding his head.

“Fine, but that means since you’re paying for the movie, you have to pick the movie we’re going to see,” she told him.

“Okay, but that means you can’t complain about it. You’ve given up all rights,” he said, smirking deviously at her.

“Nah-uh. If it’s stupid, I’m going to tell you it’s stupid,” she laughed.

“Well, if my food sucks, then I’m going to tell you it sucks,” Harry retorted.

“Okay. But it’s not going to bother me since I didn’t make the food,” she laughed.

“Well, it’s not going to bother me because I didn’t make the movie,” he said smugly.

“Then don’t complain if I complain about it,” she said as she hip checked him.

“You complain about everything,” he said, rolling his eyes.

“I do not, you little shit,” Alyssa laughed.

“Ha!” Harry laughed, throwing his arm around her neck, pulling her into a headlock as they walked toward his car.

“HARRY!” Alyssa whined as he gave her a playful noogie.

“Always complaining,” he teased, finally letting her go.

“That’s because you messed up my hair!” She said and punched him in the arm.

“’That’s because you messed up my hair’,” he said, mimicking her in a whiny voice.

“Harry Edward Styles, you are literally asking to have your ass kicked right now,” Alyssa scolded him, causing him to laugh out loud.

“Come on, you lunatic. We’re going to be late for our movie if you don’t stop making a fool of yourself in this driveway,” Harry laughed, grabbing her arm to pull her along.

“I’m making a fool of myself?” Alyssa laughed sarcastically.

“Are you implying that I am?” He asked, smirking at her. She could only laugh at him in response.

“Shut up, Lyssy,” he said, using Zayn’s annoying nickname for her as he walked to the driver side of his car.

“Oooh, boy. You are going to get it. So hard,” she threatened as she made her way to the passenger side.

“And what is this ‘it’ I’m going to get?” He asked, quirking his eyebrow as he looked across the roof of the car at her.

“A beat down,” Alyssa said, opening up the passenger door.

“I’ll be sure to keep that in mind,” he laughed as he opened his door and got in.

All throughout dinner they kept up their witty banter. Harry was so much fun to be around and Alyssa was quickly realizing she and Harry got along better than she and Zayn did most days. She could only chalk it up to her and Zayn being so used to each other that they sometimes forgot to be civil with one another if they were in a bad mood. Plus, all the sexual baggage they had wasn’t helping them any.

“Okay. So, what movie did you pick?” She asked Harry as they walked out to his car after they ate dinner.

“I’m not telling you yet. You’re probably going to hate it, so I’d rather not hear the whining until after I buy your ticket,” he said with a mischievous smirk.

“I’m never going on a date with you again,” Alyssa scoffed as she pushed him lightly.

“A date?” He asked, stopping in his tracks, looking at her oddly.

“It’s like a date that’s not really a date,” Alyssa told him with a shrug of her shoulders.

“A date that’s not really a date?” Harry asked, giving her a look of bullshit.

“Hey, you’re the one who asked me out!” Alyssa laughed.

“If I asked you out, there would be no question of whether or not it was a date,” Harry countered.

“Oh, really?” She asked, quirking her eyebrow at him.

“Yeah. It wouldn’t just be a casual ‘wanna do something tonight’ kind of thing,” Harry said as he continued to walk toward his car. Alyssa, on the other hand, was left reeling on the sidewalk, wondering what in the hell he meant by that statement.

“Are you coming or what? This date that’s-not-a-date has time restraints,” Harry called out to her.

Alyssa quickly jogged to the passenger side and slipped in, feeling a bit frazzled. Harry didn’t say much on the way to the theater and it made Alyssa feel even more awkward. She looked over at her silent friend and wondered what he was thinking.

“What?” He asked, looking over at her.

“Nothing,” she said, looking straight out the windshield again and he did the same.

“Why did you get quiet all of a sudden?” Alyssa asked, unable to keep the question in her brain any longer.

“I don’t know. Why did you?” He asked, countering the question with a question.

“Because you did,” she told him.

“I don’t know,” he said, shrugging his shoulders as he pulled into the movie theater parking lot.

The two of them got out of the car after having to park several rows back due to overcrowding and set out toward the theater. Alyssa looked over at him as they walked and he smirked at her.

“What?” He asked.

“Where’s your head, Harry?” She asked.

“I’m just mentally preparing myself for the flack that you’re going to give me when I tell you we’re going to go see Captain America: Civil War,” Harry said, smirking at her.

“Harrr-reh!” She whined and he laughed out loud.

“See,” he laughed.

“I haven’t even seen the first two!” Alyssa whined as they walked up to the window to pay for the tickets.

“You’ll love it. Chris Evans and RDJ. Come on,” he laughed and Alyssa glared playfully at him.

“Two tickets for Captain America,” Harry said to the woman at the ticket booth.

“You are so buying me popcorn, candy and a soda… jerk,” Alyssa said, giving him her best glare.

“Ha. You’re going to make me break the bank,” he laughed.

“Good,” she told him as the lady handed him the tickets after he paid.

“Come on,” he said, wrapping his arm around her neck tightly, pulling her along.

“You’re really trying to fuck my hair tonight,” she said, pushing away from him as they walked in.

“No, not your hair,” he said suggestively with a wide smirk on his face.

“Hazza!” She yelped and hit him hard in the arm.

“I’m kidding. I’m kidding!” He laughed as he dodged a second smack from her.

“You’re not allowed to talk dirty to me!” She laughed.

“Pssssh!” He scoffed immediately.

“God, I cannot believe you,” she laughed as they got in line for concessions.

“I can’t believe you’re still hungry after dinner,” he quipped.

“I’m not. I just want you to pay for unnecessary shit,” she said spitefully.

“Of course,” he laughed.

“What can I get for you?” The concessionist in front of them asked.

“I need the largest bucket of popcorn and the largest soda. Make that two sodas,” she told the girl.

“I don’t need one,” Harry told the girl.

“He does. Diet Coke. Make mine a Sprite. Light ice,” Alyssa told her.

“You’re ridiculous, Lyss,” Harry chuckled.

“And I want the gummy worms and the Milk Duds. Oooh, and the Raisinets,” she said, pointing at the candy case.

“Jesus,” Harry laughed. Alyssa looked back at him and gave him a devious smirk.

“My blood sugar is spiking just thinking about all that candy,” he said with a smile.

“It’s going to be good,” Alyssa told him with a bob of her eyebrows.

“Anything else?” The concessionist asked.

“Anything else, Harry?” Alyssa smirked at him.

“No, no. I think we’re good,” he chuckled.

“That’ll be $23,” the girl told them.

“You’re trouble, Alyssa Michelle Rossi,” Harry said, smirking at her, pulling out his bank card.

“You love me,” she said, wrinkling her nose at him.

“Unfortunately,” he said as he rolled his eyes.

Once they were settled in the packed theater with their treats, Alyssa and Harry sat waiting for the previews to start. Alyssa reached over and grabbed a handful of popcorn from the bucket that was in Harry’s lap.

“There better not be a hole in the bottom of that bucket, Styles,” Alyssa told him. He nearly choked on the sip of Diet Coke he just took.

“Why do you get to make sexual jokes and I don’t?” He laughed.

“’Cause I’m not a pervert,” she said, smiling at him.

“You’re a bigger pervert than I am!” He laughed.

“Ha, yeah right!” Alyssa laughed as the previews started up.

“Shhhhhhh. The previews are starting,” he said over-dramatically.

“Oh, shut up,” Alyssa giggled, rolling her eyes at him.

“SHHHH!” He said again, clamping his hand over her mouth. Alyssa couldn’t help but laugh as she tried to pry his hand from her face.

“Alyssa, be quiet,” he laughed.

“Hazza,” she mumbled against his hand.

“Shhhhh!” He said again. A moment later, Alyssa took the opportunity to lick his hand, since he wasn’t letting go.

“Gross!” He laughed, finally letting go to wipe his palm on his jeans.

“SHHHH!” Alyssa retaliated.

“Ooh,” he said, reaching over to squeeze her knee, causing her to jump and yelp because it tickled.

“SHHH!” He laughed and Alyssa glared at him playfully.

“Watch the movie,” he whispered, pointing to the screen.

“Brat,” she grumbled and let her attention fall to the screen.

Sitting in a dark movie theater with Harry brought her back to the days when she would go with his family to movies growing up.

.

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Summer 2007

“I want to go see Spiderman 3!” Zayn whined in the van on the way to the movie theater.

“I want to see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix!” Alyssa whined to one-up Zayn.

“Harry, what do you want to go see?” Zayn asked.

“I want to see Harry Potter,” Harry told his older brother.

“You’re just saying that because you’re mad at me!” Zayn said, giving him a shove.

“Zayn! Don’t push your brother!” Trisha said from the front seat.

“Two for Harry Potter. One for Spidey. Doniya, what do you want to see?” Alyssa asked.

“I want to see them both,” Doniya told her.

“But you have to choose!” Zayn whined.

“Well, I kind of want to see Spiderman more,” Doniya said with a ‘sorry’ look on her face.

“YES!” Zayn gloated.

“Calm down, Zayn!” Trisha snapped.

“That’s two to two,” Alyssa sighed as they pulled into the theater parking lot.

“I’ll flip a coin,” Doniya said, grabbing a quarter from the center console of the van.

“Heads Harry Potter, tails Spidey,” she said, flipping it in the air before catching it and clamping it against the top of her hand.

Alyssa crossed her fingers for Harry, hoping luck would be in hers and Harry’s favor.

“Tails,” Doniya said as Trisha parked the van.

“YES!” Zayn yelled again.

“Shut up!” Harry and Alyssa said at the same time.

“Sore losers!” Zayn laughed, whipping open the van door.

“You could always come to see Ratatouille with me and the girls,” Trisha offered.

“Yeah!” Safaa said excitedly. Waliyha let out a sigh, because she wasn’t happy that her mom wouldn’t let her go see the movie that the bigger kids were going to see.

“No way!” Zayn scoffed.

Harry and Alyssa weren’t exactly happy that they were forced to go see Spiderman 3. Although, by the end of the movie they were both hooked. Spiderman kicks ass after all. Just in their opinion, Harry Potter kicks more ass. Duh.

When they got home from the movie, Harry and Zayn wanted to act out the movie in the backyard. Alyssa was laughing so hard at the two of them as Zayn ran around as Spiderman and Harry played Doc Ock. Of course they wanted Alyssa to play Mary Jane, but she was having more fun watching them make fools out of themselves. Oh, the imagination of boys.

.

.

Alyssa smiled to herself at the memory, completely ignoring the current preview that was on the screen.

“What?” Harry whispered to her.

“Nothing,” she said, shaking her head.

“You’ll have to tell me later,” he whispered and she nodded at him.

She had to admit, Captain American: Civil War was pretty good. But like she said, she hadn’t seen the first two, so some of it was confusing. But Chris Evans and RDJ were phenomenal as usual. Plus they were both fantastic eye candy.

“What did you think?” Harry asked, stretching his arms over his head as the lights came back up in the auditorium.

“It was okay,” Alyssa told him, keeping her voice level on purpose. She’d never admit it to him that she enjoyed it.

“I liked it,” he said with a smile.

“Yeah, but you like any movie. You like seeing movies, period,” she pointed out.

“True,” he agreed.

When the two of them were walking back to his car, Harry playfully hip-checked Alyssa, causing her feet to stray from the sidewalk.

“Jeez,” she grumbled, righting herself again next to him.

“What were you laughing about when the movie started?” He asked curiously.

“Oh. Ha,” Alyssa said, smiling again at the memory from their childhood.

“What?” He smirked.

“I was thinking about how we went to see Spiderman 3 and you and Zayn acted it out in the backyard afterward,” Alyssa giggled.

“Ha, that was fun,” he said, nodding his head as he let out a laugh.

“You guys always did a good job of making fools out of yourselves,” Alyssa laughed.

“Whatever,” Harry laughed, hip-checking her again.

“We totally wanted to go see Harry Potter,” he pointed out.

“Damn Doniya and Zayn for not letting us see it that day,” Alyssa laughed.

“Yeah. I honestly can’t believe Harry Potter is all over now,” Harry sighed.

“It was amazing. And I cried when it was over,” Alyssa told him.

“You cried?” Harry laughed.

“DUH! It’s Harry Potter!” She laughed.

“You’re such a girl,” he laughed, throwing his arm around her neck again.

“You’re such a dick,” she laughed, punching him lightly in the side.

“But you love me,” he said matter-of-factly.

“Unfortunately,” she said, rolling her eyes at him.

Notes