The Story of Us

Niall

New York City – May 4th, 2016

“I’m glad we’re hanging out again,” Niall said, smiling over at Audrey.

After he showed up at the diner to make sure things weren’t weird between the two of them, they sat and talked for a while at their usual table. It felt good to not have any weirdness between them. It felt like they were back to normal.

“So, since you’re like… a fan…” Niall prodded, looking up at her through his long eyelashes with a mischievous smirk on his face.

He couldn’t help but notice Audrey’s cheeks immediately pink with blush from his words. It made him smile.

“I was wondering if maybe… I don’t know… you could come over and listen to some of the stuff I’ve been working on for my album,” Niall said with a shrug.

“What?” Audrey choked out, her mouth dropping open.

“I figured you’d be the best judge since you’ve been around… I mean, how long have you actually been a fan of One Direction? I guess I never asked,” Niall questioned.

“Uh, since 2011,” she told him as she bit at her lip, looking incredibly bashful.

“Wow. So nearly the entire time,” he said, heightening his eyebrows in shock.

“Yeah,” she said quietly.

“Did you ever see us live?” He asked, really wanting to get it all out on the table.

“Mm-hmm,” she confessed and he let out a laugh.

“How many times?” He questioned, knowing she wasn’t going volunteer any information by herself. Audrey looked up at him almost guiltily.

“A lot?” He asked, smirking at her.

“I pretty much saw you guys on every single tour,” she confessed.

“Shut up. You did not,” he said, feeling more than a little shocked.

“Yeah, I did,” she admitted, nodding her head.

“Really? I didn’t know you were that big of a fan,” Niall laughed. Audrey looked more than a little uneasy.

“Relax. It’s cool. At least I know you actually like us,” Niall said with a little laugh.

“I do,” she answered with a nod.

“Good. So yeah, do you want to hear some of my music then?” He asked again.

“You know I do,” she said as another smile turned up her lips.

“Cool,” Niall said, smirking at her.

“Cool,” she said, trying to stifle her smile.

“Do you want to go now?” He asked, pointing back toward the door.

“Sure. Yeah,” Audrey said, watching him get up from the table.

Niall walked up to the front counter and started talking with George, letting him know he’d be paying for his and Audrey’s tab.

“She’s a good girl, ain’t she?” George asked him.

“Audrey? Oh, yeah. She amazing,” Niall said with a smile as he pulled out his wallet to pay the tab.

“You and that other fella… you looking out for her?” George asked as Niall handed him a twenty dollar bill.

“Yeah. Me and Harry have her back,” Niall assured him, letting out a chuckle.

“Good. Cause Audrey is like family around here. I don’t want nothin’ bad happening to her,” George explained.

“I wouldn’t dream of it, George,” Niall said with a wide smile.

“You tell that other fella too,” George insisted and Niall let out another laugh.

He knew Harry had a higher chance of hurting her than he did – not that he believed he would. But Niall also knew he would probably be right there with George, taking out some kneecaps if that were to happen.

“Yeah. I’ll tell Harry,” Niall said as George tried to hand back his change.

“You keep it,” Niall said with a smile.

“Thank you,” George said with a nod and pocketed the money in his apron.

“Have a good day,” Niall told him, and George gave him a quick nod.

As soon as Audrey gathered up her belongings, Niall was already headed back toward her to leave the diner.

“I need to pay my bill,” she told Niall as he put his hand on the small of her back to lead her out.

“It’s already taken care of,” Niall replied.

“But, Niall…” Audrey protested, turning back to see George give her a wink.

“It’s no big deal, Aud,” Niall said as they made their way out the door.

“You don’t always have to pay,” she told him.

“I want to,” he said with a shrug.

“I have money, you know,” she retorted.

“I never said you didn’t,” he chuckled as they walked down the sidewalk in the direction of his flat.

“Do you want anything to drink? I have… water,” Niall offered once they got back to his flat, opening his refrigerator to look inside.

“I’m okay,” Audrey laughed as she walked toward him, leaning against his kitchen countertop.

“So, uh… want to listen… to the music?” Niall asked awkwardly, causing Audrey to laugh out loud.

“Yes, Niall. I would love to listen to the music,” she told him with a wide smile.

The two of them walked to the back bedroom he transformed into a small recording studio. He learned a long time ago how to record and produce music, and he was fully taking advantage of it now.

“So… I mean, it’s just rough right now, but… I don’t know,” he said, sitting down in his chair as he logged onto his computer.

“I am sure it’s perfect, Niall,” Audrey told him as she sat down on the couch opposite of him.

“I wouldn’t go that far…” He chuckled, realizing her opinion might be a bit biased.

“Okay, here’s a rough cut,” he said, looking back at her before he pressed play.

As she listened, he watched as her face transformed from casual to surprised to excited to almost baffled as she listened to the track, which was tentatively named On the Loose. And as it was nearing the end, he watched her drop her face into her hands and he couldn’t help but laugh. It was a good sign, right?

“What did you think?” Niall asked after the song finished. Audrey shook her head with her hands still over her face.

“Audrey?” Niall chuckled nervously.

“I can’t…” She said through her hands, her voice muffled.

“You can’t, what?” He asked, knitting his eyebrows together.

“God, Niall,” she exclaimed as she pulled her hands away from her face, looking over at him. He gave her an awkward smile, feeling incredibly confused.

“You have literally exceeded my expectations,” she gushed, immediately causing him to chuckle at her enthusiasm.

“I just… I cannot deal with you and your flawlessness,” she told him and he chuckled even more, shaking his head at her.

“If the rest of the record is anything like that, you’re golden,” she told him. Was that a rave review? His first as a solo artist.

“Thanks,” he said and he could feel a slight blush creep up his cheeks.

.

Audrey

New York City – May 4th, 2016

Audrey couldn’t actually believe Niall was letting her listen to his new music. It was like a dream come true. She never thought in a million years that her life would turn into such a day-dream. But there she was, sitting on Niall’s couch listening to a beautiful written, produced and performed masterpiece by her very talented best friend.

What she heard was like perfection in musical form. But, she might have been a little biased. She really hadn’t expected anything less from him. And when she felt the overwhelming feelings of pride start to choke her up, she pulled her hands up to her face to hide her emotions.

“She’ll dance in the dark. A real work of art. Her eyes could burn down the room. So get out while you can. You don’t understand. She doesn’t know how to lose.Yeah, she loves when everybody’s watching. She knows the way her body moves. She loves the way they all crawl back when she says that she loves nobody else but you. She’s on the loose…”

“What did you think?” Niall asked after the song finished.

Audrey shook her head with her hands still over her face. His voice and his ability to create such amazing music was so overwhelming. She honestly couldn’t help the tears.

“Audrey?” Niall chuckled nervously.

“I can’t…” She said through her hands.

“You can’t, what?” He asked.

“God, Niall,” she exclaimed as she pulled her hands away from her face, looking over at him. He gave her an awkward smile, looking confused.

“You have literally exceeded my expectations,” she told him. He immediately chuckled at her enthusiasm.

“I just… I cannot deal with you and your flawlessness,” she told him. He chuckled even more, shaking his head at her.

“If the rest of the record is anything like that, you’re golden,” she told him.

“Thanks,” he said as she saw a hint of a blush creep up his cheeks.

A second later, Audrey’s vision cut to the doorway, watching as Harry casually walked in texting on his phone.

“Hey,” he said without even looking up.

“Hey,” Niall said, turning back toward the computer.

“Hi,” Audrey said quietly, feeling the ache for him in the pit of her stomach.

Harry looked up quickly, startled to see her sitting on the couch, like he hadn’t noticed her in the first place.

“Audrey, hey,” he cooed, smiling widely at her.

“Hi, Harry,” she greeted, smiling back at him bashfully.

“What’s going on?” He asked, looking between the two of them.

“I just had Audrey listen to the song I’ve been working on,” Niall told Harry.

“Oh. Did you like it?” Harry asked her.

“Of course I liked it,” she told him honestly.

“She cried,” Niall told him with a sideways smirk.

“Niall!” Audrey laughed.

“What? You cried. I saw you,” he laughed.

“I thought we were friends, dude. Why would just put my business out there like that?” Audrey joked.

“My bad,” he shrugged, looking at her over his shoulder.

Harry chuckled, looking between the two of them. When Niall went back to messing around on the computer, Harry tucked his phone in his pocket and sat down next to Audrey on the couch.

“How’ve you been?” He asked in a hushed voice.

“Good. How are you?” Audrey asked, feeling the butterflies flapping around in her stomach for him, because of him.

“Good. I, uh… I tried to call you,” he told her.

“Yeah. I know. I’m sorry,” she said, feeling bad that she ignored his calls. She’d been so entirely busy with school and she couldn’t just walk out of class to take a phone call.

“Can we, uh… you want to go somewhere so we can talk?” Harry asked her.

Audrey nervously looked over at Niall, who was already busy with mixing some music on the computer. She felt bad, because she came there with Niall. But on the other hand, she really wanted to go talk to Harry.

“Uh, sure,” she told him.

“Come on,” he said, quickly getting up off the couch, grabbing her hand to help her up.

“We’ll be right back,” Harry told Niall as they moved toward the doorway of the room.

“Sure,” Niall said, not even bothering with looking in their direction.

Audrey followed Harry to the room he occupied when staying with Niall and watched as he closed the door behind them. As soon as her eyes focused on the bed, visions of when they slept together came floating back to her brain. Oh, good lord.

“Come here,” he said, grabbing her hand as he led her to the bed. The two of them sat down on the edge of it and Audrey felt awkward and extremely turned on all at the same time.

Almost as soon as they sat down, Harry’s lips were pressed against hers and everything inside of her was screaming for him. Her hand came up to touch his face as his fingers weaved into her hair. She didn’t think he knew what kind of effect he had on her, because if he did he would know that blindsiding her like that could very well kill her. But in the same instance, his kisses are what revived her.

After a few moments, Harry slowed down the kiss, leaving a few perfect pecks on her lips before he pulled back.

“Sorry… I just… I’ve been wanting to do that for a while. I couldn’t resist,” he said, smirking bashfully at her.

“It’s okay,” she said, smiling back at him, feeling the sweet burning on her lips from his stubble.

“Can I be perfectly honest with you?” He asked, quirking an eyebrow at her.

“Please,” she said with a nod, feeling something close to elation to be the one girl in the world that Harry’s eyes were fixated on.

“The first time I saw you…” He said, looking deeply into her eyes. An intense stare that could ultimately tear her apart.

“…I just knew I had to have you,” he told her.

Oh, god. He was determined to kill her. Audrey swallowed hard, trying to process his words, trying hard not to throw up because of them.

“You are so beautiful, Audrey. And you’re so smart and you’re so funny. I just… it was instant for me. And I…” He trailed off, letting out a laugh, dropping his vision down to his hands as she stayed silent, slowly dying inside.

“I just remember thinking how I hoped Niall didn’t have a claim on you,” he said, looking back up into her eyes with a sideways grin on his face.

“We’re just friends,” Audrey choked out, feeling like she needed to clarify it again for some reason.

“I know,” he said, letting out a little chuckle.

She didn’t know what to do or what to say. There was so much that could have been said on her part, but she couldn’t find the words. Her mind was mush.

“I guess what I am really just trying to say is…” Harry continued, licking his lips as she focused on his mouth – his amazing mouth. Mm.

“I’m kind of wondering if maybe you’d want to, I don’t know… go out with me,” he said with a shrug, trying to act casual, but she could see his bashfulness shining through.

Audrey’s eyebrows heightened with his words. Did he just… did he… he just…

“Like… on a date?” She choked out.

“Well, yeah… and you know… to be… you know… exclusive with each other,” he said with a shrug.

Holy fucking hell. Was Harry Styles asking her to be his girlfriend?

“You want to be exclusive?” Audrey asked, her eyebrows heightening in shock and awe.

“Yeah. I mean, I like you and you like me. I mean… you know. It makes sense,” he said. Audrey took a shaky breath in, trying to feed her brain oxygen, before letting it out smoothly.

“Well, with logic like that…” She said, smirking at him and he smiled back.

“Exclusive sounds… I don’t know… perfect,” Audrey said, smiling widely at him.

Harry’s smile was bigger than she’d ever seen it in her life and her whole entire being thrived on it. If she could eat, breathe, and sleep that boy, she would.

“God, Audrey,” he sighed, leaning in to connect their lips again.

In an instant, Harry was able to make her whole entire world explode in the best way possible.

Notes