narry~

Oblivious.

Part 1 ~

As I lugged my suitcase onto the extended coach that I would be travelling on for the next seventeen hours, I waved goodbye to my parents who had gone to the effort in escorting me here, to the school gates. They had the look of sadness and despair as their car drove away, but I knew inside they were happy to get a whole five days away from me. And to their advantage, five days of me being out of the country.

I had been planning this day with my best friends for months. It always seemed like the day would never come, or as if something would get in the way of you doing what you’ve waited forever for. Either way, I was pleased this day had finally come. The bus driver took my lilac suitcase and placed it into the luggage department on the bus before telling me to take my seat.  I was the last person to aboard the bus filled with pupils from my year and a few extras from the years above and below. Teachers sat at the front of the bus, people who were bus-sick sat beside or behind the teachers, “average kids” sat in the middle rows of the bus and finally, me and my friends always sat in the back few rows, just like we had done for years.

Months back, we had all wrote down the details of the bus journey: who we would be sitting beside for the long seventeen hour haul to France. I wanted to be sitting beside someone who could keep me entertained for hours on end, so Harry and I partnered up. I would have happily sat with him, Louis or Niall. Those boys never failed to crack me up, so I was ensured a pretty eventful journey. But Harry insisted I sat with him because, quote, “You’re the only one I wouldn’t end up falling out with because we’re the only ones who aren’t moody as fuck when we’re tired.”

So that was that. Sorted! 

I took my seat beside Harry as he turned his body in a 360 degree angle to speak to Liam and Louis who were behind us in the very back row, along with Jade. Niall and Zayn were in the two seats in front of Harry and I, and that was us. Clicking my seatbelt in, I peered over Harry’s body and looked out of the window as the concrete on the ground started moving slowly away from the school grounds.

“On the road again, I can’t wait to get on the road again!” Louis belted out, leaving Niall in his catchy hysterical laughter. Zayn joining in not too long after.

“Are you going to be like this the whole journey?” I sighed, turning to face Louis.

“Are you actually asking him that, Kimberly?” Liam replied, giving me a sympathetic look.

Agreeing with Liam, I turned back around and reached into the front pocket of my denim shorts for my iPod, placing the headphones into each of my ears. I always read the little “L” and “R” to make sure my ears had the utmost comfort when I was listening to my favorite music. I wasn’t long into “Nicki Minaj - Superbass” before Harry poked my ribs, tilting his head as I faced him. I knew what he implied. Sighing, I took out my right earphone and handed it to Harry who grinned in response and placed it into his ear.

“Can’t you hear that boom.. ba-.. bass.” Harry stuttered, trying to spit out the lyrics.

“Promise me you’ll never rap. Stick to singing, please?” I pleaded. I didn’t want to have to play this song over and over for seventeen hours until he finally got the lyrics and pacing right so I could listen to him rap the lyrics for the rest of the journey.

“Fine..” He laughed, rolling his eyes. “What Kimberly wants, Kimberly gets.” 

Glaring at Harry, I pulled the earphone out of his ear, “You make me out to be something i’m not.” 

“I’m an deeply sorry. How will you ever forgive me?”

“Stop rubbing your jeans against my legs. Rubbing denim against skin makes it go all red and patchy, exhibit A..” I said, pointing to my piece of flesh on display.

Harry didn’t see the sympathetic side of it. Instead, he looked up at me with an “are you serious?” look, before pulling the material of my shorts and laughing to himself.

“You’re wearing denim shorts against bare skin. You can’t get me into trouble for ‘rubbing against you’ can you?”

“This conversation sound so.. wrong.” Jade butted in from behind us.

“Of course you, of all people, would say that.” I laughed, turning my body to face her.

“Nah, she really likes my leg rubbing up against her.” Harry smirked, patting my knee.

“Obviously.” I spat, ignoring him and engaging in conversation with Jade, my best friend.

As always, the bus ride is the best part of your whole journey. This was going to be good.

Part 2 ~

Four hours into the bus journey, almost every single person had drifted to sleep. Considering we had to be on the bus at eight at night, I guess they had been too tired from packing all day. Or even from building up such excitement that they simply tired themselves out. I, however, was still wide awake; along with a few other people at the front of the bus.

This is what I liked. Peace and quiet. It was dark and the bus lights had been dimmed. Harry’s head rest against the window, vibrating and occasionally bumping off of the glass whenever the bus drove over a crack or hole in the road - but this never woke him. He was a very deep sleeper.

Boredom began to take over, so whipping out my iPhone, I started playing one of the many apps I had downloaded just in case I couldn’t stand listening to music anymore. Even though I never thought that time would actually come. I was getting intensely into my game of Angry birds when I felt someone tap on my shoulder. I wasn’t startled, but instead, quickly pressed the ‘home’ button on my phone and turned around.

“Good evening.” I greeted a very tired looking Liam.

“Alright?” He asked, one of his eyes still closed as he rubbed it with the back of his hand.

“Why’d you wake up? I was planning on getting more pictures of you sleeping and cuddling up to Louis.” I frowned, glancing over to Louis who was still sound asleep.

Liam followed my gaze, turning to Louis and back to me chuckling to himself, “I guess my brain just decided to wake up, huh?”

“That’s a change..” I muttered under my breath.

“Maybe you’re the one who needs to sleep?”

“Sorry, I’m just bored.” I sighed, looking down to the time on my phone that read ‘11:11’

Smiling to myself, Liam peered his head through the small gap in between Harry’s and my chair and whispered, “Make a wish..”

Nodding, I grasped my phone tightly in my hands and closed my eyes, creating my wish. 

‘I wish this holiday will be one to remember.’ I said in my mind, re-opening my eyes and turning to see Liam with his eyes just opening, “done?” I asked.

“Done.” He beamed.

“What did you wish for?” I asked, knowing quite well he wouldn’t tell me.

“I can’t tell you otherwise my-“

“Your wish won’t come true?” I butted in, “You actually believe in that shit?” I laughed.

“Yes? Of course I do.”

“I’m so judgmental. Sorry.” I apologized, tired of my own voice.

“Don’t worry about it. Just sit back, relax, and enjoy the start of this holiday…” he drifted off.

Doing as he said, I shuffled in my seat and rested my head against Harry’s shoulder. He was very comfortable. Wrapping my arms around Harry’s, I held on and buried my face into the short sleeve of Harry’s Mick Jagger t-shirt. Closing my eyes, I listened to the faint sound of Liam singing. I swear all of my friends were talented. They all sang, and most of them were boys. Apart from Jade. Her talent was playing football, so she was like one of the boys - in my opinion. We both preferred to be around boys, just because it was a lot easier. No bitchiness, just a funny, relaxed era. 

Before I knew it, I had managed to fall asleep. I had a strange dream, but it wasn’t vivid at all. I’m sure it had something to do with falling off the Eiffel tower, hence the reason why I jumped in my seat randomly, my palms sweating and heart racing. I was shit scared. My eyes widened as I lifted my head up, looking straight into Harry’s eyes. He looked bewildered, as if I had just awakened him, too. His curls tousled, face looking somewhat terrified. All I could do was laugh, but quietly. People were still sleeping. 

“Did I wake you?” I asked in an apologetic tone.

“No. I always look like this when I’m sitting on a bus and someone has a heart attack beside me.” 

“Snappy.”

“No wonder!” He laughed, “Yes, Kimberly. You woke me up.”

“Sorry..” I laughed with an apologetic look on my face. “What’s the time?”

Harry lifted his arm, glancing at his wrist, “It’s two a.m.”

“I hoped I slept through the whole bus ride. Clearly, I was wrong.”

“You were wrong, but Niall’s on his way to doing that..” Harry smirked, indicating his eyes over to Niall who was leaning firmly against Zayn. 

Not going to lie, whatever Zayn was doing, he looked gorgeous. Even when he was sleeping. He didn’t look funny or at all laughable when he slept. Lucky bugger.

“You should have seen your face when you woke up..” Harry scoffed, looking at his lap and shaking his head, curls falling all over his face.

“Me?! Should’ve seen you when I woke you up. Priceless.” I grinned, crossing my legs over.

After a long, refreshing silence, Harry shuffled around in his seat and lifted his arm, “Come here, then.”

Rolling my eyes with a big smile on my face, I leaned into him, resting my head on his hip as he placed his arm round me, “Now go back to sleep. Let’s see how much more of this bus ride we can sleep through.” He mumbled, his tired voice very eminent.

Part 3 ~ 

As Harry and I had both intended, we had slept through the majority of the bus ride. We had now entered France and were only thirty minutes or so away from our hotel where we would be staying for five nights. Everyone on the bus was more or less awake, and the energy had reached and all time high. The bus was buzzing. 

“Are you excited?” Zayn turned and asked me, a grin spread across his face.

“Of course she is, ya mad scone!” Niall belted, bobbing up and down in his seat.

“What about you, Jade?” Zayn leaned over the edge of his seat to the back row where Jade was sitting with Louis and Liam.

“I am. I just want to get off this bus already and stretch my legs!” She confessed, kicking her legs out in front of her.

“I think we all do.” Liam said, rubbing his hands together anxiously.

Leaning forward, I looked past Harry to the window where the scenery was passing us by. The sun was blazing, bouncing off of the pavement and the semi-flat hills. This was nothing like back in London. There was more country side and a lot less traffic.

“Where do you think we are?” I asked Harry, my eyes locked on the outside.

“According to that sign you just missed, we’ve just entered Calais. So.. we’re here!” He yelled, sitting erectly in his seat, unbuckling his seat belt.

“Mr Styles, seat belt back on. Now!” Mr Wilson demanded, eyeing Harry up.

“Yes, Sir.” Harry sulked, clicking his seat belt back into place. “Fucking prick.” He mumbled under his breath.

“Don’t you mean Putain de piquer?”

“What does that mean again?”

“Fucking prick.” I chuckled, patting his shoulder, “You’ve got a lot to learn. Remind me why you came on this trip? You’re failing French, and we all know it.”

“Because I wanted to spent some quality time with my friends.” He grinned, baring his teeth.

“Go on..”

“And to check out some of the French girls.” He added, looking proud.

“Vas happenin’ gurlies?” Zayn smirked, wiggling his eyebrows.

Typical boys.

Sooner or later, we had arrived. The process of jumping off of the bus, grabbing our luggage and standing outside the hotel to wait on the teachers had already started. The sun shone off my shoulders and legs, keeping me warm. A gentle, mild breeze rolled in, cooling me down ever so slightly. The teachers caught up with us and the thirty odd students lugged their suitcases and bags into the hotel lobby. One of the teachers, Miss Laird, had a list of room assortments that none of us actually knew about. We all knew it was girls in one room and boys in another - no mixing. 

Fortunately, I had been placed in a room with Jade. If I wasn’t, I don’t know what I’d have done. We were sharing our room with two other girls, Sasha and Beth. We weren’t too friendly with them two, out of everyone. We had never spoken, but rumors had been passed back and fourth, giving us more reasons not to speak. But if we kept ourselves to ourselves, we would get a long fine.  

Jade and I both decided to take a head start on up to the room, to check it out and unpack before we all headed out for lunch and to visit some local tourist attractions. We were on the third floor, so we didn’t have too many stairs to climb. Yes, we could’ve taken an elevator; but we had chosen to be healthy. To some extent. Jade turned the door handle to our room and pushed it open with force, as the door stuck slightly. A cool wind greeted us, along with two sets of bunk beds. One to the far left of the room, and the other to the right. The walls were painted an off white colour along with a beige carpet. A few painting of flowers decorated the walls, along with one of the Eiffel Tower. Their was an en-suite bathroom in the corner with a shower, toilet and sink. Separating the two sides of the room, in the middle of the wall, was a large window. The view wasn’t great, but at least our room was respectable.

“This is comfy.” Jade grinned, pulling her suitcase into the room and throwing herself onto the bottom of the left bunk bed. 

“Isn’t it?” I smiled, pulling my belongings in and climbing up the ladders of the bed. I guess I was sleeping on top. 

Jade and I began our small talk before there was a light knock on the door, then in walked Sasha and Beth. They both smiled timidly at us before bringing in their luggage and placing it beside the opposite bunk bed. They looked around the room skeptically, before turning to each other.

“Is this it?” Sasha grimaced. 

“I think so.” Beth replied, the same look spread across her face.

“What’s wrong with the room?” I asked - confused.

“It’s a bit.. shabby. Don’t you think?” Sasha confessed.

“Well, it’s only for five nights. We’re going to be out every single day. We’re only here to sleep and wake up, I suppose.”

“My parents didn’t pay all this money for a room like this.” 

“No, you’re right. They paid for the holiday, not the room.” Jade butted in.

“Hmm.” Sasha hummed, falling back onto her bed and pulling Beth along with her.

Jade and I both shared a look of confusion before climbing off of our bunk and beginning to unpack. All four of us girls had two drawers to ourselves, so we wouldn’t have to keep things crammed in our suitcases. Halfway through unpacking, Sasha and Beth began speaking. Not quietly, just casually. 

“At least there’s fit boys on this journey?” Beth grinned.

“The French ones?” Sasha asked.

Beth laughed, “No! Y’know who I mean.”

“What, like Zayn and Liam?”

“And Harry, Niall and Louis! They’re rather.. lovely.”

“Ugh, tell me about it. We can make this holiday interesting, eh?” Sasha smirked, waggling her eyebrows.

“We certainly can.” Beth replied smugly.

That one little conversation caused me and Jade’s eyes to meet in a manner that said ‘We need to watch out.’ 

We knew what these girls could do. So as long as we kept them out of arms reach of the boys, nothing dangerous would happen. Or, anything we would regret not getting in the way of.

Part 4 ~

After settling into the hotel where we would be staying for two nights, everyone was told to go back onto the coach so we could head to our first proper destination.

Everyone who had traveled the long journey to Calais had decided on a change of clothes to freshen themselves up. I had changed into all whites, due to the heat outside. White denim shorts, white pumps and a white vest top. I opted for no tights as I would’ve ended ripping them off anyway due to the sweltering heat. 

If I was in charge of this trip, I wouldn’t have chosen to visit an Imperial War Museum. We were on a ‘holiday’, or at least we thought we were. Each pupil didn’t come here to learn - that was what school was for. Needless to say, when the visit around the museum had come to an end and we left to go for a walk, we were pleased. I would have rejected this walk, but because it was a gorgeous night, most of us accepted without making a fuss.

The coach dropped us off at the hotel and the teachers started us on our small journey throughout the streets of Calais. We all walked in one big pack, just to make sure nobody would get lost. I swear, these teachers worried too much. Jade and I walked alongside Niall and Zayn, with Harry, Louis and Liam walking not that far behind. Niall, being the over excited character that he is, was fascinated by everything.

“You see these steps? I bet they’re really, really old. And I bet some famous person has walked on them!” He belted, wide-eyed.

“You know that back home, somebody famous has probably walked on some steps?” I laughed.

“Yeah, but this is France. Not.. Manchester.” He corrected me, “Get with the times, Kimberly!”

Niall was too cute when he acted like this. I swear, he could pass off for a ten year old at times. The teachers made us walk up this very steep hill that lead to a castle. We didn’t walk into the castle, but instead, we climbed to the top of a tower of steps and ended up looking over the skyline of the city. It was pretty spectacular. Liam insisted that we took a group photo, so he handed Jade’s “fancy photography camera” to Mr Wilson and we all lined up along the stone wall that barricaded us from falling to our death.

Niall sat crossed-legged on the floor and behind him stood Liam, Louis, Jade, myself, Harry and Zayn. Harry placed his arm around my waist and his other arm around Zayn’s shoulder.

“Say.. fromage!” Harry called out, causing me to chuckle.

“FROMAGE!” Niall yelled in his best French accent.

The camera flashed and all of us who linked arm in arm soon separated. I walked back over to the stone wall as Jade was handed her camera back. This wasn’t like some soppy love scene in movies. I couldn’t see the sun set, due to the overcast of clouds that lingered overhead. I didn’t mind that the weather was now turning cloudy - at least we had the sun for the majority of the day. But at least there were some breaks in the cloud.

“It’s a beautiful night, we’re looking for something dumb to do. Hey Kimberly, I think I wanna marry you!” Harry sang as he leaned against the wall with me.

“You’re so cheesy.” I groaned, hiding a smile. “It’s not even a beautiful night. Look at the clouds!”

“Well, hey. It’s close enough?”

“Smile, you two!” Jade beamed, holding her camera in front of her eye.

In this instant, Harry gripped onto my waist and pulled me in front of him, resting his head on my shoulder.

“Aw, cute picture.” She smiled, turning her camera around to show us.

“Would’ve been cuter if their wasn’t this.. thing hanging on me!” I protested.

“You love it.” He fought.

“True, true..” 

We all ventured down the steep hill and back to the hotel. Needless to say, we were shattered. Or at least I was. I hadn’t had one wink of sleep during the long bus ride, so I was completely running on empty.

When we got back to the hotel, we were told to get ready for bed. Whether that meant taking a shower or not, we all obliged. I guess everyone was too tired to argue. To our luck, Beth and Sasha had the room key - and we were only given one. Where were the two at this moment in time? We didn’t know. Probably somewhere throughout the hotel chatting up some French boys. Which left Jade and I stranded outside our room. After waiting long enough, we decided to go and visit the boys on the floor below. There were at least ten doors, ten different rooms. We didn’t know which room either of the boys were in, at all, so it was another chance of luck. We didn’t want to embarrass ourselves in front of every single boy on this trip, so we agreed that listening through the doors was our best option. Doing this, it didn’t take us long to find them.

Jade knocked quietly on the door of one of the boys’ room. Boys and girls being in the same room after hours was strictly forbidden, so unless we wanted to stay with the teachers for the rest of this trip, we had to be sneaky.

“Well hello, hello.” Zayn smirked as he opened the door.

“Shh! One of the teachers will hear you!” Jade hushed him, thumping his bare chest with her hand as she pushed past him.

Zayn, Niall and Harry shared this room. Niall was sprawled across the bed in a pair of boxer shorts, listening to his iPod. He gave us a respectful nod as we walked in, tip-toeing over the clothes that were splashed out everywhere. 

“Where’s curly?” Jade asked.

“Shower.” Zayn replied, jumping onto his bed.

“Might want to put some clothes on or something..” I suggested.

“Nah, you love it!” Zayn laughed, raising his eyebrows at me. “And why are you two not in bed or.. pajamas?”

“Beth and Sasha have our room key so we’re locked out.” I sighed.

“Sucks to be you.” Niall spoke over his music.

Jade sat on the end of Zayn’s bed and I sat on the end of the only empty bed, which I assumed was Harry’s. I didn’t want Niall’s feet prodding me in the back. After scanning their room, the bathroom door hitched and Harry walked out, of course, in nothing but a towel - which was riding a little low. His hair flopped over forehead, dripping wet. 

“Ew. What are these two doing in our room?” Harry spoke in his monotone voice, his lips pouting.

“We’ve been locked out, so we came here. Would you rather we left?” I suggested, knowing that he was kidding.

“Well.. if you have too, you can stay.” He winked, obviously playing one of his little games.

“Good. ‘Cause we plan on staying until they get back!”

“Where do I get changed if they’re here?” Harry said, looking around to see if he could see anywhere that would be acceptable to change.

“The bathroom, maybe?” Niall answered sarcastically.

“The floor is soaking, so I would probably slip and kill myself.”

“Just wait until we leave. We won’t be long, and besides.. you’re wearing more clothes so far than these two.”

“That’s very true. Lads, straighten up! Their are two pretty ladies in here.”

We all began to laugh, but were interrupted when we heard the closing of a door outside in the hallway and the sound of a teachers voice. Mr Wilson’s voice. If he caught us in here.. we were dead. I wish that was an understatement. Our eyes widened and I immediately shot my eyes over to Zayn who jumped up from his bed and ran towards the door, turning to face all of us and waving his arms around.

“Hide, then!” He whispered, keeping a tight lock on the door handle.

Without thinking, we all began to hide. Jade pulled Zayn’s bed covers over her head and tried to lie as flat out as possible. Niall panicked, but realized that he didn’t need to hide.

“Tell him i’m still in the shower!” Harry inputted before ducking his head under the bed sheets.

“Where do I go?” I fretted, looking around helplessly before a knock was placed against the door.

“Here!” Harry whispered, grabbing my hand and pulling me under the covers with him.

It was dark, stuffy and uncomfortable. The door opened and Mr Wilson’s voiced echoed throughout.

“Are you boys ready for bed? Lights out in ten minutes.”

“Yes.” Zayn replied brightly.

“Someone’s missing, where’s Harry?” Mr Wilson asked suspiciously.

“In the shower.. but I think he’s getting changed or something, because the shower’s off.”

“Ah. Well, tell him to hurry up because you’re all expected in bed soon.”

As their conversation continued, I tried to adjust my eyes to the darkness. I felt Harry’s heavy breathing on the top of my head, moving the stray hairs. I wasn’t too sure, but I thought my head was somewhere near Harry’s stomach. From what I could see, and what I saw before I was dragged under the sheets, his stomach was quite toned. He didn’t have a six-pack like the rest of the boys in our group, but he was far from fat - or chubby. He had never been fat, just.. “pinchable.” 

“Having fun down there?” Harry whispered, I could hear a smile emanating through his voice.

“Not particularly..”

“C’mere then.” 

He slid me up the bed by my shoulders, bringing my face close to his. I couldn’t help but feel even more uncomfortable. I felt as if Harry was suggesting something, but maybe I didn’t want him too make me think that way. I never thought of Harry in that way that he might have wanted me too. Did I? Looking up, my fully adjusted blue eyes met his green orbs. Something was about to happen. But, would I let it happen? Did I want it to happen? 

Yes.

Part 5 ~

Although I had been in closer situations with Harry, I couldn’t help but feel awkwardly uncomfortable, and I knew he could sense it. It was very hard to breathe under the bed sheets, even though it was only a thin layer of material. That didn’t stop things from becoming uncontrollably stuffy. The uncomfortable sensation drained quickly from my body as soon as Zayn shut the door.

“You three can come out now.” He whispered, weary in case Mr Wilson was near the door.

Throwing back the covers, I sat up immediately, catching as much ‘clean air’ as I could. My heavy panting must’ve looked suspicious due to Harry and I being under there for a good.. five minutes. He, however, looked very comfortable. Zayn’s eyes locked on Harry’s, causing me to turn around and observe him, too. He was holding himself up on his elbows, darting his eyes between Zayn, Niall and I. Jade soon slipped out of Zayn’s bed, standing up and kicking her legs out, doing a few stretches. She must’ve cramped up.

Zayn raised his eyebrows in Harry’s direction, “Get up to anything under there?” 

“Don’t be silly.” I groaned, picking myself up from Harry’s bed and patting down my white shorts to rid the creases. “We going?” I asked Jade.

“We better, before Wilson comes up to our room.”

Wishing the boys a good night, I could feel Harry’s eyes burning into the back of me. As I turned around to check that I wasn’t going insane, I knew I was right. Harry’s eyes looked dark, a sensual kind of dark. Almost filled with lust? Quickly snapping my head back towards the door, I watched Jade peep her head out, checking the coast was clear. When she indicated, we quickly made a beeline back up one floor to our room. To our luck, or disadvantage, Beth and Sasha were in. The door was ajar, lights out. Walking in, their eyes shot open, glaring at us.

“What the fuck do you call this? Where have you two been!” Sasha hissed, venom piercing through her voice.

This caused Jade to snap. “Us? Us! Where have you two been? We sat outside the room for a good half an hour, and you’se weren’t there! So before you start jumping on our backs, why not question yourselves for once? Now shut the fuck up and get to sleep.” 

Just as Jade had wished, they were quiet for the rest of the night. Everyone soon drifted off to sleep and I was left in silence to have a shower and doze off myself, though, I couldn’t sleep. I lay awake listening to the sound of the girls’ breathing as I gathered my thoughts. I didn’t know what time it was, but I was certain it was soon to turn midnight. The only thing that passed through my mind right now was Harry and the way he looked at me when I left their room. I had seen this look once before on him, and it was that time before, where I first saw it, that brought memories back to life.

Zayn’s party was in full-swing. People were already drunk, stumbling up and down the staircase into different rooms. I’m sure Zayn’s parents wouldn’t have approved of this, but what did he care? What did anyone care, actually. Tonight would be a good night, I could tell. I’m not one to deny my own weaknesses, and I knew I was a lightweight. Two vodka and cokes’ down and I was already slurring my words and gazing into space as the room moved around me. Jade dragged me to the main room where the music was blaring, pounding under my feet and through my chest. Adjusting my skin-tight black tube skirt, I began dancing with Jade to the beat. Not long into the song, I felt a strong pair of hands grab hold of my waist in a protective manner. In stead of turning to face the mysterious person, I swayed my hips in a seductive motion along with the movement of their hands. Giving in to temptation, I spun around on the balls of my feet and faced, to my surprise, Harry. He looked down through his long eyelashes at me, lifting one of his hands away from my waist and up to my chin, tilting it upwards. A smirk played upon the corner of his mouth as he teasingly placed his hand on the lower part of my back before forcefully pulling me into him, pushing his torso against mine. Gasping lightly, I widened my eyes in awe. I saw a dark look in Harry’s eyes that I had never seen before. A look of hunger, a look of lust. A look that I adored on him from this point on wards. He maneuvered his face close to mine, stopping a few milometers away. His eyes dropped from mine and lingered around my lips, and with one blink, his gaze met mine again - that look of lust more prominent now. Shaking my head lightly, I laughed to myself. Unraveling my arms, I placed my hands against his that were tight around my petite body, timidly pulling them off of me. He tilted his head gently, if almost pleading for me to stop what I was doing. Continuing to shake my head, I brought my lips to his ears, whispering two words I knew he desperately didn’t want to hear.

“Not now..”

When I told Jade previously about what had happened at Zayn’s party, she told me that I would regret my choice in future. That I would regret not taking up the opportunity with Harry. But I didn’t regret it? I didn’t want to have some fling with one of my best friends. If he really wanted me, he would’ve waited. 

Seeing that dark look of lust in Harry’s eyes before in the boys room made me think again, did he want me that badly? Thinking back, I was surprised nothing had happened when we were both under his bed sheets. But it did make me think about where our relationship as friends was going, and whether it would change. I knew that if I told Harry that I wanted him too, even though I wasn’t sure if I did, he would accept and our relationship would change to something along the lines of ‘Friends with benefits.’ With Harry, this didn’t sound like such a bad idea. I knew a lot of girls that would take him up with any offer that he approached them with, but he never did. He was never that forward with girls. He was reluctant, but knew how to charm other girls. 

I had been friends with Harry for a good six or so years, and there had always been an unnamed tension between us. Our friends saw it, and would bring up every so often that we should just get together, and I had caught Harry and a few of the boys talking about it when they thought I wasn’t near. Harry’s response to them was always ‘She doesn’t want me’ or ‘I should give up trying’ - which made me feel horrible.

Maybe sparking things up with him wasn’t such a bad idea after all? 

Part 6 ~

Needless to say, I didn’t get much sleep at all that night. Too much was on my mind to even doze off. I had managed to get an hours shuteye, but it wasn’t worth it. I only woke up feeling like someone has smashed a hammer off of my head a dozen times. What didn’t help, was the fact that Jade had an amazing sleep, by the sounds of things. She woke up like a beam of sunshine, pouncing on my bed and encouraging me to wake up. And, instead of flipping out at her, I obeyed. Being grouchy all day just because I was confused and hadn’t had much sleep wouldn’t have done anybody any wonders. We had a very long day ahead of us, today. And it sounded like it would be a lot of fun, so I decided that I would have to survive on my one hour of sleep. Besides, I’ve had less sleep than that before. Like on the bus here, I didn’t sleep at all and it didn’t effect me. Only somehow, this time I felt a lot worse.

“What are you wearing to the theme park today?” Jade asked with enthusiasm bellowing throughout her voice.

“Dunno.” I replied lazily, my monotonous morning voice contrasting with Jade’s. “What do you suggest?”

“God, you sound like Harry.” Jade laughed, “Something that wouldn’t get ruined when wet, because I’m taking you on all of the rides there, okay?” 

“Fine, whatever. Just.. pick something out for me.” I groaned, sitting up and rubbing my eyes as the room spun around me. “Where’s Sasha and Beth?”

“They’re still in bed. I thought that we would be cheeky and let them sleep. They should’ve had their own alarms set.” Jade smirked at me, a proud look piercing through her eyes.

Shaking my head with a grin on my face, I pulled myself out of bed and began rummaging through my suitcase. It was very humid and sunny outside, so I was looking for the thinnest clothes I could find, but not so thin that they’d turn transparent when the water from the rides soaked through. On that thought, I decided on a pair of beige, chino-type shorts and an “I <3 boys in the band” crop top, along with a pair of white pumps. Looking over my shoulder, I saw that Sasha and Beth were still sleeping whilst Jade was getting changed in the bathroom. Guilt kicked in, and I decided to wake them up. When they asked why I hadn’t woken them up earlier, I insisted that Jade and I had tried, but they were unresponsive. Buying my lies, they began to get ready.

Pulling my makeup bag from my suitcase, I sat crossed-legged on my bed and pulled out what I would need. I never had bad skin, or dark circles, which I guess was really lucky. All I needed was a light touch of eyeliner, mascara, lip-gloss and blusher if I felt like I really needed it. But today, because it was sunny, I decided not to “cake” myself. I began to run the brush of the mascara along my blonde eyelashes. Finishing off with the eyeliner and mascara, Jade came out of the bathroom dressed in a black white vest top and black denim shorts, with black sandals. Such a simple look that she managed to pull off, making her look effortlessly beautiful.

After sorting my hair into a big, blonde, messy pony-tail, both Jade and I left Sasha and Beth and went for breakfast in the hotel. Sitting beside our usual group, I felt an uneasy tension between Harry and I. He sat directly across from me, but felt comfortable to bare his eyes straight into me as I kept my eyes firmly locked on my cereal, pushing it around the bowl with my spoon. One thing that irritated me about Harry was that in any situation, he never felt uncomfortable. He could sit and stare anyone down, and always win. He can talk openly about himself, because he was just so.. comfortable. Which wasn’t a bad thing, because it meant I could talk to him about anything. But in moments like this, it was no good. 

Harry asked Jade if he could sit beside me on the bus to the theme park, but I gave her a look of warning and she told him that she had to sit beside me. That it was very important she told me something, but there was nothing to tell. But of course, Jade wanted to know why I rejected sitting next to Harry. So, I told her everything. Reminding her of the party incident, and telling her what happened under the sheets with Harry - even though nothing happened, I don’t think. It was the look afterwards. But Jade, being Jade, thought I was over reacting.

“Kimberly, are you serious? Really?” She rolled here eyes, sighing deeply.

“Yes I’m serious!” I stage-whispered, knowing Harry was only two rows behind us on the bus.

“You’re overreacting. Just.. it’s Harry, c’mon. That one night at the party was because he was drunk, and in their room.. he’s a boy, things like that happen. It doesn’t mean anything. Trust me on this!” She smiled, peering back to Harry who was looking aimlessly out of the window. 

Taking Jade’s advice, I decided to act as if nothing had changed between Harry and I. Because, let’s face it, nothing had changed between us. I had to be overreacting, there was no other way around it. 

Soon, we arrived at the Theme Park. It was still very hot and humid, making the air hit all of us like a brick wall of heat as soon as we stepped off of the bus. After doing a headcount, we got given our tickets to the theme park and were told to walk about in groups of at least three. Obviously, I grouped with Jade. Harry looked in my direction and nodded, indicating if himself and Louis could group with us as Liam, Zayn and Niall had their group sorted. Nodding back, Louis and Harry made their way over to us. Jade pulled out her camera and handed it to Mr Wilson, wanting to get a group picture of the four of us. As I stood back to get in a line, Harry came up to me and placed his hand on my waist, whispering into my ear,

“You okay?”

“Mhm!” I answered enthusiastically, smiling.

“Just you seem a little.. distant? Hope I didn’t do anything wrong?” 

“Oh, no! You didn’t. Don’t worry about it. Didn’t get much sleep is all.”

“At least you’re on good terms with me then.” He grinned, pinching my waist as Jade and Louis joined in our line for the picture.

This was going to be an eventful day.

Part 7 ~

As the four of us, Louis, Jade, Harry and myself, walked around the amusement park, we decided that it was finally about time that we went on one of the rides. Every time we walked past one, Louis would moan and ask why we wouldn’t take him on it, which caused Jade to argue back and ask why he needed everyone else to go on it with him. We all knew how anxious and panicked Harry became when he was on fast motion rides like roller coasters. 

“Harry, look.. I’ll hold your hand when we’re on it? Please!” Louis begged, grabbing Harry by the shoulders and shaking him slightly.

“You can’t force him, Louis!” I sighed, separating them from each other.

“Well then, which one of you will come on it with me? I know you two like roller coasters! You can’t let Harry ruin the fun.” Louis asked, looking skeptically at Jade and I. “C’mon, Kimberly!” He pouted, then turned to Jade, “What about you?”

“Fine!” Jade groaned, linking her arm with Louis and trailing off with him, causing me to go into a state of panic.

Although I told Harry that things between us two were fine, that didn’t stop me feeling strange around him, and I surely didn’t want to be left alone with him. Especially when I had just insisted that things with us were fine. Deciding to quickly catch up with Jade and Louis, I asked if I could join them on the ride.

“Don’t leave Harry on his own, it’s not fair on him..” Louis said.

“That’s rich coming from you.” I hissed, rolling my eyes. Then, I shot a quick, pleading look towards Jade. She knew exactly what that look was saying.

“Don’t be such an idiot. This will be a.. good thing!” She insisted, whispering to me before walking off in the direction of the ride with Louis.

Awkwardly, I spun around on the balls of my feet and began walking back to Harry, who was conveniently sitting on a bench, looking back at me with an uncomfortable looking smile. I got the feeling that he knew I didnt’ want to be alone with him, but these were the things I’d have to own up to and face. Taking a deep breath, I shuffled my feet over to him and sat beside him on bench, placing my hands on my bare knees. And of course, it didn’t take him long to break the ice.

“I will go on some rides, just not the really.. quick ones.” He confessed, turning his head to face mine.

“So what about one of the water rapids? They go up slowly, and drop. That’s all. It’s over and done with before you know it!” I grinned, facing him.

“Are you sure they’re not really fast?” He asked, the look in his eyes turning vulnerable. 

“Well, yeah. Of course they’re fast.. but they’re not scarily fast. And who knows, you go on this water rapid with me, and you might over come your fears slightly?”

Pursing his lips, he ran his fingers through those chocolaty brown curls of his, ruffling them slightly with a very concentrated look spread upon his face. Sighing deeply, he stood up and brushed down his jeans, beaming his smile up to me.

“Let’s go then.” He grinned.

“What if we’re not back when those two are finished on their ride? They’ll wonder where we’ve gone. And if we get caught walking around in a two, instead of a three or a four.. we’re fucked.” 

“We won’t get caught then, will we?” He smirked, reaching out for my hand and tugging me towards the ride.

The line for the ride was very short, so as soon as we stepped in the queue, we were being placed into our seats. After debating who would sit in the front of the log we were riding in, Harry decided that it should probably be me seeing as I was the shorter person and that was how the rules work. Harry scooted up behind me and draped his arms around my waist, pulling me into him. I could feel him shaking as the ride started moving, and I found this too cute.

“Harry, you’re not going to die! Deep breaths, okay?” I said softly as I turned my head to face his, trying to keep him calm.

“I know that, I’m just- I don’t like rides. You better be grateful for this!” He laughed, squeezing me in his arms.

Turning my head from his, I took a deep breath, trying to gather all of the air I was losing as Harry’s grip was tightening rapidly. As we reached the highest point of the ride, leaning over the large drop, Harry tucked his head into the back of my blonde hair, shaking his legs under the seat. As I reached out in front of me to hold on to the barriers, the log flume shot straight down, but all I could focus on was the tight hold Harry had of me. Covering my face with my hands, I heard the click of the camera and knew that an embarrassing photo of me was avoided. As the log flume slowed down and came to a halt near the exit, I stood up and watched as Harry’s arms fell from me. Quickly stepping out, I turned around and looked at Harry as he sat in the log flume, his head staring at the ground.

“It’s over, Harry! C’mon, get out.” I laughed, reaching my hand out to his. 

Lifting his head up, he placed his hand in mine. I noticed that it was shaking erratically, much to my amusement. He took a deep breath and stood up, his knees looking particularly weak as I pulled him off of the ride and to the small hut that our picture would be in, on one very big screen probably. We stood at the counter as our picture flashed up. Like I had guessed, my hands had completely covered my face and all you could see was Harry’s curls sticking our random places as his head was buried into my back and his hands clung onto me.

“That’s one shit photo.” He laughed.

“I’m going to buy it for you, and you can keep it as memorabilia from when I was nice enough to let you suffocate me on your first water rapid.” I laughed back, handing over six euros to the lady at the counter who printed off the picture and handed me it in a plastic wallet. Thanking her, Harry and I walked out of the small hut and back over to our little bench. We knew Louis and Jade wouldn’t have came back, because we were only away five minutes. They were probably just going on their ride now. 

Harry collapsed onto the bench, breathing heavily and laughing at himself. I knew how proud he was that he had actually managed to go on the ride, even if he was really scared. Taking my seat beside him, I handed him the plastic wallet with the photo of us on the ride to him and he opened it, looking at the picture and laughing at his pathetic attempts to keep calm.

“Don’t be to hard on yourself. I think you did pretty well.”

“Yeah.. and you were right, I think I’m a bit more confident with those sort of rides now.” He grinned, “When Louis and Jade come back, coming to go on those other rides Louis wanted to go on?”

“Yeah, I’m sure he’d like that.” I smiled peacefully, nodding at him.

For the first time, we sat in comfortable silence, not saying anything to each other. And it was really nice. It made me think that I was definitely overreacting about the whole ‘Harry looking at me differently’ situation. They didn’t matter - it wasn’t important and it didn’t mean anything at all. It felt good knowing that things between us were back to normal, even though he thought nothing had happened. And to be honest, it really was nothing. Nothing had happened. 

My train of thought was broken when I heard a very loud voice booming in our direction. Looking up, I saw Sasha and Beth with another girl who was on this trip that I knew they had only chosen to walk around with because you had to be in threes. By the looks of it, the other girl didn’t want to be there at all.

“Fancy seeing you two here!” Beth squealed, rushing over to us.

Harry, being as friendly as he was, was happy to greet them. He instructed me to shuffle up beside him so they could have a place to sit.

“And how many rides have you been on then? And where are the other two?” Sasha asked as the other girl stood an awkward distance away from us all.

“Just the one, but when Jade and Louis come back from whatever ride they’re on, we’re all going to go on one.” Harry replied with a simple smile.

“Ah, nice. I’ve not been on any because I’m frightened and those two won’t come with me on one. I’d happily go on if someone came with me!”

You would have to be mentally deficient to not understand the game she was playing. She was trying to get in between Harry and I just so she could go on one of the rides with him. I remembered back to the other night when she was discussing how this holiday would be ‘interesting’ if they managed to catch up with some of the boys in our group, and I guessed that their plan was starting now. 

Whether Harry, or any of the other boys, would catch on.. now that was a different story.

Part 8 ~

“I think I’m going to need a little break before I can go on another ride.” Harry chuckled, leaning back onto the bench and spreading his arms out across the back of it, near to wear I was sitting as I lent forward, keeping my mouth shut.

“Oh, please Harry!” Sasha begged, grabbing hold of Harry’s hand and shaking it violently.

Rolling my eyes, I sighed, and looked away, knowing quite well that Harry would give in to her. Which of course, he did. They discussed what ride they would both go on and promised myself, Beth and the other random girl that they wouldn’t be long. Leaving all of us stranded here until someone came back. 

As Harry and Sasha walked off, I was left amongst an awkward silence between Beth, and a girl I didn’t know. Not the way I wanted to spend my day. Just as I could tell Beth was about to pipe up, Louis and Jade started walking towards us -Louis with that swag he always had in his walk, his hands buried in his pockets as he looked around aimlessly, then back at me with a confused expression.

“Where’s Harry?” 

“He’s on one of the rides with Sasha.” Beth said.

“Oh.” Louis nodded, an even more confused expression spreading across his face. “Why?”

“Exactly..” I mumbled, keeping my head down.

“Because she didn’t want to go on her own and none of us would go on with her.”

Louis nodded slowly again before looking towards me, and discretely turning his head towards “the un-named girl” as if asking who she was. Shrugging him off, he nodded once again before indicating for me to stand up.

“We going then?” He asked, turning to Jade.

“So, we’re going to leave Harry?” Jade questioned him..

“He’s got his phone? He can just text me or something when he gets off the ride.” Louis shrugged.

Agreeing with him, we left the two girls, thankfully, and began walking around the park once again. I listened to Louis and Jade ramble on about how much fun they had on the ride, and that before we left the theme park, they wanted to go on it again. Then, they asked if Harry and I had sat on the bench the whole time they were away, so I told them about Harry and his experience on the water rapid with me. They seemed pretty shocked that I had managed to lure him onto it. Even when Louis had tried, and Harry still hadn’t given into him. But I just shrugged it off and we continued walking around. I felt bad for leaving Harry with Sasha because I had always got the feeling he found her quite annoying and overpowering. But he loved the female attention, never the less, so this wouldn’t have been anything new for him.

“Incoming call!” Louis belted as he pulled his mobile out from his pocket and pressed it to his ear.

Jade and I began talking about the rides and discussing which one we should go on next. There was plenty we had hardly even seen yet that were on the other side of the theme park, but whether Harry would join us and hold us back was a different story.

“So, at the cafe then? Right, see you there.” Louis said before hanging up and pushing his phone back into his pocket. “He’s done on the ride. Sasha was sick and so.. yeah, he took her to the teachers and now he’s stranded.”

“Was she sick on him?!” I laughed.

“Not by the sounds of it..

“Damn.” I mumbled, walking with Louis and Jade in the direction of the cafe.

I couldn’t help but feel smug at the thought of Sasha having to spend the rest of the day with the teachers. It pleased me more than it should have. And her being sick was just the icing on top of the cake.

We came across Harry leaning against the stone wall on the outside of the cafe with his arms crossed and his brow furrowed. His low cutting v-neck, grey and white striped jumper clung to his chest whilst his beige chinos clung barely to his hips along with some simple white shoes. Harry always wore bracelets, it was sort of.. his trademark. I wasn’t going to lie.. he looked good.

“You’re drooling.” Jade mumbled into my ear, elbowing me in the ribs.

Shooting her a deathly glare, we walked up to Harry and he made his way over to us, looking bored and unamused. 

“What’s wrong with you?” Louis pouted, resting his arm on Harry’s shoulder.

“I was almost sick on, and I didn’t enjoy that ride at all.” He groaned, taking a deep breath.

“Will you come on any of the other rides? There’s still a good few to go on..” I asked.

“Yeah, c’mon. Kimberly told us how you were able to go on that one ride with her, and you went on that ride there with Sasha. Surely you can come on some of these?” Louis piped in.

“And Kimberly can sit beside you too, if it makes you more.. comfortable.” Jade suggested, raising her eyebrows.

Shooting her another glare, I turned back to Harry and shrugged in agreement with Jade. I didn’t mind sitting next to him on the rides. The thrill of the moment was all I needed. I loved the exhilaration of being on fast moving rides.

“Fine.” He sighed, hiding his disapproval with a smile before grabbing my hand and pulling me in the direction of the ride he wanted to go on, Jade and Louis following soon behind.

There was something about the way Harry held my hand that I adored. 

 Part 9~

I was quite surprised at how well Harry had coped on the rides. We had been on a good number of them, and he didn’t complain once. Needless to say, we were all proud of him. Sure, he was anxious at first and had to talk to me the whole way through them as he tried to distinguish his screams, but he managed. He even managed to eat all of the lunch he was given, which I wasn’t too sure he would because I thought he wouldn’t be feeling too good. But I was wrong. He was feeling fine and what not, so the day turned out quite well. I could even see thinks sparking between Jade and Louis, which pleased me because she had always had a miniature crush on him, and he always got my approval as I loved someone who could make me laugh. So throughout the rest of the day, Harry and I let Jade and Louis walk ahead, chatting and laughing as we both watched sceptically over them. Harry was just as happy as I was that the two were bonding well together.

We had passed Liam, Zayn and Niall a few times and stopped to have a little talk. Liam told us how Zayn and Niall had tried to chat-up some French girls, but it didn’t go too well because they were both hopeless at French and ended up standing and staring at the girls wondering what the hell they were saying.

We all decided to walk around in one big group for the rest of the day, which I didn’t complain about. The more, the merrier! I walked in between Zayn and Niall whilst Harry, Liam, Jade and Louis walked a short distance behind us.

Niall was always a charmer, and tried to charm me by saying, “Voulez vou coucher avec moi?”

To which I replied with, “Of course I’ll let you sleep with me!” Followed by a wink to indicate I was joking.

I wasn’t looking my best right now. My hair was a straggly, wet, blonde mess and my soaking wet clothes were sticking to me, making me feel very uncomfortable. And the fact that I was sure parts of my clothing were see-through didn’t help me feel any more comfortable. The minimal amount of makeup I was wearing was sure to have been washed off, but I didn’t care. Today had been a very good day. And because things weren’t awkward between Harry and myself any more, that made things even better.

I sat beside Niall on the bus as we headed off to find somewhere for tea. We were all pretty exhausted from the day at the theme park and were in need of a good, solid meal. After this meal, we had to travel out of Calais and into Paris. The place we had all been eager to go to. It was a three hour drive from Calais to Paris, so we would be travelling overnight and arriving sometime in the very early hours of the morning, probably one or two in the morning.

“I. Am. Starving!” Niall moaned as we rode together on the bus.

“You don’t even know the meaning of the word starving!” I laughed, pitying his selfishness.

“Okay, okay. But I am really hungry.” He frowned, leaving back in his seat and closing his eyes.

After observing Niall and his all round beauty, which I could not deny, for around two minutes, I turned to the seats behind me to face Louis and Harry. As I peeked my head through the middle of the two seats, Louis’ face met mine quickly and he smiled. Smiling back, I stuck my tongue out and shifted my eyes over to Harry. He didn’t look very pleased with.. well, I wasn’t too sure. But Harry was a little self-controlled diva at times, so this was somewhat familiar from him.

“What’s up with him?” I whispered, looking back at Louis.

“Dunno. He’s been quiet since before we left the theme park. Maybe he feels sick from the rides or something.” Louis shrugged, before sitting back in his chair and slapping his hand off of Harry’s knee and continuing, “Or maybe he’s being a diva!” He belted, causing me to laugh.

“Stop it.” Harry groaned, pushing Louis’ hand away.

Usually, Harry would play along to Louis’ public signs of gay affection, obviously having a laugh, but right now he wasn’t having any of it. So, ignoring Harry’s ignorant ways, I went back to talking to Louis and Harry.

As it turns out, Harry didn’t say much for the rest of the night. According to the seating plan at the restaurant we had tea at, I was placed beside Harry for our meal, with Jade on the other side. It seemed like a good seating plan, but on one side of me I was being completely ignored. Or, acknowledged but barely. Normally, Harry’s little diva-swings never lasted this long, and Jade kept whispering into my ear that she had something important to tell me when we got back on the bus, en route to Paris. I couldn’t help but link Harry’s moody vibe to whatever Jade had to tell me. And man, I was so right.

 

Part 10~

There was an awkward vibe lurking between Harry and the whole table, and I couldn’t help but feel trapped between it all - somehow. Jade endured in conversation with Louis and a few other people, but I sat quietly, keeping myself to myself. Feeling as if I had done something wrong, like I was being punished silently by Harry. But what for? I never got why guys found girls confusing, I’m a pretty easy-going person. But Harry? He was like trying to solve a puzzle with countless pieces missing. It was an endless cycle of confusion and the feeling of helplessness. Then again, who’s to say Harry’s mood swings have anything to do with me? Maybe he’s having problems at home. Maybe he’s just not sleeping at night, and is constantly tired during the day. I wouldn’t, and didn’t, know. If he wanted to tell me, then that would be up to him. But for now, I was here to enjoy my holiday with my best friends in the entire world.. as cheesy as it sounds.

And to what Jade had to tell me? I wanted to know, earlier. But now, thinking about it, I wasn’t so sure. To be honest, there hadn’t been much drama on this little holiday - which was a good thing! All I felt was awkward tension. A tension I couldn’t quite comprehend, but a tension I didn’t want to think much about. This was only a short break, and I wanted to have lots of fun. Anything drama wise, I’d let it happen when we were back at school.

My train of thought was lost when our food came to the table. Eight plates of spaghetti bolognese for eight people. And by god, they were huge portions. As soon as the clay plates touched the table cloth, the boys stuck in. The girls, however, were as lady like as ever. Though us female were highly outnumbered. Myself, Jade, a girl from the year below called Carly, Louis, Harry, Niall, Zayn and Liam. Those five boys were never separated. Apart from when the teachers split them all up, but other than that, when they’ve got the choice, they stick together. That was really cute.

Peering through the corner of my eyes, I noticed Harry sitting back in his seat. His food had not been touched, and he was playing with his nails. Picking at taily-ends and biting. His eyes met the plate a few times, but he refused to eat.

“Not eating?” I asked sheepishly, twirling the spaghetti around my fork.

He didn’t answer.

Placing the fork into my mouth, I made an over-exaggerated “Mmm!” sound, to encourage him to eat. But nothing. He stared blankly at his nails once again.

Swallowing, I put my fork on the table and turned to him, “It’s really good! Try it, please? You’ll be hungry later.”

Nothing.

“Harry..” I asked timidly, “Is everything okay?”

Even though it was very limited, he nodded. So I was making progress unsolving the ever-unsolvable Harry puzzle.

“You know you can speak to me. We’re hoes for life!” I grinned, trying to lighten the situation.

Pursing his lips together and raising his eyebrows, quickly dropping them again in a sarcastic manner, he kept his lips locked and stayed silent. Although his ignorance was annoying the fuck out of me, I brushed it off my shoulder and dug into my meal. 

Everyone had finished their spaghetti and deserts were brought out. Harry sipped lightly on his glass of water and continuously played with his nails while the rest of us engorged ourselves in French ice cream. The fact that Harry was playing such a big part in my thoughts right now annoyed me. Yes, if he was going through a hard time then I’d be there for him. But I wouldn’t have minded much more communication. We had been friends for years, and he knew all of my secrets. Up to this point, I thought I knew his. He told me all about his first kiss, I comforted him when his parents split up, we walked through the doors of high school together all worried on our first day. Everything - from the day we met.

The teachers called us up from our seats once we had finished our meals and we tucked our chairs in, ready to leave. Harry got up sluggishly whilst  I rolled my eyes and turned to finish my conversation with Jade about us going to Paris the next day. It was almost ten at night, and the drive to Paris was three or four hours away. So to be fair, we were all very excited!

As the teachers led us out to the cool night air, I felt a tap on my shoulder. Turning around, Harry smiled at my delicately and spoke just the same, “Can I sit beside you on the bus? Got a few things to tell you..”

Smiling, I nodded and we walked onto the bus. I could tell he was bursting to tell me something.

 

Part 11 ~

*Harry’s point of view*

As we boarded the bus, I could feel my palms clamming up. I couldn’t believe how pathetic I was. I mean, this was Kimberly. I had nothing to worry about when it came to her, but it was how she would react to my news that I was worried about.

She slumped herself into one of the seats near the back of the bus, her dirty blonde hair cascading her face as she patted her legs and huffed, looking up to me with a reassuring smile. Taking my seat next to her, I clipped in my seatbelt and turned to face her. She gleamed her white teeth to me and I half-smiled back, feeling the pressure somehow. I wasn’t usually nervous when I told girls things, because I never feared rejection. I didn’t have to fear rejection, because it never happened. But Kimberly was different, and I knew she saw me differently. I never knew if she had that certain attraction to me, like I did with her. But I always felt like we had a spark, as stupid as it sounded. We clicked instantly, no doubt about it. But that didn’t make me feel any better..

“Are you going to speak to me, or stare out the window behind me?” Kimberly laughed awkwardly, raising her eyebrows.

“Oh, right yeah.” I laughed, pulling a few fallen curls from my face to the side. “I know you’ve been wondering why I’ve been quiet tonight. And I’m not one of those guys to have something eat away inside of me for months, years even..”

“Right..”

Licking my lips and looking to the dirty floor of the bus,  I continued “When we were hanging out at the theme park today, I was having a really good time. You know that, ‘cause you were helping me cope on the rides. But then when the rest of the guys came along, aside Louis who was already there, I got a bit.. jealous?”

“Why?” Kimberly quickly interrupted, a confused look wiped across her face.

“I don’t know, it’s your fault!” I laughed, looking up to her from the ground “I just was. And when you started talking to Zayn, and Niall especially, I felt like you left me. But I know you were only meaning well, because they’re your friends too. When you sat next to Niall on the bus after that.. I saw the way he looked at you.”

Kimberly nodded, bobbing her head a long with what I was saying, but keeping that look of everlasting confusion on her face.

“… But I also saw the way you looked at him. You didn’t just look at him, you were gazing at him. Now, I don’t know if you like Niall and I know it’s none of my business. So I’ll try and stay out of it, but-“

“Harry, you don’t think I like Niall, do you?” She whispered, moving her head closer to mine to make the conversation more private.

“No! Well.. I don’t know? Do you?” I asked skeptically.

“He’s lovely, don’t get me wrong.. but it’s Niall! We’re like brother and sister.” She grinned awkwardly, slumping back in her seat.

I nodded, but it still didn’t knock the thought out of my head. It didn’t matter if Kimberly didn’t like Niall, I knew he liked her. 

“So, what if I told you Niall liked you?” I asked.

“But he doesn’t, don’t be silly.”

“He does. You remember that night you and Jade came into our room and you two had to hide because Mr Wilson was coming? When we hid under my bedsheets and.. well once you left, we began talking. Niall was telling Zayn and I how pretty you were, and how nice you looked. We swore we wouldn’t tell, ‘cause we’re guys and we don’t share those little things that girls let roll of their tongues. But yes, Niall does like you. It wouldn’t be too bad, but I don’t want him to like you, because I know you’ll fall for his charm. He is a nice guy, you’re right. And I know I shouldn’t be telling you who to like, or who not-“

“Harry, are you trying to tell me you like me? But you don’t want me to be close with Niall… because you wantme? Well.. not ‘want,’ but -“

“No, I do want you. Can’t you tell?!” I laughed sarcastically, but Kimberly’s face stayed expressionless. Her eyes wide, but blank. Kimberly was the only girl I couldn’t read, so this was really difficult for me. “I like you Kimberly, and I know you’re not an idiot. I know you know, but you brush it away because you know we’re friends - and nothing more than that. But what if I want more?”

“What if..” She started, before brushing some hair away from her face, “What if I don’t want more? You know as well as I know that if something went wrong, like it’s bound to, we wouldn’t be friends again? Harry, you’re one of the closest people to me! I don’t want to lose you over some silly relationship.” She sighed, rubbing her forehead and clenching her eyes shut.

“We won’t know unless we try..” I spoke softly, afraid of what she’d say next.

“No, Harry. No..” She trailed off, shaking her head. “I don’t want to risk it. I love you, you know that. But we’re best friends! Whenever friends get together, it never works out. Please..”

Rubbing my lips together, I nodded and smiled. Indicating that I agreed, although in my head, I was gutted. I had never been rejected before, but there’s always a first for everything. I just thought she felt the same way, but clearly not. I would give anything to know what was going on in her head. How she felt about me. Whether what she was saying was completely true. But for now, I had to take her word. I didn’t want to force her into anything. I wasn’t that kind of person, never would be.

That didn’t mean I wouldn’t stop trying to win her over. And now, we had a couple of hours together on the bus to Paris for me to get a head start. I knew Niall was on to her, and I definitely wasn’t going to fight with him over Kimberly. I wasn’t going to lose two best friends. But I was going to try to keep the both of them, whilst winning Kimberly over.

Part 12 ~

*Harry’s point of view*

Since Kimberly had rejected me, we hadn’t talked. We sat in silence as she listened to her iPod, looking out of the window. I, on the other hand, sat staring at Niall and Louis’ seat in front of mine. Niall had poked his head through the divider of his and Louis’ seat to talk to Kimberly and I. I would nod and try to laugh, and Kimberly would do the same. Except she was much better at covering her emotions than me, so she seemed a lot happier. I seemed like a depressed lump beside her.

Instead of talking to me through the middle of his seat, Niall turned the other way and looked at me through the isle, seeing as I was sitting in one of the isle seats.

“You alri?” Niall asked.

“Mhm.” I nodded reluctantly, pushing a smile.

It’s not that I wasn’t alright. I was. I was jealous of that certain person, Niall, is all. I could tell he had more of a hold over Kimberly than I did - and I envied that. I wanted the relationship they had. Of course I enjoy my friendship with Kimberly; I loved it to be honest. But I couldn’t help but wish we weren’t so close, then maybe our proper relationship could take place. Even though Kimberly insisted Niall was like her brother, I knew he wasn’t like that to her at all. People just say that to disguise their feelings - to act friendly. 

“You don’t seem alright, buddy. What’s up?” He grinned, his Irish accent sounding as thick as ever.

“I suppose I’m just tired of being on this bus all the time.” I shrugged, being as blunt as possible.

“I get where you’re coming from. It’s torture!” Niall groaned.

Was it bad that because of Kimberly, Niall’s sheer presence annoyed me? It would be the same if it was any other of the lads. If it was Zayn, i’d feel the same. Louis and Liam too. I suppose I had all of them as contenders, but not so much Louis. He had himself occupied with Jade. I had figured this out by now, and so had the rest of us. 

“Can I ask you something?” I asked, leaning towards Niall.

I knew I could talk to him, despite everything. And thankfully, Kimberly had her earphones in, so she wouldn’t heart us talking. I could hear her music blaring, so I was pretty sure I was safe.

“You know how you like Kimberly? Do you think you’re gonna… you know. Make a move?” 

Niall pondered for a moment, chewing the insides of his cheeks. He glanced over to Kimberly and smiled, turned back to me and said “I don’t know, never really thought about it. Should I?”

At this moment, I should have jumped at the opportunity and told him not to. Not to make his move. Not to become closer with her. Not to even think about it. But I never. Why? Because I’m not a heartless bastard. In response to Niall, I merely shrugged and shook my head. I wasn’t one to meddle - sort of. So if he wanted to make his move, let him. That way, Kimberly could make her choice in stead of me forcing my feelings upon her. I couldn’t make her like me, but as I said, I could try my best to make her change her mind.

“I might, who knows? But I don’t think she likes me back. So I might just leave it..” Niall sighed, dropping his head.

“What makes you think she doesn’t like you?” I asked curiously, tilting my head.

“She’s utterly gorgeous, and I’m Niall. She could have any guy at the click of her fingers..” Which was so true. She already had me wrapped around her pinky. “..And I’ve always had the sense she liked you. Call me crazy, but I have.”

”..You’re crazy.” A familiar voice had interrupted.

Kimberly’s voice.

Niall’s eyes widened and his cheeks flushed a ruby-red colour as he quickly swung his head round and sat back down in his seat properly, facing me no longer. As if things weren’t awkward enough already. I was beginning to wonder how long  Kimberly had been listening, and if she had heard everything Niall was saying. The stuff about him not being good enough for her. Him going to make his move.. everything.

-

An hour or so had passed since Kimberly interrupted mine and Niall’s little conversation. She hadn’t said anything to me, and I hadn’t said anything to her. I did checkup on her ever so often, and she was sleeping most of the time. Like now. But still, Niall didn’t bother to turn around again. I guess he was scared in case she wasn’t really sleeping and she heard him say anything else.

Outside, it was now completely dark. There was only two hours left of the bus journey and I couldn’t be more happy about that. I wanted off this bus, and more or less off this trip. I was enjoying this school trip, no doubt about it, but all of the drama was tiring. As I was looking out of the window, I saw Kimberly’s eyes flutter open. She rubbed them roughly and sat up, adjusting her seatbelt. I glanced around her awkwardly, trying not to make anything even more awkward - if they could get any more awkward? 

“Just drop it Harry..” She mumbled, her voice sounding hoarse. 

“I didn-“ 

“It’s not what you’re saying, it’s what you’re feeling. I know what’s going on, but i’m just wanting to enjoy this holiday. Please, if you were my friend, you wouldn’t make this any worse for me, or any of our other friends, than what it already is. Just drop the drama, drop the secrets. I’m not stupid, so I can tell what everyone is hiding behind.”

“I’m sorry.” I croaked, beginning to feel guilty at what I had caused.

“No, it’s just tha-“

“Say no more, I get it. I’ll back off - spare the drama.” 

Part 13~

As Paris loomed closer and closer, people on the bus became restless. That was everyone except Kimberly and I, of course. After she told me to stop and drop things, I did. We didn’t speak for the rest of the journey and awkwardness definitely lurked in the air. But did we do anything about it? No, because I wanted to show Kimberly I could respect her.

We reached Paris and stopped off at this very lovely Parisian hotel where we would be staying for the next few nights. I would be sharing a room with Louis and Niall, Zayn would be sharing with Liam. I was looking forward to it because Niall and Louis were such a laugh, and I could possibly figure out more about Niall’s feelings towards Kimberly - even though I was sure I had heard enough about him rambling on about her.

When the bus stopped, I couldn’t have gotten off quicker. I was relieved to be released of the tension between Kimberly and I, and feeling the cool night air really calmed me down and kept me sane. I needed a good sleep and to keep my distance from Kimberly for a while. I didn’t want to seem overpowering, but that didn’t mean I wouldn’t stop trying. I’m a “proper lad” for crying out loud, I didn’t give up that easily.

Lugging our suitcases off of the bus, we settled into the hotel and made our way up to the rooms, being handed different keys. Unlike the other hotel, this one was mixed. As in, girls and boys shared a floor - but not a room. That was out of bounds. But it meant easy access to the girls room if any of us were in need of a good chat, or something along those lines… Niall was last up to our room and clicked the door shut behind him. Somehow, we were given a double bed and a single bed. Lucky for us, we were really comfortable around each other, so that didn’t create any difficulties. Louis and I agreed on sharing the double bed and Niall would get a bed to himself - only because it felt the most necessary and comfortable. 

Louis went in for a shower, and I would be going in after him, and then Niall. Just so we had less rushing about to do in the morning. When Louis’ shower turned on, Niall let out a giant sigh. It didn’t seem like a sigh of relief, it seemed more like an “I’m a confused teenage boy” sigh. Being the thoughtful person I am, I asked Niall what was wrong.

“I don’t like seeing you and Kimberly fight.”

“We weren’t fighting, we’re just not getting along.” I shrugged back, leaning against the headboard mine and Louis’ double bed.

“…Isn’t that like fighting? You idiot.” Niall chuckled to himself.

“Isn’t us fighting an advantage for you anyway? More Kimberly for you!” I winked suggestively. 

Niall looked slightly taken back by what I had said, “I’m not wanting to use Kimberly. She doesn’t even like me anyway, and she’s smart enough to know that I wouldn’t use her for sex. In due time, maybe. If she wanted to and-“

“I get it.” I mumbled, ruffling my hands through my hair.

Niall sensed my bitterness and stopped talking. The only sound we could hear was the hissing of the shower in the bathroom. It was quite soothing actually, until Louis swung the bathroom door open and began prancing around in nothing. This, of course, had Niall in stitches. And, not to lie, I was laughing as well. Shaking my head, I picked up a clean towel and walked into the steamed-up bathroom. He had left the shower running so I could just get in and out quickly. That’s what she said.

Pulling my Abercrombie and Fitch t-shirt over my head and my loose jeans and boxers down, I decided to be sneaky. I had a feeling Niall would probably talk to Louis about me. Not in a horrible way, just so see how things were with everything going on. He’d ask for Louis’ perspective, because Niall always wanted to know what Louis thought. Pressing my ear to the wooden door, I heard mumbling but it was difficult to make out over the sound of the shower. Placing my hand over my other ear, I managed to make out what they were saying.

Niall was asking Louis if he ever thought things between Kimberly and I would work out. If we would ever get together and become an item. He told Louis that he had a keen instinct that Kimberly liked me, but she was too afraid in case things went wrong. Louis agreed. He thought one day we would get together, but he didn’t know when. He didn’t know how long it would take before we eventually did get together, but knew it was bound to happen some time. Then, Niall asked Louis if he thought he had a chance with Kimberly. Louis was silent for a moment, and then agreed. He said that Niall did have a chance, and if he really liked her, he should make his move quickly before Kimberly and I resolved things. 

I wasn’t happy about this, but the boys didn’t know how strongly I felt about her. I wasn’t one for sharing things like that, but I’d happily tell them other things. This just meant I had to up my game even more. Instead of backing away from her, I had to push myself forward. But not too much, or I’d push her away - the exact opposite of.. my plans.

The shower was always my best thinking place, as fucked up as it sounded. Everyone had their own special thinking place, and mine was the shower. I acted out a plan in my head of how things would go tomorrow. Tomorrow, we were visiting the Eiffel tower and the Pompidou Center - an art gallery. I was going to start speaking to her again, make her like me more than a friend. Charm her. But I had competition - I had Niall to compete with - and I knew this would get in the way. But I had to try hard, because I wasn’t going to give in. Turning the shower off, I dried myself off and wrapped my damp hair up in a towel, slipping on some Calvin Klein boxers. Opening the bathroom door and feeling the much cooler air hit me, I passed Niall.

“You should’ve left the shower on for me!” He huffed, joking, and closing the bathroom door. 

Louis’ eyes followed me as I sat down on the bed next to him. I could tell he was trying to read what was going on in my head, but he had no luck. Pulling the towel from my hair, I ruffled the mop on top of my head around and lay back. Closing my eyes, and drifting off..

  

 

~ Part 14

*Harry’s point of view*

My head was pounding when I woke up in the morning. Not because I had a bad sleep, but because of the way I was woken up. Instead of an alarm clock, I had to settle for Louis jumping on me and slapping my cheek constantly until I opened my eyes. This should’ve annoyed me, but it didn’t. This was typical Louis and it actually brightened my mood. I wasn’t going to be grumpy ol’ Harry today. I was going to enjoy the few days in France we had left, and moping about because of Kimberly. So, today, I was going to stay around the guys. Separate myself from Kimberly for now to see what happens. 

Today, I settled for wearing a blue, button-up shirt and jeans with my white converse. Ruffling my hair and pulling it to one side, tied my laces and stood at the door, waiting for Niall and Louis. Once they were ready, we walked down the hallway and down the elevator where we were met with Beth and Sasha - the girls who previously shared their room with Kimberly and Jade. I always knew Kimberly and Jade strongly hated Beth and Sasha, and I understood why. But as we all shared small talk, I began to wonder what was so wrong about them. What they both didn’t like about them. I guessed it was a girl thing, probably jealous. What Kimberly and Jade had to be jealous of, I had no idea. But for now, I pin-pointed it on that. 

We all walked into the cafeteria where we all had to meet for breakfast. It was a very large, long call with wooden decor and bright lights. There was a strong smell of baked bread and Nutella, which I knew would be gone very quickly. Niall, Louis, Sasha, Beth and I walked over to the self-catering carts and picked up plates and began to pile stuff onto them. Niall didn’t have just one plate, he had three, all piled with fancy French food. He really liked the French food - just like any food. We all decided to sit at a table together, and as we made our way over to an empty table, I saw Kimberly. She looked up at me, saw who I was with and quickly looked back down to her plate. Dropping the situation, I sat down and began to eat.

“Excited about going to The Eiffel Tower today?” Sasha asked, pushing the food around her plate with a fork.

“Very” I replied, chewing on a piece of bread before swallowing “As long as we don’t go too high, i’ll survive.”

“Aw, is Harry a bit of a pussy?” Louis teased, playfully hitting my arm.

“Ah, here come the pussy jokes.” I laughed, rolling my eyes as I continued to eat my breakfast.

A few minutes later, my phone started buzzing from my pocket. As I pulled it out, the screen read “Niall.” A confused look spread across my face. Why would Niall text me.. when he was sitting right in front of me, phone in hand? Giving him a strange look, I unlocked my phone and read the message. “jades giving u dirty looks.. xx”

Looking back up at Niall with an even more confused look, I slid my phone into my pocket and slowly turned around, making eye-contact with Jade who was sitting next to Kimberly, Liam and Zayn. Jade pursed her lips and squinted her eyes, causing me to turn back to Niall ever so slowly. He shrugged at me, and I shrugged back. Had I done something wrong? Was trying to avoid Kimberly the wrong thing to do? I was confused.

After breakfast, we hopped on the bus to the Eiffel Tower. I sat beside Zayn, and we looked out the window and began eyeing up some of the French girls. It kept us amused! It was beginning to get very hot on the bus, causing me to fan myself with my shirt and turn the air-conditioning nozzle above our head up full blast. When the bus pulled up outside a long queue of people, we all gasped. The Eiffel Tower was huge. But the line was even bigger.. Luckily, we had passes where we could skip to the front of the queue.

We got off the bus, queued up for around five minutes, and began the long journey up the hundreds and thousands of stairs. I walked beside Louis - Figuring that his energy would be what keeps me going for the next few hours. It seemed as if the stairs were never ending. My legs burned with every step and beads of sweat began to run down my forehead. I stopped for two seconds, but Louis came up behind me and started pushing me, chanting into my ear “keep going, almost there!” but I was knackered. Sighing deeply, I plowed on through the next set of stairs. Then, we stopped at the first level. Stupidly, I thought this was it and we would be able to get the elevator the rest of the way. How wrong I was..

After stopping and buying an overly-priced drink at one of the food stands, we all began walking up again. Awkwardly, Louis and I were behind Kimberly and Jade. Any normal guy would take advantage of this situation and spend the whole time staring at their ass and legs. And, not going to lie, I did for the first few minutes. Then I stopped, because I felt disrespectful. That didn’t stop Louis of course, until Jade turned around and folded her arms, looking at Louis. 

“Louis William Tomlinson, do you mind explaining what you’re doing?”

“Admiring your derrière..” He replied quickly, with a cheeky grin.

You could tell Jade didn’t expect him to own up so quickly. Tapping her foot, she thought of a plan. Grabbing Kimberly’s hand, she pushed through the middle of us and began pushing us up the stairs.

“We’ll walk behind you from now on” She grinned as we began to walk.

Glaring at Louis, we began walking up. Shaking off the sniggers and giggles coming from behind us. Louis, on the other hand, thought this was hilarious. He was shaking his ass for all he had, giving it everything.

“Not a bad view Louis, your ass is nice and plump!” Jade laughed, giving it a quick squeeze.

“Oi, that’s my boyfriends ass your squeezing! For my hands only.” I said sarcastically, sticking my tongue out at her.

In this whole time, Kimberly kept quiet. I saw her smiling at my “boyfriend” remark, and that felt nice. Five or so minutes later, Jade caught up with Louis and I and they began walking ahead. Leaving Kimberly and myself behind.

Great..

We began walking together, slowly, in silence. Louis and Jade had gotten quite far ahead of us now, but they were still in ear-shot. Wiping a few beads of sweat from my head, I looked out to the side and saw how far we had walked. I wasn’t afraid of heights, usually, but we were very high - so I felt anxious. 

“You look quite scared?” Kimberly laughed nervously, keeping her eyes locked on the steps.

“Not.. scared, more worried.”

“Of?”

“Falling.” I replied quickly, taking my eyes away from the view to look at her.

“You’re not going to fall!” She laughed.

It was good to see that she was comfortable around me again. Her laugh was one thing I craved, and her smile. I felt attracted to her all over again and I knew that with attraction, came lust. That dark look in my eyes that always scared her was bound to come back sometime. 

“Will you catch me if I fall?” I teased.

“Course.” 

Biting my bottom lip, I picked up the pace climbing up the steps. Planning my next move on Kimberly..

~ Part 15

*Harry’s point of view*

It took us a good forty-five minutes to climb to the second level of The Eiffel tower, but I was relieved to know we could now get the elevator right to the top. Whether my nerves would overtake or not, I didn’t know. But I was still looking forward to it, because very few people in our school group were allowed to go to the top.

Kimberly and I made small, comedic chatter when we were climbing the everlasting stairs. When we reached the second level, I bought us both a drink and we sat for ten minutes whilst other people caught up and made it to the second level.

“Are you going all the way up then?” Kimberly questioned me, eyeing up the elevator to the top whilst she sipped on her diet coke.

“Dunno. Might, are you?”

She shrugged, “I might. How about we make a deal. If you go, I’ll go?”

Pondering for a second, I took a large swallow from my Dr. Pepper and nodded, “deal.”

She smiled and looked around. There were many plants and ice-cream stalls on this level, even a few people sunbathing on the stained wood decking patch that lay randomly in the middle of the floor. People from our class were still coming up the stairs, and some people were already queuing up for the elevator. Kimberly and I decided if we wanted this to be quick, we best get in the queue now. In the queue, we were met with Louis, Liam, Niall and Zayn.

“Is Jade not coming?” Kimberly asked, looking around for Jade.

“She’s at the loo, I’m saving her a spot.” Louis grinned as he stepped forward in line.

I elbowed Louis in the ribs and raised my eyebrows suggestively at him and he laughed and bit his tongue in response. 

“Good lad.” I nodded, patting him on the back.

“Oi, I’m on to you two!” Kimberly laughed, giving Louis and I an evil glare.

In retaliation, Louis gave me the exact look I gave him about Jade. I shook my head quickly at Louis and sighed, looking over to Kimberly to surprisingly see her laughing. I still thought things were particularly awkward between us, but obviously not! This made me smile. It was good to see we were level again, and we could go back to being friends.

After ten minutes of waiting in the line, we were right outside the elevator. Jade had joined us, and so had a few other people from our class. As people piled out of the elevator, we stepped in. My heart was about to pop out of my chest, and Niall could sense this. He shook his head and began to chuckle, like he always did, and patted my back.

“You’ll be alri, man. Deep breaths!” he assured me, his Irish accent ringing through my ears.

“Harry’s just a bit of a pussy, isn’t that right?” Jade winked in my direction.

“Okay, okay. We get it! If you lot aren’t a bit apprehensive, then you must be crazy.” I sighed.

Everyone nodded and mumbled “true” under their breath, then the elevator hitched and started moving. To my disappointment, the elevator moved agonizingly slowly, meaning we’d be a very long time. Louis, being the joker he is, took this long opportunity to slump himself down on the ground, crossed-legged like a child. Niall soon followed him, causing the girls to crack up and a few titters coming from the rest of us. Sooner than I thought, the elevator stopped and the doors opened. Nobody moved, we all just stared out into space as a huge draft blew in. 

“Let’s go, then?” Zayn said eagerly, taking the first steps out. 

I followed quickly behind them, then everyone else joined. 

Needless to say, we were high up. Very high. And now, I wasn’t the only person who was scared. But Liam, Jade and Louis, being the fearless three they were, began running around, looking over the edge and taking multiple pictures. The rest of us took baby steps, staying in one big group. 

“No wonder Harry was scared.” Niall mumbled, looking at me.

After a few minutes, our group separated all around the top level of the Eiffel tower. We were told by teachers we had ten minutes up here, then we had to come back down. So, I decided to make the best of things. Who knew when I’d be able to do this again? Jade bounced over to me with her camera, telling me she was going to her a big group picture. Myself, Jade, Niall, Liam, Louis, Zayn and Kimberly all lined up against one of the barriers and Jade set the timer on her camera. I stood between Liam and Louis and grinned, baring my white teeth.

The camera flashed, and Jade quickly shouted “change position!” Meaning it was on another timer and another photo would be taken. Jade hopped onto Louis’ back, Liam and Zayn huddled together and Niall lay on the floor below. 

I turned to Kimberly and said “Hop on!” 

She did as I said and ran up to my back, climbing on, copying Jade. She leaned her chest against my back and stuck her thumps up whilst I grinned once again, tilting my head and holding onto her legs so she didn’t fall. The camera flashed once more, and that was us done. Jade hopped off of Louis’ back and collected her camera, previewing the photos and smiling to herself.

“Perfect!” She beamed.

Kimberly began to shift on my back, trying to get down, but I held on tighter and smirked to myself.

“Harry!” She laughed, “I need to get down.” 

“Sucks to be you then, doesn’t it?” 

I turned my head to face hers and winked, before making sure I had a good grip on her legs. Then,  started to run. I ran up a few steps, and around a corner. Behind a drinks stand, and down by one of the barriers until we were quite a bit far away from our little group. I ignored her screams and laughter as she tried to kick her legs from my grasp, and after a small while of trying, she managed to break free.

“Not so strong, are we?” She mimicked, taking slow steps backwards.

“Keep talking..” I said, taking slow steps towards her.

“I know what you’re going to d- what’s that?” She spoke, pointing behind me.

Stupidly enough, I turned around. Nothing looked particularly unusual, so I turned back around, and to my surprise, obviously she wasn’t there. But I could see her running. Shaking my head, I patted down my jeans and started after her. I could see her ponytail swishing from side to side as she kicked her feet up. She was a fast runner, but I was faster and managed to catch up within a matter of seconds. Coming up behind her, I wrapped my arms around her waist and pulled her body close to mine. She held onto my arms around her and began to laugh.

“Get a room..” Zayn sighed, rolling his eyes.

“Hm..” Kimberly mumbled, turning to face me.

Just then, Kimberly moved closer to me. She released herself from my grip, was only inches away from my lips and pouted - not quite close enough. Then, she ran. She rain over to Jade, laughing quietly to herself.

We didn’t kiss, but we were close. Close, again. We were always close. Our bodies were close, but nothing ever happened. We were almost there, but one of us had to make the next move. The next move closer.

“You need to hurry up and make your move, man.” Zayn piped up, standing beside me.

“I’ve been making moves all day.. then she does that?”

“She obviously likes you.” Zayn shrugged.

“You don’t get it, it’s more complicated than that.” I sighed, ruffling my fingers through my tousled curls. 

“Tell me then?”

And so I did. Zayn and I went back down the elevator together, and onto the bus before we headed to our next destination. I told him about how I felt about her, how Niall felt about her, and how she knows that Niall and I both like her. I told him that Kimberly didn’t want anything to happen between us, and she didn’t want to ruin our friendship. To my advantage, the awkwardness between us seemed to be completely gone, but Zayn knew exactly what advice to give me.

He told me to charm her, like she had charmed me when we almost kissed. I need to tease her into wanting me, then she’ll want more from me. More than just friendship. Everything Zayn was telling me made perfect sense. Instead of trying to make a stronger friendship with her, I had to build up tension. A certain kind of tension that she would enjoy. A tension that would make her change her mind about not wanting to be with me.

I knew exactly what to do.

Part 16~

*Kimberly’s point of view*

Today was a very, very busy day. Spending the afternoon at the Eiffel Tower had to be the highlight though, by far! It was such a great experience. The scenery was beautiful and the weather was even better. Plus, Harry and I managed to sort things out. Our little tiff was over and we were back as best friends. A little dramatic, yes, but I couldn’t resist caving in to him. Not that he did anything wrong in the first place. But now that the wave of awkwardness had subsided, we could go back to being normal.

However long that would last, who knew? 

After our trip to the Eiffel Tower, we went shopping. Of course, being a teenage girl in Paris with limited amounts of cash is very, very difficult. I bought a typical “I <3 Paris” t-shirt, one thing I wanted insanely bad when I came here. It was a must have, in my books. One other thing I bought was a pair of beige, strapped sandals. They were a good price, but unfortunately after that I was out of money. I had spent my limit for the day. And of course, I came across a pair of hot pants that were to die for.

They were American Flag hot pants. I had seen a similar pair in Topshop, but for triple the price. Jade patted my back and laughed. She knew as much as I did that I could never afford them from Topshop, but these were perfect. I could’ve taken the sandals or the T-shirt back, but I couldn’t face explaining it in French to the guy that sold me them. Unwillingly, Jade pulled me away and over to some earrings.

After ten or so minutes of “window shopping” Harry and Niall came up behind me. Harry had a white and red polka dot bag clenched delicately in his hand and he held it up to me. At first, I was confused and reluctantly took the bag. I tilted my head, feeding him a confused look.

“Open it then, you idiot.” Harry laughed, giving me an eager smile.

Dropping my head to the bag, I pulled it open and to my surprise, I saw the American Flag hot pants I had adored. Spreading a huge grin, I shot my head up to Harry. Then my grin faded.

“Harry, why did you do this? You’re not supposed to spend your money on me! Even though it was a lovely thought..” I admitted, looking back down at the bag “But no, I can’t accept this. Go and buy yourself something nice.” I grinned apologetically, handing him the bag back.

“I insist. Unlike you, I don’t have a limit for what I spend in a day because I came prepared.” He grinned smugly, pushing the bag gently into my chest.

“He’s not kidding man, he brought loads!” Niall chirped in.

Of course, I really, really wanted these hot pants. But I could live without them, right? I was just pleased that Harry was being so lovely about it. He had bought me plenty of stuff before, out of pure generosity. He sometimes goes a little overboard on birthdays and Christmas.. 

“Harry, I can’t take it. You always buy me stuff, I feel like I’m using you. But thank you, lovely.” I smiled, handing him the bag.

“Please, I want you to take them. They’re just hot pants, and they were only 11 euro. Plus, you’d look fit as fuck in them.” With this, Harry raised his eyebrows suggestively.

Then I knew the reason Harry wanted me to take them, so he could awe. Just like a typical boy does. Of course, Harry can be charming and what not.. but boys will be boys.

“You’re disgusting..” I grunted, taking the bag from him. Honestly, it was like a game of pass the parcel. 

“Can’t wait!” Harry said enthusiastically, winking at me and walking back in the direction of one of the stalls, him and Niall laughing away to themselves.

Jade shot me a funny look, looking down at the bag and back up to me. She looked at me as if I had been defeated, like she was unimpressed with me. If Harry was going to willingly offer me clothes with no hesitation, I wouldn’t resist. And I know by experience she wouldn’t either. 

“You’re basically exploiting yourself. Being like.. a sex symbol for the boys to stare at! You caved, you’re doing what he wants you to do.” 

“Oh, give over. You would’ve done the same.” I hushed her, rolling my eyes as we walked aimlessly around some of the stalls.

“Are you going to wear them? Tonight?”

Looking in the bag, I shrugged to myself. “Maybe?”

Jade didn’t seem very impressed, and I couldn’t pin-point what her problem was, but she was probably looking out for me as she always does. Typical Jade, but I loved her for that. 

When everybody was finally “shopped-out,” we went for dinner with the teachers and everyone on the trip. It was amazing how close everybody had become on this trip. I had spoken to people I never even looked at twice back in school, and it was honestly one of the best times in my life - without a doubt. Of course, I couldn’t wait to be home to see my family and my little brother, but I couldn’t stand the thought of this trip being over.

In the restaurant, we all divided ourselves between four tables. One table for teachers, three tables for the hungry delinquents. To be simple, each table ordered a different variety of pizza. And let me tell you, it was one of the best things to ever grace my taste buds. Gotta love France. After a variety of courses, drinks, and Harry reminding me to wear my hot pants when we got back to the hotel, we went back on the bus to go to the hotel.

Since we were having a pretty early night back in the hotel, Zayn arranged for Jade and I to come to his room were we’d sit up all night with the rest of the lads until we were tired enough to sleep. Louis had overheard the teachers saying they were going down to the hotel bar for “a few drinks,” and we all knew that meant they’d be steaming and the chances on them checking up on all of us were very slim. 

When we got back to the hotel, Jade quickly hopped in the shower whilst I got changed into more comfortable clothes. Grabbing a packet of face wipes, I cleansed my face and rubbed off my mascara. I didn’t need to wear much makeup because I didn’t like hiding my face behind a mask. Plus when you’re walking around all day in the scorching heat, melting foundation isn’t very attractive. I tied my hair in two lose bunches, letting them fall down my shoulders. Changing into a white vest top, I opened the bag Harry had insisted I took. Slipping on the hot pants he had desperately wanted me to wear, I fastened the button and smiled at how comfortable they were - for a pair of hot pants, anyway. 

I sat on the bed and checked the few tweets that had managed to send to my phone whilst I waited for Jade to finish in her shower. When she had finished, she didn’t look at me very approvingly. She didn’t like the fact I was only wearing these hot pants because Harry wanted me to, but it was the least I could do? He bought me them. Jade changed into a pair of shorts, too, and a simple t-shirt. Then, Liam BBM’d her the all-clear and we made our way through to their room. We could hear Niall’s infectious laugh ringing through the corridors, zapping an instant smile onto our faces.

As we reached their door, Jade knocked lightly a few times and in an instant, Harry swung the door open. Wearing nothing but grey Abercrombie & Fitch joggers which hung loosely from his hips, and a metal dog tag that lay gently across his toned chest. He always wore that dog tag. 

“Welcome to our crib, please come in.” Harry greeted us, stepping to the side of the door. 

Rolling our eyes, we walked in and I knew that as soon as I walked in front of Harry, his eyes would be all over the lower region of my body. Of course, I was right. Turning around midway to face him, I saw his eyes slowly look up from my ass to my eyes, smiling innocently. 

“See, this is why I bought you them. You look.. great.” Harry emphasized, a smirk creeping up on his lips. I could’ve sworn I saw his eyes change to a darker tone.

Thanking Harry in an unsure sort of manner, I walked over to where Jade was sitting on the big double bed opposite of the bunk bed. We were surrounded by shirtless boys - not that we were complaining in the slightest. But we had seen them shirtless many times, because we had been friends for a long time and we always had late night time chats like this on any school trip.

Jade and I sat at the back of the bed with our legs stretched out, backs leaning against the wall as Niall lay up against the pillows, hands behind his head and feet crossed over. Zayn and Liam sat on the top bunk and Harry soon joined Louis on the bottom bunk after closing the door behind me. He sat very delicately next to him, going straight to whisper something into his ear. I saw Louis quickly shoot his eyes over to me before Harry quickly snapped Louis’ attention back to him. Harry and Louis always had little secretive conversations like this. 

“Wish I had me guitar man.” Niall huffed, closing his eyes.

“Have you gotten any better? Learned any new songs?” I asked him, leaning forward so he knew he had my attention.

Niall’s face practically lit up as soon as I showed the slightest bit of interest towards him. He leaned forward to face me and crossed his legs over, telling me about a new chord he had learned and that he had learned how to strum upwards. He was practicing a few songs for our exams later on in the year. Eventually after a long conversation, and everyone else having their own little conversation, Niall soon got up to go to the toilet. Leaning back against the wall, I closed my eyes and listened to Jade, Louis, Liam and Zayn talking about how much they were looking forward to going to Disney Land tomorrow. It made me smile that inside, we were still all kids. 

My eyes soon opened when I felt the bed sag slightly. Looking to the edge of the bed, I saw Harry creeping towards me. I shot him one of my many confused looks, to which he replied with his signature cat-like grin. Nobody even noticed he had came over to me, they were all too involved in their own conversation. Harry lay his head of tousled curls on the bare skin of my legs, soon using his index finger to trace circles along my knees. I couldn’t hide the fact he was sending shivers up my body, but it wasn’t all down to him. I was quite a ticklish person but as a matter of fact, I was enjoying this too much to tell Harry to stop what he was doing.

I soon found my hands making their way to Harry’s hair, curling his mousy brown locks around my fingers time and time again. I didn’t even notice Niall come out of the bathroom, look over to where Harry was lying in his previous spot, and settle for sitting on the bottom bunk with Louis. But I did notice that he stayed silent, but I didn’t know why. I just wasn’t observant in that sort of way. Liam, Louis, Zayn and Jade continued their talk about how they were planning their day tomorrow, and Harry quickly flipped over, turning so he was lying on his back, his head still on my lap and his face looking up to mine. He smiled, not bearing his teeth for once. I found my eyes searching all over Harry’s face. Taking in all his perfections that had always bypassed me. His bright, green orbs. Plump, rosy lips. Brown locks that surrounded his face like a semi-tamed Lion’s mane, and all his perfectly defined features. Then, I made the mistake of looking at his body. 

Stupidly, my breathing hitched and this caught Harry’s attention. He smile faded into more of a smirk as I watched his chest as it continued to rise and fall, his dog tag following with it. I had noticed how much more toned Harry had become. His V-lines were very prominent, matching his collar bones. His stomach was shadowed with the light beginnings of a six pack. He wasn’t built, fully. This was just how I liked my men.  

Slowly scanning Harry’s body back up to his face, I met with his eyes. He had watched me observe his every feature and now he just looked at me. He didn’t smile no longer, nor did he smirk. Yet his face, his eyes, weren’t emotionless. His eyelids would flutter open and closed every so often. He was beautiful.

I couldn’t say I didn’t see it coming, but none of the less I still didn’t expect it. Propping his body up from my lap with his elbows, he brought his lips to mine, painfully slowly. His lips were soft, warm and moist. He applied the right amount of pressure, massaging them in rhythm with mine. One of his arms wrapped around the back of my head as he tried to pull me closer, if we could get any closer. I hadn’t needed to take a breath of air, I was enjoying myself that much. Harry would gently nibble on my bottom lip, suckling on it before going in for more.

I hadn’t even noticed the room fall completely silent. 

Part 17~

Harry must not have noticed either as he slowly, and very timidly, started stroking my bare legs with his hands, bringing them right up to my waist. As much as I didn’t want this to stop, I couldn’t face the embarrassment that came afterwards if we continued. Pulling my head quickly away from Harry’s, I was met with five very uncomfortable looking faces. I looked back down at Harry who shot a worried look towards me, keeping deathly still. 

“Get in there, son!” I heard Louis belt out eventually, causing Zayn to laugh hysterically. 

“Louis, not now.” Jade snapped back, keeping direct eye contact with me.

Propping himself up on his elbows yet again, Harry slowly turned his head away from mine to look at the rest of the group; “You know, it’s rude to stare.” He croaked, his voice sounding particularly weak. 

I don’t know why I chose to do so, but I quickly had to take a glance in Niall’s direction. I did not expect him to look as devastated as he did. His rosy red cheeks were flushed, his eyes wandering allover the place - between Harry and I - and he bit down gently on his bottom lip. I couldn’t help but feel sorry for Niall as I remembered the talk he had between Harry when he confessed that he liked me.

“How could we not stare?” Liam said, bug-eyed. 

Harry’s head lowered a bit, then he turned to face me yet again. Why did I feel bad for enjoying it? Because of Niall? Probably. But it wasn’t like I had done anything wrong. There was always more between Harry and I than myself and Niall. But I still couldn’t help the wash of regret that flooded over me, making me feel sick. 

“Thanks, mate.” Niall piped in, giving Harry a deadly glare.

“Sorry..?” Harry replied bitterly, his voice full of sarcasm.

Jade, Liam, Louis and Zayn didn’t know that Niall liked me - from what I knew, so they didn’t have the foggiest of ideas of what was going on. I did, however, think what Harry did was quite disrespectful. Not the kissing me part, but doing it in front of Niall, especially when he knew how he felt about me. But I knew I couldn’t blame it all on Harry. I didn’t think he had planned the kiss, because I’m far certain I hadn’t planned on it. It was a.. spur of the moment sort of kiss. It just happened. 

“I’m.. going to bed.” I choked, swinging my legs over the side of the bed and standing up, my legs quite shaky. 

I took a few steps towards the door before Harry’s voice stopped me, “Do you want me to come?” He asked from behind me, leaning into my ear to whisper in a very suggestive manner; “Y’know, so we can finish what we started..”

For once, I wanted to turn and give in to Harry after all these months, years. Not because I felt bad for saying no to him, but because I wanted too. 

“Are you being serious, man?” Niall said, his Irish accent ringing through his furious sounding words. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”

“What is it now, Niall?” Harry spat, turning away from me to face Niall who was now standing up.

I did not see why Niall was so annoyed with Harry. He wasn’t missing out on anything, it was only me. Yes, I thought he was overreacting to an extend but I did try to put myself in Niall’s shoes - and I suppose I’d probably feel the same way too, if not worse because I’m a girl and overreacting is our specialty. Jade, Louis, Liam and Zayn were sitting in their spots like a couple of deer caught in the headlights - oblivious to what was actually going on.

“You know how I feel about her..” Niall croaked.

Biting on my lip, I soon stepped in between the two. Thankfully, they were far enough away from each other that if one of them chanced a left hook, it would miss. Harry protectively grasped my hand as I turned to face Niall. Unfortunately for me, Niall had that look in his bright blue orbs that killed every living piece of me inside. The look of sorrow, pain and embarrassment. My eyes explored his face and I saw his cheeks flush that rosy red colour once again, making my hart melt.

“Niall, please. I’m not worth it..” I said, trying to sound as soft as I could.

“You are to me though.” He admitted, his eyes finding their way to mine.

Feeling a huge sense of remorse, I hung my head loosely and let go of Harry’s hand. I said goodnight to Jade, Zayn, Liam and Louis very sheepishly and made my way out of their room. It was as if as soon as I left the thick angst of the boys’ room and entered the hallway, I felt soothed and relieved. I knew that walking away was definitely not the best thing to do, but if I was around Niall, and Harry was also in the room, that wouldn’t make things any better. 

Taking a few steps down the corridor, I heard a door click, but I chose to ignore it. Then, I heard the faint sound of feet shuffling towards me and two warm, inviting hands landing on my shoulders. Stopping in my tracks, I exhaled deeply and let my shoulders fall, the familiar hands sliding down my arms and taking my fragile hands in with theirs, turning me around. 

I was not in the least bit surprised to see Harry staring back at me. 

“If you’ve came to finish what we started, i’m not up for it.” I confessed, sounding tired and defeated. 

“No, no. I just came to see if you were okay.” Harry replied supportively, continuing to caress his hands up and down my arms.

As much as I wanted to believe this was all he came to see me for, I wasn’t completely buying it.

“Look, about Niall..” Harry started, “He’ll accept us sooner or later. He’s bound too.”

“Accept us? Harry, that kiss was nothing. It was a spur of the moment thing. Think about it, how awful and shit will Niall feel if you and I actually saw each other? I can’t bare to see him that way, that’s why I had to leave. It kills me to see him upset.” I sighed, moving my arms away from Harry’s grasp as I saw a sharp sense of pain thrive through his eyes.

“And what about me?” Harry shrugged almost aggressively, “How do you think I’ll feel if I see you and him together? Even if you don’t get together, we’ll both still want you really badly. One of us has to win.”

I knew Harry had a point, but I so desperately didn’t want to believe it.

“I’m not a prize, Harry. I don’t want to be won, nor should I be won. It’s safe to say you and I have more chemistry, but that doesn’t mean I love you more than him. Yes, I love you both with all my heart. As mates, really good mates.”

“You know we’ve got that special tension though.” Harry reminded me, taking a step towards me and placing his hands on my hips.

It was only now I noticed how ‘touchy feely’ Harry was. My mum always told me boys were like this because it was signs that the boy was scared of losing you, scared of letting you go. He always wanted to be by my side, especially now we had shared that kiss. I soon wondered what we would have gotten up to if we didn’t have company joining us in our room, and I kind of liked the thought - but it scared me, too. I could’ve happily said to Harry, “sure heck why not, let’s go at it now.” But after the circumstances, it would’ve left me feeling dirty. Dirty for going behind everyone’s back, especially Niall’s.

Not that it was any of their business what Harry and I got up to, but if Niall didn’t like me.. things would have been a lot better. 

“Look, if you don’t want to do anything tonight, it’s fine.” Harry said in an assuring tone, smiling down at me.

Thinking for a moment, I looked up into Harry’s warm, green eyes and plastered a grin on to my face, “come through to my room in ten minutes.”

Harry’s eyes soon turned dark and lustful as he smirked at me, his dimples prominent, his bare chest rising and falling. 

“Please.. don’t.” That oh so familiar Irish accent mumbled.

part 18~

The smile Harry was feeding me soon and surely faded when he heard Niall’s voice. He sighed and hung his shoulders loosely, clenching his eyes shut. Of course, I knew these small tiffs were my fault. I had no idea why Harry and Niall wanted to fight over me, of all people. It made no sense to me. I was only Kimberly - just Kimberly. There are plenty of gorgeous girls out there, so why me? Why was I the one they had to have?

Looking over Harry’s shoulders, I looked down the hallway and saw Niall’s cheeks flushed, eyes filled with sorrow. I couldn’t resist that look and feel of innocence that he emitted. It was almost irresistible. Having two amazing boys fight over me would happily be any girl’s dream, but not mine. I was a girl who wanted a simple life, no drama, no fuss. I was quite boring that way, but I wasn’t going to change myself for anyone. That’s who I was, and it was comforting to know that even though I was this way, both Harry and Niall still wanted me. But of course, that made me worse. 

I felt like utter shit knowing that I was inflicting such pain on them whenever I rejected them, but I couldn’t see things from their point of view because I thought it was completely stupid to get so worked up over me. 

“Don’t do anything you’ll regret, Kim.”

“She can speak for herself, she doesn’t need you telling her what to do.” Harry spat back, slowly turning to face Niall though they were meters apart.

“Harry, that’s enough.” I spoke up, quite appalled at Harry’s rudeness. 

“Oh what, so now you’re on his side?” He argued, arching his eyebrows.

Shaking my head and shrugging my shoulders, I sent Harry a disapproving look - glaring at him through my eyelashes. We stood in silence for a while and I chewed my bottom lip so hard it began to bleed lightly, causing me to lose focus on the situation even more. It didn’t take too long for Harry to groan loudly and walk off in the opposite direction to where everyone was. Where he was going, I had no clue. But I didn’t care. It was his choice to leave and I wasn’t going to be stupid enough to chase after him.

Popping my stingy bottom lip through my teeth, I spun around on the balls of my feet and slowly made my way over to Niall. As soon as he knew I was coming, his body drooped, eyes clinging onto the floor. I mumbled his name to catch his attention and his eyes slowly met mine. Tilting my head towards both mine and Jade’s empty room, we made our way there because I knew we had to clear the air. Find out what was really going on between us, between him and Harry. 

Turning on the light, I sat on the bottom bunk of one of the beds and waited for Niall to join me. He was silent and had a very glassy look in his eye, but not making any form of eye contact. He seemed so distant, but I was far from wondering why. He sat delicately on the bed, and I tapped the sheets for him to move in closer but he did not oblige. So instead, I moved closer to him and this made him look very uncomfortable. 

“I won’t bite you!” I laughed, trying to listen the mood.

Nothing.

“Speak to me?”

I spoke a lot softer than usual, in hope to actually get something from him. He swallowed awkwardly and I watched as his Adam’s-apple moved down and up is throat. He pressed his lips tightly together and glanced up at me for a split second, but that was it.

“Niall, I really need you to communicate with me or something..”

“I don’t know what to say?” He eventually spoke up, looking at the bed sheets.

“Anything, please.”

I nudged me knee against his to try and comfort him, but he tensed up and was as still as the night. I had never seen Niall like this before, and to think I had caused it? That made me feel like complete shit. 

“You know I love you Niall, don’t you?”
“Course I know..” He trailed off, sighing deeply, “but as a friend, i’ve heard this before.”

“And I know you want something more, don’t you?” I asked, already knowing the answer.

“Yeah.” He said after a long pause.

“If I could morph you and Harry into one boy, Niall” I laughed, “Trust me, I certainly would. But I can’t, and I know Harry-“

“I can’t love you more than him, that’s the worst part.”

It took me a good few seconds to comprehend Niall’s words. It made sense, but confused the life out of me. It also hurt, because of the way Niall said it. With such pain in every syllable, every word.

“What do you mean?”

This was when Niall came to life, loosening up. He turned to face me and looked directly into my eyes with those bright blue beams of his, licking his lips and swallowing once more. He looked nervous, but somewhat prepared.

“You mean the world to Harry, and we both know that. But we both… like you in very different ways. And it hurts to know that no matter what I do, it’ll always be you and Harry. Harry and Kim, always. I just don’t trust Harry, even though he does care a lot about you. I feel like he’s using you just for what he wants, but I know that’s not true. I’m just being protective, and I can’t help it. But if you don’t want us together, then I’d rather you were with Harry. But if he does anything to you, please, please tell me.”

I took a deep breath and smiled, bearing all my teeth before leaping towards Niall and squeezing him so tightly. I could hear a slight chuckle in his throat whilst he hugged me back, wrapping his arms around my waist. I buried my face into the crook of his neck, feeling comforted and lucky for having such an amazing, caring person in my life. 

Our hug lasted a very long time, but it wasn’t awkward in the slightest - for me, anyway. He was warm and soft, much like his personality. I had missed my Niall hugs that I got on a daily basis, so I never wanted to let go. But eventually we had to.

“Go get him, then.” Niall laughed, ruffling his fingers through his spiky blonde hair.

“Are you sure?” I asked, making sure I had his approval. 

“Just go!” He laughed once more, shaking his head.

I thanked Niall a lot before leaving, making sure I thanked him once more before I left. I remembered that Harry had stormed off, but I had hoped that maybe he’d be back with everyone else. Thankfully, he was. I didn’t bother to knock on the door, I just barged. Harry looked straight at me, Liam by his side in a comforting manner, patting his back. Harry looked guilty, but somewhat relieved to see me. Everyone else stared blankly, confused and dazed.

“Harry..” I panted, “Can we talk quickly?” I said hurriedly, like I needed to pee.

Without one more word, he shot up from the bed, hurried over to me and closed the door behind him, his dog tag flying around his toned chest.

“I spoke to Niall.” I grinned, hoping to get something other than a confused look from harry. “He wants us to be together. He said that if he can’t have me, he wants you to have me.”

Harry nodded, folding his arms as I continued.

“And I thought if he was willing to surrender like this, why don’t I give you the chance? I know we have something, and there’s no point in denying it anymore. That won’t get us anywhere. I know we’re both mature enough to know if something won’t turn out right, but we can always try. Right?”

Harry nodded once more, smiling, his dimples appearing very prominent against his golden skin. 

I took a deep breath and opened my arms, suggesting for a hug. Harry obliged and moved in as I cascaded my arms around his neck, very gently. Harry’s hugs were very firm and strong, such a protective manner came from him. Unlike Niall who was more soft and vulnerable, very comforting. I was blessed to have such amazing friends in my life, and it seemed as if now everything would be calm for once.

After our long embrace, I pulled away and Harry quickly planted a peck upon my cheek, smiling as he pulled away. I couldn’t help but flash him a smile as I was now happy knowing that everything was going to be okay. I just wish I could’ve turned back time to make this happen in the first place, instead of leaving Harry hanging and playing Niall on. I didn’t mean it, and certainly didn’t think anything would come of it. 

We only had one more day left of this holiday, and if anything, I was going to make it one to remember. No drama, no fights, nothing but my friends and I the way it should be. Perfect.

Part 19~ final chapter

*Niall’s point of view*

At the end of the night, after everyone was talked-out, we all settled in the one room. The room we had spent the majority of the night in. Sure, we had to make quite a few adjustments to fix where everyone was sleeping, but it turned out fine in the end. 

In the big double bed, I slept at the bottom whilst Kimberly and Harry slept together at the top - much to my jealousy, but I had to learn to cope with it. On the bunk bed, Louis and Jade slept at opposite ends and on the top bunk, Liam and Zayn slept also at opposite ends. It was quite a tight squeeze, but we made it work. 

It seemed as if everyone was able to fall asleep so quickly, but I lay awake. Feeling for my phone under my pillow, I pressed a random button to make the screen light up. The time read “2:27am” - I knew I would be too, too tired in the morning. Or, later on in the morning.

“You awake?” A faint voice whispered as I squirmed under the covers, placing my phone back under the pillow. 

“Mmm.” 

Quickly, but gently and timidly, a dark figure sat up from in front of me - I knew then it was Kimberly. I sat up and leaned on my shoulders, the covers falling from my bare chest. The room was so dark, it was really difficult to make anything out.

“Can’t sleep either?” Kimberly said quietly, laughter in her voice. 

“Nope, too warm.” I responded, returning the laugh.

Kimberly agreed and threw the covers from her, turning to look behind her and watch Harry’s almost-lifeless body. You could slightly see, and feel, his chest rising and falling with every breath. My eyes had adjusted to the darkness and I could see Kimberly biting her bottom lip softly, a smirk appearing as she looked at Harry. I could feel jealousy racing through my body like a raging, hot fire - but I had to grow accustom to these things. 

“Why can’t you sleep?” I spoke up, my voice still a faint whisper.

Kimberly broke from her stare; “I have no idea.. just not tired I guess?”

She stood up for a second and looked around at all the sleeping bodies. I saw her mouth an “aw” towards Jade and Louis’ bunk, and then she turned back to our bed and sat above the covers, closer to me so we didn’t have to whisper so much. Pushing myself up from the bed, I sat with my legs crossed, feeling quite paranoid about not wearing a shirt - but  I never wore a shirt to bed. What’s the point?

Kimberly and I began talking about how today was our last day here, in France, in Paris. We had our day all planned out and couldn’t wait to actually get to do it. Disney Land Paris? Yes please. Being with my friends made it all the better, as well. I was buzzing for it! But being unable to sleep wasn’t helping it happen any sooner.

Then, Kimberly went off topic and began talking to me about Harry. Telling me how amazing he was, and how she’s been hiding her crush on him for ages. And that when he asked her out the first time and she denied it, she regretted it instantly. It was as if she forgot that only a few hours ago, Harry and I were fighting over her and I still felt as if I wanted her more than Harry, that I deserved her more. But I was tired of fighting - though I still really, really liked her. She wouldn’t stop talking about him, in such a way that killed me. She talked about him with such passion, lapping her lips with every word - smiling when she heard herself talking about him in such a loving manner. I didn’t smile, and if I did, it was as fake as silicone boobs. But Kimberly couldn’t tell, she was too much in her own fantasy, in her head thinking about Harry.

I took this moment to really, really focus on her. Though there was no light in the room at all, her blue eyes still managed to gleam. Her blonde hair cascaded her face in a wave of all-natural curls. Her skin smooth, begging to be touched. Her lips moved painfully slowly, even when her words were racing out at such a speed I couldn’t comprehend. They looked soft and moist, I found myself rubbing my lips together whilst looking at them, I couldn’t control myself. I was a boy, we had urges. 

One of my urges, I couldn’t hold back. I had tried, and tried, and tried. I couldn’t hold off any longer.

Pulling my tightly closed lips apart, I crashed them against Kimberly’s. Her whispers were gone, no more boasting about Harry. Was that why I did it? To shut her up? Either way, it was worth it in so many ways. I could feel her fighting, but she never pulled away. When the pressure on our lips eased, I wrapped one of my arms around her, placing my hand on the back of her head to ease her in for more. Not only was I kissing her, but she was returning the favor. 

For a little while, at least.

I opened my eyes ever so slowly to see how she looked while we carried this out. But as soon as my eyes opened, hers shot wide. Her lips stopped moving against mine and her two arms grabbed forcefully on my own arm that was around her silhouette. She pushed it back and released it with such urgency, as if my arm was a bomb about to explode into a million shattering pieces. Then, her hand shot up to her mouth as she pulled away from me. 

My face showed no emotion, but my chest was rising and falling very quickly, in time with Kimberly’s. She looked really scared and guilty. Her head soon snapped around to Harry who thankfully, was still asleep. Everyone was asleep, except us two, still. 

“I-i can’t believe you just did that Niall..” Kimberly gasped, not making eye contact with me at all.

“Neither can I..”

“Why?!” She croaked, covering her mouth when she realized she spoke too loudly.

“Because, you were going on and on and on about Harry. How quickly do you expect me to move on from you, honestly? You’re making me feel like shit.”

Then, she met eyes with me. She looked as apologetic as ever. She eased closer to me, pulling her hand from her face. Her eyes travelled across my face as she shook her head. I could tell Kimberly was feeling sorry, she always felt sorry for other people - even when she had done nothing wrong.

“Niall, i’m really sorry.. I wasn’t thinking!” She confessed, rubbing her forehead with her sweaty palms.

“I wasn’t thinking either..” I chuckled, “look.. i’m sorry. This really makes things more complicated doesn’t it?”

“No, we won’t make it complicated. Niall, you’re going to have to get used to this..” Kimberly sighed, tilting her head as she looked at me “don’t expect me to be all over Harry straight away. I need to ease myself into this relationship - and i’m definitely going to be thinking about you more. About how you feel. And I think it’s maybe best if we.. keep this between you and I?”

I nodded, “agreed.” 

Kimberly nodded along with me and leaned in, kissing my cheek before whispering “goodnight” into my ear. Then, she wriggled under the bed sheets and pulled them up to her neck, turning to face Harry’s back as she closed her eyes.

I still liked her. If not now, more than ever.

_______

*Harry’s point of view*

It seemed as if everyone’s mobile alarms rung in sync, waking each person up at 7am sharp. Each joint in my body ached, needless to say I had a very bad night sleep. I could hear everybody shuffling about, yawning and some groggy morning voices. Shifting in the bed, I met face-to-face with Kimberly. She looked bright and wide awake, unlike everyone else. But, it was as if I could see something hiding in her eyes. She sensed I knew something was wrong, so quickly pecked me on the lips before jumping up from the bed, almost kicking Niall out of the bed.

“Sorry!” She yelped as he ruffled his hands through his blonde hair.

“S’alri.” He rasped, sitting up abruptly. 

Kimberly lingered her eyes on Niall for longer than usual before leaving the room to get changed into her outfit for the day, along with Jade. Niall, Liam, Louis, Zayn and I took a while to wake up, but eventually Zayn hopped into the shower and everyone else began to get changed.

“Good sleep?” I asked Niall in a concerned tone of voice.

“Yeah it was.. alright.” He responded, tying his shoe laces. “You?”

“Yeah, slept like a baby.” I lied, pulling my loose white v-neck over my head. 

Standing up, I racked through my suitcase and the remains of my clean clothing. Pulling on a pair of worn-out faded grey jeans, I fastened my belt quite loose and tied the laces of my white converse. We were all ready to go apart from Zayn because let’s face it - he’s Zayn. 

Everyone met for breakfast, which was quite rushed, and then we all our way to Disney Land. Was it sad that I was excited? Probably. I sat beside Kimberly for the thirty minute ride to the theme park, and it seemed as if she was avoiding me. When I confronted her about it, she quickly denied and forced a smile in my direction. Of course I didn’t believe her, but I was one to let things slide so I soon forgot about it. 

*Kimberly’s point of view*

I knew Harry was onto something, but I was determined to make this last day a drama-free one. Though I couldn’t help giving Niall small glances whenever I saw him, and he always returned the glance. Each time he looked at me, my breathing hitched and I became so nervous. I would always see Harry looking at me from the corner of my eyes, but I couldn’t help think maybe he wasn’t asleep when Niall kissed me. Maybe he heard, or saw, everything? 

When we arrived at Disney Land, I felt like I was a child again - it was amazing. Everything was so clean and childlike, I loved it! Everyone else seemed to love it, too. Not once did a smile leave our faces. Even when I was linking hands with Harry and I looked over to Niall, he was smiling, laughing, loving life. It was great! We all stayed in our group. Harry, Niall, Jade, Louis, Liam, Zayn and myself. We never left each other’s side, not once. I kept my hand delicately in Harry’s, his firm grip making me feel safe and protected. Though the queues for the rides were really long, Louis’ banter and Liam’s cute jokes made up for it.

Time flies when you’re having fun and before I knew it, we had ten minutes until we boarded the bus and headed home. It was quite emotional, to say the least. I had finally convinced Harry that nothing was wrong and everything was fine. Though I knew he still didn’t fully believe me, he told me he trusted me and that made me smile. Even Niall seemed to be fine with me. The awkwardness melted away and we were back the way we normally were. Hugging, laughing, giving each other piggy-back rides, like we acted before this holiday. And then there was Harry and I. Every so often he’d twirl me around, kiss my cheek, whisper stupid things into my ear - typical boy - and compliment me. Could life get any better? 

We began to board the bus and even though we were all quite sad, the smiles still couldn’t be wiped from our faces. Climbing up the stairs onto the bus, Harry slapped my bum and caused me to jump and give him a deathly glance. He shook his head and clambered in front of me, rushing to the seats at the back and pulling me on top of him. Slapping his chest, he set me free and I clicked in my seat belt. Louis and Jade sat in front of us, and I noticed how Jade was smiling more than ever.

“Oi, you. Someone’s a bit happy?” I said through the crack in between the two seats.

“Louis just asked me out!” She yelped, trying to keep her voice quiet so Louis wouldn’t hear how happy she was. 

We both shared some minor squeals, the grin on my face spreading beyond my cheeks. Because Harry and I got the seats right at the back, there were three seats left. Niall asked if he could sit on the opposite side of me and I obviously agreed. Zayn sat beside Niall and Liam took the last seat. Then, we were off. Sharing out countless stories of the past few days and laughing at how dramatic it all was. And even though there were fights, tears and everything else you could squeeze into one holiday, I wouldn’t have changed it for the world. 

Life was now perfect.

-end-

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