I woke up the next morning. I stretched running my fingers through my hair. For a moment I forgot where I was and sat up quickly wondering why I wasn't in my bedroom. Everything suddenly came back to me in the blink of an eye. I took in a sharp breath. It wasn't all a dream... That means that last night... Harry Styles was really hitting on me. Last night when he had taken me up to my room, he'd grabbed my hand, smiled into my eyes and made a confession. He'd said, "To be honest I wasn't looking forward to this summer. I thought we would end up with a bunch of star-crossed fans... I'm happy to confess that I couldn't be more wrong." Then he pressed his lips to the top of my hand and walked around to the other side of the upstairs. I stood in shock wondering what had happened until his bedroom door closed behind him.
It was insane. I didn't know what to think about all that was happening. I just... I just didn't know. A knock came to my door, I gasped from the surprise it gave me. "Miss El, breakfast is being served in fifteen minutes," David said from outside my door.
"Thanks. I will be right down," I replied. I threw my legs over the edge of the bed and stretched one more time. I shuffled my feet to the bathroom and once inside turned on the cold water and splashed my face with it. I patted my face dry and then stared at my reflection... The memory of Harry kissing my hand last night flashed in my mind once more. A grin spread across my face and I chuckled lightly. I pressed my hand over my heart trying to slow it down. This trip was going beyond what I had ever imagined. Quickly I brushed my teeth and pulled my hair back up into a messy bun.
Exiting the bathroom, I reached my bedside table and plucked my phone off of it. Holding it in my hand, I exited my room and headed down the stairs. I turned to make my way to the kitchen but paused when I saw Harry sitting in the front room all alone. He sensed my presence and our eyes connected. When they did, he sat up straight and smiled with a sparkle in his eyes. I took a sharp intake of air and let it out slowly then my phone buzzed in my hand. I broke the eye contact to see who it was. Neal was calling me. I smiled in spite of my current predicament. I needed some normalcy. This was all a bit surreal and I needed Neal to bring me back down to earth. I slid the button across to answer and said, "Hey Neal." I glanced in Harry's direction to gauge his reaction. His eyebrows raised at Neal's name and I suddenly felt smug answering a phone call from a guy friend in front of Harry Styles. "How are you doing? Almost packed for Greece?"
Neal chuckled on the other end, "I am actually already in Greece. We arrived this morning. My mom surprised me with being here the entire summer. I actually won't be getting back to Astoria until after you get home."
"What?! Neal you promised you'd be back before I came back.We were going to go out on the boat remember?" I whined. Harry stood up at that and I looked straight at him, a challenge brewing in my eyes.
"We will when I get back. Do you think you guys could swing down here before you head on home? It would be awesome to see you," he said.
"I'll see what I can do," I replied.
Neal chuckled, I could tell he was grinning ear from ear right now. "So, how's your adventure been so far?"
"There is so much I need to fill you in on, Neal. First of all, we aren't staying in a hotel and being showed around the city much less the continent. My mother some how managed to book One Direction for the entire summer. We're staying in mansion with them on the outskirts of civilization for the entire summer. They're to be our guides." Neal didn't say anything to that. "Neal. Neal, are you still there?" Now I was concerned, I didn't want to hurt his feelings. Neal was one of my best guy friends. "Neal."
"Yeah, I heard you, El. I hope your having fun. I gotta go now," he said. I could tell he was closing off because for some reason he was hurting.
"Neal, wait! Don't hang up! Talk to me please. I didn't... I don't even know how to explain what's going on right now..." Silence met my desperation. "Neal...please." Now tears formed in my eyes. I didn't want to lose him. Was that absurd of me to say and selfish?
I heard him take in a deep breath. "Anne, I really do hope you have fun. This is your dream remember. Live it. I'll call you later," he sighed and he hung up.
I stared at my phone in disbelief. Why did this hurt so much? Why did it hurt Neal so much about what I'd told him? My head was really beginning to spin. I heard someone clear their throat and I turned around to see Liam, "Is everything okay?" His brow furrowed when he noticed my distress and his eyes shot straight towards Harry.
"Everything's okay. Harry didn't do anything Liam. Is breakfast ready? I'm starving," I tried desperately at trying to change the subject. He nodded and I quickly went into the kitchen.
When I got there Anne stood up, saw my face and asked, "What's wrong, El?" I shook my head and immediately the tears began to flow. Anne was instantly by my side, comforting me. Becca soon joined her. I didn't understand why my heart was hurting so much. He was my friend and for some reason unknown to me I'd hurt him.
I reined in my emotions as the boys started to come in one by one. I wiped away my tears and silently communicated to my friends I would tell them later. They all nodded and I put on a believe-able smile. Niall was the first one to acknowledge us and said, "Good morning. Ready for a spot of breakfast?"
Did he just say spot of breakfast, I thought. It was definitely Irish of him. I noticed Becca grinned largely from Niall's comment. I knew Niall was her favorite, she'd always said he was. The one thing that was nice about us three was we each were interested in a different one of the boys. Becca liked Niall, Anne liked Liam, and I... Well I obviously fancied Harry. To be honest though, I think Anne only liked Liam because she really liked Andy, Liam's friend. Whom the entire world knew about. Must come with the territory of getting to know the boys on a personal level. Suddenly the entire world knew you and either loved or hated your guts.
We all sat down around the table and suddenly half way through the meal, we were all chatting as if we were the best of friends. The awkwardness had completely evaporated. The boys told us they wanted to just spend the day here at the house until the media quieted down a bit and then they had lots of fun things planned for us to do.We all agree that sounded great! I looked at Louis and teased him and Harry, "I guess we're going to see who's the best at soccer than or football. What ever you want to call it."
Louis appeared confused. "We will? I didn't think you played."
"Oh we play," Anne replied. "El was her varsity team's started this last year and she won the scoring goal at state. Her and I have been playing soccer together since we could kick a ball." I glanced at Harry who was staring at me with an all knowing grin on his beautiful face.
"Yeah, now that all my bragging has been done for me... How about we go and have fun? To be honest I want to do some swimming before we get into the competitive stuff. I think we should all get to know each other before we do all that," I said.
Liam nodded, "What a smashing idea, El! Let's clear the table and then agree to meet at the pool." We all nodded and cleared the table. I was excited to get to know these boys. I'd always bragged that if I ever met them we would be the best of friends. I guess it was time now to keep to my word.
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