The Gambler

I swear to god, if I’m asked if I have a boyfriend one more time in an interview, I’ll flip.

Harry smiled down at the screen of his iPhone as he read the message Elle had sent him. The pair had been texting back and forth for the past two days since the gala, but had yet to hangout again. Instead, Harry had resorted to texting her every minute of the day and to his surprise, she texted him back. He hadn’t expected to gain her friendship so easily, but was pleased nevertheless. His fingers moved easily across the screen.

Most annoying question ever. You have no idea how much shit I take during interviews.

He put his phone back on the table in front of him and looked up only to meet the gaze of Louis who had a smug look on his face. Harry raised an eyebrow at him, “What?”

“You’re in love.” Louis said with a smirk.

Harry rolled his eyes at his best friend, “Stop being a girl.”

“No, I think Lou’s right, Haz.” Zayn said from Harry’s right as he looked over the menu.

Harry scoffed, “She’s just a fit girl I’m texting, not a big deal.”

“Fit girls get texts before bed. Not every minute of everyday.” Louis pointed out before adjusting the beanie resting on his head, “I think it’s wonderful, Haz. No need to get touchy about it.”

Harry ignored him and looked down at his phone that was vibrating on the table.

Just finished the last interview of my trip. Would you judge me if I said I’m doing a happy dance?

Harry chuckled quietly to himself earning looks from Louis and Zayn, but ignored them. He wasn’t in love, he knew that for sure. Elle was just another girl who he texted sometimes. Even the thought of her just being a random girl felt wrong to Harry. He had a small crush on the blonde, but never planned to act on the feelings. She was different and after a small google search, had learned that she hadn’t dated anyone while famous. She had even stated in an interview that she didn’t even want to look for any sort of relationship until she was in her 30s. Harry had to ignore the sinking feeling in his stomach after reading that one.

No judgement. I’m out for lunch with Lou and Zayn. Want to join us?

“Know what you want?” The waitress’ voice made Harry’s head shoot up and he realized, in a slight panic, that he had barely looked over the menu.

“We’ll need a few more minutes.” Louis answered with a single glance at Harry.

The waitress nodded and walked away and Louis turned to look at Harry with a laugh that Harry ignored, “Shove off, Lou.”

Sure. Where are you guys?

After texting her the address of the restaurant, Harry looked sheepishly up at the boys, “Uh, guys?”

Louis and Zayn stopped their conversation about tour and looked at the youngest of the group. Zayn nodded his head for Harry to continue, “Yeah?”

“Is it alright if Elle joins us?” Harry asked, trying to mask his desire for them to say yes.

Lou laughed and shook his head, “You are a piece of work, Haz. I’m guessing she’s already on her way here.”

Harry nodded and laughter burst between the three friends. Harry focused on the conversation then, mainly to suppress the knots in his stomach as he waited for Elle to arrive. Just as the discussion over which Batman was the best began to get heated, Harry heard her voice.

“Personally, I think Christian Bale has done the best job.” She said confidently as she stood at the edge of the table.

All eyes looked to her and Harry smile briefly before the sound of Louis’ voice broke out, “Bullshit! Michael Keaton annihilates Bale’s Batman!”

Elle laughed and sat down in the only available seat, beside Louis, and shook her head, “Nope. Never.”

As Louis began to list the reasons Michael Keaton was better, Elle took the opportunity to look over at Harry who was grinning at her. She smiled back at him and mouthed a small hello at him before grabbing Louis’ menu to look at it.

“Sorry, Lou, but you can’t change my mind.” Elle interrupted Louis’ rant and a small giggle escaped her mouth. Harry was quite taken with the sound of her laugh, it was melodic and warm. Her laugh was a sound that made everyone else laugh.

Louis stared at her in disbelief, but his shocked expression was soon turning into a smile before he looked back at Harry, “I like this bird, Haz. A bit of fire to her, yeah?”

Harry laughed and nodded his head before looking back at Elle, “Just a bit, yeah.”

“Have you guys ordered yet? I’m absolutely starving.” She groaned and patted her stomach for full effect.

“No, not yet. Harry was a bit distracted and didn’t pick anything yet.” Zayn said with a small smirk at Harry.

Harry felt his cheeks redden, but quickly recovered and turned his attention to Elle, “You said you’re in the city until Monday, yeah?”

“Yeah.” Elle nodded, “Then it’s off to LA to plan for the tour.”

Louis perked up, “Tour? How long are you on tour for?”

“10 months starting in June.” She replied and laughed at Louis’ shocked expression, “Yeah, right? I swear we’re going to every country imaginable.”

“First tour?” Zayn asked before taking a sip of the water in front of him.

Elle crinkled one of her eyes as if she was deep in thought and tilted her head to the side, “Kind of. I went on a small tour around the States, but that was only 4 dates. First headliner though.”

“Well cheers to that!” Louis said with a grin holding up his glass before taking a drink.

Harry had stayed silent the entire time. In the past, the girls he had dated were all based in one place, rarely leaving the UK let alone the continent. And though he and Elle weren’t dating, he knew any hope he had of some love connection between the two wouldn’t be possible. She was going to be gone for almost and entire year, not to mention everything he knew One Direction had to do. He realized, with great disdain, that he probably wouldn’t be seeing much of his new found friend and this bothered him.

The waitress came moments later, taking their orders before the four fell into a rowdy and loud conversation about their favourite places to eat in the world. Harry watched as Elle was explaining the dishes she had tried in Italy, speaking in great detail about her favourite restaurants. And while he knew Louis and Zayn were probably growing tired of her details, Harry clung to every word while studying her movements. When she spoke of something exciting, her eyes would grow wide and a smile played on her lips. Her hand would gently smack the table in apprehension as she spoke and when she was done telling her story, she’d pause to close her eyes with a smile on her face, as if she was imagining the place in her mind.

Zayn had been in the middle of a story about a time in Paris when her phone had suddenly gone off. Excusing herself from the group, she walked to the bathroom speaking in a rushed tone.

“I don’t think I’ve ever heard someone talk about places in such detail before.” Zayn commented as he bit into his sandwich that had just arrived.

Louis nodded before looking at Harry, “You can’t lie about being into her now, mate. I saw the way you were watching her as she spoke. It made it seem like she was telling us the bloody secrets of the world with the look you were giving her.”

Harry shrugged and bit back a smile, “I just found it interesting.”

“No, I found the stories interesting, I think you found more than just the stories interesting.” Zayn said with a laugh.

Harry ignored him as Elle walked back to the table and sat down. She let out a loud sigh and Harry nodded his head at her, “Everything alright?”

“Yeah.” Elle replied before picking up her own sandwich, “Just my manager asking where I was.”

“You didn’t tell him where you were going?” Louis asked mid-chew.

Elle shook her head, “If I had, he would have had a field day and dreamed of all the publicity we could get. It’s not everyday two of the biggest acts in the music industry have lunch together.”

The three boys laughed and Harry asked, “So where did you tell him you were?”

“Some Starbucks uptown. I’m sure he’ll call me in a few minutes to ask me again. But for now, I’d like to enjoy this sandwich with my friends.” She said with a smile.

Louis held a hand up to his heart and pretended to be emotional, “You, Elle Peters, consider us your friends? I don’t know what to say.”

The table laughed and Elle nudged her shoulder against Louis with a smile, “You’re weird.”

After a few more laughs, a shared plate of dessert and fighting over the bill-which Elle paid for while they were arguing-they were done their meal and Harry felt a panic rush through him at the thought of being done lunch. Would this mean Elle would leave? What if he didn’t see her again?

“You’ll be in the city on Saturday, yeah?” Louis asked the girl as they headed towards the entrance after thanking the waitress.

Elle nodded and pulled her cardigan around her shoulders as they stepped out onto the breezy street, “Yeah, why?”

“We’re playing SNL. You should come watch and go to the after party with us.” Louis suggested with a shrug, “I’m sure Harry would love it if you came.”

Harry had never wanted to kiss Louis so much. He hadn’t even thought of asking the blonde girl to the show and stared at Elle apprehensively. He had even ignored the comment Louis made at the end of the question, eager to hear her response quicker.

Elle looked over at Harry who was staring at her with a patient expression. She bit her lip before smiling, “Yeah, I’ll have to check if I’m free that night, but I don’t see any issues.”

“Excellent.” Louis said with a grin before turning back to Harry briefly and giving him a wink. He nodded to Zayn, “Zayn and I have to get back to the hotel now to do some stuff.”

“What stuff?” Harry asked dumbly, not catching on to Louis’ lie.

Louis stared at him with an expression of disbelief before he shook his head and clapped Harry on the back, “Don’t worry about it, man. Why don’t you take Elle to the park or something, yeah? Walk off that dessert.”

Harry caught on and nodded before looking over at Elle sheepishly, “If she doesn’t mind.”

“I could use the exercise.” Elle said with a small smirk.

“Perfect!” Louis said with a grin before pulling the girl into a hug and saying his goodbyes. Zayn waved to the girl before he fell into step with Louis.

Harry turned back to Elle to find her raising an eyebrow at him, “Did you guys have this planned all along?”

“No!” Harry said and raised his hands in defense, “Lou totally surprised me with that one.”

“Yeah, not that discrete, is he?” Elle joked before turning away from Harry. She glanced over her shoulder, “To the park?”

“To the park.” Harry replied before falling into step with her.

They walked in a comfortable silence and Harry fought the urge to grab her hand and link her fingers with his. He kept an eye out for paparazzi, thrilled that no one seemed to even recognize who they were.

“I love this city.” Elle said quietly as they reached Battery Park. She jumped up onto the benches that were lined up along the pathway and began to walk along them, holding her arms out to balance.

Harry looked up at her with a smile before looking out at the waterfront, “It’s a gorgeous city.”

“Everything is just so interesting, y’know? Like, wherever you look, someone’s doing something, at any time of day. Even when it’s the dead of winter, there’s tons of people just milling around.” Elle said with a happy sigh.

Harry laughed, “I guess that’s why they call it the city that never sleeps.”

“And suddenly it all makes sense!” She feigned surprise before laughing. Harry laughed at her and watched as she gracefully jumped from bench to bench, alternating feet. Just when she had reached the end, the toe of her shoe got caught on the ledge catapulting her forward.

Instinctively, Harry put his arms out and caught her, his hands placed firmly on her hips before she could fall to the ground. Elle’s eyes shot to his and she stared at him breathless, shocked from the sudden feeling of falling. Harry’s eyes met hers, a serious expression taking over his face as he helped her step down from the bench.

His hands remained on her hips as her two feet hit the ground. It wasn’t until Elle looked down at his hands and back up at him that he removed them. His hands instantly felt cool and he wished he could place them back on her or even just to hold hands with her. He wanted some sort of contact. Just as he was about to grab her hand with his, she turned to walk over to the railing that separated the walkway from the water.

Harry followed her and leaned up against the railing mimicking her. They were quiet for another moment before she broke the silence between them, “I grew up in Detroit, Michigan. A city which, I’m sure you’ve heard, is the murder capital of the States. My family and I lived in a bad neighborhood-”

“Like 8 Mile?” He interrupted referring to the popular birthplace of Eminem with a small grin on his lips.

At first she looked over at him with a glare before she smiled again and shook her head. Her face turned serious again and she moved the hair that had blown in her face over her shoulder, “No, not 8 Mile. But a street very much like it. There were shootings or stabbings or robberies everyday. There were bars on our windows and doors, metal detectors at our school. It sounds awful, I know, but it was home and it all became so normal. It wasn’t just about gangs either, there were just groups of friends or even people who didn’t have any friends that just went after people. I got my first boyfriend when I was twelve and we were in the front yard of his dad’s house. My mom didn’t let me go there, but his mom couldn’t pick us up from school, so that’s where we were. Well, I guess that his dad hadn’t exactly been hanging with the right crowd and some guys pulled up in an SUV.”

Harry swallowed a large lump that had been growing in his throat as he watched her speak. Her eyebrows were furrowed and her expression had grown dark, “Long story short, they went into the house and we heard gunshots. My boyfriend told me to run and so I did and I ran to the neighbor’s house. I kept hearing gunshots so I ran and hid in the doghouse in their backyard. I thought he was right behind me, but then I saw him running and then just like that he was on the ground, dead. They shot him after they shot his dad and his two year old brother.”

She gave him an eerily emotionless look and continued, “Then when I was fifteen, my dad, he was a youth counsellor. Everyday, he dealt with gang members and drug addicted teenagers and then one day, he was going to work and I was standing at the door, waiting for my bus when again, an SUV pulled up. Different people, but they shot him. Not once either. I watched him die and I couldn’t do a damn thing about it.”

“My brother became addicted to drugs. He started stealing money from me and my mom. The worst being when he stole her wedding ring and pawned it off just to get a fix. He didn’t even think twice about it. And it wasn’t even until he was half dead in a hospital that he realized he needed help.”

“Why are you telling me all of this?” Harry asked her with a curious expression.

Elle didn’t look at him for a moment before she turned back to look at him. She pulled at the ends of her cardigan and sighed, “Harry, every man in my life has hurt me or disappeared or been killed and I know that those were all extreme cases. And the chances of those things happening are slim to none, but I just can’t risk it.”

“Risk what?” Harry asked although he had an idea of what she meant.

Elle’s eyes didn’t falter from his, “Risk you hurting me or disappearing one day. We’re busy and our lives are freakishly chaotic. I don’t think you’d do it purposely, but it would happen. So nothing can happen between us, ok?”

They were silent for a moment as Harry mulled over what she had just told him. It became obvious that despite all of the love she received from her fans across the world, she was a very broken girl who was terrified of getting too close to anyone.

She interrupted her thoughts with a regretful expression and she shook her head, “I’m an idiot. You probably don’t even feel that way about me, it was just everything happening at the diner and texting, I’m just-forget it. I’m an idiot.”

“You’re not an idiot.” Harry said with a small smile. And even though what he was about to say would end up biting him in the ass later, he cleared his throat and spoke evenly, “Friends?”

Elle looked at him skeptically for a moment before she smiled and looked back out at the waterfront, “Friends.”

And even though they had both made a promise to each other, Harry knew that the best promises made were the ones meant to be broken.