The Gambler

Harry was hunched over, breathless from laughter as he stared at the scene in front of him. Elle and Niall were the only two still moving around, though he could tell by Niall’s slow movements that he was growing more and more tired thanks to the alcohol he had consumed. Elle, however, looked lively as ever. Her heels had been ditched to the side beside Liam who was relaxing at the edge of the dancefloor. Everyone had left the party an hour ago and Harry was sure that by the time they left, the sun would be rising.

It had started after Elle had complained about the amount of cake left. She attributed it to the fact that they were in LA and people would rather starve than eat a single piece of cake to keep any weight off. So, as Niall went in for his fifth piece, Harry had an idea. It was a simple fling of his fork, but the confection had successfully landed atop Elle’s head, matting in her hair before sliding down her face. Her jaw dropped as she felt the icing run down her face and it was a moment before she slowly brought her gaze from Louis to Harry. He grinned at her for all of five seconds before she moved. He hadn’t even had a moment to brace himself as a handful of the cake was suddenly being thrown square at his face.

Ten minutes later, the boys and Elle were covered completely in cake from head to toe. Elle had at first complained, claiming her precious dress was being ruined, but had soon ignored the stains of the designer garment to attack Zayn after he squished a handful into her face.

“You guys are assholes.” Elle said with a laugh as she flopped down beside Liam who was now joined by Zayn and Louis.

Louis let out a scoff in protest as he passed around napkins, “Actually, Harry’s the asshole. He’s the one who started it.”

“True.” Elle agreed and sent a joking glare at the curly haired boy.

Niall joined them then, a piece of cake on his plate. The group watched as he used his fork to cut himself a piece and brought it to his mouth. It wasn’t until he had taken the fork away from his mouth that he realized they were looking at him, “What?”

They let out a loud chorus of laughter and Zayn shook his head, “You’re covered in cake and yet you go cut yourself a piece to eat.”

Niall shrugged before laughing, “I love cake.”

“Elle,” Louis announced, “You need to open our gifts!”

“You guys bought me gifts? You didn’t have to!” Elle proclaimed with a slight shake of her head.

Zayn sent her a look, “Of course we did. It’s your birthday, you’re our friend. Gifts had to be purchased.”

Liam reached behind him and pulled out a large bag that had gone completely unnoticed by Elle. He handed it over to her and smiled, “From all of us.”

“You guys...” Elle trailed off as she gently took the back from Liam. She smiled at the group before she rubbed her hands together, “I love presents.”

The boys laughed and watched as she pulled out the first wrapped item.

“Did you guys wrap these or did you get someone else to?” She asked suspiciously before grinning at the pink paper.

“Louis’ a bit of a gift wrapping connoisseur.” Zayn said with a laugh, “You can tell the ones that we wrapped because they’re absolute rubbish.”

Elle opened the first gift to reveal a pair of new Converse sneakers. She squealed, “YES!”

“I saw your old ones by the door at your house and thought you could use a new pair. Yours were a bit mangey, yeah?” Louis joked.

Elle laughed and continued to open her gifts. She received some pieces of jewelry including a beautiful Kate Spade watch and an Alexander McQueen bangle. A new pair of Ray Bans that were, according to Niall, a necessary sunglasses brand to anyone who was friends with them. Elle thought she’d nearly keel over with laughter as she unrolled the large Christian Bale Poster that Louis claimed to detest. That wasn’t the end of the Batman related items as she received a Batman toque and a ring that Liam had picked out. She then opened a beautiful Michael Kors magenta purse with a matching Alexander McQueen scarf wrapped around the handle. When she chided them about having such wonderful taste, it was revealed by Zayn that the boys had consulted their stylists and girlfriends about it. Finally, she opened a WildFox jumper with the Union Jack design on the front for her to remind her of them while she was on tour.

Elle wasn’t one to cry, but as she hugged the boys and looked over all of the gifts they had bought her, she couldn’t help but feel absolutely touched. Most people had bought her jewelry or clothing that depended more on the brand or price tag behind it, yet these five boys who had only known her for a few weeks had put a lot of effort into each item. Yes, there were items that were too expensive inside, but they were all brands or colours that she had talked to them about. It was perfect and she felt herself tearing up over them.

“Feels weird being in a club without any music.” Liam said suddenly and looked over to the stage that the DJ had long since abandoned.

“DJ Malik to the rescue!” Zayn announced before rushing over to the left over DJ speakers. Niall and Liam bounded after him and they began to fight over who was allowed to play what.

Louis groaned, “Honestly, they’re like children.”

He stood up and made his way over to the three boys, calling out for them to calm down. Elle laughed as she watched them before turning back to Harry.

He held a rectangular box in his hands and Elle stared down at it with a tilt of her head before looking back up at him, “What’s this?”

“I got you something extra,” Harry explained and held it out to her, “It’s not much, but yeah.”

Elle took the gift from him, feeling a flutter in her stomach as she did so. She opened it carefully, the sounds of the other boys yelling at each other drowned out by the beating in her ears.

Inside, the first thing she noticed was a necklace. It was a simple silver chain that held a silver paper plane charm. She had seen the charm before, on Harry’s neck and as she held it up, her eyes darted to his neck to see his own necklace resting on his chest, just peaking out from underneath the top of his shirt.

“I know it’s a bit cheesy, having matching necklaces,” Harry began and scratched the back of his neck, “You don’t have to wear it if you don’t want, I just thought it’d be a nice keepsake. And to remind you of me-and the boys, of course-and uhm, yeah.”

He studied Elle silently as she picked up the necklace slowly. She looked up at him and he noticed the wide smile forming on her face. She spoke quietly, so quiet that he had to crane his neck to hear her, “Harry, I love it.”

His lips spread into a grin and she unclasped it and handed it to him, “Can you help me put it on?”

Harry moved forwards and took the two ends from her hands, his fingertips brushing against hers as he did so. She turned from him and held some of the loose strands of hair away from her neck. Slowly he maneuvered his hands through hers and clasped the necklace together. His eyes trailed from the top of her dress to the three hearts on her neck. He was startled by the side, remembering it was the first thing he had really noticed about her, yet had yet to ask her about. In an instant she was turned back to face him, her eyes wide as she realized just how close she was to him.

Harry cleared his throat and moved back again before looking at the necklace around her neck. It hung down past the rise of her chest and rested in between her breasts. Harry’s eyes moved back to hers to find her looking down as well. She looked back up at him and smiled, “Looks good, twin.”

Harry laughed and nodded at the box, “There’s one more thing in there.”

“What?” Elle said with a look of disbelief. She looked down and picked up the envelope that was in the bottom of the box. Quickly opening it, she was presented with 2 tickets. As she read the names on the tickets, she let out a tiny yell and looked up at Harry with sheer shock on her face, “WHAT THE FUCK!? HOW DID YOU-WHAT?!? OH MY GOD!”

She had attacked Harry with a hug before he could process what was happening and he fell backwards from his sitting position. He laughed as he placed his arms around her middle and she continued to scream as she sat back up right. In her hands, were two tickets to see Temper Trap in LA. The tickets had sold out immediately after being released, but after she and Harry were discussing their love of the band on Venice Beach, he knew he had to get tickets.

“Harry, oh my god!” She squealed and danced in place for a moment, “Oh my god!”

Harry laughed, “I take it you’re happy then?”

“So happy!” She squealed before attacking him with a hug, “This is the best birthday ever.”

Harry laughed and nodded over to the boys. Zayn quickly carried out the plan they had made hours before and began to play the song Harry had requested. Elle looked over in shock at the song choice before turning to Harry with suspicion, “Did you plan this?”

“Maybe.” Harry replied before backing up and placing an arm behind his back. He bent down lightly and held out his hand, “Care for that dance I promised you?”

Elle laughed and set down the tickets before taking his outstretched hand. He walked her to the center of the dancefloor and pulled her into him. Instead of dancing like normal teenagers do, he placed one hand on her waist, the other still entwined with hers. She smiled as she placed her free hand on his shoulder. They began to sway lightly as “Love Lost” continued to play.

“You have quite the moves, Styles.” Elle said with a sigh.

Harry beamed down at her, “Dance moves or romancing moves?”

“Both.” Elle replied and they laughed together. Elle leaned her head against his chest. He leaned his own head down as well. Their faces were inches apart, but Elle tried her hardest not to think about that.

To put it simply, Elle was terrified. Her feelings for Harry had practically burnt down the walls around her heart. Everything he said or did was enough to make her feel a warm giddy feeling. She hadn’t known him for a long time by any means, yet here she was thinking about how much she wanted to kiss him and that if she didn’t do anything else in her life after that, it would be okay. They continued to dance, Elle noticing that the four boys who had stood on stage moments ago were now nowhere to be seen. Harry twirled her around suddenly, making her let out a gasp before laughing and looking up at him briefly. Just as she was going to press her lips to his, his lips parted and his voice rang out over the music quietly.

I know it’s hard
But I can still hear it beating
So if you flash your heart
I won’t mistreat it
I promise

His voice echoed through her, his cool breath hitting her neck and making her heart flutter with every line sung. As the last verse and chorus began to play, Elle looked up at him. His eyes locked with hers and they had stopped moving. Wordlessly, she tilted her head up and met his lips with hers. He was taken aback only momentarily before he began to kiss her back. It was a chaste first kiss, both of their hearts beating fast in their chest. Neither deepened the kiss and when they pulled away, Harry merely pressed his forehead to hers with a small smile on his lips.

Elle stared up at him with wide eyes and a flush on her cheeks. His lips pressed to her forehead and she closed her eyes taking in the feeling of his lips on her skin. As the song faded out, they continued to slowly sway to the music. Both feeling a rush of emotions and not having a clue how to express them.