My Little Bird

Ultimately, it was both Niall and Louis who showed up at Eleanor's flat about twenty minutes after she'd received the text. It was Louis's first time meeting Olly and he had drawn the same conclusion about him that the other boys had, but he still tried to be nice for Asher's sake. Niall barely acknowledged the boy for the rest of the afternoon when Eleanor returned home. It was her first time meeting the boy as well, and though she tried to put the boys' suspicions aside, she couldn't help but be a little standoffish.

Almost an entire week had passed before Asher saw him again. She had spent the entire morning and afternoon shopping with her cousin and after they'd taken their bags back to the flat, Eleanor went out for dinner with Louis and Asher set off down the block to Finch's Cafe where Olly would soon be finishing up his shift. The door jingled as she walked inside and the older woman by the counter looked up, giving her a bright smile.

"Hello, dear! So nice to see you again! Would you like something to eat?" Asher's stomach growled almost as if on cue, giving the woman her answer and she chuckled warmly. "Your usual then?"

Asher nodded and thanked her before she disappeared through the kitchen doors, leaving Asher to slide into one of the chairs at a small table toward the back. She had met Regina the week before and had quickly grown to adore the woman, who felt the same about her. She had learned that Regina was a widow and that she had had no children or other family, so the cafe was basically her whole life. It was sad that Finch's didn't get much business because Regina really deserved to have it.

The older woman peeked her head back through the door to inform her that Olly would be out in a few minutes before disappearing into the kitchen again. Asher slipped her phone out of her pocket and scrolled through her old text messages while she waited.

"Miss me?" She smiled as she slid her phone back into the pocket of her jeans and Olly walked around the counter to the table to wrap his arms around her in a hug. One he released her, they both sat down at the table. "Haven't seen you in a few days. Everything okay?"

"Yep, fine. I've just been really busy with Eleanor this week."

It wasn't a complete lie. Eleanor had been keeping her occupied with trips to shops and other various activities. Even when they were at the flat, she kept her busy doing even ridiculous things like playing board games and trying to get her to watch her favorite tv programs. At least one of the boys was always over to take up some of her time as well. Olly nodded at her response but he gave her a look that said he didn't believe her.

A few minutes later, Regina emerged from the kitchen with a plate for each of them and Asher immediately dug in as soon as her plate was set down on the table in front of her. It was mostly quiet, the only sound between them the soft music playing in the background. She wasn't sure what station the stereo was turned to, but the music playing on it was awful. She wrinkled her nose at one song in particular and Olly noticed.

"There's some cds in the corner by the stereo if you want to pick something different."

Asher slid out of her seat and walked over to the small table where the stereo sat, picking up the binder that held the cafe's entire selection of music. She was flipping through the pages when the doors to the cafe jingled open and the sound of high heels on the wooden floors caught Asher's attention. Surprised that there was actually a customer besides herself, she glanced over her shoulder at the newcomer, doing a double take when the girl who was now at the counter took off her dark sunglasses. Her first thought was that it was stupid she was wearing sunglasses considering it was dark out.

Olly got up from the table to go over to the counter where Abigail was waiting, her blackberry in her perfectly manicured hand and looking like she'd just stepped out of a fashion magazine. Her grey eyes found Asher where she was standing by the stereo, very surprised, and she shot her a nasty glare before turning to Olly to give him her order. To go she added with a sneer, eyeing Asher again.

Regina came out from the kitchen as Olly went inside and she greeted Abigail warmly but the young blonde was too preoccupied with her burning hatred of the only other person in the room. Asher just tried to ignore her, not wanting to stir up any more drama than had already been stirred. Abigail slid onto one of the bar stools typing furiously on her blackberry and Olly returned to the table from the kitchen as Asher put in a cd and rejoined him.

Her phone began to vibrate loudly against the hard table top just as she was taking the last bite of her burger and Olly picked up her phone, glancing at the name on the screen before handing it to her. "It's Harry."

Her eyebrows furrowed as she took the phone from his hand, sliding her finger across the screen to answer it. "Hello?" She could feel Abigail staring at her from across the room and it was making her very uneasy. She wished Olly hadn't said his name so loudly.

"Where are you right now?"

"I'm hanging out at Finch's."

"Are you busy?"

"No, not at all. Why, what's going on?"

There was a moment of hesitation before Harry finally sighed. "Abby dumped me."

"What? When?"

"Earlier this afternoon. She took her shit and left about an hour ago."

"Oh....." Asher wasn't sure how to respond. For one, Abigail was sitting not fifteen feet away from her, listening to everything she said since she knew that it was Harry on the line. Honestly, she was glad that Harry didn't have to put up with the bitch anymore, but at the same time, she was sorry that he had been dumped. He did sound a bit glum about it all.

"Can you meet me somewhere?"

"Of course. Where?"

"Eleanor's is fine, since you're close. I'll be there in ten."

"Okay. See you soon." Asher ended the call, glancing nervously at the blonde by the counter before looking back at Olly, who already had a clue as to what she was about to say by the look on her face. "I have to go," she said apologetically, then lowered her voice so that Abigail couldn't hear her. "He needs me."

Olly had to fight the urge to roll his eyes but he nodded his head, feigning understanding and support. "Of course. I'll ring you later."

Asher stood from her seat, leaning down to kiss his cheek before picking up her phone and keys and shouting a goodbye to Regina over her shoulder as she walked out of Finch's, leaving the fuming Abby and jealous Olly in her wake.

She walked back to Eleanor's flat and quickly unlocked the door, shoving it open with her shoulder and walking inside. She kicked off her sandals and curled up on the sofa as she waited for Harry to arrive. Only a few minutes later, there was a sharp knock on the front door so she got up to answer it. When she opened the black door, he was standing on the stoop, his shoulders slightly hunched as he looked over his shoulder at something.

"Harry," she started, causing his head to snap toward her. "You okay?"

"Yeah," he mumbled, quickly moving forward into the flat and following her into the living room. She flopped down on the end of the sofa and he did the same, slouching down on the opposite end as she grabbed the remote control and turned the tv on. The trashy tv drama that Harry had confessed was his guilty pleasure happened to be on so she left it on that channel and got up to go into the kitchen and get some cans of soda.

When she returned to the living room, he was sitting there, arms crossed over his chest and a grumpy frown on his face. She simply set the pepsi can on the table in front of him and sat back down, angling her body so that she was halfway facing him. "Do you wanna talk about it?" she asked softly. He shook his head, slouching farther down on the sofa, and she nodded in understanding, turning back to the tv set. "Okay. We don't have to."

Harry went back to watching the show, but Asher was too preoccupied by inconspicuously keeping an eye on him. Every time he moved, her eyes shifted over to him. It was bugging her that he had asked to meet her, but now that they were together, he wasn't saying anything. She just wished that he would tell her what had happened or why they'd broken up or what he was feeling. Anything.

Surprisingly, she was able to force herself to sit through three entire episodes of the tv show before she picked up the remote control, turning off the tv and rising to her feet. "Come on, let's go to bed."

"I can just sleep here," he responded blankly without even looking up at her.

"Nonsense. If you can share your bed, I can share mine."

He sighed heavily and heaved himself off the sofa, following her upstairs to Eleanor's guest room. She quickly changed out of the clothes she'd worn that day and into an old tie dye tee shirt then pulled the comforter down and crawled under the covers, leaning back against the headboard as she replied to a text from Eleanor, who was on her way home.

Harry carelessly tossed the clothes he'd been wearing into the chair in the corner before flopping face down on the bed. After a moment, he shifted over to rest his head in her lap, draping one arm over her legs and winding the other around her back, basically hugging her. She was surprised by the action, but she set her phone on the nightstand and began stroking his hair comfortingly. Silence overtook the two, the only sound in the room the ceiling fan humming quietly above their heads.

"She said I cared more about you than I did about her."

Her fingers stilled in his soft curls and she looked down at him surprised. "What?"

"That's why she broke up with me."

"Oh, Harry, I'm sorry. This is all my fault."

"No, it isn't," he sighed. "She was right. I care about you, despite the fact we've only known each other for a month. And since she got back, I've realized that I really just don't care about her at all."

"You're just saying that because you're hurt right now," she said softly, running her hand over his shoulder blade. She could feel the muscles tense under her touch (the sight wasn't too bad either) and she sunk her teeth into her bottom lip as she carefully removed her hand.

"I'm not hurt," he protested automatically. "I just have loads on my mind now."

Asher wasn't sure what he meant by that, but she didn't ask any more questions, instead deciding to change the subject. "Alright, well, obviously you're in need of a cuddle so do you want to be the big spoon or the little spoon?"

He lifted his head from her lap, turning to look at her with furrowed brows. "What?"

"Big spoon or little spoon?"

"Erm....little spoon?"

She laughed. "Alright then. Move it."

He sat up from her lap and rolled over so that his head was on the pillow and he was lying on his left side, his back facing her. She pulled the comforter up to cover his body as well and scooted over until she was right next to him, her chest against his back. Her head rested on the same pillow as his and she was close enough that he could probably feel her breath on the back of his neck. She slid her arm in between his arm and his bare torso, hugging him tightly. "I didn't have you pegged as a little spoon type."

"Everyone deserves to be the little spoon at some point," he replied, his warm hand enveloping hers where it rested against his stomach, somewhere near the butterfly tattoo she'd made fun of in the past. She couldn't deny that feeling in the pit of her stomach at the contact, but then she had to scold herself for thinking about such things when he had just broken up with his girlfriend the very same day.

"I agree. Everybody should get to be held. It's one of the best feelings." She let her head drop down so that her forehead was resting against his shoulder. "I am really sorry if I caused problems for you, Harry. I only meant well."

"Trust me, we had problems way before you were in the picture."

"Even if that's true, I only exacerbated the situation."

"Whoa!" He laughed, causing his whole body, and consequently hers, to shake. "Someone swallow a dictionary?"

"Shut up," she grumbled, reaching up to thump him in the ear. There wasn't much she could do considering that he was holding onto one of her hands and she couldn't reach much with her free hand. "I'm trying to apologize, you dick."

"There's no need for it, Ash. I told you it wasn't your fault."

"Did you love her?" The question spilled out of her mouth before she could stop it and then she tensed, bracing herself and hoping he wouldn't get angry with her for her nosiness.

Instead, he snorted with laughter. "No way. I think it was more a relationship of convenience than anything." He paused for a moment, wondering if he should ask what was on his mind, but then his mouth began to move before his brain could stop it. "You love Olly?"

"Definitely not," she laughed. "He's just someone to hang out with. Besides, I've only known him for about a month."

"Well, I didn't know. Love at first sight and all that....."

"Bunch of bullshit if you ask me. You have to get to know someone before you can fall in love with them for real. And Olly and I don't really know each other. Of course we've talked likes and dislikes and such but, I mean, there's things I've told you that I haven't even told him so....I don't know; love is weird. But anyway," she sighed, ready to change the topic. "We should get some sleep, little spoon."

"Yeah," he agreed softly. "Thanks, Ash. For everything."

She smiled, lifting her head off the pillow to kiss his cheek before she snuggled back into into his bare back, the warmth practically radiating off his skin and making her feel even more cozy. "Goodnight, Harry."

"Night, Ash."