My Little Bird

They're onto Asher. Someone cornered her in the bathroom at lunch and started asking her personal questions

Harry read over the text from Liam at least four times before he retrieved his laptop and typed in the band's name plus Asher, immediately finding at least twenty different articles. He clicked on the first one, his eyes scanning over the words.

Looks like we've got an answer! (Or at least somewhat.)

The mystery girl spotted with One Direction member Harry Styles yesterday has been partially identified. Our insider confirms her name is Asher and she's a nineteen year old American hailing from the sunny state of Florida. We can't help but wonder what brings her to rainy old London-- Hazza maybe?

Or could it be one of his fellow band members? Asher was spotted earlier today having a cozy lunch with both Niall Horan and a recently single Liam Payne (click to see the photos). Sources say she was very flirty and neither of the boys could keep their eyes off her throughout the meal. The three left the restaurant together in a hurry around 1pm and we can only imagine where they were headed.

This just begs the question-- who exactly is our new friend Asher after? We've set up a poll below so you can tell us which one of our dear lads you think is the object of this new girl's affections.

Harry let out a disgusted groan at the ridiculous assumptions of the article and he clicked on the photo gallery that had been posted along with it. The first picture was a grainy mobile phone photo, showing Niall and Liam sitting at a table with Asher, her back to the camera while both boys smiled and laughed.

The second was a more professional paparazzi photo, which was probably taken from a distance with a high quality camera. Asher sat with her long dress flowing over her crossed legs, her sunglasses pushed back into her wavy hair as she smiled at something Niall was saying while Liam looked across the table at her, also smiling.

The third photo had been taken on the street as they left. Asher looked completely unfazed considering her strange encounter just a few minutes earlier; her bag was slung over her body and sunglasses covered her eyes as she walked in between the two boys, who also wore dark sunglasses as they walked with their heads down, obviously knowing that someone was photographing them, unlike before when they were unsuspecting.

The last two photos were a repeat photo of Harry and Asher from the day before and one of Liam with his recent girlfriend, along with a link to an article about why the two had split (which was also completely bogus). Harry shut his computer with more force than necessary and fell back onto his bed, running his hands roughly through his brown curls.

All this was his fault. No one would have even paid her any attention if she'd gone to get their food alone; but he'd caused a stir and now paparazzi were following her to lunches, taking her picture without her permission, and cornering her in bathrooms. Twitter was already inundated with false information and extremely harsh words toward a perfectly innocent, unknowing girl.

To her, Harry and the boys were just normal people who happened to be friends of her cousin. She didn't know there would be such steep repercussions for spending time with them and he felt that if she had known, she probably wouldn't have even bothered.

He frowned at the thought and rolled out of his bed, picking up two random articles of clothing from his floor and tugging them on before grabbing his phone and sliding his feet into his brown boots on his way out the door.

It was only a short walk to Niall's flat, considering they all lived in the same complex. As soon as he pushed the door open, he heard her voice. "Come on, boys. We've been at this for hours and I've already kicked your asses at rummy, bullshit, uno, scrabble, and that video game I've never even played in my life. Why don't you just accept your losses graciously while you still have a teensy bit of pride left?" He rounded the corner of the foyer to find her sitting on the loveseat, a smirk playing on her features as she looked to the three boys sitting on the sofa across from her.

"What video game did you let her beat you at?" Zayn asked his friends seriously. The dark-haired boy had only arrived at Niall's flat about half an hour before Harry and had therefore missed most of the ass kicking that Asher spoke of.

Liam looked down as if he were completely embarrassed. "Fifa," he muttered under his breath.

"YOU LET HER BEAT YOU AT FIFA??" Asher chuckled to herself while Zayn gave the other two his most disappointed look before turning back to her, determined. "Well now we can't stop until we win something."

She shook her head and scooted to the edge of her seat, shrugging out of her cardigan and letting it fall behind her as she leaned forward, her back arching as she placed her palms against the top of the coffee table with a smirk. "Alright, let's go, Irish boy."

Niall grinned and sat forward to mimic her position. "You're on, American girl."

"Count down from five," Asher commanded, nodding at Zayn. "We'll start then." She looked down at her chipped gray nail polish as Zayn counted down and then she blinked once before looking up, directly into Niall's eyes.

The room was quiet except for the music from Liam's iPod playing on the speakers, everyone focused on the staring match that was occurring. Asher could tell that Niall was already having trouble trying not to blink and she grinned.

"What're ya smilin' for?" he asked confused.

"This'll be the sixth thing I beat you at."

"That would be true if you were gonna beat us," Zayn put in from his spot next to Niall.

Asher's eyebrows rose and she subtly ran her tongue over her bottom lip before biting down on it gently. She watched the boy's light blue eyes flicker down for about a millisecond and she slowly sat up straight, her eyes still never leaving his. "He just lost. He totally looked away from my eyes!"

"Did not!" Niall immediately refuted.

"Sorry, Ash. We saw nothing," Liam decided, his lips curling into a grin, though she couldn't see him.

"Cheaters," she muttered.

Harry chuckled to himself and made his presence known as he stepped into the room. "Alright, lads?" He knew that as soon as he spoke, his friends would turn their heads, giving her the win, and of course he was right.

Instantly, three pairs of eyes turned toward the new voice and Asher jumped up from her seat, paying no attention to the new addition to their group. "Ha! I won!" she exclaimed, pointing at the blonde boy in the middle of the sofa. All three of them groaned in defeat while Harry just watched her revel in her apparent sixth victory. "Now what's my prize?"

"Come over 'ere and I'll give ya a kiss," Niall suggested cheekily, holding out his arms to her.

She shook her head, grinning. "That would be more of a prize for you."

"Alright then, you can have a kiss from Harry."

Harry's eyes widened in embarrassment at Zayn's suggestion but Asher just laughed out loud, not noticing the pink tint that had appeared on the boy's cheeks. "How about you buy me a pizza and we'll call it even?" Niall got up from his spot and went to find the number for the pizza place down the street but while he was gone Asher remembered that she'd already made dinner plans. "Shit! I forgot I'm meeting El for dinner later."

"Don't worry about it. She and Louis are already on their way over here," Liam told her. "He just texted."

The girl nodded and her eyes drifted over to Harry, who was still standing just inside the room, his arms crossed over his chest. "I don't bite, you know." He looked at her blankly, not catching what she was saying until she patted the empty seat next to her. He crossed the room in three strides thanks to his long legs and sat down next to her on the tiny loveseat, so closely that his entire right side was pressed against her left side. She didn't seem bothered by this as she patted his knee with a smile and leaned back against the sofa, using her fingers to comb through the dark strands of her long hair.

Louis and Eleanor arrived only a few minutes before the pizzas Niall ordered. They threw open all the boxes and all took a slice before making themselves comfortable in Niall's small living room. Eleanor silently observed her cousin as she interacted with the boys. She'd only been in the UK for a week and she was already right at home. She got along perfectly with all of the boys and they all seemed to really like her in return.

After they'd finished eating, Eleanor went into the kitchen to start throwing away the trash and Harry got up from his cozy spot on the loveseat to follow her. She was throwing some marinara sauce-covered napkins (courtesy of Niall) into the garbage bin when he entered and she glanced up at him with a smile. "Alright, Harry?"

"I just wanted to apologize."

"For what?" she asked, turning her attention to him fully as she leaned against the counter.

"The tabloids. Paparazzi followin' er. It's my fault for goin' along yesterday."

"Haz, I don't blame you. You were just being polite, which I appreciate. I figured this was going to happen sooner or later. I just kind of hoped it would be later."

"How long before they blow it for us do you think?"

Eleanor sighed with a shrug. "I don't know, considering they're already going right up to her and asking her questions about herself. She just thinks some woman was extremely nosy; she has no idea that paparazzi are trying to get inside information from her."

"Maybe the lads and I should try not to be seen in public with her for a few days. I don't think it'll cause too much of a stir if you two go out yourselves, but we need to lay low."

"That's probably a good idea. You'll talk to them?"

He nodded his head, still in thought, until loud music erupted from the living room. Eleanor followed him back from the kitchen, finding Niall and Asher dancing to a song that was playing from Liam's iPod. Harry chuckled as he watched the two moving around crazily to Cher Lloyd's "Swagger Jagger." They were both laughing as they danced, not noticing that Harry and Eleanor had rejoined the group.

Harry sat down on the now vacated loveseat and leaned forward, propping his elbows on his thighs and resting his chin in his hand as he watched them amused. Eleanor sat down on the arm of the sofa next to Louis and shook her head as she watched as well. Once the song had ended, Asher flopped down next to Harry, her breathing slightly more heavy than normal and a grin spread across her features.

Harry grinned back at her, his eyebrows raised. "Enjoying some music from this century, are we?"

"I don't know what the fuck that was, but it was great." She jumped up again and walked over to where Liam's iPod was connected to the speakers. "Hey, Liam, what other brilliance do you have on this thing?" she asked him as she scrolled through his music library.

Harry's body tensed for a moment until she chose a new song and returned to the loveseat with a grin as Flo Rida's "Wild Ones" flooded the room. He gave her a look and she just laughed. "Well, I had to pick this. The name literally spells my home state."

The female singing stopped and the music picked up, causing another grin to hit her lips and she quickly grabbed his hand, pulling him to his feet and over to the empty space where they'd have more room to dance. Niall got up as well and almost immediately the rest of them joined Asher in her impromptu dance party. They all jumped and danced around, and Asher let Harry take her hand and twirl her and Niall hold onto her as they jumped up and down together.

Harry just laughed as he watched her obviously enjoying herself as she listened to the music that was completely new to her. The rest of the group just thanked their lucky stars that she hadn't discovered them yet.