Frames That Used to Greet Me

When I woke up on Saturday, I felt better. If Mickey didn’t want to speak to me, fine. If she wanted to lie, fine. That was her life, and I didn’t care. We’d talk when she wanted, if at all.

I had other people to focus on.

I texted Cora when I woke up and informed her I would be happy to pick her up if she wanted. She agreed, told me where she lived, and then I got ready.

When I finished and walked out into the living room, Lou was already up. I was surprised he was even here, to be honest. He was spending a lot of time at Liv’s, which was fine by me. “How’d recording go yesterday?” I asked, taking a seat on the opposite end of the couch.

He nodded. “Good. I think it’s getting close to the end. We have to go in Monday, though, so don’t make plans.” I nodded, and he looked at me then. “Speaking of, where are you headed?”

I grinned. “Cora and I have a date.”

Lou’s long and loud sigh told me one thing: I was about to get a lecture. I couldn’t even stop it, so I just leaned back and listened. “That’s a rebound if I’ve ever seen one. Christ, Haz, couldn’t you have waited a day?”

“I waited a whole bloody week to hear from Mickey, if you recall!”

“Of course I do, because you were like a moody teenage girl!”

I glared at him and he glared right back. He laughed, though, breaking his angry act before he got up and walked towards the kitchen. I followed. “Just don’t be a twat,” he continued, setting his mug in the sink. “I know you’re mad at Mickey, but--”

“I have every right in the world to be mad at her, Louis. She lied. In the past two years that I’ve known Mickey, I haven’t lied to her once.”

“So you told her about Cora right away?” he fired back. Obviously he was prepared to have this argument.

“No. But I didn’t outright lie to her about it. I told her the truth, that Cora and I are friends. She kept the fact that she was friends with my sister, the fact that she was telling people about us, from me. She didn’t just not tell me, she lied to my face and told me she and Gem weren’t friends and that she didn’t want to tell people about us. How is that okay, Lou? Tell me that.”

He sighed again. “It’s not okay.”

I was momentarily taken aback. “What?”

He shrugged. “You’re right, she shouldn’t have lied to you. But wouldn’t it be a better idea to talk to each other, rather than just... run to someone else?”

“I’m not running to anyone, Lou. I’ve tried, yeah? I’ve called, texted, the whole bit. She’s ignoring me, and there’s nothing else I can do. It’s her turn to come running, yeah?”

Lou waved me off. “Fine, Haz. Do what you want. Are you meeting Cora for coffee? Tell me you aren’t going to the Cafe. Liv’s working.”

I smirked. “Maybe I will.”

Lou smacked me on the back of the head as he walked by. “She’ll spit in your coffee, don’t think she won’t!”

***

It took me longer than it should have to get to Cora’s, both due to traffic and having never been to her place before.

When I pulled up out front, I pulled my phone out and dialed. She answered immediately. “I’m on my way down!” she said quickly before hanging up. I stared at my phone, puzzled. Never had I met a lass who didn’t want me to meet her at her door when I picked her up.

I watched as she came hurrying across the street and hopped into the passenger seat, a smile on her face. It was odd not seeing her in her yoga gear, but nice as well. She was wearing a pair of tight jeans and a plain black t-shirt that fit her nicely in all the right places. Her cheeks were flushed, probably from rushing, but she was smiling. She took a deep breath. “Bloody hell, you’d think that working out every week would mean I wouldn’t be so out of shape.”

I laughed and smiled at her, leaning across the seat to kiss her cheek. “Hi love.”

She grinned back. “So where are we headed?”

I shrugged. “Same place as usual?”

That seemed okay with her, so I headed in that direction.

When I got to the shop, it was packed. I could tell just by looking inside that almost every seat was taken. I sighed. “Probably wouldn’t be the best idea to go in there.”

She laughed. “We can go wherever you want.”

We left and I drove around for awhile. Surprisingly, most coffee shops were rather full, but I blamed that on it being a Saturday morning. Eventually we found a little hole-in-the-wall place that probably didn’t actually have the best cup of coffee even though they owned a sign that said otherwise. But it was empty and perfect for what we needed it for.

Once we had our coffee and were seated at a little corner table, we both relaxed. “I feel like I haven’t seen you,” Cora commented, taking a sip of her latte.

I nodded. “I know. We’ve been going crazy recording. Its like... all of a sudden, everything’s picked up.”

“Exciting though. I suppose that means... touring soon, yeah?”

I shrugged. “Eventually. Not until next year, though. We’ll spend more of the end of this year getting ready and promoting and things like that.”

“So while you’re being a big pop star, I’ll be stuck in a classroom,” she teased. I laughed and nodded.

I told her more about recording and how crazy the week has been before a look of realization crossed her face. “What?” I asked, taking a sip of my coffee.

“The wedding! I’m such a twat, I completely forgot to ask you about it. How was it? Did you have a nice time?”

Internally, I cursed. I didn’t want to talk about the wedding. No, I hadn’t had a nice time. Could we drop it? Instead, I smiled. It wasn’t her fault everything had gone to shit. Well... not directly, anyways. “It was beautiful. The bride and groom looked really happy.”

Cor nodded. “They did.” Confusion crossed my face and she laughed. “You conveniently left out, Mr. Styles, that you were attending ‘The Wedding of the Year’. There were pictures everywhere.”

I laughed. “Oh, right. Forgot about that I suppose.”

She smirked. “It did look lovely, though. The reception especially! I’m surprised I didn’t see you in any of them, actually.”

I shrugged. “There were a lot of people there,” I lied. I didn’t tell her I left the reception early. I didn’t tell her Mickey and I got into a fight. I said nothing more.

She nodded. “There were. I saw Louis and... Livia, is it? They looked lovely. There was a picture of them dancing together. It was quite nice, actually.”

I nodded. “I’m sure.” I smirked and leaned forward. “I looked pretty fit myself, if I do say. Too bad you missed it.”

She laughed. “I’m sure your date appreciated it, though. Who did you bring, anyways?”

I knew she knew. We both did. I could just tell she just wanted me to say it. I sighed, leaning back in my chair. “Michaela. You met her at the shop that one day, yeah? And, well, when she was trying dresses on as well.”

Cora nodded. “Right, right. That peach dress. She looked lovely, yeah?”

I nodded, but said nothing.

“Everything all right?” Cora asked, sipping her coffee.

I smiled, but it was.. forced. Now I couldn’t stop thinking of Michaela. Dammit. “Of course.”

We stayed for a little while longer chatting, but when we finished our coffee we decided to leave. I drove Cora back to her apartment and stopped the car out front, turning it off and turning to face her. “Go on a real date with me,” I told her.

She stopped and turned to me. “What?”

“A real date. Dinner, the cinema... the whole nine yards. Please. I’d love to take you out, Cor, but I’m tired of coffee dates.”

She sighed and turned to face the road again. “I don’t know, Harry. We’re friends. Shouldn’t we keep it like that?”

“No,” was all I said.

She stayed quiet, so I kept going. “Please, Cor? One date. If you hate my company that much, then that’ll be it. We’ll be friends, nothing more. But you won’t know if you don’t try, and I’d like to try. Please?”

She couldn’t say no to that, and I knew she wouldn’t. I watched carefully as she nodded. “One date. Tomorrow night, before I lose my nerve.” She smirked at me. “Pick me up at seven.” She kissed my cheek quickly before she climbed out, waving over her shoulder as she crossed the street. I watched as she entered her building before I pulled away from the curb.

I knew it was a bad idea. I knew dating Cora wasn’t going to solve any of my problems, but I also hoped that, well... maybe it would.