My One and Only

“I can’t believe you talked me into this.” Nicole sighed as she climbed inside Emily’s car. The blonde smirked at her friend as she pulled out of the car park and into the road. She turned left on the route towards Heathrow airport much to Nicole’s annoyance.

“I’m your best friend and this is what best friends do.”

“Whatever.” Nicole muttered as she pressed her cheek to the window when suddenly she had an alarming thought. “Promise me again that Harry won’t be there.”

“I thought you and Harry were friends. Why do you care if we pick him up or not?”

Nicole rolled her eyes, knowing quite well that despite her close friendship with Emily, she would never understand how hard it was for her to just be friends with Harry. The pair had agreed just before he left for America that they should just be friends, and it would be best if they both tried to move on. From several past experiences, it was obvious they weren’t actually supposed to be together. It was a tough thought to get used to, and Nicole struggled every day to keep herself from calling him and begging for another chance.

“I don’t care. I just think it could be awkward, so are we picking him up or not?”

“Hm, well you have nothing to worry about, he’s staying in America for a few extra days.”

“Oh,” Nicole replied as her eyes widened. She’d been expecting Harry to get a ride from his mum or sister, not to be extending his stay in America. “Why’s he doing that?”

“According to Zayn, he’s starting to date Taylor Swift.”

“Taylor Swift?” Nicole asked, her tone a lot more demanding than she’d intended. “Well, that’s a surprise.”

“You sound jealous.”

“Jealous? Hardly. I just think their relationship will never workout.”

“Is that so?” Emily asked, laughing quietly to herself. Nicole was such a horrible liar. “Maybe he doesn’t care if it works out. She’s probably just a rebound because he’s trying to move on.”

Nicole narrowed her olive eyes, quite aware that Emily was implying she wasn’t trying to move on. However, Emily was wrong. Nicole had every intention of putting herself out there more and trying to meet new lads that could potentially become boyfriends, but sadly she wasn’t very good at it. Sage used to always be on her case about it, but she never improved. Whenever she did meet someone new, she usually made horrible jokes or talked too much and the guy instantly got turned off.

“I’m trying.”

“Mhm,” Emily replied disbelievingly as she pulled into the airport’s car park. She parked near the pavement to give the pair a prime viewing spot in order to notice when the lads arrived, so they could be picked up. “When’s the last time you talked to Harry anyways?”

Nicole sunk her teeth into her bottom lip as she tried to remember the answer. The first two weeks the lads were away in America, her and Harry had talked every day and skyped as much as possible; it was like they were back together and everything was perfect, but Nicole knew better. Everything she’d told Harry before he’d left remained true; she still wanted and needed to figure herself out before she had any chance of truly being happy with him again, or anyone else for that matter, so she completely ended all forms of communication with him. He was mad and insisted she was being unreasonable which ultimately lead to them getting in a huge fight resulting in them deciding to only remain friends in the future and nothing more. Nicole hadn’t told anyone about the fight, not even Emily or Sage, and she tried her best to ignore the sinking feeling in her stomach every time Emily, Eleanor, or Danielle mentioned Harry and his new, on tour cardiac routine of shagging a new girl every night.

“I’m not sure. About a month ago I suppose.”

Just as Emily was about to reply, Nicole noticed a tall, dark-haired girl out of the corner of her eye. Quickly the brunette turned away from her friend to get a better look, and sure enough she recognized the girl as Harry’s ex-girlfriend, Alice.

“I wonder what she’s doing at the airport.” Nicole thought aloud, and Emily quickly followed her friend’s gaze to see what she was talking about.

“Alice? Maybe she’s going to meet Harry in America. Perhaps Swifty has a thing for three-somes.”

“Oh shut up. I’m being serious.”

“Well, if I had to guess, I’d say she’s been to America to visit her boyfriend, Alex Pettyfer. You know the guy from Magic Mike that we drooled over last weekend at the cinema.”

Nicole’s eyes widened in surprise; first, Alice snagged Harry and now Alex? She was obviously more attractive than Nicole gave her credit for. Although, Nicole may have liked Alice a lot more if she’d met her as Alex’s girlfriend and not Harry’s; she’d had an overwhelming amount of jealous ex-girlfriend syndrome the first time they’d met.

“Well isn’t that lovely.”

Emily just rolled her eyes and the pair fell quiet until the lads finally arrived. After shoving their carry-ons in the back (the rest of their luggage would be delivered in a day or so), the members of One Direction, minus Harry, stuffed into Emily’s compact car. Zayn wrapped his arms around his girlfriend’s seat in order to give her an attempted hug before kissing her on the cheek.

“I missed you.” He whispered, but do to the closeness of the six of them, his statement was quite audible.

Emily’s cheeks flushed a bright red and she barely managed to whisper a, “I missed you, too.”

Niall, Liam, and Louis all placed kisses on Nicole’s cheeks as the got in the car as well, and Nicole turned around to offer them all a smile but after noticing the close proximity they were all sitting in, shoulder to shoulder and overlapping legs, she couldn’t stop from laughing loudly, causing a few snorts to escape her nostrils.

“Luckily you boys don’t live too far away,” Emily assured them as she revved the engine and started off for their shared flat complex.

“Em, can we stop by Mac Donald’s please for some take-away?” Niall asked after only being on the road for two minutes.

“Niall, can’t you wait until you get home to eat? I’m sure the other boys don’t want to be cramped in this car for longer than absolutely necessary.”

“We’ll just make a quick stop at the drive-through.” Emily said after none of the boys were willing to agree with Nicole’s suggestion to hurry home.

“Brilliant!”

Nicole put on a smile as the lads went on and on about their amazing time in America. She tried to seem unaffected by their constant mentioning of Harry, and sought to ask them questions obtaining more to only the four of them than her curly-haired ex. She asked Liam about not being able to drink when the lot went out clubbing, discussed surfboarding with Louis, shopping for snap-backs with Niall, and resorted to taking about the acceptance of smoking in Europe compared to America with Zayn. The boys seemed thrilled by her questions and excited to share their interests, but Emily could tell something was up. She decided against mentioning her suspicions in a car full of people and instead opted to discuss it with her mate later.

Everyone seemed more than relieved when the blonde finally arrived at the flat complex, and Nicole remained sitting in the front passenger’s seat as the boys gathered their belongings, expecting Emily to take her home before she returned to catch up with her boyfriend.

“You two are coming inside, yeah? Eleanor is waiting with champagne to celebrate the finish of our first proper tour!”

Nicole turned harshly towards her friend who was smiling toothily. “Well, of course.”

“Em, I would really like it if you took me home, I don’t feel like drinking-”

Emily grabbed Nicole’s hand and gave it a tight squeeze. “We won’t be long, and besides, this is a big deal!”

Before Nicole could retort, Emily was already climbing out of the car and grabbing her purse from the boot. Nicole sucked in a sharp breath before mumbling a few profanities under her breath and getting out of the car herself. She fell behind the group as the climbed the three flights of stairs to the flat Louis shared with Harry, and she released a sigh of relief as she reminded herself once more than Harry would not be here because he was too busy shagging Taylor Swift. Although the mental image wasn’t too ideal, it was a lot easier for her to accept it than to have to spend the next few hours with her ex.

Emily and the lads had already reached the flat by the time Nicole had even finished climbing the third flight of stairs, and she was irritably surprised to see not one of them had waited for before going inside. Angrily, she slammed the door open only to be met with complete darkness. It didn’t seem anyone was there, which was quite odd because she could have sworn Louis said they’d be celebrating at his flat. Just as Nicole took a step inside, the lights switched on and she was met with a room full of balloons and streamers, and a crowd of people.

“What’s going on?” she demanded, her eyes darting from one suspicious face to the other. “Is this a surprise party? It’s not my birthday you idiots.”

Not a single person replied until finally someone stepped out of the crowd and it wasn’t at all who she’d been expecting.

“Coley,” he began, and Nicole’s entire body went stiff. She didn’t have the slightest clue as to what the fuck was going on.

“You’re supposed to be in America!”

“No, I’m supposed to be here, with you.”

Nicole cocked an eyebrow and Harry released a breathy laugh before doing the unthinkable: he sunk to one knee. Nicole’s immediate reaction was to clasp her hand over her mouth as she stared unsurely down at Harry. Tears started to well in her eyes as he reached in his back pocket to receive a small, Tiffany’s blue box, and while this was happening all she could think was: ‘I’m going to pass-out’.

“Coley,” he began again, and this time Nicole didn’t interrupt him. She could feel all her friends watching them closely, and she wondered if they all knew what was about to happen; if they had helped him plan this all. “You’re no picnic, all right? You're a spoiled little brat, even, but under that, you're the most amazingly, astounding, wonderful girl, woman that I've ever known…”

“Harry!” she shrieked. He was quoting Titanic. He was giving her a big, romantic, movie gesture, and she was afraid if he continued, she wouldn’t be able to turn him down.

“No, let me try and get this out. You're amazing- I'm not an idiot, I know how the world works. I've got ten bucks in my pocket, I have no-nothing to offer you and I know that. I understand. But I'm too involved now. You jump, I jump remember? I can't turn away without knowing you'll be all right... That's all that I want.”

“Harry, can we talk in um private?” she whispered harshly, all the while knowing whispering was a waste of time. They’d all heard her because it seemed their ears had grown two sizes since entering the flat.

“Nicole Alice Wood, will you-”

“You can’t ask me to marry you!”

“-be my girlfriend?”

Nicole shook her head in disbelief. Had he actually just formally asked her to be his girlfriend? In front of all his friends? With balloons? And a ring?

“Did you say girlfriend?”

“Yes,” he said with a slight smile, not quite sure if he should be amused or upset at this point. “Did you really think I would ask you to marry me? Give me some credit, Coley, I know you well enough to know you’d never go for that! Not at this age anyway…”

“I-I-I,” she began, but struggled with finding the words. “What is going on?! Why are you giving me a ring?”

“I just asked you to be my girlfriend because I love you so much and I can’t see myself ever not loving you. You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me, and I want you to be my girlfriend for good this time. No more running away after a fight when one of us makes a mistake, and not to overwhelm you with another cliché movie quote but ‘it's not gonna be easy. It's gonna be really hard. We're gonna have to work at this every day, but I want to do that because I want you. I want all of you, forever, you and me, every day…’

“And this ring is a symbol of all that. It’s a promise ring because I promise to try and make this work as long as you do too.”

And just like that something inside Nicole clicked.

She grabbed Harry’s hand and yanked him to his feet, but he could hardly stand up fast enough before she leapt into his arms and kissed him hard on the mouth.

“Yes,” she said, making sure to talk loud enough so everyone heard her. “I’ll be your girlfriend.”

Everyone started to clap, and Nicole truly felt like she was getting her happy ending. Harry slipped the large, diamond ring on the fourth finger of her left hand before kissing her again.

“I love you,” he promised her. “And I’m never letting you go again.”

“I love you too,” she replied before pressing her lips to his ear. “True to my word, I’m dying to have sex with you right here and now.”

Harry’s lips twisted into a devious smirk before he lifted Nicole over his shoulder and carried her off to his bedroom. “Enjoy the champagne without us!”

Nicole giggled loudly before she reached to grab a handful of Harry’s hair and placed a few quick kisses among his curls. She couldn’t remember a time she’d ever been happier in her entire life, because for the first time, Nicole felt whole. She felt truly loved and cared for and all it took was years of hell to finally get there. But no matter what she had to go through, she would have done it all over again if it resulted in her being with Harry because he was the best thing to ever happen to her. She was Rose and he was Jack and they were meant to be together, forever.