My One and Only

“Would you like some tea?” Nicole pulled away from Harry enough to look him in the eyes before nodding. His arms remained around her a few seconds longer before he finally pulled away and started towards the kitchen. She followed after him, sucking back the remainder of her tears while whipping her eyes with the back of her hand.

Nicole found him huddling over a pot of hot water as she took a seat at the breakfast bar before leaning forward and resting her elbows on the ledge. She watched him carefully as he made her tea, obviously remembering exactly how she liked it; he added two cubes of sugar, a little milk, and a bit of honey. She’d always been particular about her drinks, and didn’t normally like tea unless it had lots of sweet things added to it. He poured himself a glass as well, only adding a squirt of honey and leaving the rest out. He cupped his big hands around each mug before taking the seat next to her. He slid her specific glass across the bar to her and their fingertips touched during the exchange.

“Thanks,” she whispered before bringing the warm drink to her lips. She blew lightly across the top, attempting to cool it down, before taking a small sip, letting the tea warm her cold body.

He watched her through the corner of his eye, noticing easily the pain etched across her face. He wanted so desperately just to hold her until all her problems melted away, but he didn’t feel like that was his place anymore.

“Do you want to talk about it?” She turned towards him sharply, her olive eyes meeting his before darting to the floor. She’d have to tell him sometime, especially because he’d taken her in when she had nowhere else to go.

“Sure, but you have to promise me something first.”

“Anything.”

“You can’t think of Niall any differently, alright? I don’t want to ruin things between the five of you-”

“What did he do?” Harry gripped his mug tightly, his knuckles becoming a bright white. He clenched his jaw and knitted his eyebrows as he kept a hard stare on Nicole.

She swallowed hard before sucking in a sharp breath and replying, “I caught him cheating on me, with Sage.”

Harry’s whole demeanor changed. He was angry, furious even. Nicole hadn’t expected him to react this way. She was actually quite surprised to see the news had affected him so greatly.

“Seriously?” he said finally, his voice low and frightening. She merely nodded, and he raked his fingers through his curls, mentally willing himself to calm down. “He’s a bloody idiot.”

Nicole shrugged her shoulders almost as if she was brushing the news off. “I understand why he did it. She’s more easygoing than me, and a better fit for him. Also, I cheated on him too-”

“Bloody hell Nicole!” Harry yelled, forcing Nicole to flinch. She hated when he raised his voice, it was always so sudden and terrifying.

“W-what?”

“You can’t always fucking understand people’s fucked up decisions. Stop making excuses for them. They’re shitty people for doing that to you. You don’t deserve it.”

“Sorry,” she muttered, avoiding his gaze.

Suddenly, he turned towards her and gripped her shoulders harshly. He forced her to meet his gaze as she tensed beneath his touch, her body becoming hot from his abrupt closeness.

“Don’t apologize dammit. You’re a good person, Coley and shouldn’t be treated so badly. Don’t ever forget that. You’re better than all the shitty people who’ve done you wrong. You deserve everything you’ve always wanted and nothing less.”

“Alright,” she whispered, and he released her before rubbing his temples with his fingertips.

“You drive me mental.”

She wanted to say ‘sorry’, but she bit her tongue, and he instantly noticed the apologetic look on her face. A small smirk crept onto his lips, and she grinned sheepishly, hoping he was done yelling at her.

“I should probably go.”

“Go,” he asked completely confused. She had nowhere to go; her flat was infested with the actions of Niall and her former best mate. “Where?”

She pursed her lips, contemplating the question. There really wasn’t anywhere she could go. She didn’t want to go home and see Sage, and she had no intentions of staying the night at Niall’s like usual. She could always sleep in her car, or-

“Maybe I’ll go to my dad’s.”

“I’m not letting you go to your dad’s house, Coley. You’re staying here.”

“No, Harry, really I’ll be fine and you have Louis and Alice to consider.”

He shook his head, not listening to her bullshit in the slightest. “You’re my mate, Nicole. Let me do you a favor. Stop worrying about everyone else, please. Let me worry about you, at least for tonight.”

She ran her tongue between her teeth before biting her bottom lip. “Fine, but on one condition.”

“What?”

“I’m starving. I need to eat something.”

He laughed loudly, throwing his head back, and causing Nicole to smile widely. “Okay, what are you in the mood for? I can make you a sandwich, or some soup? I also have some leftover Chinese-”

Her eyes lit up immediately. “Chinese sounds amazing.”

“You’ve got it.” He replied, jumping off the stool and skipping towards the refrigerator.



The smell of chocolate chip pancakes tickled Nicole’s nose, waking her up for the day. After stretching her limbs, she stumbled out of bed and examined herself in the mirror briefly before starting out of the room and towards the kitchen.

Harry was making breakfast, much to Nicole’s grumbling stomach’s delight. At first she didn’t notice the extra person sitting at the kitchen table until it was too late. The second his bright blue eyes landed on her, she wished she was invisible.

“You forgot to mention Nicole stayed the night.” Louis said, his eyes darting between her and Harry. Slowly, Harry lifted his gaze from the stove and noticed Nicole’s presence for the first time that morning. She noticed him chewing on his tongue, searching for the right words, before finally responding.

“Sorry, mate. It was last minute.”

“Right, and why is she wearing your clothes?” Louis cocked an eyebrow as he stared at Nicole questionably, scrutinizing her outfit. She’d completely forgotten what she was wearing before fingering the hem of the oversized shirt Harry had lent her because her clothes had been soaked from the rain. He’d also given her a pair of joggers, and the whole outfit fell loosely from her small frame, making her resemble a homeless person.

“It’s not what it looks like, Lou.” Harry groaned, flipping over a pancake in the skillet resting on the stove.

“Well then, I’m dying to know what’s really going on here.”

Nicole’s olive eyes darted quickly to Harry, a pained look on her face. She didn’t have a clue what to say, but she certainly didn’t want Louis to know about what Niall did. Harry offered her a reassuring smile before answering, “She got in a fight with Sage and needed somewhere to stay.”

“What’s wrong with Niall’s flat?” Louis questioned, continuing to pry despite Harry’s pleading stares; he didn’t want things to be awkward for Nicole, but Louis didn’t seem to care.

“He’s away in Ireland for the week.”

“But I just saw him-” Louis snapped his mouth shut, not daring to finish his thought. Harry was staring at him so intensely, clearly wanting the subject of conversation to change immediately.

“Are you hungry, Nicole?” Harry asked, turning his attention to the small girl standing nervously just a meter away. She nodded quickly, and he smiled before nodding towards one of the multiple empty seats around the kitchen table. “Take a seat, breakfast will be ready in a moment.”

“I can’t believe I actually thought you were making breakfast for me!” Louis snapped, pretending to be offended. “I should have known you had hidden motives.”

“Stop being a drama queen, Lou.” Louis’ jaw dropped open at Harry’s words before he pushed himself away from the table, standing up harshly.

“I don’t have to put up with this!” Louis yelled before storming out of the kitchen. Nicole turned quickly to Harry as he placed a plate of pancakes in front of her; her eyes were wide as she tried to decide whether or not Louis was being serious. Was he really that offended?

“He has plans with Eleanor,” Harry clarified, taking a seat across from Nicole. “He’s just going to get ready, he’s not actually mad.”

“Oh, I see.” Nicole replied, stabbing the delicious-looking chocolate pancake with her fork before lifting it to her mouth, eager to have a taste.

“How’re you today?”

She shrugged her shoulders because her mouth was too full to reply. He examined her carefully, easily noticing her puffy cheeks and red eyes. It was obvious she hadn’t gotten much sleep, she’d probably spent majority of her night crying into her pillow. Instead of questioning her further, he decided to give her some good news in hopes of brightening her spirits a bit.

“While you were asleep, I slipped out and picked up a carton of chocolate chip cookie dough.” Her lips twisted into a large smile, he always knew exactly how to make her feel better even on her worst days. “Also, I rented ‘Love, Actually’ and ‘Titanic’. I know they’re your favorites, so I thought you could have a little movie day-”

“You are officially my best mate, Harry Styles.” She interrupted him, obviously happy with his new purchases.

“Brilliant,” he laughed before remembering what else he wanted to say. “Coley, I want you to know, you can stay here as long as you need to. I don’t know what you’re planning to do about living with Sage or whatever, but if you need a place to stay, you always have a room here. And if I catch you sleeping in your car, or staying at your dad’s, I will kick your arse.”

She rolled her eyes, feelings like his little spiel was slightly over-dramatic, but she nodded her head in agreement, quite relived to have him in her life. She wasn’t sure where she was going to go from here, but it wasn’t back to her flat or back to Niall, that was certain. She was too hurt, and the imagine of her boyfriend and best mate shagging was still fresh in her mind, causing a new wave of pain every time she thought about it. Staying with Harry a few days didn’t seem like a bad idea at all. For starters, it would give her time to figure out what she wanted to do next with her life, like where she wanted to live and how she was going to get all of her things out of her sex infested flat. Also, she might finally get the courage to tell Harry about the baby. The ‘right time’ would be sure to present itself if she spent the next few days with him.

“Thanks, Harry. It means a lot.” He smiled, happy she hadn’t retaliated.

“If you need anything else, let me know.”

She nodded her head before having a brilliant idea. “Can we watch ‘Titanic’, please? And you can say all of Jack’s lines and I’ll say Rose’s like we used to?”

“I would love to,” he began, quite excited by the idea, before quickly remembering he already has plans. His expression fell before finishing, “but I’m supposed to meet Alice in an hour.”

“Oh, okay then.” Nicole said, not meaning to sound so miserable.

“I can cancel if you want, I’m sure she won’t mind.”

“No, no, don’t do that. Go and have fun with your girlfriend, I’ll be fine on my own.” She faked a smile, trying to convince him and herself she wasn’t as upset as she actually felt.

“Are you sure?”

“Absolutely.”

“Rain check then?” he asked, standing up from the table and clearing the plates.

“Of course.” She replied, watching him walk away to go and get ready for a date with his new girlfriend. As much as she didn’t like to admit it, she’d missed Harry. He was a big part of her life and knew more about her than anyone else; it was nice talking to him and being civil. She felt bad about it, but she didn’t like sharing him with anyone else. She didn’t fancy the idea that he was going to spend the day making another girl happy, but that was something she would have to get used to. Especially because if he stayed in the baby’s life, she’d have to see him for at least the next 18 years and probably more, because even if they weren’t dating, they would be raising a child together, and that required lots of communication.

Nicole needed to be happy for Harry, because, after all, they were only mates, so she has no reason to be jealous of Alice. They would only ever be mates, and she’d accepted that the day she chose Niall over him. But for some reason, she didn’t like the idea of him dating someone else. Maybe it was true a person never truly gets over their first love, or maybe, just maybe she’d never actually stopped loving him in the first place.