She's Not Afraid

After a full week of working at the bakery, emptying all of the boxes left from the move and making life in Cheshire better for myself, it was finally the day I got to see Harry's band practice. I was pretty excited to see his band perform, all week he'd been bragging about how good they were and I just had to see if it were true or not.

Also throughout the week Riana, Harry and I had made it a habit to hang out every night after Riana and I finished work. It had also become a habit for my house to be the place of choice for dinner. They both seemed to love my mum's cooking, resulting in their mums complaining about never having them home after the third night. But fortunately, because of their suspicion, all of our families seemed to have connected after my parents invited everyone over one night. It was nice to see how well my family and I had fit in, we'd become a part of the neighbourhood quicker than any other neighbourhood we moved to.

But of course everything had a downside to it. My little brother Dylan proceeded to tease me about Harry whenever he got the chance...which was every time Harry came by. Because of that, Harry felt the need to also tease me, stating he knew I had a crush on him, which I didn't. As cute and charming as that boy was, I couldn't find it in me to like him in that way. Besides, if I did like him, he would be way too out of my league.

As I stared at my outfit in the mirror, I can hear the doorbell ring downstairs.

"Charlotte, your boyfriend is here!" Dylan yells making me let out a laugh as I shake my head.

"Shut up and I'll be down in a minute!" I yell back before grabbing my things to head out.

As I make my way down the stairs, I hear Dylan asking Harry a bunch of questions making him laugh.

"So is this your first date? Where are you two going? Will you kiss her? She's nev-"

"Dylan!" I shout at him, smacking his head in the process. "Shut up already!"

"Ow!" He yelps, placing a hand where I've just hit him.

I shove him towards the living room, rolling my eyes as I turn to Harry who can't stop laughing. "What are you laughing at?" I ask, smacking his arm.

"Well you're just a violent girl today, aren't you?" He says in between laughs.

I stick out my tongue, hiding the smile tugging at my lips. "I thought I was meeting you there?"

"I was passing your house to go there anyway, thought you would like some company while you walked." He shrugged, finally stopping his fit of laughter.

"Why thank you, I actually would like some company."

Saying our goodbyes we started our trip over to his mate's house where I could see the band setting up in the garage.

"Guys, this is Charlotte." Harry announced as we walked in. "Charlotte this is Haydn, Nick and Will."

I smiled as I waved. "I'm excited to see you play. Harry tells me you guys are wicked."

"You can't win battle of the bands if you aren't, am I right?" Harry shouted, raising his arms in victory making us all laugh.

After a few jokes and laughs, they all took their place while I watched from the side. When the first notes of 'Summer of '69' began, a smile broke out on my face, bringing me back to the memories of my dad playing this song when I was little.

As Harry began singing, he winked at me as my expression gave away just how impressed I was. He wasn't bad at all but I knew I would regret letting him know that later. I wouldn't hear the end of how "he was better than me".

I found myself singing and dancing along by the time the song ended, resulting in them teasing me on how much of a big fan I was.

All in all the guys were pretty cool and their talent was amazing.

When their practice was over, we all settled down inside Will's house for some lunch, a film playing in the background.

"So are you two together?" Haydn asked, stuffing a couple of chips into his mouth.

I nearly choked on mine, the question catching me off guard. "No, no we aren't. Just friends." I responded quickly, afraid of hearing a remark from Harry that would show his disgust of ever dating me.

"Relax, it was just a question." Harry murmured, nudging my knee with his as a smirk settled onto his lips.

I could feel a bit of a blush creep onto my cheeks as I looked away, noticing the boys staring at us.

I cleared my throat, trying to get the focus off of my growing red face. "When is the wedding?"

"Next week, if you want you can come along." Nick offered, shrugging his shoulders.

"That would be nice, hopefully I don't have to work or anything."

"Don't you and Harry work at the bakery together?" Haydn questioned me again. Was his goal to make me blush as much as he could today?

"Yeah, but to be fair I thought he had quit before I accepted the job."

"Please, after seeing me work there she couldn't keep away. Isn't that right?" Harry teased, wrapping an arm around me.

"Not even in your dreams, Styles. I'm afraid you're not my type." I teased back, removing his arm from my shoulder as the boys hooted with laughter.

"She's a teaser, isn't she?"

"Looks like you're gonna actually have to try for this one."

"Yeah, those curls won't charm their way this time." Will and Haydn began to mock Harry, resulting in him throwing the nearest pillow at them.

Nick and I watched in amusement as they began to bicker and eventually play fight on the living space floor, cussing and insulting one another.

"That's enough!" I shouted as I got up to sit on them, Nick joining me.

I burst out laughing as Harry wrapped an arm around my waist, throwing me on the floor and under him. "Looks like I caught you." He murmured, his green eyes burning into my brown eyes.

"Think again." I replied, raising my knee to his groin, his eyes widening as soon as he understood my threat.

"You wouldn't dare."

"Won't I?"

"Charlotte..."

"You're lucky I'm a nice girl." I giggled before wriggling from under him, getting up to see Will, Nick and Haydn still fighting on the floor. "Are they always so rough?" I asked.

"Pretty much." Harry shrugged as he stood by my side. " I think it's about time to go. Your mum should be cooking dinner by now, what are we having?"

Shoving his arm, I rolled my eyes and grabbed my things off the couch. As soon as they realised we were leaving, the boys stopped the fighting to say their goodbyes.

"Promise you'll hang around with us more? You're actually a cool girl." Haydn asked, offering me a fist pound.

"If Harry lets me, I'll hang out with you as much as you want." I smiled.

***

"Today was fun, and the lads like you so that's a plus." Harry said as we sat outside my porch steps, mum's dinner filling both of us up.

"Yeah, I like them too. I didn't think you'd actually have great mates."

"Hey!" He protested, nudging my shoulder with his.

We shared a chuckle before settling down into the quiet night, the silence enveloping the both of us.

"My mum applied for me to try out on the XFactor, I told her not to but she insisted I at least try." He shared with me in a quieter tone.

"Really? I think you'll smash it out there! Don't let that voice of yours go to waste."

"What about you?"

"What about me?"

"You have a great voice too."

"Thank you, but being a singer isn't in the cards for me. But you? I can see your face on every teenage girl's wall."

He let out a laugh, "You think so? You think I should try it?"

"Most definitely, I won't talk to you if don't. You have nothing to lose if you try. When is the audition?"

"Three weeks. I still haven't chosen a song."

"I can help you if you want."

"You will?"

"Sure, why not?"

"Thanks Charlotte, I really appreciate it." He thanked me, offering me one of those adorable, dimpled smiles of his.

"You're welcome." I smiled back, poking his dimple. I couldn't help it, it was so deep I just had to poke at it.

As I looked at my new friend, I couldn't help but feel happy at how things were turning out for me. A big room, a job, great mates, what else could I possibly want? Thinking of the past weeks in Cheshire made me realize how wrong I was about the small town. Things would only get better, right?