Another Life
five.
“Can I take you out to dinner?”
A week after meeting Harry again in the lobby, Olivia found herself staring at the dark ceiling of her room, replaying the same seven words over and over. Her mind flicked back to when she was still in high school and used to spend her weekends exactly like this; the day was spent alone at the ice rink and the night was alone in a dark room with her head full of anxiety. She kept telling herself she shouldn’t be scared, it was ridiculous if you thought about it logically. Harry had simply asked her out to dinner to catch up before they started their drive to Scotland.
The vibration underneath Olivia’s pillow brought her out of her thoughts, and after dismissing the FaceBook notification, she realized it was 6:45 and she’d planned to meet Harry at 7:30. Pulling herself unwillingly from her bed, she wandered out into the open living area, noticing both Tay and Andie were stood in the kitchen cooking.
“Who fancies finding me something to wear whilst I shower?” Olivia threw herself into a chair at the breakfast bar, grabbing a random bottle of water from the side and taking a sip.
“I will!” Andie responded way too enthusiastically. “Harry said dress fancy, right?” Olivia had barely nodded in response before Andie had run off into her bedroom.
Leaving her best friend to do what she does best, Olivia took a quick shower and afterwards threw on minimal make up and dried and straightened her hair, pulling her usually straight bangs to the side, all in record time of 20 minutes.
Once she exited her bathroom in only her black underwear, she saw that Andie had set out her outfit on her bed. She’d laid out a purple corset top dress where the hem fell longer at the back than at the front. Olivia had originally bought the dress for her cousins wedding a few months ago but she’d only worn it that once since she didn’t have anywhere else to wear it. As she slipped the dress over her head and fiddled with the side zip, she also noticed Andie had laid out a ¾ sleeve black blazer for her to wear over the top.
Once she was finished slipping on a pair of black heels, Olivia saw that the time was 7:27 and she started to panic. She’d hoped that she wouldn’t start worrying tonight but as she threw her phone and lip balm into her purse, she felt her heart starting to beat rapidly in her chest. As much as she did want to catch up with Harry, she didn’t want to go. She didn’t want to go through with this at all, and she only started realizing that as she heard Tay opening their apartment door. Olivia expected to hear just Harry, but instead there were multiple voices which only made her anxiety worse.
Walking out into the hallway, she noticed that there were five boys standing at the front door, the curly haired one standing out from the rest in his dress shirt and skinny jeans. As Andie invited the boys in, she wiggled her eyes suggestively at Olivia, causing her to simply just roll her eyes.
“Have fun,” Tay sang as the boys made their way to the living area, excluding Harry, who stood waiting in the doorway for Olivia.
“Ready?” he asked quietly as Andie and Tay excused themselves to join the other boys in the next room. Olivia nodded in response as she subtly took in Harry’s appearance. He looked smart, yet it was like he’d simply just thrown on whatever was laying around his room.
The walk down to the outside of the apartment building was silent, Olivia and Harry only exchanging smiles every so often. As soon as they stopped outside, Harry led them over the road to head to the restaurant. It was a warm night and the place they were having dinner at wasn’t too far away so they opted for walking. They’d shared small talk about college and Harry’s band on the walk there, not even realizing it had taken them half an hour.
“You look beautiful, by the way,” Harry spoke shyly, pushing his curls out of his face.
“Thank you,” Olivia blushed as they came up to a tall glass building, “You’re not looking too shabby yourself.”
Harry laughed at her comment as he pulled open a glass door and let Olivia through before following her into the darkly lit building.
“This doesn’t look much like a restaurant, Harry,” Olivia laughed, looking around the room that looked more like an office reception, “Are you sure you aren’t just here to murder me?”
Harry laughed at her outburst before leading her over to an elevator, “Just wait,” he smiled as he got in and pressed the ‘32’ button.
Once the elevator beeped and the doors opened, Olivia was surprised at the sight in front of her. The restaurant was quiet, dimly lit and overlooked the west end of London. They were placed at a table right by one of the floor to ceiling windows and Olivia was still completely in awe at the lights of the city. She could see the bright lights of the London Eye in the distance and could make out the lights of the London Bridge too.
“This is amazing,” she breathed, finally looking away from the lights and over to Harry, “You really didn’t have to bring me here though,” Olivia mumbled, “You could’ve taken me to McDonalds and I wouldn’t have cared.”
Harry simply laughed at her comment and handed a menu over to her, “It’s absolutely fine. I wanted to bring you here,” he laughed again at the slightly cheesy comment, “And like I said, the food here is unreal.”
And Harry was completely right, after a few hours of eating basically a three course meal, Olivia felt like she could just curl into a ball from the bloated feeling she felt coming along.
“I don’t even want to know what state the apartments gonna be in when we get back,” she smiled softly as they stepped into a taxi. Olivia straightened out her dress underneath her, focusing her eyes on the goosebumps forming on her legs and she felt Harry’s eyes watching her. He hummed in response, scratching the back of his neck.
“You could uh, come back to mine if you want.”
Olivia brought her eyes up to meet his, but he instantly tore her stare away to look at his feet, “You know, just for a while until the boys come back.”
“You don’t have to be so shy about it, Harry,” Olivia smiled at him, causing him to rest his hands on his knees and meet her gaze. Harry just shrugged and returned the smile, staying silent until the taxi pulled up to their apartment block.
To say Harry’s apartment was only a floor above Olivia’s, it was clear to see that it was made for a band, not university students like Tay and herself. Their apartment was notably twice the size of hers and she felt a little uncomfortable by the fact that it wasn’t just Harry’s, and she didn’t know the other boys too well.
“Well,” Olivia breathed as she followed Harry through the door, “I can’t believe how tidy it is,” she laughed quietly.
“It’s cause we live with Liam and Niall, if it was just me on my own you wouldn’t even be able to see the floor,” Harry joked as he lead Olivia into the open kitchen area, “Want a beer? Or are you into those girly drinks?”
Olivia took a seat at one of the chairs around a small breakfast bar and scoffed, “As long as it’s good beer, none of that weak lager stuff,” she joked, noticing him pulling out two bottles of Corona.
“Sorry, we’re in a boy band, we’re accustomed to the weak stuff,” Harry smiled, earning a laugh from Olivia as he popped open the caps. He grabbed a tea towel and wiped up one of the bottles that started to overflow before chucking the now towel into the laundry room.
“Cleaning up your mess and doing the laundry,” Olivia nodded as they made their way to the couch in the living area, “You never even used to be able to keep your room tidy let alone do your own washing.”
Harry laughed again before taking a sip of his beer and sitting down, tapping the spot next to him for Olivia to sit, “I honestly didn’t even know you’d seen my room, shows how much I remember about last summer.”
Olivia was taken aback by his answer, sitting herself an awkward distance away from Harry as her eyes grew wide. How was she supposed to respond to that? Oh yeah, I saw your room quite a lot actually when we were dating the whole summer. Not gonna work.
“Oh yeah,” she took a gulp of her beer, postponing her response to attempt to come up with anything believable, “It was only a few times when you had parties and that, you know.”
Harry nodded, changing the subject slightly and mentioning how he really only remembers being drunk for most of that summer. Olivia was glad that he didn’t go on about it anymore, she really had to start being careful with what she said around him.
“Anyway, you excited for Scotland?” Harry changed the subject. He picked up the remote from the coffee table and flicked through the channels for something good.
“I guess so,” Olivia shrugged, “I think I’m more excited to go back to Holmes Chapel, though.”
Harry nodded in agreement, “I haven’t been home in like,” he started, stopping when Olivia abruptly leaned over and grabbed the remote from him.
“Was that The OC?” she flicked the channel back to see Summer Roberts on the screen, “I haven’t watched this in years!”
Harry laughed as Olivia set the remote next to her, on the opposite side to him, to make sure he wouldn’t change the channel. She’d moved herself from when she’d basically flung herself into Harry’s lap, but now she was sitting a lot closer from how she was before.
“I just want my own Seth Cohen,” she sighed, her eyes not leaving the screen as she felt herself sinking into Harry’s side.
A scoff came from beside her and she looked up to Harry with a look of fake disgust, “You wouldn’t understand.”
“Of course I wouldn’t,” Harry laughed, bringing his arm up to pat her shoulder almost sarcastically, but he found himself resting it there permanently. Olivia noticed this straight away, and tried to keep focus on the intense Seth/Summer scene happening on the TV screen, but she couldn’t keep from biting her lip and letting her thoughts run wild.
It felt weird to her that Harry was so comfortable with her, she didn’t even know how good of ‘friends’ they were beforehand, she literally knew nothing about their previous friendship. Although, there was one thing Olivia did know for right now. She knew that it felt completely natural for her to be sat in Harry’s arms.
A week after meeting Harry again in the lobby, Olivia found herself staring at the dark ceiling of her room, replaying the same seven words over and over. Her mind flicked back to when she was still in high school and used to spend her weekends exactly like this; the day was spent alone at the ice rink and the night was alone in a dark room with her head full of anxiety. She kept telling herself she shouldn’t be scared, it was ridiculous if you thought about it logically. Harry had simply asked her out to dinner to catch up before they started their drive to Scotland.
The vibration underneath Olivia’s pillow brought her out of her thoughts, and after dismissing the FaceBook notification, she realized it was 6:45 and she’d planned to meet Harry at 7:30. Pulling herself unwillingly from her bed, she wandered out into the open living area, noticing both Tay and Andie were stood in the kitchen cooking.
“Who fancies finding me something to wear whilst I shower?” Olivia threw herself into a chair at the breakfast bar, grabbing a random bottle of water from the side and taking a sip.
“I will!” Andie responded way too enthusiastically. “Harry said dress fancy, right?” Olivia had barely nodded in response before Andie had run off into her bedroom.
Leaving her best friend to do what she does best, Olivia took a quick shower and afterwards threw on minimal make up and dried and straightened her hair, pulling her usually straight bangs to the side, all in record time of 20 minutes.
Once she exited her bathroom in only her black underwear, she saw that Andie had set out her outfit on her bed. She’d laid out a purple corset top dress where the hem fell longer at the back than at the front. Olivia had originally bought the dress for her cousins wedding a few months ago but she’d only worn it that once since she didn’t have anywhere else to wear it. As she slipped the dress over her head and fiddled with the side zip, she also noticed Andie had laid out a ¾ sleeve black blazer for her to wear over the top.
Once she was finished slipping on a pair of black heels, Olivia saw that the time was 7:27 and she started to panic. She’d hoped that she wouldn’t start worrying tonight but as she threw her phone and lip balm into her purse, she felt her heart starting to beat rapidly in her chest. As much as she did want to catch up with Harry, she didn’t want to go. She didn’t want to go through with this at all, and she only started realizing that as she heard Tay opening their apartment door. Olivia expected to hear just Harry, but instead there were multiple voices which only made her anxiety worse.
Walking out into the hallway, she noticed that there were five boys standing at the front door, the curly haired one standing out from the rest in his dress shirt and skinny jeans. As Andie invited the boys in, she wiggled her eyes suggestively at Olivia, causing her to simply just roll her eyes.
“Have fun,” Tay sang as the boys made their way to the living area, excluding Harry, who stood waiting in the doorway for Olivia.
“Ready?” he asked quietly as Andie and Tay excused themselves to join the other boys in the next room. Olivia nodded in response as she subtly took in Harry’s appearance. He looked smart, yet it was like he’d simply just thrown on whatever was laying around his room.
The walk down to the outside of the apartment building was silent, Olivia and Harry only exchanging smiles every so often. As soon as they stopped outside, Harry led them over the road to head to the restaurant. It was a warm night and the place they were having dinner at wasn’t too far away so they opted for walking. They’d shared small talk about college and Harry’s band on the walk there, not even realizing it had taken them half an hour.
“You look beautiful, by the way,” Harry spoke shyly, pushing his curls out of his face.
“Thank you,” Olivia blushed as they came up to a tall glass building, “You’re not looking too shabby yourself.”
Harry laughed at her comment as he pulled open a glass door and let Olivia through before following her into the darkly lit building.
“This doesn’t look much like a restaurant, Harry,” Olivia laughed, looking around the room that looked more like an office reception, “Are you sure you aren’t just here to murder me?”
Harry laughed at her outburst before leading her over to an elevator, “Just wait,” he smiled as he got in and pressed the ‘32’ button.
Once the elevator beeped and the doors opened, Olivia was surprised at the sight in front of her. The restaurant was quiet, dimly lit and overlooked the west end of London. They were placed at a table right by one of the floor to ceiling windows and Olivia was still completely in awe at the lights of the city. She could see the bright lights of the London Eye in the distance and could make out the lights of the London Bridge too.
“This is amazing,” she breathed, finally looking away from the lights and over to Harry, “You really didn’t have to bring me here though,” Olivia mumbled, “You could’ve taken me to McDonalds and I wouldn’t have cared.”
Harry simply laughed at her comment and handed a menu over to her, “It’s absolutely fine. I wanted to bring you here,” he laughed again at the slightly cheesy comment, “And like I said, the food here is unreal.”
And Harry was completely right, after a few hours of eating basically a three course meal, Olivia felt like she could just curl into a ball from the bloated feeling she felt coming along.
“I don’t even want to know what state the apartments gonna be in when we get back,” she smiled softly as they stepped into a taxi. Olivia straightened out her dress underneath her, focusing her eyes on the goosebumps forming on her legs and she felt Harry’s eyes watching her. He hummed in response, scratching the back of his neck.
“You could uh, come back to mine if you want.”
Olivia brought her eyes up to meet his, but he instantly tore her stare away to look at his feet, “You know, just for a while until the boys come back.”
“You don’t have to be so shy about it, Harry,” Olivia smiled at him, causing him to rest his hands on his knees and meet her gaze. Harry just shrugged and returned the smile, staying silent until the taxi pulled up to their apartment block.
To say Harry’s apartment was only a floor above Olivia’s, it was clear to see that it was made for a band, not university students like Tay and herself. Their apartment was notably twice the size of hers and she felt a little uncomfortable by the fact that it wasn’t just Harry’s, and she didn’t know the other boys too well.
“Well,” Olivia breathed as she followed Harry through the door, “I can’t believe how tidy it is,” she laughed quietly.
“It’s cause we live with Liam and Niall, if it was just me on my own you wouldn’t even be able to see the floor,” Harry joked as he lead Olivia into the open kitchen area, “Want a beer? Or are you into those girly drinks?”
Olivia took a seat at one of the chairs around a small breakfast bar and scoffed, “As long as it’s good beer, none of that weak lager stuff,” she joked, noticing him pulling out two bottles of Corona.
“Sorry, we’re in a boy band, we’re accustomed to the weak stuff,” Harry smiled, earning a laugh from Olivia as he popped open the caps. He grabbed a tea towel and wiped up one of the bottles that started to overflow before chucking the now towel into the laundry room.
“Cleaning up your mess and doing the laundry,” Olivia nodded as they made their way to the couch in the living area, “You never even used to be able to keep your room tidy let alone do your own washing.”
Harry laughed again before taking a sip of his beer and sitting down, tapping the spot next to him for Olivia to sit, “I honestly didn’t even know you’d seen my room, shows how much I remember about last summer.”
Olivia was taken aback by his answer, sitting herself an awkward distance away from Harry as her eyes grew wide. How was she supposed to respond to that? Oh yeah, I saw your room quite a lot actually when we were dating the whole summer. Not gonna work.
“Oh yeah,” she took a gulp of her beer, postponing her response to attempt to come up with anything believable, “It was only a few times when you had parties and that, you know.”
Harry nodded, changing the subject slightly and mentioning how he really only remembers being drunk for most of that summer. Olivia was glad that he didn’t go on about it anymore, she really had to start being careful with what she said around him.
“Anyway, you excited for Scotland?” Harry changed the subject. He picked up the remote from the coffee table and flicked through the channels for something good.
“I guess so,” Olivia shrugged, “I think I’m more excited to go back to Holmes Chapel, though.”
Harry nodded in agreement, “I haven’t been home in like,” he started, stopping when Olivia abruptly leaned over and grabbed the remote from him.
“Was that The OC?” she flicked the channel back to see Summer Roberts on the screen, “I haven’t watched this in years!”
Harry laughed as Olivia set the remote next to her, on the opposite side to him, to make sure he wouldn’t change the channel. She’d moved herself from when she’d basically flung herself into Harry’s lap, but now she was sitting a lot closer from how she was before.
“I just want my own Seth Cohen,” she sighed, her eyes not leaving the screen as she felt herself sinking into Harry’s side.
A scoff came from beside her and she looked up to Harry with a look of fake disgust, “You wouldn’t understand.”
“Of course I wouldn’t,” Harry laughed, bringing his arm up to pat her shoulder almost sarcastically, but he found himself resting it there permanently. Olivia noticed this straight away, and tried to keep focus on the intense Seth/Summer scene happening on the TV screen, but she couldn’t keep from biting her lip and letting her thoughts run wild.
It felt weird to her that Harry was so comfortable with her, she didn’t even know how good of ‘friends’ they were beforehand, she literally knew nothing about their previous friendship. Although, there was one thing Olivia did know for right now. She knew that it felt completely natural for her to be sat in Harry’s arms.