***

Fidgeting, I shyly glance up at him, swallowing down the hard lump of nerves that was threatening to push up from my throat and spew all over the floor of the nightclub. I think that he’ll be looking at Eleanor or acutely paying attention to Harry as he explained about the vegan restaurant, but he’s not. My eyes find his easily, unfortunately, because he’s gazing at me harshly. I look over his facial features in order to try and gauge what he’s thinking, looking for a frown or some tension between his brows; he’s solid, though, staring at me with an unreadable mask I can’t crack.

I swallow again and move into Harry’s side. Moving my gaze away from his set face, I glance up at the curly headed boy whose arm is now slithering around my waist, smiling sweetly when he pauses to look over at me for a moment. He grins, too, and his dimples are revealed as he tries to fight it in order to continue speaking.

“What the hell are you rambling about?”

A frown, then, one that makes hurt flash across his pretty gaze as he flicks it over to Louis. I wrap my arm around his waist, too, and squeeze him gently while my head goes to rest on his shoulder.

“I was telling you the story about that vegan restaurant… remember?” Harry says, the corners of his mouth downturned.

Louis sighs and rolls his eyes before downing the rest of his drink. “Oh. Niall already told me about that.” He waves his hand and I watch as Harry hangs his head a bit. I give him another squeeze.

“Well, you asked, Lou,” he says, tone low.

“I want to know about you and… Delaney, was it?”

I hear Harry grit his teeth. “Yes,” he hisses.

“Tell me how you two met.”

Harry tenses me beside me and I try to stop the frightened expression I can feel pushing at the back of my eyes from exploding across my face. Louis’s expression is strangely smug when I quickly look over at him, like he knows already but just wants to hear one of us admit it. I swallow again but my throat is dry and for a moment I get too hot while I feel like my entire stomach is trying to force its way into my mouth.

“It’s a long story,” Harry says, relaxing a bit and soothingly rubbing circles on my hip. “Another time.”

Eleanor, a pretty brunette who’d been hanging back in the shadows by Louis, steps forward and slides her arm through his, nodding. “Sounds fine by me. We’ll have to do dinner or something when you and Delaney go home.”

“No, I—“Louis starts, but gets interrupted by Eleanor.

“Lou, I need another drink. Will you get me one?”

“Yea, alright,” he mutters.

He jingles something in his pockets nosily and turns slowly on his heel while his electric eyes roam over Harry and I. I quickly advert my gaze, looking over to the boy who was I currently glued to. He’s staring back at his friend, his bicep on my back as I feel him tighten his old on me. I don’t know what to say because I have no idea how to handle Louis, or Harry and Louis when they’re seemingly yelling at each other through steaming looks, so I pull away from him a little and start to chat to Eleanor.

“Is your hair naturally that red?” she asks me before I can open my mouth.

I smile. “Yes. Most people don’t think so, though.”

“I can see why. It’s so vibrant, but not in a bad way. I think it’s lovely. Suits you.”

“Thanks,” I chuckle.

She beams at me, and we launch into a conversation of hair colors and dresses and shoes that lasts for as long as Louis stays gone. Even then, when he returns and Harry has slowly slid himself into our talk of all things girly, she continues on, ignoring him and plucking her new drink out of his hands. He frowns at her but keeps quiet.

“I don’t know how you lot wear heels that high. I’d never be able to!” Harry says, laughing loudly.

Eleanor giggles. “They’re worth it, right, Delaney?”

I nod, falling into Harry when he pulls me into his chest.

“What about your eyebrows? Why do you pluck them? Seems useless to me.”

“Not useless,” I scowl playfully up at him as Eleanor laughs again. “I want two, eyebrows, Harry, not one massive one.”

“I have two, don’t I?” He’s puckered his lips down in concentration as he tries to screw his eyes up in order to glance up at his forehead. This sends Eleanor and I into a fit of laughter, and she starts to shake her head as I hide half my face in his chest. “I’m serious!”

“Yes,” I breathe. “You have two.”

“Two big slugs.”

Harry’s head snaps over to Louis, who is grinning wide and cheekily as he bounces on the balls of his feet. I quiet my laughing, peaking up a little at Harry and then over at Louis to gauge what’s happening. I can’t tell if that was to be mean or not, but Eleanor laughs highly again and Harry chuckles, so I take that as a joke. Louis is so complex in everything, I’ve noticed, that I have no idea how anyone has ever figured out if he means to cut you or make you smile with his words.

“Mate, Liam’s eyebrows are ten times bigger than mine, and you know it.”

Louis crows with laughter. “They are, aren’t they? Oh! But what about that one…”

And that’s how we spend the rest of the night inside the stuffy building: Louis brings up lots of things that makes Eleanor laugh and Harry and him slap hands. I observe during the rest of the time that we spend up on the V.I.P. floor of the nightclub, trying to ignore how Louis sends me little glances of some sort of muted expression out of the corner of his eye. It’s hard, though; he sends them every once in a while and then I’ll look down to the floor because I hate making eye contact with him. It’s like he’s trying to slice me open and drag out all my secrets without verbally asking for them, but I’m not ready for him or Eleanor, or even Niall, to know that much about me just yet.

The large collection of people that had been in the building with us have just started to trickle out when Harry finishes off his beer and Eleanor says she’s hungry. It’s agreed, shortly after, that we visit In-N-Out Burger for some fries and milkshakes. Harry takes my hand, leading me down the steps first and cutting through the few places that were still cluttered with dancing people.

“Are you alright, love?” he whispers, ducking his head down to my ear.

I smile at him. “I’m fine.”

“You’ve been awfully quiet.”

“I was listening. You three are hilarious together.”

He chuckles and kisses my forehead. We’re standing out on the street, now, waiting in the summer air for Louis and Eleanor, who we’d lost a few tables back. Harry holds me close to him and I lean into the smell of his cologne and the warmth of his skin.

“Louis can be an ass, huh?” he asks while threading both his fingers through mine.

“Sometimes,” I mumble.

“I’m sorry. I wish he wouldn’t act that way. Eleanor talked to him earlier, before we got here, but… I guess it’s because you’re the first girl I’ve introduced him to in so long that he’s forgotten how to act.”

I try to not so smile too wide at that admittance, but fail; luckily, Harry doesn’t seem to notice and I just kiss him on the lips. He gives my fingers a squeeze as the sound of Eleanor and Louis coming through leak into the night air. Harry pulls away from me, sending a small smile and pecking my lips once more before tossing his arm over my shoulders and turning to face the two.

“In-N-Out Burger is which way?” Louis asks, glancing left and right.

“It’s a couple of blocks to the left,” I say.

His gaze instantly flashes to me, his orbs piercing into mine before Harry pulls me along with him.

We only manage to pass a few shops before Louis speaks up again. “You from around here, then?”

“Yea,” I say, clearing my throat because I’m nervous again. “A different part of town, though.”

“It must be nice to live in the city of Angel’s,” Eleanor smiles.

“’cept I heard it was more like the city of disease because of all the prostitutes and stuff. I heard there are more hookers here than anywhere else in the world.”

Harry stumbles beside me. All the air whooshes out of my lungs and I gaze wide-eyed over at Louis as he nods his head and stares at me.