Reckless.

“Rough night?”

Dakota snickered as she watched Emily drag her feet into work. Her movements were sluggish as she pulled the apron around her waist and tied it, securing it in place. She brought her hands up, tying her messy hair into a makeshift pony tail and fell into the metal chair they had in the break room.

“Choke on a dick.” Emily rolled her eyes, clearly not in the mood to be dealing with the younger girl’s jokes so early in the morning.

“What happened?” Amber asked softly as she tied her own apron around her thin waist. The diner wasn’t open yet and the girls were all just getting into work, making sure everything, themselves included, was in check.

Emily groaned, stretching out her sore limbs. “I don’t even know. All I remember is going to that kid’s hotel room and drinking booze. And a lot of it. I’m surprised I even got home.”

Amber grinned at the mention of the ‘kid’ and she tried to busy herself with shoving her purse into her chubby slot, knowing full well that if Emily saw her smiling, she’d bitch her out for sure.

“What kid?” Dakota asked with her eyebrows furrowed. “The only guy ever interested in you is that tool bag boyfriend of yours.”

Emily opened her mouth to let out a smart reply, but Amber seemed to beat her to it. “Oh, you know which boy, the one you went up to like ’oh my gosh, it’s you, it’s really you, I love you, and please fuck me now.’ See? You remember. “Amber said with a wink, mocking the sound of her voice perfectly. Emily and Amber couldn’t help but bust out laughing at Amber’s comeback and the two reached their hands up, meeting each other in a high five.

Dakota’s eyes widened considerably, but she was quick to recover and narrow them to slit. “You’re lying. There’s no way Harry Styles not only invited you to his hotel room, but also gave you free booze.” She shrugged her shoulders with her eyes closed. “Simply not possible.”

“Why’re you so interested in him, Dakota? He’s just a kid, nothing special about him.” Emily shrugged, not understanding what the big deal was; he was just like any other horn dog in California, just this time, he happened to have a British accent.

Dakota sighed, bringing a hand up to rub her temples. Amber watched her with a cocked eyebrow and Emily simply tapped on her foot, waiting to see what she possibly had to say. “You just don’t understand, Emily. He’s not just a boy, and he’s not just a celebrity, he’s the perfect human being and he’s got the voice of an angel.”

Emily rolled her eyes and stood up, heading towards the door, not wanting to hear any more. The obsession was stupid, he was just a boy; a boy who couldn’t seem to keep it in his pants even after knowing she had a boyfriend. She watched from the checkout counter as Leon unlocked the door and a few regulars came trotting in, pulling off their jackets and untying their scarves.

Emily couldn’t tell if she was surprised or not when she watched Harry pull open the door and step in, pulling his jacket off and taking his regular spot at the table in her section. He hadn’t come in for the past week and she was starting to believe he wouldn’t come around again and the only way she’d see him was when they ‘accidently’ ran into each other.

Harry couldn’t help but smirk when he noticed Emily coming his way, the ever present frown settled on her features. “Morning, love. How’s the hangover?”

Emily had to refrain from throwing her hand out and punching him straight in the jaw, recalling Leon’s talk with her about physically harming the customers. This kid may have been a nuisance, but she needed the job.

“How did I get home last night?” she asked, completely ignoring his question. Regarding the hangover, she felt completely shitty. Let Emily be the one to get completely shitfaced when she has work the next day; it seemed to be her specialty. “Please don’t tell me I actually made it home on my own. I probably got raped twice on the walk home.”

Harry’s brows knotted at this. Did she really not remember last night? Or was she simply trying to play it off like that because she didn’t want to have to deal with elaborating on what she said last night. He watched her face closely but couldn’t seem to gather which option was the truth. “You really don’t remember what you said last night?”

Emily could feel her heart miss a beat before it quickly restarted and began beating wildly in her chest. She was a shitty drunk. Once she got tipsy enough, and it wasn’t hard, considering she was somewhat of a lightweight, she began spewing out shit after shit. It was never pretty. Once, she was at a birthday party for her cousin and got completely shit faced. Imagine the looks on everyone in the room when she blurted out that the birthday girl looked like a bloated cow.

“What did I say?” Emily tried to act as nonchalant as possible, wiping down the table with her cloth as Harry sat back in the booth with his dimples appearing.

“You know,” Harry reached his hand out, tapping hers lightly. “I didn’t know you found me sexy.”

Emily almost choked on her spit and her eyes widened to saucers when she registered what he said. He was lying, he had to be, there was no way, even as drunk as she was, that she’d actually let him know that. Obviously it was true, she did find the boy to be attractive, how could you not when he’d give you that smirk, showcasing his dimples or watch you with those emerald eyes, she had to admit that even the cocky attitude was a bit of a turn off, but like she said; he was a boy. Twenty three was too hold to be thinking about a boy in that way.

“I don’t remember that.”

Harry grinned, knowing he’d pushed her into a corner, and from the way her face was heated and she was scrubbing vigorously at a stain that wasn’t on the table, it was clear that she did remember, and it wasn’t just the alcohol talking, it was true. “You don’t have to worry though,” Harry changed the subject, knowing he was being cruel. “I drove you home, couldn’t let a pretty girl walk all that way alone.”

She nodded, still flustered and snatched the menu from his hands. “The usual right?” She didn’t want for an answer before she stormed off to the back to put his order in and catch a breather.

Dakota placed her order into the cook and took the spot next to Amber, who was waiting on her own order. She watched as Harry’s eyes followed Emily all the way back to the room until she disappeared from his sight. Dakota let out a groan. “It’s not fair. She doesn’t even like him.”

Amber grinned, shaking her head a bit before she grabbed the plates that Leon had just sent out. “I think she likes him a bit more than she lets on.”

+

Emily sighed as she kicked off her shoes, which had been killing her all day, and she tossed her purse onto the couch. She’d had a long day and all she wanted to do was drop onto the couch and watch Supernatural all night, complete with daydreams of Dean Winchester giving it to her good in the backseat of his car.

The front door opened just as Emily pulled out a water bottle from the fridge and uncapped it, bringing it to her lips that were slightly capped from the cold. Tyler sauntered in, running a hand through his short, messy locks and barely paid any attention to Emily as he fell onto the couch, exhausted.

“How sweet of you to finally grace me with your presence.”

“Not right now, Emily.” He spat, waving her off. He had a mind splitting headache, and the last thing he wanted to do, was have to deal with her mouth.

“No, I think right now is a perfect time.” Emily was never one to back down from a fight, especially when it came to Tyler. He’d always been one to stay out all night whenever he got fucked up enough, but lately, it’d been getting worse, to the point where he wouldn’t come home until dark the next day; like he had today. “Where the fuck were you?”

“God damn it, Emily.” He yelled, whipping his head to meet her eyes. “What the fuck do you not understand when I say I’m not in the mood for this right now?” His dark eyes were piercing, and she could tell he was coming down from his high, he was hung over and she was pushing his buttons.

“I don’t care if you feel like talking about it, it doesn’t change the fact that I feel like talking and I’m sick of you going out and getting fucked up all night and then showing up whenever it’s convenient for you.” Emily slammed her water bottle onto the counter and stomped over to the couch where Tyler was still seated.

“Are you fucking kidding me right now?” Tyler shouted, throwing his head back in frustration. “You love to find any excuse to start a fucking war! How the fuck are you so tired of something I’ve been doing since i met you. You knew full well before you got into this relationship that this was what I do. I get up, go to work, come home, get fucked up at a party, and occasionally get some pussy when you actually let me touch you. None of this is new to you, so I don’t know why you’re trying to start a fight now.”

Emily felt her heart constrict at the way that he was talking to her. She wasn’t wrong; it wasn’t fair that he simply got to go around doing whatever the fuck he felt like while he ditched her at a random party, or simply left her alone in the apartment, watching reruns of Supernatural.

“This isn’t how a relationship works, Tyler. You can’t just go around doing whatever you please. It takes two people to make a relationship, which means you have to put effort in, not just think about yourself for once. It’s not fair to me.”

Tyler let out humorless laugh and shook his head at the words coming out of his girlfriend’s mouth. She was completely full of shit. It was actually hilarious to see her actually try to make a point and fail miserably.

“Oh, and you know all about how a normal functioning relationship works, really? You, Emily? Don’t lie to yourself. You’re the one who pushes me away, you’re the one who fucking sits like a hawk on the couch waiting for me to get home just so you can fucking rip me apart the second I walk through the door. You have no fucking emotions other than hatred. I don’t even know why I’m with you sometimes.” His words echoed through the apartment from how loud he was shouting at her.

Emily’s mouth dropped open at his words. She hadn’t expected that. Sure she wasn’t ever going to be winning world’s best girlfriend, but she definitely wasn’t the worst. When she first started seeing Tyler, she thought they’d make the perfect couple because she wasn’t one to showcase her emotions and he was the classic guy who felt too macho to release his true feelings; it was exactly what she was looking for.

But that didn’t mean she always wanted to him to be like this, to hardly pay her attention, to treat her as nothing more than a roommate sharing the apartment. She may have been hard shell on the outside, but she still wanted to feel loved sometimes.

Emily narrowed her eyes to slits. “Well you know what? You’re a shitty excuse for a boyfriend-“

Her words were cut short when he shot up and threw his hand out, backhanding her so hard and so fast that her head whipped to the right, giving her neck the effect of whiplash. Emily’s eyes immediately watered and her hand was quick to reach up and grasp her cheek, which was painfully stinging and bright red.

Tyler opened his mouth to speak, and from the look on his face, it was hard to tell whether or not he felt bad for what he did, or was simply going to hand over a smart remark to go with what he had just done. Instead, he stood up and harshly grabbed his car keys, pushing past her before he walked out the front door, slamming it behind him, leaving Emily alone once again in the silent apartment.

+

Harry’s eyes were quickly scanning each of the road names as he tried to remember where he had dropped Emily off the night before. Each street appeared the same to him and there was at least two apartment complexes on every block. He’d spent almost thirty full minutes looking for the street when he eyes caught onto the apartment complex. He smirked in triumph, pleased that he’d actually found it.

Harry was quick as he sprinted up the stairs, taking two at a time. It was starting to get quite chilly and the wind had been extremely harsh in the past week, but that wasn’t why he was in such a rush, it was just the excuse he told himself.

Once apartment 258 came into view, he quickly gave his hair a quick run through, making sure he looked presentable and knocked on the door gently. He hoped to God that Emily’s boyfriend wasn’t there, he wasn’t exactly sure how he’d explain his presence there and why he felt the need to always be around her.

The door finally opened after a few minute to reveal Emily in a pair of sleep shorts and a baggy t shirt that had a picture of Mick Jagger across the front. Good choice, he thought with a grin as he took in her appearance. Her hair was falling into her eyes and she seemed to be in an even worse mood than before.

“What do you want?” she mumbled, not taking the time to meet his eyes as she felt open the door with her eyes trained on the carpeted floor inside her apartment.

“You left your scarf last night,” he smiled sheepishly, holding it up for a moment before handing it over to her. “I forgot to give it to you at the diner today so I thought I should bring it to you. It’s getting pretty chilly, don’t want you to catch a cold.”

She gave a fake closed lip smile and took the scarf from his outstretched hand. “Thanks,” she mumbled, giving him a quick glance before stepping back and closing the door.

Before the door could completely close, Harry had reached out and harshly stopped the door, his hand pushing back and his foot standing in the doorway. His eyebrows were bunched together and his heart was beating rapidly inside his chest. She appeared shocked at his action and opened her mouth to ask why he’d done that, but he quickly reached out with his other hand and carefully grasped her chin, turning it in his direction, showcasing the large forming bruise she’d been trying to hide.

“Emily,” his voice was soft, but there was no denying that it held a demanding tone. “What happened?”

“It’s nothing,” her voice had fallen considerably and it no longer held the harsh edge it had only moments ago. Her eyes were back on the ground and she seemed to be unable to look at him.

“Bullshit,” he muttered before pushing his way inside on the apartment. Harry grabbed onto her hand and pulled her into the kitchen where he effortlessly hoisted her up onto the counter to get a better look at her face.

His finger carefully traced the yellowing bruise across her cheek and she winced each time his finger ghosted over the more sensitive areas. Once again, she was being weak in front of Harry Styles and she didn’t like. “Harry, I’m fine.” She tried to push his hand away, but he grabbed her wrist, holding it away from him.

“Emily,” his emerald eyes were searching her face, trying to get her to look at him, trying to get her to give him something, anything that would explain this. “Did your boyfriend do this?”

Her eyes watered immediately at the sound of him being brought up. It was embarrassing, humiliating that she’d actually let herself get hit. She was stronger than this, she wasn’t one to fall into this kind of bullshit, she knew better. “Harry, please.” Her voice shook. “Why can’t you just leave it alone?”

“Leave it alone?” his eyes widened. “How are you going to expect me to leave it alone? I’m your friend, Emily. I care about you.” He sighed, catching notice of the glossiness of her eyes; she was hurting, but she wouldn’t let those tears fall, no matter what. That much he knew.

Her voice caught in her throat at the mention of friends. She didn’t understand. Why was he constantly trying to confuse her? First he was blatantly hitting on her and trying to get into her panties, then he was stalking her outside of work, then he invited her to his hotel to spend time with his ‘lads’ and now they were merely friends? No. “Friends?”

Harry grinned at her confusion and nodded his head gently. He knew she didn’t understand, and that was okay. He partly didn’t understand it himself. “Yes, friends. You said it yourself, you’re off limits, I don’t want to go around pushing my boundaries.” He held his hands up in mock defense.

Emily couldn’t help but let out a small giggle. Wait, a giggle? Emily was surprised at it herself and felt her cheeks heat up in embarrassment. Emily didn’t giggle, it was simply one of those things she found completely annoying on a girl and refused to fall in that category. So why was she doing it now?

She was skeptical still about Harry’s words and what his true intention seemed to be, but in all honesty, what could she do? It was clear that he was going to keep coming to the diner, and he was definitely going to keep popping up in her life, so might as well be friendly with the guy and take away some unneeded stress. That wasn’t the true reason of course, it was simply the excuse she told herself.

“Fine, friends.”

Harry smiled, his dimples making an appearance and his white teeth were on showcase as he stared back at the beautiful girl. She was really something. “How about we put some ice on that, and order some take out? I hear the Titanic’s on tonight.” He leaned forward, dropping his voice to a whisper. “I love the Titanic.”

Neither Harry nor Emily knew what was going on. They didn’t understand how they’d gotten to this point, where Harry was carefully setting the bag of frozen peas on her cheek as his green eyes melted into hers like they’d been meant for her to lose herself in. They didn’t grasp the moment where suddenly Harry wasn’t simply a bother, but actually, someone Emily secretly hoped to see each day. Harry hadn’t realized what it was exactly what was causing him to slowly change into this caring gentleman now that he was around such a tough exterior girl. And finally, the two didn’t notice how easily they were falling for each other, even if they denied it to themselves, and how completely dangerous it really was.