Baby, We're Invincible

Harry didn’t care for double dates, but there he sat in the back of a burger joint as he sipped on a thick milkshake and pretended to be listening to the conversation at the table. He drummed his finger against the table, resisting the urge to roll his eyes at the incessant babbling.

“No way, I don’t think that at all. We totally wouldn’t have been friends.” His girlfriend Emmah insisted, dragging him back to reality with a spiked curiosity. Harry raised an eyebrow, adjusting the beanie on his head as he leaned back in toward the group.

“What?”

Emmah glared at him as she subtly pushed her glasses up her nose. “We’re talking about whether we would’ve been friends in secondary school. Glad to know you’re paying attention.”

Harry glanced across the table at Zayn, who was smirking at the predicament he had gotten himself into. He coyly slid his hand onto his girlfriend’s leg, pressing a kiss to her forehead to hide the fact that he was openly laughing at his friend.

“I was paying attention. Just lost track for a second.” Harry defended himself. “So what conclusion did you come to?”


“Well, Mila had to have been popular. She was a dancer, and she did cheer. And-”

“I was not!” Mila spoke up from across the table, but Emmah ignored her.

“And Zayn would’ve been an art geek. Most definitely. You... I’m not sure about you.” She tapped a finger to her chin thoughtfully, leaning in closer to scrutinize him. Harry couldn’t help but smirk at her close proximity, resisting the urge to kiss her and those little idiotic thoughts away.

“I was just a normal guy,” Harry insisted with a shrug. “What does it matter anyway? We’re all well out of secondary school.”

“I’m not saying it matters,” Emmah huffed with a light frown, crossing her arms over her chest. “It’s just interesting to think about. Like, I don’t think Mila and I would have been friends if we went to high school.”

“I think her and I would have dated,” Zayn butted in, wrapping his arm around Mila's shoulders now and bringing her in close. It was clear that he was scraping up every last brownie point that he could gather from this evening’s outing. “I always had a thing for the cheerleaders.”

“Oh, shut up.” Mila blushed, whacking his chest lightly as she let out a giggle. Harry made no effort to hide the fact that he was rolling his eyes. At this point, they had to have been merely entertaining one another. They couldn’t seriously be going on about such a ridiculous topic.

"Do you think we would have even been friends?" Emmah asked him. Harry kept a poker face as to not hurt her feelings, when really he was thinking just how dumb this whole conversation was. Dumb, dumb, dumb.

Emmah was blinking at him from behind her spectacles as if she were seriously expecting him to chime in, but he refused to take the bait. Unlike Zayn, he didn’t stoop to desperate measures to get sex from his girlfriend. Instead, he grabbed the check and glanced at the total before he slapped down the proper amount of currency. All he wanted was to avoid this stupid conversation, to the point that he didn’t even care that he footed the whole bill this time.

“Ready to go, love?” Harry pocketed his wallet as he patted her knee lightly, scooting against her in attempts to get out of the booth. She sighed deeply, bidding a farewell to their friends as they stood up. Harry was sure to discreetly slip Zayn the bird before he placed his hand on the small of Emmah’s back and guided her out of the diner.

Neither one spoke as they walked to his Range Rover; Emmah didn’t even thank him when he opened the door for her and helped her into the seat. He kissed her cheek nonetheless like he always did before shutting the door, walking around the car and getting behind the steering wheel.

“So why won’t you answer me?” Emmah asked quietly, staring forward as she nervously tugged on her braid. Harry let out a groan. He hit his head off of the steering wheel lightly in frustration.

“Because, why does it matter? All that matters is the present. Me and you, that’s it.” Harry reached over and grabbed her hand, lacing their fingers together lightly. He sighed when her downcast expression did not change. “Baby, come on. Is it seriously that big of a deal?”

“I just don’t think you would’ve even looked my way, honestly.” Emmah told him glumly. She yanked her hand from his grasp so she could shift in her seat, her shoulders rounded away from him as she stared blankly out the window. Harry felt his heart sink in his chest like the Titanic. "It wasn't like I was a social butterfly."

“That’s not true at all. I’m obviously attracted to you, that’s why you’re my girlfriend. I think you’re beautiful.” Harry murmured, using his slender fingers to capture her chin and pull it in his direction so their eyes could meet. She blinked her hazel eyes, which were beginning to fill with tears. His heart sank even further, if that were possible.

“I’m not though.” She shook her head furiously, dismissing his statement. “You’re so outgoing and you. That’s why everyone loves you. In secondary school, you would’ve been too occupied to give me a second glance.”

“That’s not true though.” Harry groaned. “I would’ve gotten a moment to talk to you- maybe we would have bumped into each other in the library? I mean er, I love books and you love books so we’d both be there. And maybe we’d grab the same book or something and we’d just er, connect. I think it’d happen something like that.”


“You’d be too busy feeling up some hipster girl that listened to all the same bands as you.” Emmah snapped at him again. Her tone was a clear indication that she was definitely angry at this point.

“Em, no.” Harry argued, although he knew this would be futile. He inwardly cursed as he threw the vehicle in reverse, racking his brain for the right words to smooth this over.

Harry still hadn’t thought of anything by the time he got to their flat. Emmah got out of the Rover as soon as it stopped moving, slamming the door behind her and storming into the house. He followed in her footsteps and nearly tripped over her shoes that she had haphazardly discarded at the door.

“Emmah.” He called out loudly as he walked toward their bedroom. “Emmah, come on. I didn’t mean to make you upset, I just didn’t like secondary that much. I don’t get the big deal!”

“Yeah, whatever.”

Harry couldn’t help but smile to himself when he found her curled up on his side of the bed, her back to him and her socks already kicked off. Shrugging off his jacket, he slid into bed behind her and began to lightly caress her side. He admired the trails his fingers took over her curves; he loved that he couldn’t see her bones or feel them press against him when they were too close. He exhaled lightly as he pressed a kiss on her shoulder.

After burying his face in her thick, dark hair he whispered, “Love, I promise you. I would’ve gone out of my way to know you had we gone to secondary school together. I love you, beautiful.”