Be Your Everything

“They’re bringing their girlfriends?!” Alice hissed, tugging on Harry’s shirt. She didn’t think she could handle meeting not just his friends but his friend’s girlfriends too. She had only just agreed to the former. She hated being so difficult but the thought of meeting other girls terrified her – girls were bitchy, malicious; all things Alice didn’t handle well at all.
“I’m sorry, but it was totally last minute, and-“
Alice cut him off quickly. “No. I’m being ridiculous, it’s fine. This is your home, not mine.”
Harry rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest. “Do we have to do the ‘my-home-is-your-home’ conversation again?”
“Only if you want to start it,” she narrowed her eyes, challenging him to.
He didn’t. He wanted her, really wanted her to accept that this wasn’t a temporary thing for him, that she actually could stay absolutely as long as she needed to. He was already helping her get a job, so money wasn’t a problem – for her anyway. He would have paid for anything she needed.
“I’m not starting anything. I just want you to accept that-“
“I said I don’t mind the girlfriends coming over. Are we done here?”
Harry nodded without a word. He was shocked, honestly. She had come out of her shell so much and she hadn’t even noticed it. He was surprised at her contradicting him at all, but being rude about it too? A month ago he could hardly get her to talk at all! There was a spark in her eye that he’d never seen before. She didn’t look forlorn all the time, she laughed more than he was used to hearing, and she had even let him tickle her once.
An hour later and there came an incessant knocking on the door. Harry huffed and stood from the couch to let his ridiculous friends inside. Alice was in her room, and he was worried she was going t stay in there the whole time. He had told himself to go in, ask her once if she wanted to come out, and if she said no he’d leave her. There was no point rushing her, no matter how much he wanted her to accept that he wanted to be part of her life.
They had kissed a few times, but Harry hadn’t wanted to push his luck. He didn’t was to scare her away before anything could even happen between them. At first he had shut the thought off – he didn’t like her, he was just being nice! But now, after spending so much time with her, he had been forced to accept that he did indeed have feelings for her. And they were getting stronger.
“Maaaaate!” Niall’s obnoxious yelling greeted his ears first, and then a pair of strong arms were wrapped around his neck and pulling him into someone’s chest.
Catching a quick glance at his captor he saw Liam, grinning down at him. “Hello down there.”
“Gerroff me.” Harry’s voice was muffled by Liam’s jumper as he struggled to free himself.
“Yeah, you’ll mess up his perfect hair-“ he recognized Louis’ voice next, “-oh wait, no way, he hasn’t styled it today! Haz, what’s happened to your Styles Style?”
“I swear-“ Harry tried to speak, but was cut off by Liam shoving him away.
“You swear what?” Louis’ eyes were glinting with mirth as he ambled inside with one hand in his pocket and the other wrapped in Eleanor’s.
Eleanor, his girlfriend, was smiling like she’d seen this happen already today. She looked happy – not that it was unusual. Every time Harry saw her she looked happy. Danielle, who had walked in alone due to Liam’s hold on his curly-haired friend, was chuckling to herself and just inside the door. She was shaking her head, her curls falling around her face.
“So, you’re livin’ with a girl!” Niall slapped a hand to Harry’s shoulder and plastered a smirk on his face. “Tell me she’s been treatin’ ya right.”
“If you know what he means.” Louis winked and Eleanor hit him on the shoulder.
Harry rolled his eyes. “It’s not even like that.”
“What’s it like then?” Zayn spoke for the first time. He looked a little less happy than the others and Harry made a mental note to ask him what was up later.
“I’m just helping her out...”
“So there’s nothing at all going on?” Louis pushed.
“Guys, leave him be,” Danielle shushed them. “It’s none of our business anyway.”
All the boys looked a little ashamed of themselves as they realized they had pushed just that little bit too far. Harry felt a sudden rush of affection for them all as he watched all the separate expressions on their faces. He took a deep breath. “Please watch what you say around her. She’s been through a lot. And try not to make any sudden movements.”
“Sudden movements,” Niall frowned. “What-?”
A noise to the left of them all made everyone look to the hallway. Alice was standing at the mouth of her room, looking like a deer caught in the headlights. “I uh-“
“Come meet everyone,” Harry interrupted her before she could come up with some sort of excuse as to why she had to dive back into her room. She looked a little resigned, but tiptoed toward them anyway.
“I’m Zayn, lovely to meet you,” he held a hand out for her to shake. She took it and it looked as though she hardly even gripped his fingers. The boys introduced themselves one at a time.
“I’m Eleanor, but just call me El. This is Danielle-“
“But call me Dani, because my full name’s a mouthful.” The bushy-haired girl finished with a kind smile.
“Er... hi, everyone,” Alice shifted nervously from foot to foot. “I’m Alice.”
“I think we’re going to be good friends,” El commented, grinning. Dani nodded in agreement.
Harry felt a wave of relief wash over him. This had gone even better than he had anticipated and he was incredibly grateful that his friends had done what he’d said. So far they hadn’t said anything out of order or made any sudden movements.
“Hey...” Dani began, touching her index finger to her bottom lip. “El and I, plus a few other friends, were going to have a girls night soon – kind of like a sleepover I guess – and I reckon it’d be awesome if you came.”
Alice opened her mouth, closed it again, and then spoke. “Um. Well, I-“
“How about we give you both our numbers and you can give us a call after this, before Saturday night, and let us know what you’ve decided?” El suggested, glancing from Harry and back to Alice in alarm, afraid Dani had said the wrong thing.
Alice looked relieved. “I can do that. Sorry about spazzing out, I’m just not good at on-the-spot decisions,” she giggled a little, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. She looked adorable and Harry hadn’t failed to notice the rosy tinge in her cheeks.
El beamed. “No problem. I’m the same.”
“Now that’s settled,” Harry clapped his hands together to end the conversation. “Who wants something to eat?”