Forever, Ever

That very day, Barbara showed her the upstairs flat, which was furnished with some basic furniture: bed, fridge, some tables, an old couch, and a bookshelf. To anyone else it wouldn't have been much, to Ana it was perfect.

The following week was filled with Ana slowly moving her things to the flat. She didn't have much of her own, making the task of moving go fairly quickly. Soon the flat was filled with her clothes, her few books, movies, and CDs, and various belongings. Barbara and Annette (the other lady working the counter the day Ana came in) had helped her stock her cupboards and fridge with food, until Ana could earn proper money at the bakery.

Ana was a natural at the bakery. Her first few weeks were spent with nervous glances at the door every so often, she didn't speak much but soon she started opening up and relaxing around everyone. The ladies who worked there spent time showing her what seemed like hundreds of recipes, teaching her to make a new one everyday. It seemed to them that Ana had a natural talent for baking and they were very glad to have taken the girl into their shoppe.

Whatever plagued AnaBelle before she had came into the shoppe that first day had seemed to move to the back of her mind as she slowly started gaining more life in her eyes, losing her nervous habits and becoming very comfortable in the atmosphere around her. Although, those events never went away, Ana finally felt that she could start moving on and working towards starting a new life.

* * *

The sun shone through the dirty windows casting warm rays onto the table Ana was sat at the table in her kitchen, sipping on her morning tea. It was nearly time for her to go to work even though Barbara told her that she could come down at any time she pleased, she didn't have to wake with the shoppe, but Ana wanted to.

She finished up her tea and stood to place her dirty cup in the sink before moving to her front door. She took her apron off the hook and wrapped it around her waist, sliding her feet into her shoes. Sweet smells from the bakery had already started climbing the stairs and filling her lungs. Ana raced down the stairs and to the back door that opened to the shoppe, excited to start her day.

Ana would be working in the back kitchen today, preparing fresh bread for the shelves. Her favourite thing to make in the shoppe were the pastries, she always made extras for herself to snack on throughout the day, but she was happy making anything. She loved the smells and the feel of the dough in her hands when she kneaded it.

She worked quietly and diligently, humming along softly to the radio playing quietly in the back, kneading and shaping the dough before placing it in the oven only to start another batch. Ana lost track of time as she worked and was only brought out of her zone when she heard excited voices from the front. She quickly brushed her hands off on her apron and glanced at the timer before heading to the front of the shoppe to see what the cheers were for.

She entered the front to find Barbara with her arm wrapped around the waist of a tall, lanky boy who was beaming. All the ladies were talking excitedly, apparently knowing who this boy was.

"Oh, Harry, we're so glad to see you again, dear!" Barbara gushed, pinching his cheeks.

"I had to come back to see my ladies, didn't I?" he replied, his voice deep and thick with his accent as he spoke slowly.

Barbara blushed lightly and smacked Harry's chest before glancing at Ana, "Oh, Harry! Meet AnaBelle, she just started here about a month ago, she's nearly a better worker and baker than you are," she teased him.

Harry faked hurt before smiling and turning his gaze towards Ana. He stepped towards her, arms opened.

"Hello, AnaBelle, I'm Harry," he said, pulling her gently into a small hug.

"Hello," Ana said just above a whisper, giving him a small smile which he returned before turning back to the ladies.

"Now hand me an apron and let's get this show on the road!" he cheered, taking a red apron from Annette and putting it on. "What shall I do first?"

"Well, sweep up a bit and then.. go help Ana in the back if you'd like," Barbara told him.

He nodded before heading off to grab a broom, getting to work. Ana headed back to the kitchen and checked on her bread in the oven before going back to her dough, adding more flour and kneading it on the board. She worked quietly before the timer went off, telling her to take the bread from the oven. With oven mitts secured on her hands, she pulled the hot bread out of the oven and set out to cool before she could place it on the rack. After doing that, she immediately placed the next pan of bread into the oven and re-set the timer.

The kitchen door swung open, revealing Harry. He walked in and over to the counter that Ana was at, leaning down onto it with his elbows.

"Hello, love," he said cheerily, smiling at her.

"Hello," she greeted him once again, just as quiet as before.

"And how are you today?" he asked, pulling the bowl of dough towards himself and taking over kneading it.

"I'm fairly well, I suppose. You?"

"I'm doing very well," he grinned. "So when did you start working here?"

"About a month ago," she answered, leaning on the counter, a bit uncomfortable around the new boy.

"Ahh, obviously I don't work here now, but I worked here for quite a while before. Are you from Holmes Chapel? I was sure I knew just about everyone around here, don't remember your face though. And I would remember such a lovely face as yours."

She blushed at his compliment but shook her head, "No, I haven't always lived here. I um... I moved here with the job.. I live in the flat above here," she muttered, twisting her fingers together.

Harry took notice of her hands and the slightly pained expression on her face at the topic and decided to move away from it for now. He nodded and kept silent for a while, working on the dough in front of him.

"So, AnaBelle-"

"Ana," she interrupted. "You can call me just 'Ana'."

"Well, Just Ana, do you like any books or music?" he asked her.

"Yes. I like to read, I haven't listened to much music in a while, though I do like it."

"I really like music, obviously, in a band and everything. I was never much of a reader, but I've grown a bit fonder of it lately."

"You're in a band?"

He looked at her as if she had sprouted two heads, a crease forming between his eyebrows as they met. "You don't know?"

".. No?" she said, confused.

"One Direction," he said as if it would clarify things for her.

She just shook her head and shrugged her shoulders, showing him that she truly had no idea who he was and who his band were. His mouth opened some in surprise, it seemed as if hardly anyone didn't know who he was now. It was refreshing for him, to have someone who just knew him as Harry, not as Harry, one-fifth of the biggest boy band in the world right now.

"Well.. then you must come to our show in two weeks. I'll make a fan out of you. Besides, it's practically a rule that if you work in this bakery, you love One Direction," he grinned at her.

She could only nod, not really knowing what to say to him. Part of her wanted to decline his offer, because a show meant a crowd and a crowd meant people and people meant the possibility of bumping into the one person she was trying to avoid. But she couldn't tell Harry that, at least not yet, so she agreed and went back to checking on the bread.

"I think we're going to be really great friends, AnaBelle," Harry announced, not once looking up from the dough in front of him.

She felt herself smile softly at that.