Us Against the World.

After I handed Mel her coffee and she left, Rory stood next to the counter trying to talk to me as I cleaned up the counter. There wasn't that many people in the store, and my manager wasn't hanging around. I could talk to him, I just don't want to take that chance and get in trouble. I love him, to death actually but he knows I can't talk while I'm working.

I stopped what I was doing and looked at him, "Babe, you know I can't talk while I'm working. I'm already on my second strike because you caused a scene with that guy."

"He was flirting with you!" He exclaimed, I looked at him and just shook my head.

"I told you he was being friendly, not flirting." I replied, I've been with him for 8 months and he is really overprotective. I can barely have any guy friends, and he likes to hang out around my work to watch for guys "flirting" with me. I already have two strikes, because of him.

He likes to cause scenes and let people know that I'm his property. He's a good guy, well I think he is for the most part. Mel hates him so much, she thinks I can do better.

"Do you want to go do something tonight, babe?" He asked grabbing my hand to stop me from cleaning the rest of the counter. And of course he didn't listen to me. He never does.

As I looked at him, he was staring at this blonde girl that was sitting at a table with her friend. I snapped my fingers in his face and he looked at me lazily. "I'm over here, Rory. Anyways, I can't. I was going to stay in with Mel and work on my music."

"I haven't seen you in two weeks, babe. Come on." He responded, I was completely unphased. He always whines when I say no.

"That isn't my fault. I've been open almost everyday. You're the one who is busy with 'work' and the 'gym'." I replied, I rolled my eyes and looked at thd clock. It was time for my break.

I took off my barista apron and signed out for my break, stepping out from behind the counter; I grabbed a cigarette and walked out the door as Rory followed.
"Are you mad at me?" He asked as I lit it, he was staring at me. "No, you're the one who's complaining that you haven't seen me but you are always busy."

Sarcasm dripped in my voice, he shot me a look and responded, "You don't have to be a bitch, Quinn. And I wish you wouldn't smoke, it is bad for you and makes your teeth yellow. If you think I'm going to date you when you have yellow teeth, you're sadly mistaken."

"Then what are you waiting for? Leave then. I don't care. You always say something to me about it. You workout everyday, sooner or later you are going to look oversized piece of meat, but you don't see me saying anything. You think I'm gonna stay with you when that happens? Think again babe. You are always on your phone, you don't see me saying anything." I snapped as I stomped out my cigarette.

"Why are you acting like that?" He asked angrily, I stared at him;
"Really? I'm tired of you showing up to my work and getting me in trouble, and on top of that you always have something rude to say to me. When you want to apologize and act right then call me. I'm going back to work." I simply replied before leaving him outside and going back into the shop.



After clocking out of work, I hopped onto my skateboard and rode off toward mine and Mel's flat. Eventually I got there and picked up my board before walking up the front stairs. I pulled out my keys and got ready to unlock our door as I approached it. I always wonder if Mel is gonna be home when I get off, she gets off at different times sometimes.

I stopped at our mailbox before going and opening the door and saw Mel sitting on our couch, she saw me and said, "I've been texting you, is your phone off?"

"Yeah, Rory and I got into it and he kept texting me while I was working so I turned it off." I responded and put my hand up so she wouldn't say any comments. I didn't want to hear them right now. I put my bags and our mail onto the counter. I went to the fridge and pulled out a water then sat on the counter looking to her.

"So I ran into one of my old mates today, we exchanged numbers and he invited us to a party to celebrate the kick off of the continuation of their tour." Mel explained looking at me with her 'please' look, "And what'd you tell him?" I asked knowing the answer already.

"I told him we'd go." She said looking like a kid who got caught with her hand in the cookie jar. I sighed and continued, "Mel, I kind of wanted to stay home. I wanted to work on my music."

My dad got me into music when I was little, he wanted me to grow up a singer, so he could produce my albums. But that didn't work out that well. Now I just post youtube videos of me doing covers of songs. My mom wanted me to be like her, living where and when she wants. She is a clothes designer but she lives like a hippie, she thought being in music was a tasteless career.

"Come on, Quinn. You need to get out especially after super douche and you fighting. Plus it is free and I think you'll have a good time." She replied, she wouldn't let down until I said 'yes'.
I rolled my eyes, "Only for you, darlin.'"

She smiled widely and hopped up, "I'll tell Louis, the party is at 8, be ready."

I looked at the digital clock on the counter, it was about 10 minutes from 7. Standing up, I walked towards my bedroom to get ready.
Stripping down to my birthday suit, I went into my bathroom and hopped into the shower. I let the water soak my muscles and bones, there was a perfect amount of hot water for me.

Stepping out, I wrapped a towel around my body after wrapping my hair into a separate towel. Flipping through my closet, looking for an outfit to wear; I turned my phone on and it started exploding with texts, missed calls and voicemails. I rolled my eyes and threw the phone onto my bed before finding the best outfit to wear tonight to the party.

I pulled on my jeans, and shirts then took my hair down and blow dried it. Pulling out my curling out and plugging it in, I applied some light makeup and perfume before starting on my hair, giving it light curls. Checking the time, then grabbing my bag and phone before walking into the main room.
Mel was sitting on the couch, she was all dressed and looking bored. She looked up when I walked out, Mel stood up and grabbed her keys. I slipped my pumps on and followed her out the door.

I got into the passenger seat as she got into the driver's side, she turned the car on and backed out of the driveway before speeding off to this unknown place we are going. I checked the time before leaving and it was 8:10. It only took us about 20 minutes to get the the house where the party was. It was a somewhat big flat/house, it looked like mine when I was a kid. Sometimes when I see places like this, it makes me wonder if it was just as empty as mine was.

Mel turned the car off after finding a parking space, there was already a few bunch of cars parked there. We got out and shut the doors before walking up a stone walkway into the house. Mel knocked on the door and a guy answered the phone, he looked vaguely familiar.
"Mel, I'm glad you came." He said hugging her tightly, she smiles and turned towards me then spoke, "This is my best mate and flatmate Quinn. Quinn, this is Louis Tomlinson."

I smiled to him, then said, "Happy to meet you."
Then it lit up in my head; he was apart of One Direction.

"Glad to meet you." He said flashing a smile to me. He had messy brown hair, light scruff on his chin, and he had the prettiest sea green eyes.
He stepped aside to let us in, there were people everywhere. "A lot of people here, Lou." Mel stated as she looked around at all the people.

"Of course, come over here. I want you to meet my best mates." Lou said as we followed him into a room where there were people with cameras surrounding four boys and Simon Cowell. "Mel, this is Harry, Liam, Zayn and Niall. Mates, this is Melanie. We were best mates five years ago, this is her friend Quinn." Louis explained as the boys greeted us differently, Harry waved and said a 'hello'. Niall smiled, Zayn said, 'hello' and Liam shook our hands. Weird.

"Are you girls thirsty? We have drinks over there." Louis said pointing over to the directon where the drinks were located on a table. I walked over to the table and picked up a bottle of soda, the party was nice. I had never been to a single release party. Looking around, I saw some celebrities; I have to keep my cool. I saw Ed Sheeran and freaked out quietly.

Mel was talking to Niall before she headed over to me, "Relax, Quinn. Go talk to Louis. He's funny, he can help you open up." I was really shy around new people, and she knew it. It was worse now that there were celebrities around. She pulled me over to Louis and simply said, "Talk."

I looked at him, "I'm sorry, I'm shy." I explained looking at my feet, "You don't need to be, we are friendly people." He responded smiling at me.

"So how do know Mel?" He asked, I smiled and remembered back to my first day at the university.
"We were roomates at the university and hit it off, now we are living together." I explained, thinking back to how quiet I was when we first met.

I opened my dorm room door and walked in, there was a girl sitting on the bed closest to the door.

"Hey, I'm Melanie. What's your name?"
I set my bags down on the empty bed and said quietly, "Quinn."

She looked over at me and asked, "What are you majoring in?"

"I'm undecided." I replied quietly, she shot me a weird look and continued, "You don't talk much do you?"
I shook my head before she got up and threw an arm around my shoulder and said, "Don't worry, before too long you'll be crazy and fun after a while with me."

And I did, I opened up to her and became myself after a while.

He nodded and smiled then said, "She broke you out of your shell."
Nodding slowly, "Yeah, I was quiet. I had no friends. Now she is my bestfriend."

"What did you major in?" He asked lightly touching my arm, "I was undecided then went into music."

"So you're interested in music?"
"I have been since I was 8, my dad is a producer-" he cut me off and asked, "Who is your dad?"

"Matthew Hartley. He works for Syco and Sony." I replied before continuing, "Anyways, he raised me to have a career in music. But I second guessed myself then finally accepted majoring in music. But that got me nowhere, I work at a Starbucks now."

He gave me this 'I'm sorry' look and said, "Have you asked your dad for help?"
Scoffing, I replied "No, I want to show him I can do it without his help. He says when I get big, he wants to produce my albums. But for now, I post covers of songs on YouTube."

He chuckled as I raised my eyebrows, "You said big,"
I started laughing and smiled at him, "you have my sense of humor. I've never met anyone like that." He high fived me randomly.

We walked over to a couple chairs, I tripped in the process and he laughed before we sat down, "Sometimes I post funny videos just for fun." I added in smiling a little, he grinned.

"Really? What's your YouTube name?" He asked as he pulled out his phone, "TheRealQuinnHartley."

He typed something on his phone and put it away, "I'll look some up later." He added genuinely.

We got quiet for a few minutes before I randomly said, "I like carrots and owls."

He laughed out loud, "I love carrots! And the word boobies." I giggled and smiled, "Well Quinn, I can tell this is going to be a great friendship"

He added in putting an arm around my shoulder, I put my head down to hide the obvious red on my face. I pulled out my phone and said, "Smile!"

We made silly faces and I snapped it, I shared it to twitter and captioned, "MadCheesin' with @Louis_Tomlinson !"

I already followed him on Twitter, so it was easy to tag him. I wasn't a fangirl fan, but I liked their music.

I looked over to Mel and she just grinned at me, I thought to myself; 'What is she up to?'

Turning back to Louis, we kept talking and he started calling over some of his famous friends. He introduced me to the members of McFly and Ed Sheeran, I fangirled alittle and Ed, he was just so nice and sweet.

I feel like the rest of the night could be nice, Rory never crossed my mind once talking to Louis.