Brevity

I should’ve known better. Damn it, I should’ve known better. A “lunch with Nick” was quite obviously going to literally translate to “a lunch with Harry Styles”.

Due to my lack of judgement and my arguably excessive amount of trust within my best friend, I now found myself walking towards a curly-headed teenager with tattoos that made me want to punch myself in the face - wishing that the ground would swallow me whole, or at the least, wishing that I wore shoes that I was able to run away in.

He had a smirk the size of England plastered on his face, his hair lazily pulled back with a bandana and a white v-neck that hung obnoxiously low so that the two sparrows inked on his chest were visible. He got to his feet as soon as he saw me, an eyebrow quirked.

"Expensive sunglasses, pretentious high heels and a Mulberry handbag. You must be Harley Soto."

I pursed my lips, giving him a once over before clicking my tongue against the back of my teeth, “Annoying dimples, obnoxious tattoos and painted-on skinny jeans. You must be Harry Styles.”

His smirk grew wider and his eyes seemed to shine at that, “It’s about time we met.”

I scoffed, “I still think it’s a little too soon.”

He chuckled lowly and darted his tongue across his lips as I took a seat opposite him, placing my handbag on top of the table in front of me and taking another glance at him, “I must admit though, I’m quite impressed that you recognised the Mulberry.”

Harry shrugged, “I’ve been to a few fashion shows.”

"That’s awfully camp of you, young Harold." I smirked and his face lit up with an amused smile.

"That’s debatable." He replied, "Drink?"

I would’ve declined; said that I was here for Nick and if he wasn’t coming then I’d be on my way, but the Sun was hot and the umbrella that stood in the centre of the table did little to supply shade, “If you’re offering, I’ll take a strawberry milkshake.”

"I’ll be right back," he nodded, pushing his chair out and heading inside to the small cafe we were sat outside of. Leaning back in my chair, I pushed my sunglasses a little further up my nose and swiped my thumb across my phone screen, unlocking it and searching for Nick’s contact.

So who’s idea was this then?

It took about thirty seconds of me tapping my nails against the table before Nick replied.

I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about. Have fun. Xx

I looked up from my phone at the sound of a glass being placed on the table, a charming smile on Harry’s face as he returned to his seat, “One strawberry milkshake for the lady. I even asked for an umbrella.”

I exhaled with a small smile, “Going the extra mile - such a charmer.”

Harry nodded, taking a sip from his own milkshake before looking at me intently, “So what made you so hesitant to come to lunch?”

I took a long sip of my drink and furrowed my eyebrows in thought, “For the record, I’m still hesitant. This was a trap.”

Harry laughed, raising both arms in surrender, “This was Nick’s idea. He thinks we’re destined because we have the same initials.”

"Oh god, don’t I know it. It’s all he ever talks about," I breathed, brushing some hair out of my face. I placed my glass on the table and gave Harry a thoughtful look, "Why did you want me to come to lunch so bad?"

Harry shrugged with one shoulder, “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

I cocked an eyebrow, “Like what?”

"Well Nick always says that you’re a good laugh, and well - I’ve seen pictures of you that Nick’s shown me before, and I thought you just- you seemed like a nice girl, I guess."

I nodded slowly with a small smile, “I like that response. We’re going to get along, kid.”

"Who are you calling kid?" He challenged with a dimpled smirk.

"You."

"And why’s that?"

"You’re still a teenager."

"Only for another month."

I smiled back as his smirk turned to an amused grin and he pushed his sunglasses onto the top of his head to show the sparkle in his eyes, “Who says that we’ll be friends in a month?”

"You just said we’re going to get along."

"Don’t push your luck, Styles."

The lunch with Harry surprisingly wasn’t unbearable. It wasn’t fun but it was nice. He spoke a lot but he also listened a lot, and he’d told me stories about his family, his band, his friends, and just about every aspect of his life. I’d stuck to mainly talking about Nick because it was mutual territory, but a part of me just didn’t want to give too much of myself away to this stupid teenager. I would never admit that the lunch was a pleasant experience to Nick, though, especially not now; as he interrogated me about my day and tried his very best to get some form of positive response, all whilst I tried to get ready for a party that he'd forced me into.

"So you’re telling me that you didn’t even enjoy his company?"

I shrugged with one shoulder, brushing the mascara wand over my eyelashes with a small sigh, “it was okay, it wasn’t anything special, but- it was cool.”

Nick raised both eyebrows at me, “it was cool?”

I nodded, finally turning around to face my best friend, “I’m still mad at you for setting it all up.”

He rolled his eyes with a scoff, “You loved it, Harley. Bloody loved it.”

"Look, I didn’t not enjoy it… but I’m not gonna bother to do it all again." Nick huffed as I turned back around in my seat and went back to my makeup.

"Well," He paused, "You'll be seeing him later."

I froze for a second and caught his eye in the mirror, "Why?"

"It's his best friend's party."

"Nick, you shit!" I squeaked, turning around once again and throwing a used makeup wipe at him, "You planned this!"

He laughed whole-heartedly as he picked up the offending item that had landed on his right leg, throwing it into the bin and grinning at me widely, "Hmmm, accidentally planned."

"How can you accidentally plan?"

"Well, I was going to make you come along anyway, but then when I realised that Louis is Harry's best mate, it was just like fate was practically demanding me to force my good ol' friend to the lovely shindig."

"God," I huffed, "You're a tit."

"I pride that, Harley, I do. It is very important to me that I piss you off more and more everyday."

"I can tell."