Happily - One Direction

ISABELLA

The heat of Harry's breath touches my lips. I inhale sharply, my insides twisting into mayhem. The grip that he has on my waist tightens. He brings my body closer towards his own. Our fronts pressed together. His eyes shift down from my eyes to my lips. His hard stare focused on my lips.

He leans in closer, our lips mere inches away.

Suddenly, a booming shriek of a ringtone sounds throughout the bedroom. A vibration comes from my back pocket, breaking me from this trance that Harry has encapsulated me into. My body bolts away from his grasp, his hands shooting away from me and running through his hair.

I get up from my seat on the bed, pulling my cell phone from my pocket. My heart drops as I read the call display. Chase.

Without a minute of hesitation, I press answer. "Hey." My voice is steady, a complete contrast from the rapid thump of my heart.

"Hey!" His voice is cheerful on the other end. "I'm sorry I missed your call. I was at work."

"It's fine." I look over at Harry. His head is faced down. His jaw is locked tight. His steady glare is focused on his interlocked hands.

"What was wrong?" Chase's voice is full of concern. I immediately feel guilty. I had completely disregarded my relationship with Chase, putting myself into a situation that would have set me up for cheating. Something that I was not was a cheater. Yet, with one simple glance with Harry's vibrant green eyes, and I forget all of my morals.

Get yourself together, Izzy.

"I had an urgent call from the American consulate. It's fine now."

I hear Chase exhale a breath. "I'm so sorry babe. How did you get down there?"

I hesitate before answering him. Chase and I have yet to discuss Harry and our... friendship. It has been a topic of discussion that I have wanted to bring up for a while now, but have not found the appropriate time to do so. I guess this is the best time.

"Harry." I answer, with an ounce of hesitation.

"Styles?" He asks, his voice confused. Harry looks up at me, his eyes slightly widen and curious. He too wasn't expecting me to disclose our friendship. I know I sure wasn't.

"That would be him." I laugh awkwardly. I bite down on my lip, turning away from Harry's intense stare.

"I didn't realize you two were friends. Still." His voice is hard to read. Great. "I don't like him, Iz. He's a dick."

"He's not that bad," I turn my body away from Harry, walking out of the bedroom. The more distance that I can create between us the better. The sexual tension that lingers between us is suffocating. I shut the door behind me, standing in the kitchen, leaning my body against the counter. My eyes focused on the dirty dish that sits inside the sink. "We're friends."

"I don't like him, Ella. I don't like him at all."

"You don't really know him, though." I weakly argue back.

"I know him more than you think. You can't trust him. If you stay friends with him, he'll hurt you, and I can't let that happen."

"Harry and I were friends before we even met."

"You two met at the dinner party." He states. I begin to realize that he didn't know about my friendship with Harry.

"We met at the bookstore."

"Ah." Chase's voice goes up, as if something has clicked. "That's where he spends all his time. At the bookstore. With you." His voice isn't angry or jealous. It's steady, full of complete realization.

"We're friends, I told you this already."

"Please, just stay away from him."

I let out a long sigh. If there was one thing that bothered me the most, was men, or boyfriends rather, who think they can dictate who their girlfriends can and cannot be friends with. I am my own person. Ever since preschool, I have been choosing who my friends are. Harry and I are friends. This is something that no boyfriend can tell me otherwise.

"No."

"Izzy, please. I don't trust him."

"Good for you. I do trust him." With every fibre in me, I fight to keep my voice steady. A fight is the last thing that I want to do with Chase. Especially over something ridiculous like my choice to be friends with Harry.

His sigh is longwinded. I can sense the frustration that Chase is fighting to keep at bay. He takes a moment, collecting his thoughts, before he speaks once again. "If he hurts you, I will kill him." There is no playfulness in his tone. It is serious and straight to the point. I shudder.

"He wont hurt me."I say lightly, hoping that he will believe me. "Trust me?" I ask.

"I trust you. It's him who I don't." And there's a good reason why. The guy almost kissed you, my subconscious voice reminds me. Her hands are on her hips and she has a knowing look plastered on her face. She knows that being friends with Harry is treading on ice. The possibility of something happening is high. But, of course, I ignore it. I allow my stubborn nature getting in the way.

"Are you home now?" He asks me. I stay silent. "You're with him right now, aren't you." He doesn't ask. The tiny bit of guilt that I felt before returns.

"Yes."

Chase sighs once more. "Okay." What kind of girlfriend are you? My subconscious mocks. I quickly tell her to shut up, not needing to allow her input having an effect on me. I will not feel bad about this. I choose not to. "Can I see you later?"

"Yes."

"Movie night? My place?"

"I'd love that." I smile to myself. Thankful that this conversation didn't escalate. The probability of it turning into an argument was high, but thankfully it didn't go that way.

I hear the door to the bedroom open. I look and see Harry walk out. His eyes are facing me. His vibrant green eyes darkened. His hair is a tousled mess on top of his head. I push any desire to run my fingers through it down. He has a smirk plastered on his lips as he walks over to me. He leans his tall frame against the fridge. Not once has his eyes left mine. I feel vulnerable under his glare.

"I'll see you later." Chase speaks into the other line, breaking me free from my trance on Harry's plump lips.

"Okay. See you tonight. Bye." I hang up the call, placing my phone back into my jean pocket.

"Boyfriend?" Harry asks. His lips are pursed together, his eyes glaring down at me.

"That would be him." I laugh lightly, running my fingers through my curls.

"He has shit timing. You should tell him that."

My mind goes back to everything that could have happened if Chase hadn't called. A sinking feeling tips into the base of my soul. My heart speeds up and my palms feel sweaty.

"We need to talk about that." I sit up on the counter, my legs dangling over the edge. My eyes catch onto a loose thread on the knee of my jeans. I begin to pick at it, hoping to keep my hands busy. "You and I. If we are going to be friends, we need to set some boundaries. It's clear that there's some," I pause, "some sexual tension between us. That needs to go." I look up and am met with the same smirk that I have become well acquainted with.

"Sexual tension?" He quirks an eyebrow.

"Yes." I reply. "We clearly have this weird pull between us. I know you feel it too, don't deny it."

"I never denied it, Isabella." He smirked as he takes one step towards me. His hands are placed on either side of my body. His scent engulfing me. I struggle to keep my distance.

"I think," I stammer. The words not wanting to come out properly. "I think we could be great friends. And, and I know that we could never be anything more than friends. Obviously."

"Is it really obvious?" His raspy voice sends a thrill down to my core. I sit up straighter, hoping to create some distance. "I think we could be more than friends," he purrs into my ear. His lips lingering close to my neck. Close enough to leave a kiss if he wanted to.

Chase was right. Maybe Harry can't be trusted. And neither can you, clearly.

"I really like Chase." I whisper.

"Why? What the hell do you see in that prick?" His voice remains steady. His eyes staring deep into my own.

"He's kind." Harry lets out a loud scoff.

"Just because a guy is nice doesn't mean you should date him."

"He treats me well." I argue back.

"With daddy's money."

"He works too, you know." I feel myself become defensive over Chase. Even though he had his quirks and things about him that I didn't necessarily agree with, he was my boyfriend. And that was that.

"What do you and Chase talk about?" Harry asked me. He stepped away from me, his body no longer trapping me in with his own. Instead, he jumps up and takes a seat beside me on the counter. Our legs dangle over the edge. My fingers interlocked and laying on top of my lap. "Does he read Jane Austen? Or, does he even know who the Arctic Monkeys are?" His eyes are curious as they look at me, an eyebrow quirked up and his lips relaxed.

"I've played him some of their stuff. He will play me some of his music too. He's very open to my interests."

"Huh. So you have a teacher-student thing going on. You tutor him on your interests."

"Stop. Not funny." I look at Harry. He shakes his head as he continues on.

"No, really. I'm just curious. What do you talk about?"

"Life. Movies. Everything."

"Huh." Harry glances at me before looking back at the wall in front of his. "It's just, whenever I hear him and Ben talk it doesn't seem like you'd be interested in him. He's not very interesting. That's all."

I let out a little scoff. I roll my eyes before turning my body so that it is facing his. "Well, Chase is very interesting. We talk about a ton of things. He's my boyfriend. I wouldn't be with him if I found him boring."

"Okay." He takes another glance at me. He nods his head slowly. The front of his teeth bite down on his lower lip, bringing it into his mouth before he slowly releases it. His brows are furrowed in concentration. I can almost see his thoughts flash through his eyes. He flutters his lashes closed before he opens his eyes once more. He turns so that he is facing me again, a small smile plastered on his lips. "Okay. I guess I don't know him that well."

"You don't know him at all."

"Alright, love." I ignore the feeling inside of my chest that happens at the simplicity of the little nickname. "So. Rules."

"Right." I straighten my back, so that I am sitting upwards. Harry does the same. He kicks my foot gently with his own. Involuntarily, my foot kicks him back, earning a small chuckle from him. "Rule number one, no flirting."

"But you make it so easy to do so," he winks.

"No winking! Rule number two. No winking."

"But what if it's a blink? You can't rule out blinking. That's just inhumane!" He jokes, causing another eye roll from me.

"Harry, I'm serious. No flirting of any kind. Friends don't flirt with other friends. If you want me to still be around, you will not fan the flame of this damn sexual tension between us."

"Got it. Then, rule number three. No dresses, skirts, or shorts when you are around me." He says completely serious. I look over at him amused.

"Excuse me? What exactly do you expect me to wear?"

"A parka preferably." He says, his voice deadpanned.

"Harry, don't be ridiculous."

"If you want me to have a hard on whenever I'm around you, then you will wear jeans."

I gasp, hitting his shoulder lightly. "You're a pervert."

"I'm sorry but your ass and legs are sexy as fuck. If you don't want me to be attracted to you, you will need to stop dressing like," he motions towards my clothes.

"That was the most sexist thing you could say. I'm going to wear whatever I want."

"Then I'm going to flirt with you."

"Harry," I warn. He sighs defeated.

"Fine. Whatever."

Jumping off the counter, I stand in front of Harry. His eyes are focused intently on me as I stand before him. My hands have found home on my hips. "I want this to work. You and I. The last thing I want is to stop being around you because of whatever physical attraction we feel towards one another. I like hanging out with you. I like being able to talk to you about books and music and just be. You challenge me and I appreciate that."

"And Chase doesn't?" His tone isn't cocky but filled with mere curiosity.

"He's different. He reminds me of home, of my family. It's weird I guess. The fact that he's everything that I was trying to get away from. But, I guess I can't explain it. There's something about Chase that draws me in. I like being with him. We've only known each other for two months, I know that, but - I can't help it. He's my first real boyfriend."

"Your first real boyfriend?"

"Yeah." My cheeks flush. I look down at the ground, embarrassed by my sudden admission.

"Alright then." Harry shrugs his shoulders. He jumps off the counter, startling me in the process. "Rule number four. No more talking about Chase. I can't stand the dick, even if he's your boyfriend."

"No talking about Chase. Got it."

"Let's go get something to eat, I'm starving." As Harry says this, he passes by me and towards his leather jacket that has somehow been pushed under the mattress. I laugh to myself before grabbing my own coat and bag before following Harry out the door and towards the late London air.