—15—

Waking up the next morning seemed to be easy. The sunlight shone through the windows, spilling onto the blankets and the pillows; even on my face, which seemed to lay in pool of light. A small moan escaped my lips as I stretched my arms into the air. A smile grew on my lips as I realized I’d gotten a full night’s rest.

Pushing the blankets aside, I climbed out of bed, not bothering to change out of my sweatpants and sports jersey. When I got to the kitchen, Ella was already up and munching on a bowl of Coco Puffs. I walked past her, ruffling that blonde head of hers.

A small grumble broke throughout the mouth of her’s, and I couldn’t help but laugh. “Don’t touch me, Sofia.”

“Oh, we’ve got a grouch this morning,” I giggled playfully.

When Ella snapped again, I decided that teasing her would only cause a fight, and that’s something I didn’t want. Instead, I headed into the kitchen for something to eat. After picking out a bagel with strawberry cream spread, I sat down next to my sister in the living room.

“So, you’re hanging out with, Styles today, right?” she mumbled, bringing a spoonful of cereal to her mouth.

“Yup,” I answered. “We’re going shopping for Christmas presents, then coming back here for a while.”

“When are you leaving?” Ella shoved another spoonful of Coco Puffs in her mouth.

I chuckled, teasing her. “Why, eager to get rid of me?”

Oblivious to the fact that I was joking, Ella nodded. I scoffed as I curled my feet underneath me and continued eating my bagel in silence. And when I didn’t like the silence, I reached for the remote, and flipped through the channels. Eventually, I stopped on an entertainment news channel. Usually, I wouldn’t bother with things like this, but there was nothing else on, and I didn’t feel like flipping through the other hundred or so channels.

As I mindlessly watched it, I learned a few new things. One is that I’m using Harry to get better fame, and another is that I’m carrying Harry’s child. I had to scoff at both as they were completely ridiculous, the last one more than me using Harry. First off, pregnant? How could they even come up with something as stupid as that?

However, I continued watching the pointless show no matter how demeaning it was. There was simply nothing else on, and I didn’t have the heart to change it. It was when Dad came stumbling into the living room when I changed it.

“Please, turn that off,” he grumbled, running a hand through his salt-and-pepper hair.

I raised my eyebrow, curious. “How come? You’re never really bothered by this stuff anyway.”

He shook his head. “Sweetheart, I’m just easily gruntled this morning.”

As soon as he finished speaking, I knew exactly what it was. My dad had no choice but to relax instead of throwing himself into his work, like he usually did every single day. My dad can be a fun guy sometimes, but when he threw himself into his work, he forgot how to relax and let go. The same thing happened last year when they arrived at the cottage. The very first day, I had to take away his electronics so he wouldn’t work, and he ended up being a disgruntled, grumpy bear.

However, I didn’t voice this to him. He wouldn’t be too happy with me and my honesty. Sometimes being honest got me places, but with my dad, it wouldn’t get me too far. Not when it came to him relaxing.

I nodded, and then proceeded to excuse myself to go to my room. When I entered my room, I immediately checked my phone for messages and only saw one new one from Harry.

Harry—Hii. Just messaging you to tell you that I’ll pick you up around eleven. See you soon Sofia (:

Excitement bubbled inside me as I realized I’d be hanging out with Harry again. A grin made it’s way to my lips, and I looked down at the message again. The thought of hugging Harry and seeing him pulling at my door turned my cheeks pink.

Then a frantic thought came to mind.

What would I wear?

I ran over to my dresser, pulling out all the drawers. I shoved clothes aside that wouldn’t look good today, like the tan, spotted blouse with the bow in front or the plaid shirt. When I found my white v-neck and my black and grey scarf, I decided it would look best with my black leather jacket. I yanked out a dark pair of jeans and rushed to put on the outfit, eager to see how it looked.

When I managed to put on all articles of clothing I pulled out, I stood in front of the mirror. The black leather jacket, and the scarf really looked good together, hiding my white shirt. The dark jeans was a good choice, even. My eyes landed on my light-brown hair. I frowned. It was everywhere, completely disheveled. I haven’t even touched my hair yet. I brushed through my hair, and tangled my fingers inside, beginning to braid through it.

A braid would do, I thought.

When I finished, I checked the time on my phone.

10:56

Grabbing a pair of flats, I rushed out my door with my phone and wallet in hand. I passed by Ella and Dad on the couch as I rushed to the door. When I spotted a black, range rover sitting idly on the side of the road, I pulled out my phone.

Is that you on the side of the road?

Moments later my phone buzzed.

Harry—Yeah, lol. Now come outside :)

Shoving my phone in my pocket, I ran outside, throwing a small goodbye over my shoulder. My feet moved me faster towards the range rover, my stomach flipping due to the thought of seeing Harry in mere seconds. I arrived at the range rover sooner than I thought would. Climbing inside, a sheepish smile fell on my lips.

“Hi, Sofia,” Harry breathed, and reached towards me for a hug. I leaned over the console, wrapping my arms around Harry, feeling my heartbeat increase as the space between us lessened. Just as we were about to pull away, Harry’s lips came in contact with my cheek. They burned red immediately.

“Hi, Harry,” I squeaked.

What was wrong with me? After not seeing Harry for a few weeks, I was blushing, my heartbeat was beating erratically around him, and my stomach decided it was in gymnastics and began doing flips around Harry. Not only that, but I squeaked. I never squeak.

It seemed Harry didn’t notice the pitch change in my voice. He simply turned his attention to the road as I strapped the belt around my body. As Harry began driving, he started asking questions.

“So, how’s it going?”

I let out a relieved sigh, glad I could focus my attention on something else besides the small possibility of having a crush on Harry. “Things are going better than expected. It’s really nice to come back to the cottage. It’s like home to me.”

Harry only raised an eyebrow. “How long have you been coming to England?”

“Since I was fifteen,” I answered, a smile resting on my lips, as I remembered our first trip to England. “It was a year after I had become famous, you know, and everything seemed to tear my family apart. My mom didn’t come with because had better things to do. That was the first time she didn’t want anything to do with my family. Anyway, it was just Ella, Dad and I that went to the Cottage. It was one of the best three weeks I’ve ever spent with my family. We ended up being so close after that, and when we came home, everything seemed to change between my family. It seemed Ella, Dad and I were the family while my mom just wanted out and to do her own thing.” I paused for a moment to breath, to gather the courage to say the next sentence. “A month after we came back, Mom announced she wanted a divorce. We were all a mess after that.”

“Hey, hey, hey, don’t cry,” Harry reached over and entwined his fingers with mine, squeezing my hand gently. “Sofia, why are you crying?”

My free hand reached up and touched the edges of my eyes. Sure enough, unnoticable tears were rolling down my cheeks. I cursed underneath my breath and wiped away at the tears, not wanting to cry in front of Harry.

Sniffling, I turned to him. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to cry, it’s just.. I never talk about this stuff to anyone. I don’t have a best friend, and I can’t trust Tatiana with any of this. You are the only person willingly hanging out with me besides my family. And, my family doesn’t count.”

“It’s okay, you can tell me all about these things,” Harry squeezed his hand, glancing at me as he drove. “I’d like to know all about them.”

“Maybe when we come back,” I relaxed into the seat, “I don’t want to make this trip a sad one. Hey, do you have CD’s in here?”

“Just Backstreet Boys, but I don’t think-” Harry began, but I quickly cut him off with an excited squeal.

“Please put it in! I haven’t listened to them in such a long time, oh my gosh,” My cheeks turned red from embarrassment as I realized my outburst, however Harry didn’t seem to mind. He removed our entwined fingers to grab a CD from the center console, and slipped it in the player.

Minutes later, Harry and I were singing at the top of our lungs to quite a bit of the songs including ‘Quit Playing Games with my Heart’ and ‘I Want It That Way’.

I couldn’t help but feel a certain warmth in the pit of my stomach. Sure, just minutes ago I was upset unintentionally and wanted nothing more than to go back home and crawl inside my bed, but Harry managed to turn my mood around with just a simple Backstreet Boys CD, holding my hand, and his smile with those cute dimples of his.

Was it safe to say I liked Harry yet?

________________________

I think this chapter is overdue. Also, if there's not alot of updates followed after this chapter, than it's probably because I have zero inspiration to write. However i managed to come up with baby. And I'm sorry ifthis sucks major ass. ): Like I said, I had zero inspiration lately, and this was a chapter to give to you guys as a 'sorry' for it. But enjoy this chapter as much as you can.  -Chey xx