One more because I'm putting off studying for my exams... :) x

Like whenever I looked forward to something, the day dragged by. I felt like we should for sure be getting out of school when it was actually only lunchtime. After sitting down, I was in a quiet yet good mood as I ate. Listening to my friends chatter about their plans, I wasn't even the slightest bit disappointed I would be missing out. Whenever I was directly spoken to, I answered, but didn't actively partake in the conversation. My mind was too wrapped up in Harry and our plans later.

After what felt like decades, it was finally time to go home for the day. I said a quick goodbye to my friends, telling them to have a good time tonight, and rushed out to the parking lot. Hoping to catch a glimpse of Harry, my eyes scanned the tarmac. There was no sign of him, however, so I guessed he must have already made it out. Luckily I had beaten most of the crowd out as well, so I was home before I knew it. As I climbed out of my car, I looked down the street towards Harry's house. I smiled at the thought of hanging out with him there in just a few short hours.

I knew the instant I walked into my house that the next few hours would be torturously slow. Trying to distract myself, I decided to take a shower and get myself ready to kill some time. Being that it was just after three at the moment, I had nearly four hours to get ready, which was more than enough time. I took a shower, standing under the flowing water unnecessarily long, trying to waste as much time as possible. When I finished and started getting ready, I began to feel the absurd nerves that always struck whenever I had to get ready for a big event.

Usually, I ended up trying so hard to make myself look like I do every day that the final product was so far off I had to start over. Sitting down in front of my mirror, I took a deep breath, trying to get myself to relax. Come on, Joey, chill out. It's just another Friday night. With Harry. Oh god. I stared at my reflection, frustrated with myself for being such a wreck. Breathing out, I told myself I was being silly. Harry probably didn't even notice that type of thing, but that didn't mean I didn't want to look nice for him. My blue eyes stared back at me as I finally managed to start getting ready.

After a while, I was satisfied that I looked presentable, yet still casual. Perfect for a night in with him. Not wanting to look like I put much thought into it, I let my long brown hair dry naturally to its wavy state and lay down my back.

Getting dressed, however, proved to be even more difficult. After digging through nearly half my closet, I finally settled on a pair of dark skinny jeans and a plain white v-neck. I was still worried I looked too casual, but I couldn't find anything else that felt right. In addition, I also didn't want to make Harry any more uncomfortable than he already undoubtedly would be by wearing some ridiculously inappropriate outfit.

By the time I was finished getting ready, it was only 5:30, leaving me with over an hour to kill before I could go to his house. Once again, I could feel the butterflies growing in my stomach. Why was I so nervous? I had finally admitted to myself that I wanted to know more about Harry, liked spending time with him, and obviously, I really enjoyed kissing him. The prospect of doing all three of those tonight had my stomach in nervous, excited knots.

He was so different from anybody I had ever hung out with- so quiet, shy, modest, and genuinely kind. Not to mention, completely unaware to how ridiculously attractive he was. I had never heard him say a negative thing about anyone, even though he was continuously picked on by people at school. He was so sweet, something I had hardly ever experienced in a boy, and I was completely fascinated with him after only a week of getting to know him.

Despite feeling this way about him, I was still completely in the dark as to how he felt about me. I had no idea if he actually enjoyed spending time with me, or was only doing so because of the project or I had asked him to. Surely he was too shy to ever ask me to hang out on his own, but had he wanted to? I hoped after tonight I would at least have a clue to how he felt.

After lying on my bed and staring at my ceiling for an hour and a half, stomach being eaten alive by nerves, it was finally time to head over to Harry's. I stopped by the mirror one last time, checking to make sure I still looked alright before heading downstairs to put on my shoes and leave. Locking the door behind me, I started to walk down the driveway. Distracted, as I had been all day, by thoughts of Harry, I didn't even notice my friends all standing in Jack's driveway across the street.

"Joey!" someone called to me, ripping me out of my reverie. Startled, I looked toward where they were gathered. I smiled and waved at them, trying to continue on my way before they all motioned for me to join them. Sighing, I crossed the street, hoping to escape as soon as possible. I was relieved to see that Colt was missing. Probably off with a random sophomore doing god knew what.

"Hey guys, what's up?" I asked unenthusiastically.

"We were just about to go eat before the movie, what are you doing?" Jack asked with a raised eyebrow. Clearly he had forgotten I already told them of my plans to hang out with Harry. I squinted at him, pressing my lips together.

"I was just heading to Harry's. I told you we had plans, remember?" I said, trying not to sound too exasperated.

"Oh... right yeah, forgot about that," Will chimed in, shooting an unreadable look at Lydia, who was looking at me with a smile on her face. It almost looked natural.

"Yeah... but I'll see you guys tomorrow for Lydia's party," I reminded them, still wanting to make an effort to seem excited, even though my desire to go was extremely low.

"Yay! Can't wait," Lydia said, still attempting to smile normally.

"Me too. But hey, I have to go, I don't want to be late," I said, dismissing myself. "Have fun at your movie!"

"Thanks! See you tomorrow, Jo," Jack said as the rest of them waved at me. Haley, I noticed, hadn't said a word to me. I waved back as I started to head across the street, once again on route to Harry's house. Relieved to have made it away from them without any rude comments, I took this as a good sign for the night.

As I passed the large oak tree in front of Harry's house, I felt my heartbeat speed up considerably. Get it together, Joey, I scolded myself. Walking up the porch, I heard the same squeak I had heard when Harry's sister had come out and almost caught us under the tree. The sound brought a smile to my lips, bringing the memory back in full force.

Reaching the door, I let out a heavy exhale before raising my hand to knock. I stood there for a few seconds, heart pounding in my chest, about to start panicking that he wasn't home when the door swung open, revealing his beautiful face, complete with glasses and all. I smiled instantly.

"Hey," I beamed up at him, still shocked by his towering height.

"Hello," he said shyly, opening the door wide enough for me to walk through. Once inside, I took a quick look around. This was my first time being inside his house. Immediately, I saw that there were photos of him and his family everywhere- pictures of him with his sister, him with his mom, family photos, and most noticeably, photos of him with his dad.

I felt a pang of sadness strike my heart as I was reminded again how his father was no longer around. His house was nicely furnished with a comfortable lived in feeling; you could easily tell that this was a house full of love. After my brief inspection of what I could see of his home, I turned around to look at him. He was self-consciously watching me, gauging my reaction to his residence.

"I love your house," I said, looking him in the eye and meaning it. It was the kind of house anyone would love to live in, full of family, memories, and obviously love.

"Um, thank you," he said, shifting his weight from one foot to the other, hands clasped tightly in front of him. I smiled at him.

"So how are you this evening, Harry?" I asked, trying to get him to relax a bit.

"F-fine, you?" he asked, tentatively looking at me.

"I'm great," I smiled. "Shall we order some pizza? I'm starving."

"Sure," he said. After quickly deciding on an all meats pizza, both of our favorites, he called the place and ordered. I was surprised to hear the steady, deep tone in his voice as he spoke. It was the tone he had only used with me a few times, when he was most at ease.

His eyes were focused on the phonebook, large hand pressing the phone to his ear. From my place leaning over the counter across from him, I could see the veins and tendons running through the back of his hand at the slightest movement. He didn't seem to notice me observing him. After he hung up the phone, he turned to me and smiled slightly.

"So. What should we do?" he asked, clearly hoping I had some ideas.

"Erm, movie?" I suggested. Movies were easy.

"Sure, we can pick one out downstairs," he said, getting up from his seat in the kitchen to lead me down the steps. I pushed myself up off the counter, following him. Aside from our somewhat awkward greeting, he seemed the most at ease I had ever seen him in his own house. I decided before we even made it down the steps that I would make him choose the movie, eager to see what he would select.

Sure enough, when he led me over to where all the DVDs were stacked, he politely said to me, "Pick whichever you like."

"I think you should pick," I said, grinning at him. He looked slightly uncomfortable.

"Oh, no, you really can. Whatever one you want," he replied, smiling just slightly at me.

"Harry, I'm hopelessly indecisive. You're going to have to choose or we'll end up sitting here staring at each other all night," I hoped that would scare him into choosing. I wasn't wrong. After swallowing, he bent down to examine the selection. I was surprised when he pulled out The Shawshank Redemption. Not at all the usual boy film choice. I grinned happily as he held it up, as if to make sure it was okay with me.

"Very impressive choice, Mr. Styles," I said, flashing him a cheesy smile.

"Impressive, huh?" he asked, hint of a smile in his eyes, glad that I had seemed to like his choice.

"Well yeah, not a car chase or warrior fight to the death in the entire movie," I joked. "Not very typical for a boy."

"Well... I'm not exactly the typical boy, I suppose..." he trailed off, a slight blush creeping over his cheeks as if embarrassed that he wasn't. I couldn't be more happy that he was far from typical.

"No, you certainly are not," was all I said, aiming my close mouthed smile at his back as he turned to insert the disk. He didn't say anything as he set things up. Looking around, I saw that there were two comfortable looking chairs and a couch in the living room. The choice obvious to me, I made my way to the couch, where I sat on one side. This way he had the option of still sitting on the same piece of furniture, but still giving him some space. I already knew it would take some coaxing for him to come near me.

Once he had finished, he turned around to see that I had sat down. I saw his eyes nervously dash around the room, quickly taking in all the different places he had available to sit. I thought about patting the seat next to me to encourage him, but I wanted to see what his choice would be on his own. Perhaps I'd get a small clue as to where his thoughts were.

After a small moment of hesitation, he made his way to the other side of the couch I sat on. Trying not to look smug or thrilled, I focused on keeping my face composed in a neutral expression. The couch was big enough that there were about two feet of space between us. Sneaking a glance over at him, I desperately wanted to move closer. His face was set an unreadable expression as he gazed directly ahead at the TV before turning his face slightly toward me. Upon seeing my gaze, he quickly averted his eyes forward again, peering through his glasses.

His posture looked tense and not at all comfortable, feet planted on the ground and arms hanging awkwardly at his sides, face straight forward. I could feel the corners of my mouth turning up, finding his awkward position adorable.

***

Thanks for reading! Do you guys have any feedback for me? For those of you waiting for things to... erm... get sexual, don't worry, it's coming ;) x