Renleigh Kensington

There was a lot on my mind as I sat in my car and waited for the lights to turn green. I opened up the McDonald's bag that sat on the seat next to me and the smell of food instantly filled up my car. My stomach grumbled as I fished for the chips I got with my menu and the minute my fingers found the little holder, the lights changed colour. It had literally been a second and whoever was behind me already sat on their horn to get me to move.

"Suck my dick," I shouted as I looked in the rear-view mirror and sped off. "Idiots."

I was a bit stressed and I also had bad road rage. People were annoying in general but when they got to sit behind a wheel, they became even more irritating. Or maybe I didn't have enough patience to deal with their shit. Which is more likely. But also, there were some stupid ass people out there.

Like me.

I actually couldn't believe myself after I dropped Harry off at home. I went home and something came over me when I decided to meet up with an old friend of mine. Who betrayed me by not standing up for me after everything that went down with my ex.

It was Candi, before anyone feels confused. I would have never met up with Megan. The simple fact that she was dating a cheater was enough for me to never want to associate myself with her ever again. Plus, the whole act she put on at my charity event pissed me off too much to even think of her so whatever.

Anyways. I did meet up with Candi and it was... interesting.

Is that your way of saying awkward, slightly forced and fucking fake?

OK. So, maybe it was all of those. But I didn't expect anything more. I thought it was awkward because it had been ages since we saw each other and we were in a weird situation because how is one meant to act when they are face to face with someone who did them wrong in the past? It was slightly forced because of the whole vibe between us. There was no other way to describe it. And fake because it was forced and awkward.

I couldn't wait to leave and tell Styles about it.

Which was why I was back in my car and on my way to his headquarters. He was supposed to come to the shops with me anyway so I thought we could just go from there together.

Together. Him and I. Wow. What a weird concept.

Genuinely, I never would have thought I would end up with anyone before I turned thirty. Especially not with someone who I viewed as nothing more than a competition. At the start, anyway. Because no matter how hard I tried to push him away and make him dislike me by being difficult and not giving into him, he did not budge. Which meant that the more he was around me, the more accustomed I got to having him around and now I just felt weird if he wasn't.

And I know, my words contradict my thoughts and I just have no actions that show anything. But I just don't want to get played. At least, I didn't at first. Because now, it's pretty clear that he is all for me. Which is what I have always wanted. Someone who is just there for me all the time and doesn't expect much from me and loves and cares for me. Styles is that person for me. It just took a shit ton of time and arguing with him to get it through my thick skull.

I sat in my car in the car park after I got to his building. I finished off my chicken selects and chips then gathered my rubbish and as I passed by a bin outside, I chucked it in it. I moved my sunglasses onto the top of my head as I sipped on my drink and walked inside.

"Good afternoon, how may I help?" the receptionist smiled up at me as soon as she saw me.

"Hey, I'm here to see Harry—Mr Styles, I mean," I corrected myself.

"Do you have an appointment?"

No. "Yes. It should be off the books, though."

"Oh?"

"It's a surprise," I looked at her convincingly. A few moments later, I realised how bad that sounded but it didn't matter because she probably already had certain thoughts running around her head. If I would have tried to explain myself, it would have just made it worse.

"His office is on the top floor," she smiled and I nodded before I thanked her. I have been here before so it was a somewhat familiar ride up to the top floor.

I wondered if his office being on the top floor was because it made him feel powerful. I know that was the reason why mine was there.

As I got out of the lift, I walked past a massive meeting room that had clear glass windows and so I could see inside. I stopped in my tracks when I saw a woman sitting inside and a rather pissed off Harry walking up and down. He had a grey suit on with a blue shirt underneath. His hair was styled nicely and he looked so good.

Maybe it was my figure or the way my heels clicked against the floor that caught his attention, but he looked up at me. He seemed surprised and he glanced at his watch that adorned his wrist. I watched him look back at the woman and then to me again. He nodded to the side which made me turn my head, only to find he subtly told me to wait in his office.

The black door with the silver accent was so like his style. Every time I came to face it, it just made me think of him and also make me realise how different our taste was. His office was empty and bright with all the windows allowing the light to come inside. They attracted me to look after I placed my bag on his desk and stood in front of the massive glass. So, maybe our taste wasn't so different. 

As I watched the ant sized people walk around and go about their days with my arms crossed, I didn't even realise when Styles finally came in.

"Sorry about that... didn't expect you to come by," I heard him say as he took a seat behind his desk. I kept my gaze where it was all this time but I could still make out as he turned with his chair to look at me.

"I did something stupid."

"Oh, no," he chuckled. I shot him a glare and he smirked. "What did you do?"

"I met up with Candi," I said. Harry didn't reply to that and when I turned to look at him again, I found him to be busy looking at me. His fingers pinched his bottom lip whilst his other hand hung off of the arm of his chair. Just like he did most of the time, he was manspreading. "Oi! Are you listening?" I snapped my fingers in front of his face.

"You had candy... how is that stupid?"

"Ugh. I hate you so much."

"Lies," he grinned as he looked at me. I raised my eyebrows as he stood up and unfolded my arms. His hands ran down them until he could intertwine his fingers with mine. "You look incredible, did you know?"

"Yes but-,"

"Like, you are stunning," he continued as he leaned closer and kissed my temple. He placed his arm around my shoulder and pulled me along to the black leather couch he had in the office. "C'mon, tell me about this candy thing."

"I'm not on about the food. I'm on about my ex-friend."

"Oh," he mumbled as he sat down and then patted the furniture beside him. "Put your fine ass on here and tell me then."

"You are being so weird," I said as I did as he said. "But whatever. After I dropped you off, I met up with Candi and we spoke and it was so weird. Like, I feel like she is probably bitching about me to the others."

"Others?" he asked back. "I thought that friendship group is no longer a friendship group."

"Okay and? That doesn't mean they won't hit each other up and gossip about me."

"You are overthinking this too much, darling," he told me with a little smile on his face. He was not in a serious mood so I couldn't talk to him properly. He made jokes and took this lightly which I didn't want. I turned away from him and crossed my arms as he still had one of his legs up on the couch whilst he leaned against the backrest with his elbow.

"What's wrong with you?" I decided to ask. As an answer, I only got a loud sigh. I glanced at him from the corner of my eye to find his stare on me. It was intense and didn't seem like he would look away any time soon. "Are you going to kill me or something?"

"Do you want me to?"

"Wait, can you?" I questioned as I turned back to him.

"Is that a trick question?" he raised his eyebrow in curiosity and smirked. I rolled my eyes at him and huffed.

"Annoying. That's what you are."

"Okay-okay. Sorry. I'm just a bit elsewhere mentally," he admitted. "Okay. I'm here now. Listening. So, Candi. It was—what did you say? Weird?"

"Yes," I said. "It was. I didn't feel comfortable. I thought I would. You always say friends are important and shit but I just don't see how I could be fine with hanging out with her if it's so—bruhhh. I don't even want to think about it. Makes my skin crawl."

"Your relationship will not change from one day to another, sweetheart," he said gently. "I think it's great that you met up with her and got the first awkwardness out of the way. If you really want to be her friend again—as does she—then I think you will have no trouble making it work. Whatever you set your mind to, happens. Have a little faith in yourself," he smiled at me with his hand on my knee. It was direct skin-to-skin contact as the massive holes in my jeans exposed most of my upper leg.

"Dunno if I want to though. Like I'm not sure I want to have friends. I mean it would be nice. But I don't know if I can make the effort to always check on her and meet up and be open and all of that," I blurted. "It would be nice if it would work but I'm only just finding it to be okay to talk to you about everything. And that's because you put the effort in."

"You came to see me before, as well. You invited me to your charity balls before. You text me first when you need to vent. I don't think you realise that those things matter, too," he explained. That to me, didn't seem enough. I made him run around the globe for me and I did nothing for him so in my opinion, I didn't put any effort in this... relationship.

"Please. You are just saying that to make me feel better."

"Yes and also because it's true and it shouldn't be ignored," he said strongly. "I hate it when you put yourself down so much. You are actually not as bad as you think you are."

"I'm terrible."

"Shut up," he groaned. He tugged on my hand which made me glance at him. He had a soft smile on his face as he lifted his arm up a bit. "C'mere."

And because I turned into a mushy bitch on the inside, I did. I scooted closer to him so my shoulder was pressed to his side and he could hug me to his body. He kissed the side of my head almost instantly and placed his hand on my thigh after I crossed my leg over the other. I felt myself smile a bit as I inhaled his scent, the infamous Tom Ford cologne was truly one of a kind and it fitted him perfectly.

As I leaned more into him, I felt his lips move away from my temple and he rested his chin on top of my head. His fingers played with the bits of material that hung off of the cuts which meant he ran over my skin here and there. I kind of enjoyed the way we just sat there. Mainly because I had some time to realise my nails needed doing again.

I was a second away from mentioning it but the knock on the door interrupted everything whilst at the same time, it opened as well.

"Mr Styles, your invitation for the Met Gala came through and—oh my good Lord. I am so sorry," the woman—I believe called Charlotte—rambled as she strutted in the room. It made me smile as she looked at us flustered and clearly embarrassed that she just came in without any hesitance. "I apologise. I will be on my way-,"

"Charlotte, please," Harry chuckled as he turned away from me a bit. He lifted his arm from around me as he glanced at his watch then carried on. "I was waiting for the invite and I asked you to come straight to me when you got it. There is nothing you need to apologise for."

"I will just leave it on your desk," she smiled in our way as she walked over to the desk and placed it on the furniture.

"Thank you," he said. "Also, if my mother contacts you and tries to set up an appointment for whatever she will tell you, it is not important so get rid of her."

"Yes, sir."

"Oh, and if you see Jamie, please tell him you are free to go on your lunch although I'm pretty sure he is already aware of that as usual."

"Will do," she nodded. "Will that be all, Mr Styles?"

"Yes, thank you."

After she left the room, Harry took his phone out of his pocket and leaned on his knees with his elbows. I let my eyes stare at the way his back muscles moved under his blazer as my teeth nibbled on my bottom lip, my leg still over the other and my fingers intertwined on my lap.

"Mr Styles..."

"Yes?" he mumbled which made me smirk. The way he responded to that title was so hot and the fact that he knew he was the one being addressed just made me want to tackle him on this couch and have my way with him.

"That's hot," I told him and I heard him chuckle. "How often do you get addressed that way?"

"The same amount of time you get Miss Kensington," he replied as he leaned back and smiled at me. It caused me to feel all kinds of things when he put his left hand on my thigh and squeezed it a bit. "So about that shopping trip... do you want to go now?"

"Are you free now?"

"For you? Always, darling," he grinned and I swear the way he said it and looked at me, made my heart go into a cardiac arrest. He just had a way with words, which was no surprise to me, but damn. They began to have a different affect on me and I wasn't sure if I liked where this was going.

"Stop," I mumbled as I covered my face with my hand, my index finger against my forehead. I felt him lean closer and his arms went around my waist. As my head turned towards him, I found him to be literally in my face. I giggled as he closed the gap between us and pecked my lips softly. "Tesco then?"

"Tesco it is," he pulled away then stretched his arm out as he stood up and helped me get off the couch, too. "You drove here, right?"

"Yeah... but I'm not sure if I will be able to fit a lot in my trunk so I should probably go home and then you can drive us or something."

"Sure, whatever works for me," he said. "Ah, this is nice... have you gotten yours yet?"

"I don't know-,"

"Oh my god," he mumbled. "Am I reading this correctly?"

"What?" I laughed as I walked next to him. He passed me the invitation although there was much more text than there should have been. And it looked nothing like an invitation. More like someone asking a favour from him. "Fuck off! They are asking you to co-host the Met Gala?"

"This has to be some kind of joke, right?" he chuckled. "I mean... that's the only-,"

"Harry, this is amazing!" I said with widened eyes. I barely wanted to believe it myself so the fact that he struggled was honestly understandable. "Wow!" he kept laughing and I couldn't keep myself from kissing him in surprise. He wrapped his arms around my waist and tucked his head in the crook of my neck. "OK so what are you going to wear?" I questioned as I brought up the letter behind him so I could read over the lines again.

"Fuck if I know," he replied. "This is so sudden—I feel like I don't have time to prepare."

"It's only January now and the Met is in May. You still have three months."

"That's such a short period of time, fuck," he panicked. "People know they are co-hosting ages before the event... the fact that I need to step in for whoever else said they can't do it anymore is crazy."

"Aw, I'm buzzing for you."

"I'll get to interview you then on the red carpet, huh?" he smirked and I rolled my eyes. "I'll be nice, I swear."

"Wait, is that what co-hosts do?" I asked, slightly confused. "I have never been to the Met before, I have no idea what happens there."

"I'm not sure, actually," he chuckled. "Whatever. I'm surs they'll tell me."

"Hm," I hummed. "Well, you better butter up to me on live television if you get to interview people," I nudged him. "Now, let's go. My fridge won't fill up by itself."

We did as planned—went back to mine and then we went to the shop from there. Harry did not shut up about being the one to get to host the Met this year but that was fine with me. This opportunity was so great and the fact that he got it was really nice. A year ago, I probably would have been super angry that it wasn't me who got the chance to be in the spotlight. But now, it just felt right that he was the one who got it and not me. I was happy for him and that was strange. My chest didn't fill with frustration but more so calmness and lo-

"Are you coming?" 

I felt a nudge on my thigh as Harry raised his voice a bit. I was much too focused on my thoughts to realise the journey to the shop was completed and the car was no longer moving.

"Not yet," I replied with a smirk and he looked at me confused.

"What?" he asked. And then slowly opened his mouth and his forehead smoothened out as the realisation hit him. "You are insatiable."

"You love me, really," I grinned as I joked and he chuckled.

"I do," he agreed and kissed my cheek. "Now let's go. I'm thinking salmon for tea."

"Dinner."

"Tea," he fought me once we got out and he locked the car. "I also am in the mood for rice and that may not be the side dish people usually have with salmon but we will."

"You're coming over?"

"You wanted me to show you how to cook."

"Well, yeah, but I didn't think you wanted to do that now..."

"Is that a problem?" he questioned as he went to get a trolley and I waited for him.

"Um, no... it's just—well, you've been hanging out at mine lately and I don't know... isn't that a lot of time to spend around me?"

"Is it a lot for you?" he asked me genuinely. So, he didn't think it was a lot. Okay. Noted.

"I just thought it was for you," I shrugged as we walked inside the shop. As I looked around, my eyes found the Krispy Kreme stand and just as if it was a magnet, I was drawn to it. "Do you want doughnuts? No? Okay," I said as I walked off.

In the end, I put three of which Harry liked in the box of twelve then the rest was all what I wanted. It wasn't like I was selfish or anything but he only picked three and I wasn't about to encourage him to get more if he didn't do it by himself.

"So. Any ideas as to what kind of meals you want to make?" he asked me after we got back to proper shopping.

"Like... nice ones," I replied. "I don't know. Something that doesn't take the piss but tastes nice."

"Alright," he nodded as he pushed the trolley so effortlessly that it was actually so hot.

He was pushing. A trolley. How is that hot?

Trust me. It was so hot. And he got looks from people, too. Obviously, they knew he was hot too but he didn't even seem to notice. It was like he was completely unaware of how fit he was and how much attention he actually got.

Please. He knew it. He was aware of it. He just didn't act up on it like dickheads you have been around that thought were hot but were actually rather unattractive.

Okay. True.

God, the way he picked up the carrots and his fingers stretched and wrapped around the vegetable. Or the way his Rolex caught the light from the fridge when he picked up the cheese.

I think he caught me staring at him on multiple occasions but didn't say anything. Not about that, anyway. He just asked me random questions like 'do you drink blue or green milk?' and 'have you tried this before?' just to get me out of my head and rudely interrupt my horny thoughts that all revolved around him. It was crazy how used to I got having him around and, in my bed, naked.

I couldn't wait to get home.

• • •

a.n.

you know i had to include the met 😴 they're literally in the fashion industry there was no way they're missing one of the biggest events of the year

also u gotta stream bounce back by little mix and you need to calm down by taylor swift okay thanks and also don't forget to comment and vote cos i'm desperate for feedback  n it's actually really good for motivation so xoxo