E m m e l i n e

"Hello, Emmeline. It's nice to meet you."

Harry's fingers squeeze mine tightly to the point I can feel his cold rings digging into the skin of my palm. I shake his hand back and release it, only to have him clasp mine tighter. I awkwardly stand there with my hand limp in his, shifting on one foot from the other when I see the smirk and mischief in his eyes. My cheeks burn with embarrassment and the dimple on his cheek appears when he presses his lips together to contain his grin, finally dropping my hand.

"Okay!" Barbra chirps from beside Harry and claps her hands once, pulling my attention away from him. "Emmeline, you don't start until Friday. Is there something you needed?"

I blink at her for a second, my thoughts jumbled with the surprise of finding Harry here before I jolt when I remember why I came in the first place. "Oh!" I quickly reach into my bag, pulling out the paper she had told me to fill out last week. "I just came to give you my school schedule you mentioned you needed me to write out."

"Oh, yes. This will come in handy right now." She takes the paper from me and steps to the counter where I see another paper lying on. Harry and I both stand there, him staring at me while I constantly look at everything else but him. Barbra glances over her shoulder and furrows her eyebrows when she looks at us, waving us over. "Both of you come here."

Harry turns around first and moves to one side of Barbra while I go to the other, looking over her shoulder to see her writing out the days of the week on a blank sheet of paper. "Harry, are you in school?"

"Yes, I'll be starting next week at NYU."

"Oh same as Emmeline!" She says excitedly with a wide smile while Harry presses his lips together to refrain from laughing. "What will your schedule be like?"

"I only have classes Tuesday's, Wednesday's, and Thursday's but they're also all morning classes."

"What time do your last classes end?"

"On Tuesday's and Thursday's, 11:50am. On Wednesday's, 9:50am."

She nods and looks down at my paper that I had just handed her when my face flushes even more, knowing what she's going to say when she looks up with delighted eyes. "You and Emmeline practically have the same schedule ." She laughs and Harry's eyes flicker up to meet mine, eyebrow arching while the corner of his mouth twitches.

"Oh really?" He asks, sounding interested when he leans his hip against the counter and crosses his arms over his chest. Don't you dare look Em. "What's your schedule like?"

I shrug, pretending that I wasn't in the least bit fazed when really I was wondering if this meant him and I were going to be working the same shifts. "I only have classes Tuesday's and Thursday's, and I get out at 2:50pm."

He nods, a faint smile on his lips. I ignore the way it sends chills down my back and look back at Barbra who's writing Harry's school schedule at the bottom of the blank paper. She looks between both my paper and Harry's, eyebrows furrowed in concentration before she looks up at the both of us. "Alright, are you both okay with working on the days you have classes? After you get out of course."

"Yes." We both say simultaneously, our eyes catching for a moment when I break the eye contact to look back at Barbra.

"Okay." She nods and grins when she sets the papers down. "I have six other employees and most of the time I schedule them in pairs, with people who have similar schedules. I have two other students who have classes the days you don't, and then are off the times you two have class." She points between the both of us, checking to see we're caught up before continuing. "So what I'm going to do is schedule the both of you on the same shifts. You two won't always be working together, I understand things come up and schedules change but that's how it's going to be as of right now. We are not that busy with it about to be September, but the moment the holidays come around this place gets packed. So I need you both here if you're scheduled, and if you need to call out or switch a shift, come talk to me and I'll check with the other employees. Got it?"

"Got it." We both say again but Harry salutes her and she laughs, shaking her head at his gesture as he smiles shyly at her. Fuck he's cute.

"Okay. So Emmeline and Harry, you'll both be working the morning and afternoon shifts from 9am, until 3pm on Monday's and Friday's." She looks at Harry. "You'll be working from 1pm until 7pm on Tuesday's and Thursday's, then on Wednesday's 11am until 5pm." She turns back to look at me. "As for you, you'll be working on Tuesday's and Thursday's from 4pm up until closing time, which is 9pm. And then Wednesday's for you you'll be working from 9am until 3pm. Is that okay with you two?"

I nod, liking the schedule she gave me and I glance at Harry to see him with a content smile on his face. I can't help but be a little nervous about us working together, especially after hearing our schedules. We either worked the same shifts or they overlapped with each other. We were going to be seeing each other at least once everyday...

"What about the weekends?" Harry suddenly asks and Barbra scoffs, waving her hand with a roll of her eyes.

"I know how you college kids are. That's when all the parties are happening. I want you two to have a life so I'm not planning on scheduling you Saturday's and Sunday's unless I really have no one else to work. Which I doubt that will ever happen, I've got my husband and four other employees who are too old for them frats."

I laugh and she grins, looking down at the papers and writing up the schedules she just told us. "Well, thank you but I don't mind working on the weekends."

"No." She looks up at me and points at me with the pen in her hand. "You need to have a life."

"I don't really go to parties though so it really wouldn't be a pro-,"

"Hush," she shakes her head with a smile. "I remember I used to not go to parties. But where do you think I met Ron?"

"Who's Ron?" Harry chimes in, tilting his head and Barbra grins.

"My husband." She smiles when Harry grins at her and she looks at me with teasing eyes. "You can't miss those parties, the love of your life might just end up being there."

I cough, and without being able to stop myself my eyes dart to Harry and I look away a second later when I see he's already staring at me. I don't say anything back to Barbra except laugh and shrug, hoping she doesn't tease me about my red cheeks. Barbra goes back to finishing writing the schedule and I keep moving from one foot to the other when Harry and her begin to converse. I don't interrupt them, not wanting to be rude and instead subtly glance at Harry while he speaks. His pink lips move slowly while he talks and I can't help but stare at the way his hands move during conversation, his rings shining every time the light hits them. His hair looks extra curly and soft, like he just recently had a shower that my fingers itch to touch it when a strand keeps falling on the side of his face. He repeatedly moves to push it back, running his fingers through his hair and pulling. It's so subtle, that I almost forgot what it means whenever he does that until I notice the way he keeps chewing on his bottom lip. He's nervous. But why?

Just as I'm wondering this his eyes slide from Barbra to me, staring at me past her shoulder before I force myself to look away. The way he keeps looking at me is making my stomach turn and my nerves to spike. It wasn't good for me and although I had agreed with myself that I'd give whatever we had another chance, I hadn't told Harry that yet. Yesterday after we left Starbucks I agreed to let him walk me to my apartment and in that time he spoke about his mom. He told me how she was pretty much fully recovered and how he was now on speaking terms with his sister. He seemed genuinely happy and there was something different about him that I couldn't pin point. Maybe it was that he was more carefree, I wasn't sure but I still had questions. Like what he did over the summer, how he's doing after everything that happened. I don't want the bullshit, I want to know how he truly is. If him and his mom were really getting on well now. If he'd heard any news regarding Zayn. If he ever thought about me.

I glance down at my feet, swallowing down the familiar lump that appeared every time I start to think about all that had happened. I was better, sure. But I would be lying to myself if I said I didn't think about that night a lot. Or at least tried to. I could never actually fully think it through with out bursting into tears or having some kind of episode so I never got through the whole thought. I usually brushed it off or went to distract myself the moment I started to feel like...well this.

"I'm sorry, I've got to go." I quickly say as politely as possible and Barbra stops talking to look at me, a frown on her face and her eyebrows drawn together.

"No! You should stay for a cup of coffee and a slice of pie." She says and I give her a tight smile but shake my head.

"Thank you but I do really have to go."

"To where?" Harry asks with his eyebrow arched and I open my mouth to answer but stop when I realize I don't have an actual excuse. I hesitate to respond and Harry crosses his arms while Barbra puts her hand to my shoulder.

"Just sit for a few minutes at one of the tables and have a slice of my pie and coffee. It's on the house." She lightly pushes me around the counter and then grabs Harry's arm, nudging him after me. "You too, Harry. Both of you go sit down. You're going to be co-workers so might as well take the time to get to know each other."

Harry raises his eyebrows and his lips pull into an amused smirk. "Oh yes, tell me all about yourself Emmeline." He says, the sarcasm clear in his voice to me but Barbra is oblivious to it and just smiles sweetly before turning to cut up a pie.

I roll my eyes at him but feel relieved when his amusement eases my nerves and the lump in my throat disappears. I look towards the tables and walk over to them, deciding I would sit with him as a way to distract myself from my thoughts about that night. I walk to the small tables near the chalk board and sink down into the chair but nearly fall off when It's clear just how small it is for my ass. Harry bursts out laughing when he sees me catch myself, using the end of the table to hold myself up and my wide eyes look up at him in alarm from over the table.

"You should see your face right now." He chuckles and moves around me, putting his hands to the back of the chair I'm on and righting it into place. He pats the top of my head like I'm a child before walking to the chair across from me and I bite my lip to suppress my own laugh when he tries to fit into the chair. His knees bump the table and he winces, pushing the chair back and bringing his legs up until his knee caps are showing over the table. I stifle a giggle and he sends me a playful glare, letting his arms hang over his knees.

"You definitely don't fit into a child's chair."

He smirks. "Neither does your ass."

I stop smiling and glare at him. "Are you calling me fat?"

He laughs and shakes his head. "No. I'm just saying you have a big ass." He states, picking at a frail end on his jeans before his eyes flicker up to mine. "It's not a bad thing. Trust me."

I flush when I see the intensity in his gaze and the way his eyes flicker down to my chest and then back up to my eyes. I bite my lip and look away, glancing towards where Barbra was working behind the counter. The table moves again from Harry's knee bumping it again and this time I can't hold back my laugh when I hear him mutter "ouch". My laughing cuts the tension and I look back over at Harry with amusement, shaking my head at him as he rubs his knee. He pouts for a moment then smiles widely at me when he sees my own grin.

"So, co-worker. Tell me about yourself." Harry says with mischief and I roll my eyes at him.

"Like you don't already know me." I scoff and he hums, tapping his chin and looking up at the ceiling in fake thought.

"I know Emmeline from three months ago. Not Emmeline from today."

I point at him with my forefinger. "That's a lie. You knew I love chai latte."

He waves it off. "That's the last thing about you that would change."

"No, I just haven't changed. I'm the same person."

"No, you're not. I can tell." He states and I suddenly don't like the turn of the conversation and the way his voice is lowering, becoming more serious. I don't respond and he seems to get the hint. "What's going on with Lila and Morgan?"

I smile at the fact he changed the subject and leaned forward, resting my elbows on my knees. "Morgan's at Columbia and she's actually supposed to visit us tonight. As for Lila, she's my roommate."

"Seriously? Is she going to NYU too?"

"Yeah, we both have always wanted to go there." I smile and he nods, tapping his fingers against his knees.

"That's cool. How about your cousin Liam?"

"He's older then us," I tell him and he furrows his eyebrows so I continue to explain."I forgot to tell you he's two years older so he's actually already been here at NYU the whole time. He lives in his own apartment with his roommates, yet I've only been in town for a little over a week and he's always lying around my place all the time."

Harry laughs and shakes his head, looking down at the table while his dimples popped out. "Its probably a guy thing. Do you and Lila cook?"

"Yeah...why?"

"There ya go." He snaps his fingers. "If you let him keep eating the food you guys are cooking he's going to keep hanging around."

"What? Why?"

Harry shrugs and looks back up at me with a small smile. "It's a guy thing. Our mum's don't cook for us anymore when we move out, he probably misses having a decent home cooked meal and you're cooking is the closest thing to it."

"You make it sound like I'm a shit cook." I glare at him and he gives me a knowing smirk.

"Who was the one who cooked for us in that cabin?"

"You."

"Exactly. You even admitted you couldn't cook for shit." I laugh and his low chuckles join in seconds later. It doesn't last long though, and soon dies down when we both come to terms with the new topic and reminder of what happened in that cabin. Both the good and bad.

I shift in my chair uncomfortably and clear my throat, looking up at Harry with small smile. "For your information, I took up cooking over the summer so I got better. But I guess I'm going to have to poison a few dishes to get Liam out."

Harry gives me a faint smile and I notice him staring at me longer then needed. It makes goosebumps rise on my skin and he shakes his head to himself, breaking out of his thoughts. "Yeah, well I completely understand with annoying roommates, even though technically Liam isn't a roommate."

"You've got roommates?"

He nods. "Yeah, Anthony and Brad."

"What are they like? What's so bad about them?" I pause when a thought occurs to me. "Wait, where is your apartment? Because mine is pretty close to this store so yours must be too, right?"

He gives me a small amused smile. "Yeah, it is close. It's on Madison Ave." I let my mouth form an 'O' and be switches back to my previous questions. "Well, Brad is just straight up annoying. He's really immature, and he leaves his shit lying around the apartment like it's his fucking hamper. He doesn't clean up after himself when he eats, just leaves his dishes for either Anthony or I to clean. He takes two damn hours to shower, and by the time I go to use it all the hot water is gone. Oh and not to mention we've only been here two weeks and he's brought like seven different girls home, which alright- whatever it's his life style but those girls are always eating the food I buy for myself in the morning and taking my towels when they shower and Brad doesn't give them back or bother to wash them at least."

"Wow," I whistle after he finishes his little rant and shake my head. "He sounds like a freaking nightmare."

"He is." He huffs.

"Well what's wrong with Anthony?"

He pauses to think and then shrugs. "I guess he's not all that bad. He's probably the one I get along with so far but we're still getting to know each other. I'm probably just annoyed with him after he interuppted my-," he stops suddenly and shuts his mouth abruptly while I raise my eyebrows. I have no idea what he was just about to say but curiosity get to me and I'm tempted to ask. Interrupted? What did Anthony interrupt? Oh god maybe he was with a girl and Anthony walked in. Yeah never mind I didn't want to know.

"He Interrupted something important." I nod simply and press my lips together, looking away when I see Harry's cheeks turning pink. Fuck maybe he was with someone. Why does that thought make me feel sick?

"It's not what you're thinking." I look back at him quickly, eyes a little wide and he nods once. "Your face is an open book and it's not that. He just...interrupted a good dream." He shares and he licks his lips, eyes steadily moving over me that I feel a heat stir my stomach. I swallow nervously and open my mouth to say something when Barbra comes to our table, placing two plates with a slice of pie in front of us both.

"I hope you two like apple." She says and then puts a mug of coffee onto the table by my plate. I'm eager to take it, needing the caffeine after my lack of sleep from last night. It was the second night in a row I hadn't been able to sleep with the same recurring nightmares.

"It's my favorite." Harry shares and he smiles at her, lifting his fork to take a bite. I stare too long at his lips and then his tongue when it pokes out before he places the fork in his mouth, the memory of us eating pizza in bed coming to surface as I watch him eat. I hated that I still thought the way he poked his tongue out was cute.

"What about you Emmeline? Is Apple your favorite?"

I shake my head shyly at her and take a bite anyways. "It's not but I still like it."

"What's your favorite?"

"Banana cream." I hum at the thought of it and Barbra laughs, putting some napkins on the table.

"I haven't gotten around to making some more of that but when we have it, I'll give you a slice." She winks and I thank her before she turns around to leave Harry and I alone again.

"So, how's Louis?" I ask after a moment of silence and Harry smiles, chewing the rest of the pie in his mouth before swallowing it down.

"Good. He proposed to Danielle." He smirks and my eyes practically bug out of my head while I choke on the pie, reaching for the coffee quickly to wash it down. Once I get it together I slap my hand on the table and let my mouth drop.

"What? But they weren't together! What happened?"

Harry looks down at his plate, jaw muscles moving as he chewing and sipped on his coffee. "After everything happened and she got hurt, he realized he really did love her. It was a wake up call for him so at the beginning of July he took her out of town for the Fourth of July and proposed."

"Aw," I coo. "She said yes right?"

"Yeah, she did." He smiled and I catch him giving me a look but it's gone in an instant and he's looking back down at his plate with his lip between his teeth.

"Well, tell him congratulations for me but him and I are over then." I joke and Harry snorts, rolling his eyes with an amused smile.

"I'll be sure to pass the message over to him."

"Good."

We fall back into a long silence, the only sound being our forks touching the plate and Barbra moving around the counter on the other side of the store. I don't know what to say to him, unsure what topics were off limits at the moment. I bit my lip as I poked at the pie, trying to think of something to say when Harry's voice suddenly broke the silence.

"How are your parents?"

And just like that I deflate like a balloon, dropping my fork on the plate and losing my appetite. I feel sick again, my stomach churning uncomfortably that it makes it hard to hide it from my face. I grab my coffee, not lifting my head as I sipped from the rim when I heard the sound of another fork hitting a plate.

"Em." He calls softly and the sound causes me to look up, my eyes cautious as I met his worried ones. "Is everything alright?"

"Yep." I say too fast and with zero emotion that Harry frowns. He looks down at his lap and I know he doesn't know what to say or do either, not knowing where my sudden mood change came from. He leans forward, putting his elbows to his knees and licking his lips before he glanced up at me.

"Em..." He chewed on his lip once more and his hand ran through his hair, pulling it in agitation as he took a deep breath. "Look, I know yesterday when we talked you just said 'okay' about me taking you out, but I'm kind of unclear as to what we're doing. Or what you want to do. I don't think you know either and I don't expect you to know so quickly but I'm not going to pressure you into going out with me. We can start fresh, be friends with each other. Are you okay with that?"

I chew on the inside of my cheek, trying to ignore the way the word 'friends' brought a sting to my chest. But he was also right. I wasn't ready yet to be taken on a date, I needed to learn how to open up to him again and that was going to take time. Friends was better then not having him in my life at all.

"Yeah, we can be friends."

He nods, giving me a sweet smile and then leaning forward to brush my hair out of my face with the tips of his fingers. I freeze, tingles spreading down the side of my face. "Good. And as your friend I want you to know that you can talk to me." He pauses and looks me in the eye when he says the next thing. "I can tell you have things you're hiding about yourself, and you can spill your guts to me if you ever need to. I would never tell a soul." I don't say anything but I feel my heart pounding ridiculously hard against my chest and I'm pretty sure I'm this close to breaking a rib when he drops the hand brushing my hair only to lift his pinky up, and offering it to me. "I promise, Em."

* * * * * * *

Hiiii

Happy 6 years of 1D<3 I love my boys

Questions:

Who's excited for them to start working together?

What can you predict from this friendship?

I'm going to be updating again soon. Can't wait for the upcoming chapters I've planned >:) vote & comment your feedback!!