The week had been a relatively long one, settling into the start of classes and doing actual work. After the first photo assignment we got on the first day, we hadn't gotten another. Instead, my days were filled with being in the dark lecture hall, having to take notes from the smart board while the professors talked their way through slides and we all either typed away at our laptops or scribbled down the information we need to know in notebooks.

Every class almost felt the same, whether it be in a lecture hall or a classroom, with Harry on one side of me and Astrid on the other, and I found myself actually liking the comfort the two of them brought to me. Any time though that Astrid had taken a seat next to me at a table for two before Harry could, Ruby happily made her way to the seat next to him, which for some reason, would always result in Harry sending a glare in my direction as if it was my fault he had to sit with her. It didn't stop him from conversing with her though, no matter how mad he seemed to be about her sitting there.

I was sure that he really wasn't that mad. He even admitted to me that another time he'd probably have just one night with her and he was more than likely keeping that option open by talking with her when she was around.
It was clear that Ruby didn't like me, and I knew it had everything to do with Harry. It didn't bother me much, since I didn't exactly want to be in her presence either. I would hear her every day ask Harry to hang out after class or have lunch with her and every time, he turned her down, telling her he already had plans with me and Astrid. We never made those plans he told her of, but it didn't stop him from leaving the classroom with me and going wherever I went. I wasn't really sure why he insisted on following me and Astrid to lunch every day or walking me back to the front of the dorms before heading off to meet his friends wherever they were, but I found myself already getting used to his presence.

I had spent a lot of my free time in the evenings in the computer room editing the pictures I took of Harry for Portraits class. Although I only needed to give Drew one photo, I edited almost every picture I took of him, trying to decide which one was best to hand in on Monday. I felt like this was, in a way, my way of getting to see him even when he wasn't around. I was able to take in all of his features properly without getting caught staring at him, which was sometimes really hard to do because he was just so beautiful in my eyes. I ended up picking a picture that I thought his jaw looked the most prominent and his green eyes sparkling, a bright smile spread across his face, dimples perfectly indenting his cheeks as he looked straight into the camera as if looking right into my soul. How could someone be so unbelievably pleasing to the eye?

I was looking through all the pictures I took while we had been dancing and making fools of ourselves after I printed off my assignment, when Astrid walked into the computer room I had been in for the last hour, and sat down next to me at her computer, opening her file with all her pictures of Ruby.

"I really hate I have to edit pictures of this girl," she whines. I honestly can't blame her and I dread just thinking about ever having to be partnered with her. "What are those?" She looks over at my computer to see me looking at a picture of Harry mid dance move. You can tell he is in the middle of laughing as he looks straight into the camera with squinty eyes.

I don't say anything. I just click to the next picture and the next one and continue to look at each one quickly, remembering how comfortable I was with him during these moments that night, until it gets to the very first picture I took of him outside the school. The first day of school felt like it had been weeks ago already and it was almost hard to believe how much things had changed from that awkward morning of me running away from him after taking this very first picture in the grass.

"Do you like him?" Astrid's question comes out slowly, almost like she had been wanting to ask before but hadn't for some reason. We hadn't really talked about boys yet. The only thing that's really been mentioned in the last four days is that we're both single. Most of our conversations have been about classes, what she's going to watch on netflix that night or of course, laughing at Harry when he complains about Ruby not leaving him alone.

"No, why?" I ask, certainty in my voice, as I look over at her for the first time since she's come into the room. Her usual long blonde slightly wavy hair is up in a messy bun and her face is rid of all make-up, which is a first for me to see. She doesn't usually wear a lot of make-up to begin with, but without it, her big blue eyes don't seem as bright as they usually do.

"I think he likes you!" She smiles. "I see the way he looks at you!"

The thing is, I never really thought about this before and hearing her saying this startles me. Sure, I had questioned why he would want to follow me around or sit with me during every class or lie to Ruby about plans we never made. I assumed he was just using me as an excuse to not have to be around her when he didn't have to be. I couldn't even remember the last time a guy actually liked me, it had been so long. I didn't want to think about anyone having feelings for anyone right now. Harry and I are just beginning to be friends, just like Astrid and I are. I see her almost as much as I do him. I had just been getting used to the fact that I was allowing myself to even be around a boy as much as I had been with Harry, even if it was just at school. I decide instantly, I'm not going to think about this, knowing quite well that I don't want this to be true, nor do I believe it anyways.

"He doesn't like me, he doesn't even know me!" I laugh. "Don't be crazy!"

"I'm not crazy," she admits. I know that she isn't. She's actually one of the sweetest people I think I have ever met in my life and the word crazy just doesn't fit her nature. I have thought about it a few times since I met her, that I couldn't be happier that we met at the coffee cart on the first day of school, knowing somehow that I need a friend like her. "I do wish though, that a guy would look at me the way I've seen Harry look at you! Harry's the only good looking guy in our classes and it seems like he's trying so hard to catch your attention or he has Ruby almost all over him."

"That's not true!" I exclaim, knowing full well that Harry is definitely not the only good looking guy in our classes. Just because I have no interest in being with anyone and boys generally make me nervous, it doesn't mean my eyes don't like to wander. "What about that guy, Blake? The one with blonde hair?" I'm happy I'm able to take the conversation away from her thoughts of Harry possibly liking me, because it's simply just something I don't want to think about.

"Oh yeah, you're right!" she agrees with no hesitation. "Maybe I'll be lucky to get partnered with him next time instead of a girl like Ruby!" She turns to her computer, sighing loudly, remembering she is here to edit pictures of this girl we have a mutual hate towards.

"Hey, I'm going to the pub tomorrow night for my roommate's boyfriend's birthday, you should definitely come with me!"

***

"I'm so fucking excited you're actually coming out with us tonight!" Nova screeches when she comes out of our bathroom, freshly showered and dressed up nicely in a purple and black plaid skirt and a tight black shirt that shows far too much cleavage. We haven't seen much of each other this past week because she's either still in class when I get home from mine or she's on her way out to the pub in the evenings. I don't know how she manages to go out every night of the week, but she has definitely expressed how great of a time they have there. "We're gonna get shit faced and dance our asses off!"

I'm all of a sudden extremely happy that Astrid agreed to come along with me, knowing that she will be someone that wont get 'shit faced' with me. I used to drink every night. I used to use it as something to make me forget about everything that was going on around me, to help me be unaware of the things I had to go through so it was less painful somehow. But I didn't want to drink anymore. I didn't need to.

"I don't think I'm going to drink, but sure, I'll dance with you!" I gather my clothes to take to the bathroom, now that Nova is done and I can get ready. I chose to wear a black shirt that says I hate you on it, which almost explains how I feel about going out tonight. The look Nova gives me when I tell her I'm not going to drink, says she's not very happy about my decision, but she doesn't voice her opinion about it, thankfully.

I'm feeling nervous as it's the first time I'm going out and I don't know what to expect. The hot shower doesn't ease my nerves at all and as the time passes, my heart only seems to stay a hard pounding in my chest, almost making it hard to breathe at times.

When Nova is done getting ready and Niall walks in our room, they say they'll meet me there, joking about how I better show up. Astrid text me earlier and we decided we would walk there together and so I was stuck in my dorm room alone, waiting for her text to meet her outside her building, which is conveniently next to mine.

"You look like you're going to throw up," Astrid says, when she walks out of her building and we start down the street to the pub. The sun is starting to set, which tints her blonde hair an orange color, which matches the yellow dress she's wearing. I find it almost odd that we're such good friends since we contrast so much in the way we look. She's so preppy and cute, so light feeling, and I'm much darker somehow, in every aspect.

"I feel like I'm going to throw up," I sigh. From my heart pounding so hard in my chest for the last couple hours, my energy is deflating by the second and I just want to get in my pajamas and call it a day.

Astrid only laughs, shaking her head at me. "It's gonna be fun! I'm actually pretty excited to dance and meet your roommate! I don't know why you're so nervous! Maybe you just need a drink to calm your nerves!"

The walk to the pub doesn't take nearly as long as I wish it would, but it gives me enough time to mentally prepare myself for the night now that Astrid is next to me.

The pub is packed already, despite it still being early. The music is louder than it was the night I came for dinner with Nova and Niall, and the atmosphere feels even more energized this time around. The dance floor is already filled with people dancing, people crowded around the bar to get their drinks and the tables already occupied. Rays of different colored lights are flashing but it's otherwise dark. Astrid grabs my hand as we walk through the crowd, headed towards the bar.

It surprises me when I hear Astrid order a sex on the beach after I asked the bartender for a bottle of water. My hopes of her staying sober with me shattered instantly. With our drinks in our hands, we turn to face the crowded pub in search of someone we know, but when we don't see a familiar face, we decide to make our way across the room.

I stop in my tracks, the sight before me sending a shock through me. Astrid keeps on pushing her way through bodies not realizing she's lost me, but for some reason I can't seem to move. Harry is sitting merely twenty feet away from where I stand, at a table with none other than the birthday boy and his girlfriend. But what shocks me is seeing Ruby sitting on his lap, tight red dress grasping her small body and his arm draped around her waist. He is in the middle of a conversation with Niall and they're both laughing as Astrid seems to have found them; Harry and Ruby being the only ones she recognizes in the group.

After a few words are spoken between Harry and Astrid, almost all at once, they start looking around the room as if they are looking for someone, which I presume is me. I'm not sure why I'm frozen on the spot. I can't seem to keep my eyes off of Harry, and I'm unsure of what I'm feeling other than shock. When his green eyes finally meet mine through the crowd of people who seem to walk around me, his expression changes to something I can't decipher. His gaze doesn't leave mine for what feels like forever and I can feel my heart speed up it's pace again, the lump in my throat only growing bigger. He's all that I see as the world around me starts to spin, my whole body feels like it's burning and my stomach is doing flip flops.

When I see Harry get up from his seat, practically throwing Ruby off of him with his sudden movement, I'm finally able to move and my feet take me to the entrance I had just walked in not even fifteen minutes ago. When I hit the grass not far from the building, my stomach releases my dinner contents with no effort.

"Oh my God, Paisley!" I hear from behind me. My head is pounding and everything is blurry. I feel like I'm drunk despite not having anything to drink in months. "You alright?"

I don't even need to look to see who it is that suddenly has their hand resting on my back as I'm hunched over trying to breathe with my eyes clamped shut, hoping the spinning will go away. I know that it's Harry. I can tell by the warmth of his hand against my thin shirt and his deep voice.

He takes the bottle of water out of my grip, which makes me open my eyes again and I stand up straighter seeing that the world around me isn't hazy anymore as he hands me the now opened beverage. "You alright?" he asks again, eyebrows furrowed with concern as he stares at me.

I don't answer him before taking a sip of my water carefully. I'm confused as to why I felt so sick. Why my stomach decided to go against me at a moment I already felt couldn't get any worse. I had been trying to be strong about the idea of coming here tonight after having a week where I felt like things were actually going smoothly and it felt like everything was hitting me like a truck all at once.

"You're not drunk already, are you?" Harry asks as a smile forms on his face seeing that I'm not going to be sick again.

I shake my head in response, taking another drink of my water and exhaling a long breath to steady my heart to a normal pace.

"I didn't expect to see you tonight." He starts to rub his hand up and down my back and to my surprise, I don't seem to mind. His comforting notion actually doing what it's supposed to. "I thought it wasn't your scene?"

After taking another swig of my water, I feel okay enough to talk. "It's Niall's birthday, I didn't really have a choice."

"You know Niall?" I don't know why, but by the sounds of it, he's having a hard time believing this. "How do you know him?"

"He's my roommate's boyfriend."

He shifts his body weight from one foot to the other, thinking hard. "You live next door to me?"

"What?"

"Niall is my roommate," he smiles again. Dimples perfectly indenting his cheeks. "His girlfriend lives in the dorm next to us. So apparently we're neighbors!"

He seems overly joyed about realizing this simple detail and I find it odd that we hadn't known where each other lived by now, especially since we live so close. In fact, I hadn't even known Niall lived in the room next to ours, I just knew he lived somewhere in our building.

"Are you feeling better now?" he asks. "You look better!"

I feel a lot better. My stomach isn't in knots and the world around me is clear again. My heart isn't trying to win a race anymore and all my nerves seem to be exactly where they should be.

"We should get back inside," he says after I nod, putting his hand on my back again, but this time to gently steer me in the direction of the pub.

"Yeah, don't want to keep Ruby waiting." I feel my eyes roll instinctively and I wonder what's gotten into me. I don't really care that Ruby was sitting on his lap, but for some reason the thought of it makes me bitter. I don't know if it's because he's said everyday that he doesn't like to be around her or if it's because I know his intentions aren't genuine when it comes to her. I hate to think that he's lied to me about how he feels about her presence, but the thought of him just using her for sex doesn't sit well with me either.

He looks over at me, furrowing his eyebrows but doesn't say anything.

"Can I ask you something?" I stop on the spot we're in and he turns to look at me, waiting for whatever I'm about to ask. "I thought you didn't like her."

"That's not a question."

"You know what I mean."

"Why don't you ask the question you really want to ask?"

"Do you?"

"Do I what?"

I groan as I put my hands through my hair, annoyed as he seems to be enjoying this stupid conversation and I wish I didn't say anything to begin with. I'm not even sure I want to know the answer. "Forget it, Harry! I don't even care if you like her or not to be honest, I just want to know why you lied to me."

"Lied to you?"

"Yes, lied to me." Yes, I know that everyone lies. Even I do when I need to. But the fact that I felt like so much of my life was based on lying, all I wanted now was for people to tell me the truth, especially about small things such as this. It just didn't make sense in my head.

"I didn't lie to you," he says as he crosses his arms against his chest, muscles more apparent and tattoos catching my eye. "I don't like her. If I knew you were coming, I wouldn't have even let her sit with us."

This comment just confuses me more and he can tell it does because my face automatically shifts to what I'm assuming says 'what the hell does that even mean?'

"I told you already that I would much rather hang out with you than her any day," he explains. "That hasn't changed. And I told you that she's just the kind of girl I'd take home for a night. Tonight seemed like a good night for that. But now that you're here, I'm not going to do that."

My eyebrows pull together, because I don't understand why he wouldn't go ahead with his plan for his one night stand with Ruby just because I'm here. He sure as hell wont be getting anything close to that sort of thing with me.

"And no, it isn't because I'm planning on trying to get you in the sack," he smiles, as if he's just read my mind. My eyebrows raise up and he laughs, knowing it's exactly what I was thinking he was getting at. "That's not what I want from you! But I do like your company far more than I do hers, if I'm being honest. So no, I didn't lie to you."

My eyes shift to the ground in front of me feeling bad for accusing him of lying to me. It's an instinct to just believe the worst in people and have no faith that the male species can be genuine. With this, I know I have to try harder to not be so negative. So far, Harry has done nothing but be nice and do everything to make sure I'm comfortable around him since we had our awkward moment the first day we met, and here I was, putting him in a category he clearly doesn't belong in. "I'm sorry."

He pats me on the back and pushes me towards the building again. "Now, I think I owe you a beer! And no, there's no more rain checks! Or would you prefer something a little more girlie? A bellini perhaps? Or a sex on the beach? Something pink? You look like a girl who likes pink drinks!"

I laugh at how easy he turns the conversation over to something light, letting me know he's okay with my accusations. I'm not nervous anymore, not afraid of how the night is going to go and feeling slightly optimistic about it now.

It doesn't take long for a drink to be set in front of me, compliments of Harry. I stare at the fruity drink, contemplating whether or not I want to drink it as Harry sits down next to me.

"You should've heard Ruby when Harry ran out the door after you!" Astrid laughs, taking me out of my staring contest with the alcoholic beverage in front of me. "She was swearing like a sailor, bitching about how you always win!"

Without even thinking about it, I take a sip of my drink, looking at the girl next to me laughing. "Yeah, cause apparently Harry is a game to her." I roll my eyes at the thought.

"She was so red in the face, it matched the color of her dress! It was especially funny when Harry practically threw her on the floor!" Nova chimes in, laughing with Astrid.

Before long, I'm on the dance floor with the girls, as the boys at our table are ordering another round of beers. I'm feeling more tipsy than I should after one drink, but I'm enjoying the night so far. As I move my body to the music, I think about how long it's been since I've been out dancing. It was definitely the night I met Ryan and I realize why I was so nervous about coming tonight. But looking around at the girls I'm dancing with, seeing the smiles on their faces and singing along to the songs, I'm easily reminded that life isn't what it used to be and things are only going to get better.

A/N:  I love how Harry can go from serious to charming and sweet and cute and funny in 2.5 seconds! God, I love him! :)

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Love you!
xo