HARRY E. STYLES
November, 2014

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

Bloody Secret Santa. Just the stress I needed in my life. Note the sarcasm there.

As Nadine made everyone promise, we haven't looked at the name until we got home from her party. But then I did the next morning and although I was happy to see I did not end up with Griffin Walker as someone to surprise with a gift, I still hated that I got Wesley. The fucker had everything he ever wanted and there really wasn't much in this world he craved. Other than free alcohol, which came as a decent idea but quickly got rid of it as it wasn't quite as meaningful.

There was a limit on how much we could spend and seeing as we were a bunch of broke students, we allowed the price to go as high as twenty pounds.

Yep.

But even that was a stretch. Usually, these things were meant to be funny and cheap hence why my stupid self, took it to eBay. You can find a lot on there and even if you enter the wonderous world without anything in mind, you are bound to close the tab off with either one too many things in your basket or, well, nothing at all.

Not that sitting in the library means I should be looking at eBay since the work load on my to-do list was quite ridiculous.

"I knew it!" Adrian stood up from the table we sat at as he screamed at Wesley, pointing his finger at him. His reaction drew the attention towards us, many students around us turning their curious heads our way in hopes of figuring out what was happening. "I bloody knew it," Adrian cleared his throat as he sat back down and shook his head, his lips pressed into a thin line.

"Knew what?" I asked. The two were busy conversing whilst the world of eBay drew me in layers deep.

"Wes got Griffin Walker for his Secret Santa," he laughed as he shared the news, drumming on the table with his fingers. "Have to say, mate, you're in the most shit out of everyone."

"Please. She is not as horrible as Harry makes her out to be," he commented. Truth be told, I did make her seem worse than she probably was. Not saying that to show a sway of opinion but the way she was placed in my mind was definitely not how she probably was or how anyone else thought of her. "She is actually pretty chill and I think I already know what I'm gonna get her."

"How is this Secret Santa if you lot are telling each other who you got, eh?"

"Well, who did you get?" Wesley asked me, his eyebrows wiggled as he fished for an answer. Little did he know, the paper my fingers reached for in the Uber had his name written inside of it in the oh so familiar cursive letters. Nadine was always a neat writer. "C'mon!" he pushed me. "Can't be Griffin, can't be Katherine. Did you get Nads? You got Nads, didn't you? You'd be the lucky bastard to get away easy."

"Why would I get away easy if I had my girl?"

"You just answered it, pal," he shrugged. "She's your girl. Whatever you get her, she'll like. Me? What if I get Griffin what I'm thinking of getting and she throws it back in my face?" he acted paranoid, putting on his little show as usual. He lived for the dramatics which genuinely made me wonder why he decided to pursue a degree that had nothing to do with that kind of thing.

"What are you getting her?" Adrian asked. The question intrigued me, also. For what reason, I couldn't tell, instead, I just let it bug me though did nothing in favour of finding it out.

"I'm not tellin' you, cheeky bugger," he punched our friend in the shoulder and chuckled, keen on keeping his gift idea a secret. Fair enough, it came to me, perhaps he was scared in case Adrian would blabber on in the company of Nadine, who would no doubt tell Griffin. And, in all honesty, even I, myself, thought that it would be much more fun to see the girl's genuine reaction to whatever Wes had planned than some made up smile and an awkward nod. After all, Walker was known for her reactions.

Speaking of this gift exchange process, I sighed as I clicked out of my document because the thought of Christmas entered my bloody mind. Don't get me wrong, the holiday was lovely and usually, it made me very excited to go home for a whole month and spend some time with my family. However, as I sat in the library with my laptop open and books to my right, somehow, I couldn't help but question whether it was something to look forward to this year.

Everything felt off. Odd. Out of place. Strange. Weird. However one wishes to explain it. Something did not feel right. Aiming to put my finger on it, the answer was blurry, it didn't stand out from the rest and it made it difficult to actually figure out what was wrong. Couldn't blame it on school, couldn't blame it on work, couldn't blame it on relationship problems. I just felt a weird weight on my chest, pushing down on it, making it harder to breathe the longer I let it press me to the ground.

"Anyone need anything?" I asked before I left to go to the shops near uni, mostly to get some fresh air. Details that no one needed to know or cared about the second the offer for some food was on the table. Adrian was the first to give me a list of snacks, Wes jumping in to let me know he'll just nick some of those and I nodded, leaving them be and telling them to watch my stuff.

Walked through the library to reach the doors and get to the staircase. In any other situation, I would have opted for the lift but my mind needed more time to rest, just not think of anything, so, if I took the stairs, it would force my brain to focus on my steps rather than anything else. Strange, I know though walking was quite underrated. As I got downstairs, I pushed the swivel doors to get outside, the cold wind slamming me in the face as my hands reached for the hood of my hoodie, pulling it onto my head then I quickly stuffed my hands in the pockets. Not bringing a coat was stupid but also a smart move, the crisp weather woke me up and cleared my brain instantly.

In the end, I made my way back to the library with a bag full of food and drinks. We decided to spend today catching up on work we never do and that required tremendous amount of energy. Also, effort. Neither of which we had.

Once I was back with the lads, we pigged out a little bit, opening everything and munching on all the snacks I got. It gave us something to do, since our essays weren't too interesting. Being final year students should have motivated us to do better, to be on our best behaviour so we end up with the best grades possible. Yet here we were, planning a night out after graduation. Typical.

"I think we should invite Griffin," Adrian said as we jotted down at least fifteen people who we for sure wanted there. They were the usual gang, the ones we met at the club and some people from our courses. "I mean... as much as she gives me iffy vibes, she's been fun to hang around."

"Oh yeah?" Wes laughed. "When did she hang around with us?"

"Well, when we go out, she tags along sometimes. Plus, she's Nadine's best friend. She'd want her there," Adrian reasoned though the latter was the selling point. Had it not been for my girlfriend, I don't think she'd have been in question at all. Don't get me wrong, she was more bearable now than ever before, perhaps talking to her for more than a couple of minutes has something to do with that, but still.

"Yeah, put her down for Nadine," I agreed. "And the more the merrier, right? Less money we have to pay to rent the room and drinks."

"True," he nodded. "She does know a lot of people and I'm assuming she'll want to bring some. That's actually a sick idea."

"Speaking of Nadine," Wesley mentioned as he carried on typing. "She texted me when you went to the shop."

"Saying?"

"Asking if you were with us."

I scoffed. It made Adrian whip his head in my direction, perhaps a little too curious. I took it as his usual, chaotic reaction. Nothing out of the blue. "Why?"

"I should be asking that," he glanced at me quickly. "Why is she texting me, asking about you? Did you have another fight?"

"No," I muttered as my fingers pressed down on the keyboard of my laptop, a little harsher than intended. That must have been a dead giveaway of the little lie that sat in the air, much like the tension between me and Nadine this morning. It was stupid, honestly unnecessary, something that could have been avoided if she would've just let it go. But no.

"What's up with you two lately?" he pushed the topic, now completely immersed in the idea of figuring it out. In all honesty, that was something I also wanted to know. Just not by hanging my dirty laundry all over the university library.

"Nothing," I shrugged.

"Acting like that... doesn't suit you, mate," I scoffed and kicked him under the table, finishing the conversation for now.

"Alright... think I'm off," Adrian spoke with a heavy sigh, shutting the top of his laptop before he slid it in its bag.

"Aw, no!" Wes pulled a sad face as he let his head fall back, his body completely uncontrolled and only his pouted lips showing from under the hood he tightly pulled together. "Why? Thought we sacked classes off together so we can catch up on work we missed... because we sacked classes off. To catch up on work we missed."

I laughed at the sound of that, the constant cycle we were in was quite horrible. Suppose all of our plans of keeping up with work went out the window when we skipped the first class. From then on, it was a black pit we kept stumbling into, each time deeper than before, making it pretty much impossible to climb out.

"Yeah, I can't be arsed, man," Adrian excused which was fair enough. Doubt anyone in this library felt any different. "I'll do some when I get back home. I need a nap."

"Don't tempt me to join you," I mumbled as I typed a couple of words into the library website to find an online journal to cite. It was a piss take, honestly. All these academic sources and nothing seemed to have what I needed.

"Feel free," he patted my shoulder. "Good luck on getting some work done, though."

"Yeah," I lifted my left hand a little to wave at him, still looking at the screen.

"See you later, bro," Wes bid him goodbye and then it was just us two.

It definitely became much quieter between us. Adrian was always the one to entertain whatever stupid shit Wes had to share so if he wasn't around, we could actually do our work. Being in Adrian's company was also great when it was just us two and we had stuff to get done. All three of us together, now that's a no.

After about fifteen to twenty minutes, I found myself completely zoned out again. The library was becoming emptier as the time went on. From the corner of my eye, it was pretty clear that Wesley wasn't too focused on his work either since he was on his phone.

My mind took me to interesting places. The thoughts jumping around in my head were everywhere. Wasn't too sure how wanting to eat broccolis led me to thinking about the last time I had sex but it reminded me that I needed to buy some condoms. Also needed a new pair of jeans but then that made me think of Nadine because she was supposed to come shopping with me. Seeing as we were in a funk and ages apart with her being home, I just knew I'd have to get someone else to tag along. Buying clothes alone was definitely not my cup of tea.

"Should we go out tonight?" I asked. "I'm bored as fuck."

"I'm game," Wesley shrugged. "Doubt Adrian will come, though."

I hummed, aware of already losing one third of the gang. He's been feeling ill all this week which was no surprise. Usually, he was the first one to catch a cold so he'd barely do anything until he felt better. The fact that he came to study with us today most likely maxed him out.

"Nadine is mad at me," I added.

"Katherine's got that presentation she hasn't shut up about for weeks," my friend sighed, disappointed. That left us two. The fact that whenever it was my idea to go out, no one seemed to be available was a pain in the ass. Fair to Katherine with work stuff and I suppose it's understandable with Adrian. And, to be even more fair, I see why my girlfriend wouldn't want to tag along. It simply sucks to feel like my ideas are never as pumped as others. Oh, well.

"Do we go solo?"

"That's never good," he looked at me with a growing smirk on face. Yeah. The times we go out, it's a mess. We get so fucked that it's almost unbearable the next day. Not saying it's not fun in the moment, but we definitely are being irresponsible and crossing every line that ever existed. "Again, I'm game."

"Are we skipping tomorrow again?" I asked.

"Either way, I wasn't gonna go," he laughed and it made me shake my head. He was so bad and his horrible influence rubbed off on me. Then again, the only reason I dragged myself to classes was to register my attendance, considering that there wasn't much I learned. Too busy looking around and daydreaming or perhaps trying to stay awake which honestly takes all my energy.

"Alright, sweet," I slammed my hands together and rubbed my palms, my feet drumming on the floor as I got excited. I needed to go out tonight. Eclectic has been quiet so they didn't need as many staff this week. It just meant extra time for me to sleep, though I knew there would be none of that tonight. "We can't have prinks at ours, though."

"You have staff discount to buy us some for cheap. We're chill."

"You wanna go Eclectic again?" I asked, kind of bored of it. It's the only place we ever went to, mostly because it was the best of all the ones around us. Not me being biased, I was pretty sure my opinion would have remained the same if I wasn't working there.

"Dunno. Where else should we go?"

"No idea."

"Hmm... ah. You know who would know?" he looked at me with an evil look in his eyes, one that showed he was about to reveal something epic. Also, probably something that wasn't going to make me react positively.

I sighed, dead over the whole drum-roll scene he was trying to cause. "Who?"

"Your mortal enemy. The one and the only: Griffin Walker."

"No."

"Yes!" he pushed my arm as he chuckled. "Listen. She's been to every club. She knows people. She's proper fun when she's pissed. I don't see why you are so off."

"Let's see..." I pretended to have a think. "She's annoying."

"Whatever. I'm gonna text her to see if she's down. And no doubt she will be," he reassured me, making me roll my eyes. He managed to kill off my excitement just under five minutes.

Great.

Just when it seemed as though my mortal enemy was out of the picture, she found a hole big enough to squeeze her massive head through it, allowing her body to follow suit in a swift motion. Obviously, that worked right into Wesley's plans, made up of ruining my life every day for as long as we know each other. If that was up to him, it would last forever. Pretty sure he'll be chewing my ears about Griffin Walker when I'm married with three kids.

"Guess who's going out tonight?" he wiggled his eyebrows at me as his fingers moved to type quickly. I shook my head again, sighing in ultimate disappointment, fully aware of how he just made me the third wheel. It was clear as the sky on a beautiful summer day that he had the hots for Griffin and although he was the most confident lad I've ever met, something about the girl brought his shyness out.

Once it was settled that we will have prinks at whomever's place, it was impossible to stay and do more work. The clock was already moving towards six in the evening which meant there was going to be traffic, making our journey home at least an hour and a half. Getting ready would take at least another hour because who doesn't shower before they go out, right? Then, we lived with the nosiest people so even though Katherine had so much work to do, I knew for sure she'd bug us for ages with different stories to share. By the time we'd get to the given address, I knew it was going to be at least ten o'clock.

"You sure you didn't just soak that shirt in your cologne?" I made the comment as soon as we stepped out of the Uber. Wesley put on his chick-cologne, the one he usually wore when he wanted to get laid. He usually did, so, it worked for him. Absolutely no idea how girls liked that smell, I still thought it was more to do with his personality and of course the rumours about how great he was in bed. I guess I could vouch for that, seeing as whenever he had someone over, the whole house was provided with some free porno, more the noise than the actual visuals. I've heard my best friend's name moaned in every possible accent there is and taking the piss out of him through that is honestly the highlight of some of my days.

"Oh, quit moaning," he nudged me as he pressed his finger on the bell. The music was quite loud which I know would've annoyed me if I had to live by neighbours like that.

"Hey!" a bubble of energy popped the door open, looking rather exposed in her minidress. Now, I wasn't one to critique what others wore but to put that on in November? I swear the trees were frozen this morning and whenever I breathed through my mouth, it turned white. "You're...?"

"Wesley," he spoke first. "This is my mate, Harry. We, uh, we know Griffin?"

"Ah, yes," she grinned, from ear to ear as she told us her name. "I'm Megan but everyone calls me Meg."

Wes and I both nodded as she stepped to the side to invite us in. Instantly, the first thing that came to my attention was the weed that stunk up the house. No lie, it made me take a step back as it hit harder than expected, almost as if everyone in here was smoking it at the same time. Sheesh. There were party lights lighting up the living room, as said before, loud music shaking the walls and worsening the paint cracks in the corners.

I had to push my judging thoughts as far down as it was possible because it definitely wouldn't have been pretty if I made a comment or two.

Then the music stopped. Suddenly. Like someone cut it out.

"Alright, everyone! This is Harry and Wesley. Welcome them with open arms or get the fuck out," Megan introduced us and then put the volume back up. Perhaps higher than before. It worked because it made the whole situation less awkward.

Plus, no one paid us attention. Which was great. I was only here to drink my bottle then head out and have a blast. Not care and get shit faced. Mhm. Haven't had that in a while.

In the midst of it all, bopping along to the music and watching Wes make a move on everyone but the one lass he had a thing for, I couldn't help but look at everyone, just to get a feel for how they might be. For starters, one of the lads caught my attention. His face was much too familiar for me to see for the first time. Though, being a bartender was kind of the reason for that.

Until he moved around and stood next to Griffin. That's when it clicked in my head. Meanwhile I did see him at work, it was mostly because he was the one bugging the girl. Funnily enough, it seemed as though they knew each other, that simple fact explaining why they were hanging out when I served Walker the shots she bought. Although, side note, his act was pretty transparent; he was clearly into her.

Interesting.

Also, quite funny if you ask me. She had so many lads after her yet she gave none of them the time of day. Almost like she enjoyed but hated the attention she received, all at the same time, which was strangely very Griffin-like. Not that I spent too much time thinking about her, but if I had to describe her, that would have made sense. She wants attention but she hates it. Kind of like she needs it from someone rather than from everyone. It's difficult to explain but it makes sense to me. And since I don't fancy talking about her with anyone other than my subconscious, that was all that mattered.

And that I would have fun tonight. Though, as soon as I gained company, that was already somewhat ruined.