Chapter Two

I know what you're all thinking, that I'm just being overdramatic and he's really not all that bad. It's all me, right? He's Harry Styles, some unattainable object that you could only dream of someday meeting. Let me tell you right now, dreams aren't all they're cracked up to be. You had to hear it sometime.

                Some might say I'm rather cynical in my perspective of life, but I prefer to be thought of as a realist. And you know that you need people like me. If it wasn't for me, all of you would be left with a bunch of fantasies washed up on the shores of Neverland.

                It's not the best job, but somebody's got to do it, right?  

*****

I scowled at him. "Oh so you're a comedian now?" Shoving my shoulder against his, I made my way onto the bus and towed my bag behind me. 

I was momentarily taken aback by the state of my prison. Everything about this sort of screamed luxury, like the bus was entirely responsible for your happiness and well-being. Where I was staying was not going to be a problem, I could tell you that. It was who I was staying with that made my entire body cringe.

That last notion turned my thoughts back to Harry. "Geez, Al, when did you become so uptight? Learn to take a joke," he said as he walked in behind me. Who the fuck does he think he is? I do not need a man telling me when I should be having a sense of humor. 

God he was so conceited. I'm not really sure how I missed that when we were together. Did he hide it just to impress me? Was I the cause of it? Or was he just an arsehole from the start and I was blinded by love? 

Sincerely, I hoped it wasn't the last one. Please. Spare me the cringe. 

I whirled around to face him. He towered over me like a giant, considering I'm what some might call vertically challenged. As put appropriately by Niall: '5'2 and all mouth.' Harry stood literally a foot over me. "Look, I don't want to be here about as much as you don't want me to be here. So we're mutually upset about this. Don't," I poked a finger at his chest, "make this more difficult than it needs to be."

He flashed that stupid smirk of his. I still don't get why people find that so attractive. Nobody says that about me when I smirk, and you can find my face like that roughly 80 percent of the time. His hands were in the air as if he was surrendering. "I'm not the one getting all hostile after thirty seconds. I'm just making conversation." Oh hell no, he was not going to make this my fault.

"You're right." I gave him a smile filled with venom. "Let me fix this. Oh Harry, I miss you so much." My hands clasped together at my chest. "Please take me back, it was all my fault and I'll completely change myself to make it right. I want you, I need you. Oh forgive me." I rolled my eyes and walked over to where the bunks were, attempting to place my bag on the top one without climbing the ladder.

 Did I mention that I'm kind of short? And that the top bar was just out of my reach. He leaned over me and placed it over that last half inch. Ever so slightly, his body pressed against mine and I was never more aware of anything in my life. I think that was his attempt at being gentlemanly. The hair on the back of my neck stood on end and my entire body was on guard as our skin brushed.

"I don't need your help," I said pointedly, adjusting the black fedora that sat on my head. His help was about the last thing I needed.

"I'm just being nice. Some might say thank you." Was that a thing now? People said thank you to assholes who were full of it? I must have missed the memo.

"Fine, thanks. Now leave, please," I snipped.  

"What do you think gives you the right to-" he started.

"Oh, I think we both know the answer to that question," I interrupted him. Yes, I did have a right to make him leave my personal space if I wanted to, thank you very much.

His nostrils flared. I admit it felt good to push his buttons a little bit, a little self-boosting. "I told Niall this was a bad idea. You and your bloody mouth."

"Oh so this is my doing?!" I looked up at him with a death glare I was famous for, thanks to my brothers. His height wasn't stopping me from holding my ground. I was not under any circumstances going to let him out-intimidate me just because he could hold his head higher.

"Guys! It's been less than thirty seconds. Chill." I hadn't noticed that anyone else walked onto the bus, but I turned and saw the entire lot of them there. Louis, Liam, Zayn, Niall and Lizzie. They were all looking at us like we were whackos and I blushed. We were acting a little insane. 

How did he manage to do this to me? If I'm ever put in a mental institution, you know exactly who to blame.

"Whatever," I mumbled, slightly embarrassed. "Is it alright if I bunk here?"

The boys nodded. Except for Harry. "Well actually I was going to put my-" he started to say, but was cut off by Zayn shooting him a look. I supposed that Harry and I weren't the only ones wary about us staying together, the others seemed to walk on eggshells with the same amount of anxiety.

I rolled my eyes at him. So he helps me put my bag on the bed and then claims that it's his? Honestly. I knew him helping me was bullshit. He was full of bullshit. It oozed out of his ears and careened out of his mouth and bathed his body. And it caused me to become quite miffed.

"Lizzie, you can have the bottom. I'll be next door, Zayn and Liam in one and Harry and Louis in the other." Niall pointed to the bed farthest away from the one I had chosen. I had a feeling that was not at all unintentional.

"So when do we leave?" I asked just as I felt the bus start to lurch, pulling out of the depot to answer my question. The screams from the teenagers could still be heard, but then were slowly growing fainter as we pulled away. I can't really say I was sorry about that, how they lads handled that constantly was beyond me.

"Now," Liam replied as I sat down at the brown booth in the front. Gee thanks, I didn't get that.

"So give me the lowdown," I said. "Where is everything, what can we do for fun on here, most importantly where is the food kept?"

"Well where you're sitting is what we call the breakfast nook, but really it's for lunch and dinner too." It was a white table surrounded by brown leather bench seating on three sides. Liam pointed across the aisle at the cabinets. "There's a microwave, a wash-basin and a mini-fridge over there. The cupboards at the top are for utensils and the bottom are food. Each one is organized by our favorites." On each cabinet there was an L, an N, an H, a Li, and a Z. I guess Lizzie and I weren't important enough for one. Obviously, whoever did that had no idea how much we ate. "They're mostly for long drives with no breaks though, a lot of the time we eat on set and in the dressing room."

Zayn grinned. "It's fun in there because we can mess with Lou and pretend to get food on the clothing."

Louis clapped a hand over Zayn's mouth in mock confidentiality. "Don't give away all our secrets, mate!"

Ignoring them, Liam continued on his explanation. "After the kitchen we have the beds, then there's the closet and a bathroom across from each other and at the very back there's the hangout area."

I held up my hand. "Hold up, did you say bathroom, as in singular?" Liam nodded. "As in, one shower?" He raised an eyebrow and nodded again, not quite getting it.

One shower and seven of us. There was no way I was doing this. Hold the phone, stop the bus, right now. I give up. I do not appreciate someone banging on the door every five seconds yelling at you to get out. I had a roommate like that. I'm not doing it again.

 Her name was Greer, and she was by far the absolute worst person in the world to have to live with. And I grew up with three brothers, who thought that hiding my things and calling the fellas I liked and covering everything with semen would be funny. She was worse.

Imagine having an uptight mother. Not so hard, right? Now imagine that, placed into a twenty-something's body, who thought it was her job to keep you in line during the supposed best years of your life. I'm talking having a curfew, aka, a time she wanted me back by, where the punishment consisted of her 'accidentally' waking me up at 5 am the next morning.

"Allison," she'd say as the loo started flushing and her blow dryer wailed. "I'm just so sorry. I really thought you'd be awake, and this needs to get done." The things I would have done to her if they weren't illegal. You do not wake up somebody at 5 o'clock in the morning, particularly when they're hung over. My jaw clenched and I scowled just at the thought of her.

If Harry is first on my hit-list, she's second. Then her bloody blow dryer.

The reason I mention the bathroom specifically, is because she would time my showers. She was on some eco-friendly water-saving tangent, which I have nothing wrong with, but I like more than 4 minutes to shower and shave, thank you. It's not like I just wake up in the morning looking fabulous. So for the last bit I had been enjoying living with my two best friends who were normal about personal hygiene. And I'm not really too keen on having to give it up. 

Why did I choose to live with her, you may ask? Because, my dear friends, when you're a broke Uni student, you learn to put up with certain things in order to maintain cheap rent.

My terrible roommate situation ended when Lizzie temporarily thought about moving to Edinburgh, when I was supposed to be flat-sitting for her. But then she came back and I was not ready to go back to living with Greer. So I'd stayed at Harry's, and that was when the problems started.

I went from a queen size bed to a pull-out couch in my best mate's living room where she lived with her boyfriend. If that wasn't a good metaphor of how much I wanted to get away from him, I don't know what is.

"Just don't take so long and there won't be any problems," Harry piped up.

Liam knew well enough that changing the subject would be the best way to avoid whatever retort would be coming from me. "Anyways, for fun, well, we mostly just hang out and play video games."

"Or, if you're Lizzie, you brought a dozen books and Netflix." Niall nudged her playfully.

Lizzie threw up her hands. "If I'm out of your way so you can do your boy things, you don't have a right to complain, now do you?" Niall chuckled and placed an arm around her waist to kiss her cheek. He was a boy smitten, that's for sure.

Ah, young love. Totally overrated.

Song: Tightrope by Janelle Monae (feat. Big Boi)