Harry

Another four hour car ride and we've finally ended up somewhere in Austin, Texas. I've officially decided that I hate driving through this state. Two hours on the road and it feels like you've barely made it into the next town. Driving in Texas is a nightmare.

Looking over to the passenger's seat, I admire the beauty that is a sleeping Felicity. She looks so peaceful, I don't want to disturb her. I'll sit in this car for as long as I have to, waiting until she wakes up on her own. But unfortunately my hunger is making itself known through the ungodly noises coming from my stomach, and I don't have any snacks in the car. 

Felicity is curled up underneath the blanket as she leans against the door. Her hair lies across half of her face, hanging in front of her nose and swaying ever so gently from the air vent. She clutches onto her phone in her lap, and even though I could hear it buzzing in her hand throughout the car ride, not once did she wake up.

I can only imagine how tired she must be. From her lingering hangover to the frustrating conversation with her mother, she's got to be exhausted and drained of any kind of energy. I wish there was something I could do to help. I wish I could speak with her mother about what's really going on, but that would not make the situation better whatsoever. 

I just want her to be happy. There seems to be so much shit in her life, she can barely breathe. I guess at this point all I can do to help is make this trip as much fun as I can for her. 

"Felicity," my voice comes out much softer than I knew possible. I gently shake her shoulder, being careful not to scare her awake. "Wake up, babycakes."

Her brows draw together, a crease in the skin right between them as a tired groan escapes her lips. She slowly opens her eyes, squinting in the bright light of the sun that shines through the window. As she grows more aware of her surroundings, I can see it in her eyes that she's trying to register where we are before she looks at me with utter confusion.

"What's wrong? Why are we stopped?"

"We're in Austin."

Felicity turns to look out the window at the buildings surrounding us. She pushes her hair out of her face and rubs her eyes fully awake. "I didn't mean to be asleep this long. Why didn't you wake me earlier?"

"Didn't find it necessary. I was surprisingly okay on my own," I shrug my shoulders and unbuckle my seatbelt. "And I didn't want to disturb you. You looked so peaceful being asleep. I'm sure you could've used the rest. How's your headache?"

"It's fine. I feel completely fine, actually," she pulls the blanket off her legs and sets it behind her seat. "You could've woken me up anyway. What time is it?"

"Just about half past five," I grab my jacket from the back seat and pull out a beanie in the pocket, slipping it on top of my head. "Let's go walk around and find something to eat. I'm sure we'll stumble upon a place to stay the night as well."

Felicity nods her head before stepping out of the car. The two of us zip up our coats and tuck our hands into our jacket pockets. It's slightly warmer than New Orleans and a lot warmer than St. Louis, but there's a wind that is really making me question whether or not a stop in this city was a good idea. 

We don't walk very far in the downtown area before Felicity spots a pizza joint and drags me inside. I'd like to keep walking around to see what else is here, but my ass is freezing and the rush of warm air I feel from the door opening up is enough to convince me that pizza is what I want to eat. It's a very small place with very little seating. The pizza slices are the biggest I've ever seen. I was going to suggest to Felicity that we share one slice, but when I heard her tell the employee that she wanted a slice with all these nasty grilled veggies on top, I decided to just get my own. I am perfectly fine with pepperoni and pepperoni only. 

We sit inside the pizza place for quite a while after finishing our slices, trying to figure out where to go next. Neither of us can agree on anything. She wants to go out and look at places to shop, whereas I would like to walk around to the bars and see what live music is going on tonight. I'm pretty sure this city is known for its music scene, so what better way to spend our time here than to check it out? It seems reasonable, but not reasonable enough for Felicity to agree.

Eventually the two of us grow quiet. My mind starts running off to things that are not important, and I'm almost certain her mind has begun to think back on the conversation she had with her mom earlier and the fact that her boyfriend is a little bitch. It makes me upset knowing the kind of shit she's been dealing with on the trip and probably has been dealing with for years.

What kind of boyfriend is that guy anyway? He's an asshole, a manipulative and controlling asshole. I have no doubts in my mind that he's had Felicity wrapped around his finger with whatever sweet talk he uses to get her to move to his every beck and call. The saddest thing is that she's been oblivious to it until now. Has no one told her that relationships are two-way streets? Not one way. Has Sierra not said a thing about it before? I would like to think that she has, but if so, why is Felicity still with her boyfriend?

"Hey," I speak up to break the silence between us. She glances up at me with a questioning look. "Are you okay? It's like you zoned out for a moment."

She nods her head before scratching at her shoulder. "Yeah, I'm fine."

I lean forward with my elbows on the table to get rid of some of the space between us. I know it's rude table manners and my mom would probably swat at my arms if she were sitting beside me, but I do this as a way to show Felicity I'm interested in her and our conversation.

"Maybe you are fine, but I can tell there's a lot on your mind. So what's bothering you?"

She tilts her head to the side in a skeptical manner, crossing her arms over her chest. "How do you always know? It's like you can read my mind ... can you?"

I shake my head and laugh, although I might as well be dubbed a mind reader at this point in our friendship. "You're not very good at hiding your emotions. You wear them on your face and your eyes give them away every time. When you get in moods like this, the green in your eyes begins to dull and almost look lifeless. When you're happy and enjoying yourself, your eyes are brighter and more alive. They give it away without you realizing it."

"Do my eyes really do that?" There's a stunned look upon her face as she stares back at me. It's almost as if she's both freaked out that I notice such a thing and flattered that I care enough to see a difference. "Y-You can see that?"

"Of course I can. It's not difficult to tell the difference between the times you're genuinely happy and the times you're just faking it. That'd make me a shitty friend to you."

"I don't think anyone else has taken notice to it."

"Well maybe they don't care as much as I do."

Felicity is quiet for a few moments, making me anxious to know what's going to come out of her mouth next. She stares at me with her brows drawn, almost like she's mad. Whether or not she's actually upset and upset at me is what I don't know. I'm nervous.

Finally she sits up straight and doesn't break eye contact with me. "Why do you care so much? We've known each other for a week, and yet there's no one in my life that cares about me as much as you do."

Fuck.

I'm not sure how to get myself out of this without confessing that I'm in love with her. One week. One. And I've fallen in love with her. That's scary. I can't admit that to her. I don't know what to say.

I sit across the table from her like a mute. My mind is reeling with what to say, what I can't say, what I shouldn't say. I start thinking of all the possible outcomes of this conversation if I were to admit that I have feelings for her. None of them look good.

Just as I'm about to come up with some ridiculous excuse as to why I care about her so much, she opens her mouth to speak.

"I'm sorry. I don't know why I asked," she shakes her head and exhales a sigh of defeat as her cheeks turn pink. "I guess because I feel the same way about you, and that makes me nervous. For some reason, I care about you more than I've cared for anyone else. Is that normal?"

My head nearly explodes off my shoulders at her words. I didn't know she cared about me so much. Sure, that doesn't actually mean she has any real feelings toward me, but just knowing this fact makes me feel absurdly happy. I'm like a little school girl getting excited over the tiniest of comments.

That scene with Gemma plays out again in my head. The smallest comment from someone fills yet another empty place in my heart. Hopefully this one is here to stay. 

I shrug my shoulders as I try to keep a calm composure. "Maybe it is normal if this feeling is mutual between us."

Felicity nods before glancing at the windows in this pizza joint. It's like she's looking for something and can't find it.

"So what was on your mind?" I ask to keep the conversation rolling. 

"It's nothing, really. I'm just confused and annoyed. But I'm trying my best not to let it bother me."

"Oh. Well ... good. You don't need anything bringing you down while you're on vacation."

The door to the pizza joint opens up, the bells attached to the handle jingling loudly and obnoxiously. A guy right around my age struts in as if he owns the town, and for some odd reason I get the feeling like I've seen him before. I don't know where I would have seen him. Maybe he models in a magazine or he's in a movie. Nothing is coming to mind, but I know for a fact that I've met him. 

His jeans cling to his skinny legs, looking oddly small in comparison to the massive jacket he wears on his upper body. His thick, curly hair sticks out from underneath a gray beanie like it doesn't fit. As he waltzes up to the counter, he chats with the guy at the register like they've been friends for years, slapping hands and exchanging jokes. He plays with his bottom lip ring as he points to a bunch of different pizza slices behind the glass. 

"I know that guy," I say out loud before looking at Felicity.

"What guy?"

I point over at the guy I watched walk in and glance back at her. "Him. I know him from somewhere, but I can't remember his name. It starts with an M or something ... I think."

"Where would you know him from?" She asks, clearly confused.

Felicity looks back and forth between the guy and me, trying to see if she can piece together this relationship. I don't think we look like we'd be good friends in the first place, which we obviously aren't. But I'm pretty sure it looks like we run in different social circles. I don't think any of his friends are similar in personality to mine. He looks like he has extremely extroverted hipster friends, while mine are just slightly extroverted idiots. 

"Wait a minute," I knit my brows together as I start to remember something. I think we actually do have a mutual friend. It's beginning to come back to me now that I've begun to think about friendships. Felicity skeptically stares at me, waiting for me to continue talking. "I know him."

"You already said that."

"I mean, like, I actually know him. He's really good friends with one of my best friends. We used to hang out years ago," I shake my head. How could I have forgotten this? "Shit. We only hung out a few times. I can't remember his name."

Felicity watches him at the counter as he talks with the guy at the register. The other employees behind the counter prepare his pizza slices, sticking all six of them into the brick oven before they get one big box ready. As I continue to sit at the table and think about who this guy is, it's as if a lightbulb brightens in my head and allows me to remember the guy's name.

"Maz!" I exclaim rather loudly. I'm slightly embarrassed that I feel so proud for remembering him, and I'm also embarrassed for shouting it out in this small pizza joint.

My sudden outburst startles Felicity as I watch her jump in her seat.  She turns to look at me with a shocked expression, as if she can't believe I nearly screamed this guy's name. I can't believe it either.

Of course it's difficult to ignore someone shouting your name in public, so as a result of my exclamation, Maz turns around at the counter. He scans the room until his eyes land on me, suddenly growing wide in recognition. His jaw drops as he laughs before he pays for his pizzas and grabs the box with his six slices. There's a huge smile on his face as he walks in our direction.

"No fuckin' way! Harry Styles! Is that you?!"

Felicity grabs her purse from the seat beside her as Maz sits down in its place. He sets the pizza box on the table and looks back and forth between the two of us with excitement in his eyes. Grabbing my shoulders from across the table, he laughs and shakes my body with so much enthusiasm.

"Holy hell, it's been years since I saw you last! Look at you, all grown up!"

"Uh, yeah," I laugh at his reaction. I never thought he would be so friendly and remember me so vividly. I point over at my travel partner and smile. "Maz, this is Felicity. Felicity, this is Maz."

"Very nice to meet you, darling," he holds his hand out to shake hers and smiles brightly. "What the hell are you doing here, Styles? Austin is a long way from New York."

"We're on our way to California. Just thought we'd stop here as a detour."

"Nice! How long are you in town for?" He glances at the two of us, waiting for an immediate answer.

I shrug in response, seeing as Felicity doesn't look like she knows what to say. "Not sure yet. A night or two. It probably won't be long."

"Are you in a hotel yet?" He questions. As Felicity and I shake our heads, Maz claps his hands together. "Stay at my place! I have a roommate so there isn't a lot of space, but we could totally squeeze in. We've got a blow up mattress! My place is clean, I swear." He pauses for a moment, moving his hands up and down as if weighing two objects before he speaks in a singsong way. "You'll be saving money."

This isn't a difficult decision. If I can save money by staying at Maz's place, I'll take that opportunity. But I know that he is a complete stranger to Felicity, and in a way to me as well, so I don't think I should be the one to make that decision. As our eyes meet, I know we're both asking each other the same thing: should we stay with Maz or no? And without hesitation, Felicity is the one to respond to his offer. 

"Sure, why not."

A/N: I have not forgotten about this story, I swear! I've been super busy with work and haven't had the chance to sit down and write. I'm trying to get on it, so bear with me! Hope you're still enjoying this rewrite xx