The rest of the week passes by absurdly slow, and though I know I shouldn't, I find myself either sending one-word responses to Harry's texts, or not responding at all. The only time we actually have a real conversation is when Harry chases me down on Wednesday after class to talk about the plan for Friday. Other than that, it's pretty quiet between us, and it's driving me crazy. Granted, it is partially my fault, but I like to not focus on that bit of information because it makes me feel like a bad person.

As Friday approaches, my anxiety only increases as Gabrielle has put it upon herself to suddenly act like my best friend. She keeps asking me about my plans for the weekend and whether or not I think Harry and I will hook up for real. This strikes me as an odd piece of information to pursue, but I don't ask her about it because I'm simply too stressed and overwhelmed to find the energy. My lack of inquiry may also have something to do with the fact that I'm also incredibly paranoid that she and Harry have been seeing each other behind my back. So yeah, there's that.

At around nine in the morning on Thursday, Harry comes up to my dorm room to carry my bags to his truck, but as we are leaving, Gabrielle shows up and makes a comment that high-key throws me off.

"Wait, I thought the buses didn't leave 'til tomorrow?" she asks, apparently panicked that she has gotten the date wrong. Harry stops in his tracks and gives her a look that seems to communicate both his surprise as well as his desire for her to shut up. I wonder if he knew she was going to be coming with us; the look on his face kind of makes me think he didn't.

"What is she talking about?" Confused, I look between them, and suddenly, I realize that with the way they are looking at each other, they definitely do know each other. The only question is how the fuck did I not see it before? And not only that, but why is Harry trying to leave with me now? I skipped four classes to leave at this date and time, and now I'm supposed to just be okay with the fact that it's for nothing? If this is how this weekend is going to be, then I'm in for a hell of a time because we haven't even left yet and there is tension already.

Harry turns to me, ignoring Gabrielle who has an oddly satisfied look on her face, and speaks quietly so that I am the only one who can hear, "She's right; the buses don't leave 'til tomorrow. I wanted to drive up there with you alone."

Here we fucking go. He's trying to keep me away from his friends again, and it fucking pisses me off. I know he said he's trying to protect me, but seriously, what the hell could happen on a bus ride? I'd be with him the whole time, so if he tries to use that explanation again, I'm calling bullshit.

"Harry, I want to get there with everyone else," I tell him, trying to ignore the fact that he keeps glancing in Gabrielle's direction as if to see if she is up to something. The gesture, though small, only puts me at further unease.

Harry twists his mouth in thought, "If that's what you want, then okay, but I, uh, I wanted to take you some place nice."

Okay, that's sweet, I guess.

"It's a bit out of the way, so I understand if you don't want to. I just thought it might be fun to surprise you," Harry smiles shyly at me, and as much I try to keep it from happening, I feel my resolution to not take any shit from him begin to crumble. Maybe driving up with him would be amazing? I mean, I'll be meeting his friends tomorrow, so what could waiting a few hours hurt? I hate myself for it, but sometimes his thoughtfulness just makes me the most spineless human in the world, and I'm afraid that right now is one of those times.

"Oh," I mumble, tucking my hair behind my ear and casting my eyes to the floor. "Yeah, I guess that would be fun."

When I smile up at him, Gabrielle whines from the couch and my attention is once a again fixed on her, "Aw, no! I wanted to sit next to you on the bus!"

I know she's my roommate, and we're supposed to be nice to each other, but all I want to say to Gabrielle is to tell her to shut the hell up. Whatever it is that she's playing at needs to end or else I think I'm going to lose my mind. After her little comment, I really have no reservations whatsoever about going with Harry. If there is a way I can keep both of us away from her, then I sure as hell am gonna do it. It's a win-win, really. I don't have to be fake nice to her, and she doesn't get to flirt with Harry or do whatever it is that she wants to do with him.

If I sound really jealous, and it's only because I am.

Putting on my best fake smile, I pretend to be disappointed, "Aw, so did I! Next time, though!"

Believe me, I'm cringing more than you are right now; that was the highest my voice has been since I was probably eight years old.

Harry stifles a laugh from beside me as Gabrielle frowns, apparently unamused. Ha, I guess I was not as convincing as I thought I was.

With that, Harry and I leave my dorm and begin walking towards his truck. Though I try to at least carry one of my bags, Harry has refused to let me, so he is walking beside me looking much like my pack mule or something.

Once we are a good distance away from my room, Harry speaks up, "What was that all about with Gabrielle?"

I don't think I ever thought I could dislike the way he speaks until right now. Hearing him say her name is literally one of the most unpleasant things I've ever heard.

"What do you mean?" I ask, wondering whether he's referring to Gabrielle's attendance this weekend or my obviously fake sentiment of wanting to sit next to her on the bus.

Harry grunts mid-laugh as he pushes open the door that I could have easily opened, "Why'd your voice get all high when you talked to her?"

Wouldn't he like to know. Nah, more than that, wouldn't I like to tell him! I want to just tell him that I'm paranoid that he's been running around with her behind my back, but alas, I don't really think I want to start something with him right before we embark upon a six hour road trip together. That would be unpleasant.

"Oh, um, I don't know. She's just been bothering me recently. That's all," I mumble, opening the last door to the outside so that Harry doesn't have to struggle to do it.

Harry nods, "Ah. Roommate problems?"

"Something like that."

We throw my crap in the back seat and go on our way towards a destination that Harry refuses to tell me. He lets me pick the music, so for a little bit, I plague him with the glorious tunes of my favorite band One Dimension. Harry groans through most of it, claiming that each song is the "worst song ever," but every time he says something rude, I just turn it up louder which gets him even more annoyed. Gotta establish my dominance some way, ya feel?

After five or so songs, I change the music to a playlist called, "Let's Drive, Bitch," and Harry is much more pleased with its contents than he was with my boyband playlist. That one was called "Get You a Mans" because what else would it be called?

Despite the fact that we haven't really talked to each other in about a week, the drive is spent pleasantly. At first, things are a little stiff between us, but after about an hour, we are back to talking like we're best friends again. I think part of it has to do with the fact that we spend some of the time jamming out to the absolute anthems that are on my playlists. Let me tell you, hearing Harry sing "She's a Lady" by Tom Jones is something I didn't know I needed until after it happened, because wow. He really should consider putting it on his set list because I can't even begin to describe how amazing it would be to see him dance to such sexy song.

At around hour five, we pass into Florida, and I am suddenly very confused. First of all, if we're going to the beach, I don't have a swim suit and it's kind of cold. Second, if we're going to make it to New Orleans by tonight, we're going to have drive out of Florida, through the bottom tips of Alabama and Mississippi, and into Louisiana.

Now, I know I'm in college and I'm supposed to be able to stay up late, but I don't know if I'm up for a late night of driving right now. I'd have to stay up with Harry to keep him awake because if there's one thing I can't stand, it's when I'm driving my friends somewhere and they fall asleep on me. Then I'm left driving in the dark with no one to talk to while I sing Billy Joel songs in attempt to stay awake. That's rude, and I won't do it to him no matter how "not tired" he claims to be.

"Harry, will you please tell me what we're going to be doing," I beg him again for the ninth time. I hate not knowing the plan, but Harry absolutely refuses to tell me anything.

"For fuck's sake, woman," Harry laughs, glancing over to me with one of the sexiest smiles I've seen him give me. "You're relentless sometimes."

With the way Harry is gripping the steering wheel with one hand and looking at me like I'm the only thing he cares about in the whole world, I really can't get mad at him for teasing me. I also can't get mad at him for not telling me where we're going. He's just so fucking cute sometimes that trying to hold anything against him is damn near impossible. This is why you shouldn't date boys who are cooler than you, because clearly, I am having many difficulties trying to stick to my guns because of how distracting he is.

I'm not even mad about it, though. I'm excited that we're going to spend some time alone together, mostly because it's literally giving me an excuse to ignore everything else that is happening. I don't have to worry about Gabrielle or John or really anyone. It's just going to be Harry and I alone, minding our own business and hopefully just focusing on enjoying each other. I know I shouldn't let myself be so ignorant of everything that's going on, but hey, what the hell? I'm going to have a good time with my boyfriend and cherish this pleasant time with him while it lasts. We will go through all the shit later.

I guess I really do procrastinate in all things. Oh, well.

"Ugh," I groan, leaning my head back against the headrest and fixing my eyes on him. "I'm only relentless because you're not telling me where we're going."

Harry rolls his eyes playfully and sighs, keeping his attention fixed on the road, "If I give you a hint, will you not ask again?"

He's probably going to give me a shitty hint, but I suppose I will play along anyway.

I sigh, feigning annoyance, "Fine, but make it a good one."

"It involves the beach," Harry says, and I can see him fighting a smile.

I was right; that was a shitty hint.

Shaking my head, I grab his free hand and clasp it between both of mine like I am begging, "Oh, c'mon. Give me something better than that."

I don't know why I'm suddenly being so flirty with him. I suppose seeing him continuously smiling for the last five hours has begun to take its toll on me, but in the absolute best way. Just from laughing with him and listening to him sing, I feel that unparalleled sense of joy that only he could inspire rising within me. It's a feeling I've missed over the last week; and I'm not going to lie, it makes me feel like a physical weight has been lifted from my shoulders. Just being here with him in this truck bantering together over stupid things and truly enjoying each other has really made me realize just how much I love him.

When that last sentiment enters my brain, I am suddenly awestruck with myself for having thought it at all. Love? Am I for real right now? I've considered the concept of maybe loving Harry before, but this time feels different. This time, I'm getting this really weird, nervous, but happy feeling in my stomach that I really can't attribute to anything other than the reality that I might just be in love with Harry.

I knew I would eventually fall in love with him, but given the weird and suspicious circumstances going on right now, I sure as hell didn't expect it to hit me today. I mean, what the fuck, brain? Why'd you have to play me like that? This definitely complicates things for me. If I do love Harry, which I'm pretty sure I do, and if the impending discussion about his secrets goes badly, then it's going to hurt like hell. That freaks me out just a little bit, not gonna lie.

I know this sudden realization might seem a little abrupt, but let me just say that I think I've loved him for a while. It just so happens that I've been able to avoid admitting it to myself until just moments ago. The idea of love terrifies me if I'm being honest. It means that whatever walls I've put up within me have become obsolete because Harry has breached them. Whether he meant to or not, he has entirely established a control over me that I have somewhat unwillingly granted to him, and it's scary to me.

But as scary as it seems, I can't help but love this feeling I have when I look at him. I've felt it before, many, many times, and I loved it then. Now though, knowing exactly what that feeling was adds a level of legitimacy to my relationship with Harry. It also means that more hangs on it; there are no walls to protect me from feeling every ounce of pain that could come from this. I'm worried about that just a little bit, given our rocky circumstances, but I also know that I would regret it if I tried to run away from these emotions. What if Harry feels the same way? That possibility alone keeps me from freaking out and demanding that Harry turn the car around.

Thus, now blindingly aware of the fact that I have fallen in love with Harry fucking Styles, I suddenly become extremely nervous and find myself blushing just by looking at him. My cheeks begin to heat up, and I know now that I am in trouble. Harry's going to ask me about it, and I'm going to be awkward, and I'll probably end up saying something really, really stupid.

So, in attempt to keep Harry from seeing my flustered self, I release his hand probably too abruptly to be considered normal and look straight ahead, forgetting entirely about my request to get a decent hint about the plans for this evening. Immediately, I realize the stupidity of this impulsive action and begin to prepare myself for the questions I will have to answer in result of my ridiculous attempt to avoid them. It's really funny how things work out like that. Had I just acted like a normal human, then I wouldn't have to deal with Harry's inquiries which I'm sure to expect in three... two...

"Hey, are you okay?" Harry asks, and I mentally smack myself in the left tit for being so damn spastic. If I actually did hit myself in the boob every time I scolded myself like this, I think I wouldn't have any boob left. I need to pick a new personal threat.

"Oh, uh, yeah. I just, um..." I trail off, not knowing what the hell I'm going to say. How am I supposed to ignore the fact that my brain has just mentally declared my love for him? How does one function with such insane emotions raging inside them? Is that a thing? If you're looking for the answer to that question, then I'm not your girl, because I clearly have no fucking clue either.

Maybe I should pretend to panic about forgetting a clothing item? Yeah, that'll work, I think.

"I just, I don't have a swim suit," I mumble, glancing nervously over to him to see if he's buying it. I just think he might.

He frowns and sits thoughtfully for a few moments before speaking, "Okay, fine. I wasn't going to take you to the beach, just near it, so don't worry about not having a swimsuit. We're just going to have a nice dinner on the coast, and I think we're going to make it for the sunset. Does–" Harry's voice falters for a moment as he appears to be anxious over my reaction. What a cutie. "Does that sound like something you would like?"

Ha, score. He bought my pathetic explanation for my weirdness and he told me about his plan, which is really fucking cute by the way. How could he even ask if I would like this plan? Dinner at sunset sounds so romantic and so lovely that I really don't know if he'll ever be able to top it. And the fact that he's unsure of whether or not I'll enjoy it is actually so adorable because it shows me just how nervous he can get around me.

Like I've said before, I love his confidence because it's sexy as hell, but I think I love his uncertainty around me even more. It makes me feel like he's maybe not so far out of my league after all; and I don't know, as someone who doesn't think very highly of themselves all that much, having Harry, of all people, worrying about impressing me makes me feel wanted and important. That's some heavy stuff, I know, but it's true. And right now, Harry is making me feel more special than I think I've ever felt, so needless to say, I'm kind of thriving.

I nod fervently, looking over at Harry and once again feeling that obnoxiously love-sick, warm feeling brewing in the pit of my stomach. If this is how the whole night's going to feel, I don't know if I can't handle it. It's a very overwhelming sensation, and I'm beginning to wonder just how long I'll be able to keep it to myself. I'm kind of afraid I might just blurt it out to him or something, so I decide right here and now that I will not have any alcohol tonight. If I do, I just know I'll tell him.

"Yes, of course," I reply adamantly, hoping Harry understands just how excited I am that this is actually happening. "That sounds amazing."

I smile at Harry encouragingly and he smiles in return, making my heart flutter in my chest. I want to smack myself for being so damn enchanted by him, but I also love this feeling of happiness that I am experiencing, so I can't even blame myself for it.

"Oh, good," Harry sighs to himself, fixing his attention once again on the road ahead of us. "I thought you might think that was too cheesy."

"What would give you that idea?" I tease him, thinking back to all the times Harry and I have watched chick flicks together and he has gotten mad at me for making fun of them. The boy really has a strange obsession with Nicholas Sparks that I'll never understand, but I mean, I guess it is kind of sweet that he likes such lovey-dovey films.

Rolling his eyes, Harry puts on a very frustrated demeanor that only makes me laugh, "I don't know, maybe the fact that you hate The Notebook? What kind of person doesn't like that movie?"

"That movie is ridiculous, and I stand by it," I defend myself, trying to fight the smile raising to my mouth. "I just don't see the appeal of Nicholas Sparks, I'm sorry."

"Do you not believe in love or something?" Harry asks me playfully and I nearly choke on air. Of course he would say something like that to me right now.

"Of course I believe in love," I force a laugh, but it ends up just sounding uncomfortable. Classic, Cam.

Harry gives me a weird look, so I try to come up with something else to say. I suppose I could comment something nice about the terrible movie he is talking about.

"I will say, though, of all the Nicholas Sparks movies, I really don't mind The Last Song. That one's actually really cute."

"Are you sure you're okay?" Harry looks over at me and raises his brow in skepticism, "You would never admit something like that and you've been acting weird for the last five minutes."

Ha, that moment when the bae notices that you're freaking yourself out because you finally admitted to yourself that you're in love with said bae. I'm mentally shooting sarcastic finger-guns at myself for the wonderful irony and discomfort of this situation. It's amazing.

Okay, but now how do I play this off?

"First of all, I've always liked that movie," I state simply, and to my surprise, I actually sound somewhat convincing. "And second of all, yeah, I'm fine, I just got suddenly kind of tired."

That was a lame response, my subconscious mocks me, but I can't help but be satisfied with it because it seems to have worked.

Harry frowns but doesn't attempt to push me further on the topic. Instead, he announces that we are about an hour away and that we will have time to change for dinner before our reservation. At this, I can't help but say, "I told you so" to all the people who have told me that I overpack, because if I hadn't included options like I did today, then I wouldn't have anything appropriate to wear for this dinner. So take that, mother; my being extra has finally paid off.

•••

Next chapter's gonna be so cute I'm so excited... or at least I'm trying to make it cute haha

Y'all, I'm going to the Niall concert on the 1d anniversary I'm going to CRY

Also, my birthday is coming up, and I've been trying to figure out what kind of food I want to have with my friends, so any suggestions? What's your food of choice?

Thanks for reading, everyone! I hit 15k reads today and I am SHOOK😅 I love y'all so much fr like I want to shoutout everyone bc I appreciate all of y'all so much❤️❤️ thank you for supporting me and my amateur writing! 😅
-Kate❤️