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THE DEAL

HI!!! THIS IS PART ONE OF (HOPEFULLY) SOMETHING MORE! I HOPE YOU ENJOY IT! X S

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Harry and Nina make a deal and end up breaking all the rules.

Everyone finds Harry intriguing.

His choice of career often leads everyone to be in his business but for some reason, unique to his job, he keeps it all to himself very well. See, Harry is a professional football (soccer) player and outside of the pitch and the training, come the 'perks' of a famous, celebrity life. However, Harry is someone that has never aired his dirty laundry out for everyone to see which well, intrigues everyone.

His teammates and other players are often caught by paparazzi while cheating on their significant others or drinking too much and found vomiting on the streets. Harry, on the other hand, has never been caught out of line. Even more so, he's never even been seen out with a woman and it has never been a problem for him, until now apparently.

Harry isn't your conventional football player either. On the pitch, he's a great player with even better statistics but off the pitch he is taking the world by storm. He had been styled by Gucci for an event and after his outfit and how he wore it was so well received, they partnered up with him and he became a Gucci representative. Within the fashion world, he had been sponsored by Nike throughout his career and had even come out with a line with them, that had done extremely well and because of its success, a second drop is happening.

"So, we're thinking you should go out with someone" Alicia, his publicist says over coffee.

"Scuse me?" He chuckles.

"We need to get people talking about you and I think people have been desperate to know what's going on in your personal life, so we should give them a glimpse" She explains.

"Wait, but I don't have a girlfriend" He frowns.

"We can fake it" She shrugs.

"What?" He chuckles, "fake it?"

"Yea, like fake dating"

"I don' think I can do tha" He shakes his head.

"You don't really have to be dating the woman, just make it seem like you are. A few dates here and there for the next few months"

"Who would I even go out with?"

Nina Matthews is an international model who has quite simply taken the world by storm. She is unlike any other model in the industry, in many different ways and for some, she's a complete breath of fresh air. Her career began when she was extremely young, her mother had set her up with multiple advertisement shoots for children's products. When she became a teenager, her demographic changed and so did the shoots she did. But when she entered her adulting years, her career really took off. She had been approached by many different brands asking (well practically begging) for her to be their face. Now that she had more power over the work she wanted to do, she was able to pick and choose the perfect brands she wanted to represent.

For example, instead of being a part of one of the biggest, if not the biggest, lingerie brands she chose to rather go with a smaller lingerie brand, concerned with making every woman of every shape, colour and size feel sexy. She promised herself to only work with brands that believed in the things that she did. A cruelty-free beauty brand had been her next big job, something that had aligned with her beliefs perfectly.

However, no matter how well she handed herself in the business world of modelling, fame came along with it and she hated it. She had never been one wanting to make headlines but once her career took off, she had been faced with people dying to know what was going on in her personal life. With that, came people's obsession with her dating life. She had never been one to overly publicise her relationships, not often posting pictures of her significant others and only when she wanted to.

But now she's single and is in the midst of launching her own brand, one that is focused on making people feel the best they can. She had chosen the name 'Refresh', hoping people would use her brand in order to feel perfectly themselves, perfectly relaxed but mostly, perfectly refreshed. Her first launch of the brand is set to take place in a month or so, and as they plan the next few weeks, that's the only thing on her mind.

"So we have an idea" Fran, her publicist states over FaceTime as she gets ready for an event.

"Yea?" She asks, closing her eyes so her makeup artist can brush some eyeshadow onto her lids.

"Well we were approached with the idea" Fran corrects herself.

"C'mon Fran, spill" she chuckles

"We'd like for you to start seeing someone, publicly" Fran states and Nina bursts out laughing.

"Yea" she says, assuming her friend is joking.

"Not joking babe"

"Alright, let's say I go along with this" She teases, "who on earth would I date?"

They meet each other three days after being approached about the idea, a meeting that had not been planned by their publicists. Nina had just landed back in London after about a month in New York and the first place she went (after going home and dropping her bags off) was to the supermarket to stock up for the week. She had even stayed in her clothes from her flight, a pair of joggers and a matching jumper, as she rushed to the shop before it closed.

"Sorry, sorry" Nina rushes out as she passes a few people on the street on her way to the shop, trying to weave through the late night crowds. Once she finally reaches her destination, she takes a deep breath and grabs a trolley before pulling her phone out and checking her list. She grabs everything she needs and when she's at checkout, she realises she forgot to get a bottle of wine, she turns around to excuse herself and go find what she needed.

"Sorry, I uh need to grab-" When she looks up to excuse herself, she would never have expected to see who she sees. She blushes brightly, wondering how on earth her life had come to this.

"Hi" He chuckles and so does she, not knowing how to handle the situation, because how small is the goddamn world?

"Hi" She giggles, she wonders if he knows they're really meant to meet the next day (that meeting planned by their publicists). "I uh, sorry I have to go grab something, would you mind?" She asks and he shakes his head.

"Go for it" He smiles, moving out of her way and she rushes to find her target, her cheeks flushed bright red and she needs to calm herself down before facing him again.

"Sorry" She says breathlessly as she returns to checkout. "Jus' had to" She holds the wine up with a slight blush, what is wrong with her?

"Good choice" He points out and she smiles, thanking him softly. She finishes checking out and begins walking out of the shop when she hears her name being called. She turns quickly to see him running after her.

"I uh I wondered if you'd like to share that wine with someone?" He says, effortlessly cool.

She blushes and looks down into her bag, where the wine sits, then looking back up at him and he shrugs as if it was an afterthought, "Oh uh yea yes of course, you're welcome to join me" She mumbles out.

"Oh no, I didn't mean me" He teases and she doesn't realise so her face drops, eyes widening in embarrassment. "M'only teasing love" She lets out s breath of relief and he chuckles, letting out a soft sorry.

"Good" She giggles and gestures him to follow her.

"So" He starts as they walk the few steps towards her apartment. "We were only meant to meet tomorrow" He states and she shrugs.

"Maybe it's better we met now on our own terms" She shrugs and he smiles. "Not looking all dressed up though" She blushes.

"Are you mad?" He chuckles, "I think a bin bag could look good on you" He compliments her and she smiles, thanking him softly.

For the next few minutes of their walk, they're both quiet and focused on their own thoughts.

"C'mon in, jus' gonna get us glasses" She smiles as she opens her door before slipping her shoes off, "would you like anything else?" She offers.

"M'good, thank you" He smiles and follows her lead by toeing his trainers off and shrugging he jacket off before hanging it next to hers. "Can I help with anything?" He offers, following behind her into the beautiful kitchen.

She watches as he takes in her kitchen, the sage green cabinets and brown wooden floors with a rug run across it allowing the white countertops to stand out. He feels like he can get a good idea of her as he looks at the stack of recipe books which are piled on the brown shelves. He spots one of his personal favourites and smiles. His eyes then move to her fridge, which is covered in polaroid photos which he notes that are from all different times in her life, and he smiles.

"I love your kitchen" He comments and she smiles as she grabs two wine glasses from her cupboard, placing them on the counter before grabbing the wine and an opener.

"Thank you so much" she replies, "the cabinets were originally grey and then as soon as I moved in I repainted them with one of my brothers, feel like I'm more exciting than some boring grey kitchen" She tries to open the wine but struggles and when Harry offers to open it, she thanks him and hands it to him.

"That tells me a lot more about you than you'd think" He smiles, "'ve met lots of grey coloured kitchen people in my lifetime, feel like they're all the same" He teases and she chuckles.

"So what colour is yours?"

"My kitchen?" He asks and she nods with a smile, "S'grey" He admits and she throws her head back in laughter. "M'kidding, it's actually blue"

"Thank god, you know what they say about grey kitchen people" She teases and he laughs and they both hear the pop of the wine bottle being opened. "Lemme grab us somethin' to snack on, why don't you head into the living room and I'll be right there?" She offers, pointing to the door that leads to the living room and he nods.

Harry doesn't know what to expect when he enters her living room, but what he sees doesn't surprise him. A large burnt orange sofa is placed in the middle of the room, a rug laying underneath it with a table in the middle of it, and large windows to the side which open to a balcony. A few shelves line the wall behind the sofa, filled with different books and magazines which Harry knows will fill him in a bit more about who she is but before he can study it, she enters with a bowl of popcorn and another of fruit.

"Hope this is okay" She smiles, "Jus' came back from New York so all I can offer is this"

"Tha's perfect" He smiles, placing the wine and glasses onto the table right next to where she places the bowls. "How was it?" He asks and she smiles.

"New York?" She asks and he nods, sitting back on the couch. "Very busy. You ever been to New York?" She asks and he nods, "then you know how crazy everything can get there. I love it, but I can't be there too long otherwise I go crazy" She chuckles and he smiles.

"I completely agree. I went a few years back to do some work and was there for two weeks and when I got back to London, I was so relieved to be home in a city that didn't make me go crazy" He teases and she laughs. "How long were you there for?"

"About a month" She states, taking a sip of her wine and he grimaces, "I know, long time but my job kinda forces me to" She shrugs.

"Do you often find yourself away from home for your job?" He asks and she nods.

"My mum says it comes with the paycheck" She rolls her eyes at her mother's words. "But yea, I do love everything my job allows me to do, most of the time" She adds the end a bit quieter, mostly talking to herself.

"And the rest of the time?" He asks and she shrugs, looking down at her wine swooshing in the glass.

"I don't know" She shrugs with a sad chuckle, "sometimes wish it didn't come with all the other rubbish"

"I know what you mean" He smiles sadly. "I had always dreamed about becoming a footballer and when I finally did it, the other things that come with the job didn't really add up to what I wished for, you know?" She nods.

"Is that why you're so private?" She asks, "I mean, I try to be as private as I can when it comes to my personal life but somehow everyone finds things out anyways. But with you, I feel like you've managed to keep everything in your private life, well private" She says, grabbing some fruit.

"It's hard" He starts, "I mean in the beginning I had no idea what I was doing but eventually, I closed myself off to the public when it came to my personal life and I've never looked back" He states proudly, following her lead and grabbing a piece of pineapple from the bowl.

"How did you do it?" She asks, changing her position on her couch to fully face him, genuinely interested in how the most famous footballer manages to keep his personal life to himself.

"I started with closing off my circle. I got rid of people that were only around me for my life and instead focused on people who I knew would be there for the right reasons. So I don't have so many people around me, just a few friends and immediate family" He explains. "It isn't easy to decide who's there for the right reasons and not, but after a while there are signs that begin to show"

"I hate that" Nina says, her eyes glossing over a bit "I've been, well I've been let down by many people in my life who I thought were there for the right reasons and were obviously not. I guess I've never been good at discerning who is and isn't" She chuckles sadly. "Always find out too late" She feels herself getting emotional. "Sorry"

"Nothing to be sorry about, I wish it didn't come to this" He says sadly. "I personally think that all the people that are in our lives at a certain time are there for a reason. I try to think of the reasons, whenever I think of the bad times"

"Mature" She says, "Don't think I can do that" she shakes her head.

"I think you just have to remind yourself to try, the best you can do" He shrugs.

"Wise words from footballer Harry Styles" She teases in a voice like a commentator. He lets out a laugh.

"M'really happy we've met on our own terms" He smiles, sipping his wine.

"Me too" She blushes.

Not long after that, Harry leaves her apartment promising to see her soon (which is the next day) and thanking her for the invitation. After he leaves, Nina retreats to her bedroom, exhausted from her day of travel but also intrigued about the footballer she's met and will have to work with for the foreseeable future.

The next day is crazy. Nina wakes up to her alarm at 6am and as she always does, heads to a pilates class. After pilates, she heads home to make herself breakfast and coffee before she gets ready for the day (which includes meeting Harry with their publicists). She changes into a comfy outfit for the day. She ties her hair up into half a bun with a matching green scrunchie and grabs her bag and a jumper incase it gets colder (which London does often) and heads out of her apartment.

When she arrives at the office where their meeting is set to take place, she chuckles as Harry walks in with her. "Hi" she smiles, waving at him.

"Good morning" He grins, "glad we made it at the same time"

"Why's that?" She smiles.

"So we can get our ducks in a row"

"Ducks in a row?" She teases and he smiles, shaking his head and he hopes she doesn't notice his blushed cheeks.

"Just meant we can get our story in order. Are we letting them know we met each other before now?" He asks and she shrugs.

"Whatever you think"

"Think it can be our little secret" He teases and she giggles as they enter the office they're meant to be meeting him.

"Oh how wonderful, you two have already met" Alicia, Harry's publicist, states.

"Met on the way in" Harry states and Nina nods with a smile.

"Great so let's get started" Fran, Nina's publicist hands them both folders with papers inside. "The point of all this, as I'm sure you both already know, is to get both of your upcoming projects some more publicity."

"You mean, getting people to notice and speak about us so that when we drop what's coming they will go buy it?" Nina states blankly and Harry laughs.

"Yes Nina, basically" Fran rolls her eyes at her friend.

"So we've gone ahead and already planned some outings for the two of you like meals, walks those kinds of things. You two are free to plan your own get together's if you'd like. Oh and Nina, we'd love to see you at a few of Harry's football matches" Alicia states.

"Right" Fran agrees. "If there are any queries or concerns, they should've all been addressed in those folders and if they aren't, feel free to call either of us"

"Anything else?" Harry asks, clearly unimpressed and Nina holds back a laugh.

"Uh nothing right now, we've already booked a table at a restaurant for dinner tonight for the two of you. So we'll start there" Alicia states and both of them nod. "I guess the two of you can go"

They all bid their farewells to everyone and end up leaving the office building together. "Weird that this is what we're about to do" Harry says as they walking.

"Extremely" Nina laughs. "So we now have scheduled dates" She says.

"How far can they possibly go?" He asks. "I'm sure I'll get a call tonight from Alicia about what to wear"

"Oh gosh next thing they'll be choreographing kisses"

"So you're planning on kissing me ey?" Harry teases and she laughs, blushing.

"We have to play the part" She teases right back and he shakes his head with a smile. "Sorry we have to do this though, give the people we don't want to, a glimpse into our personal lives"

"It is what it is" He shrugs and she frowns.

"Yea" She says softly. "I'll see you tonight?"

"Looking forward to it" He smiles.

"Are you?" She teases.

"Looking forward to the seeing you part, not so much the others"

"Bye Harry" She waves with a smile.

"Bye Nina"

Her day is busy as she rushes from meeting to meeting and then to her latest design meeting for Refresh and lastly to a shoot for a new lingerie line from the lingerie brand she's worked with for years. After the shoot, it was finally time for her to head home and get ready for her next work appearance, her 'date'.

She arrives at her apartment to her stylist and makeup artist/ hairdresser which she assumes are there to get her ready for tonight. She wonders why she couldn't get ready herself but knows that there will probably be photographers there (because of their teams) which means she has to look her best.

"How are you feeling for all of this?" Emma, her hairdresser/ makeup artist asks as she gets her ready.

"Horrible" She chuckles, her answer truthful.

"Hey, at least you get to spend some time with a beautiful man" She states and she smiles.

"He is gorgeous" She agrees.

"So let's do the printed dress with the leather trench and matching boots?" Hailey, her stylist suggests and she nods.

"Hair will be blown out" Emma adds and she nods again.

"So is he meeting you there or are you going together?" Hailey asks.

"I uh actually don't know. Let me see" She picks her phone up from the table and sends Fran a message.

She finds the whole situation weird, but everything that comes with it makes it even weirder. Like how she has to message her publicist about a date she's going on. The response she gets makes her feel giddy, and she has no idea why.

Eventually, once she's all ready to go, both Emma and Hailey leave (with good luck wishes) and her doorbell rings shortly after. She quickly checks if her outfit is as perfect as it can be before she grabs her purse and heads for the door.

"You look incredible" Harry compliments as soon as she opens the door to him.

"Hi to you too" She smiles, "and thank you, as do you" He's wearing a pair of bell-bottomed jeans and a jumper. He smiles and thanks her for her compliment before offering her his hand to walk her to his car.

"Are you ready for this?" He asks as they both get into his car.

"Yea, not really" She chuckles, "last time I had a public relationship that's how I found out I was being cheated on" She states and he frowns.

"That's awful, m'so sorry"

"I mean, I know this isn't a real relationship but I just feel like I never wanted to make another relationship of mine public" She shrugs.

"I get that" He nods, "feel like this is a real relationship though" He chuckles.

"Why's that?"

"Jus' haven't had any kinda relationship in a while and us going on dates feels like one" He shrugs.

"Same for me, felt giddy when I found out you were fetching me" she chuckles. "Even made sure I looked perfect before I opened the door for you" She blushes.

"Well, if you wanna feel better" He starts and she nods, telling him to carry on "I have condoms in my wallet" She bursts out laughing.

"Quite presumptuous, Mr Styles" She teases.

"Kept forgetting this wasn't a real date" He shrugs and she chuckles. They arrive at the restaurant to see photographers already stationed outside and they both give each other looks to remind each other that it is definitely not a real date.

"Let's head in" Harry states and she nods. He is quick to approach her side of the car, opening the door to let her out and she thanks him. She decides to hold onto his arm as he escorts her through to the restaurant.

"So I was thinking" Nina starts once they've made themselves comfortable at their table.

"Yeah?" Harry nods, showing he's paying attention to her.

"We should make some rules here" She gestures between the two of them.

"Rules, what kind of rules?" He asks with a curious smile.

"For starters, I think we shouldn't treat this like it's a real relationship, I think it blurs the lines a bit" She says and he nods, "so no checking myself in the mirror before we go"

"No condoms" He adds and she nods with a chuckle.

"Exactly"

"If we're doing this whole rule thing, I think we should always be honest with each other" He says and she nods, gesturing him to carry on, "think we can get pretty caught up in this and it might be best for us to tell each other if it's too hard"

"Yea, agreed" Nina takes a sip of her water. "I don't know about you, but I'd really like for this to not get out of hand"

"What do you mean?" He asks curiously.

"As in, let's stay ahead of everything that will happen. Like tonight, we already know that there will be articles coming out tomorrow but let's make sure we keep the narrative how we want. I've seen how the media can twist even the smallest things and I think we both need to be clever about what we do over the next few weeks"

"So we won't go out with other people?" He asks with a frown, "As in I don't think me going out with another woman will do you any good"

"Exactly" She nods, "I mean, I don't think I'm gonna get into any relationship anytime soon but yes. Is there anything else you can think of?"

"If you're supposed to come to my football matches, at least tell me you support us?" He says with a grin and she smiles.

"I wish I could say I didn't" He chuckles, "but my dad and brothers have been supporters their whole lives and if I had to tell them that we're friends they would freak out" She explains and he laughs.

"We're friends huh?" He teases and she shrugs.

"I'd like to think so" She smiles and he nods.

"Me too"

The rest of their evening is spent eating and getting to know each other. They get along extremely well already (they both already knew that from the previous night) and before they leave, they find themselves making plans to see each other again. Once they finish their meal, Harry pays (after many complaints by Nina but he insisted she'd pay the next time) and they leave the restaurant to flashing lights and questions thrown at them from every direction.

And just as expected, Nina wakes up the next morning to an article all about their evening out.

HARRY STYLES AND NINA MATTHEWS ARE OFFICIAL

Footballer, Harry Styles (28) and model, Nina Matthews (23) step out for a fancy dinner date as they confirm their relationship

Harry Styles, footballer and fashion icon has a very private dating history. Although he has always been private about his relationships and personal lives, we know he has previously had two serious relationships and had been extremely private about each. Now, for the first time, the 28 year old has stepped out with the beautiful Nina Matthews.

Matthews, a 23 year old model/ brand ambassador/ entrepreneur, has also not had many previous relationships. However, her last was extremely public. The 23 year old previously dated the famous actor, Nick Sanders (30) and the two were engaged early 2019. However, after Sanders was seen out with a specific woman, many different times, it is understood that he had cheated on the model. The two announced their split in early 2020 and ever since, Matthews has kept to herself.

Sources close to both the footballer and the model have told us that the two are completely smitten with each other and even though last night was their first public date, they have been seeing each other for about a month before.

No one could have expected these two to get together, but they are one very good looking couple and we cannot wait to see what will happen with these two!

"Hello?" Nina answers the phone to a FaceTime from a newly familiar face the next morning as she drinks her cup of coffee.

"Hi Nina" His face pops up and she smiles, he must be drinking his coffee as well as she notes he's sat in his (blue) kitchen.

"Harry, how are you?" She asks with a smile.

"I'm good, thank you. How are you?" He asks her.

"Very good, thank you"

"Did you see the articles?" He asks a bit nervous.

"I did, they don't seem too terrible" She chuckles, knowing how badly they described her last relationship.

"I uh read them, m'sorry they talked about Nick" he says sincerely and she smiles sadly.

"Me too"

"So you're coming on Saturday right?" He asks her, changing the subject (she's very grateful for it) and she nods excitedly.

"I can't wait"

"And you're bringing your family yea? I've reserved seats for you all so it doesn't matter who comes or not, just letting you know there are about seven seats for you all. Know your oldest brother is married, so he can bring his wife"

"That's so kind of you Harry, thank you so much, m'looking so forward to it"

"As am I, the tickets should be delivered to you today" He says and she nods. "Alicia called me this morning to confirm everything from last night" He adds

"Fran did too" She chuckles, "the two of them are on it" He laughs.

"Very much so. Alicia asked me to make another 'date' with you"

"Ah makes sense, seems like last night was a success"

"I'd say so" He chuckles, "I was thinking to ask you if you'd like to join me for a walk this morning?" He offers and she smiles.

"I wish I could, 've got a shoot to get to in about thirty minutes" She states and he nods.

"No problem" He smiles, "I hope you enjoy it" He adds.

"Me too" She chuckles. "Let's do tomorrow morning if you're up for it?" She offers.

"'ve got early morning training" He pouts.

"See, a real relationship between us would never even work" She chuckles and he joins her. "I think we should be alright with Saturday at the game but should we do a Sunday morning brunch? Love a good mimosa" She smiles.

"That should be perfect" He says, "I'll let Alicia know"

"Perfect" She smiles, "oh and I think we can plan our own dates from now yea?" she suggests and he nods.

"Much easier" He agrees, "I'll let her know that as well" He chuckles.

"Great" She looks at the time on her phone and quickly jumps out of her chair. "Sorry Harry, but I've gotta go shower or else I will be extremely extremely late" She says as she rushes back into her apartment. "Thank you for this and the tickets, m'really looking forward to seeing you play" She smiles.

"Should be thanking you, you made me look ten times better in those articles" He chuckles.

"Nonsense" She brushes him off, "I'll see you soon yea?"

"Yea" He nods with a smile.

"Bye H" She waves and so does he before the call disconnects.

Nina thinks it's nice to have a new friend, someone else who understands fame and can relate to her is always a good person to have around and Harry's even kinder and funnier than she could have ever imagined, making it a thousand times more enjoyable to be working with him. Harry thinks exactly the same.

Saturday rolls around faster than either had expected.

Harry's day started fairly early as it normally does. His pre-game routine is the same every time he's set to play that day- a quick workout in the morning, a shower, and breakfast before heading to the stadium. Today's game will be played at home, an advantage to Harry as he feels extremely comfortable entering the stadium, watching eager fans already lining up, seeing the familiar faces of the staff and even the colour of the walls in the hallways all calm him down.

As soon as he settles down in the changing room, he pulls his phone out to see he's gotten a message. He opens it to see Nina's sent a photo of her wearing his teams colours and a big grin. The next photo that comes through is a photo of the back of the team shirt she's wearing, his number printed at the back and he smiles.

Harry: Honoured to have my name on your back

Nina: I should be saying that, 'boyfriend' ;)

Nina: Goodluck!

Harry: Thank you!

"Are you speaking to your girlfriend!?" Niall, a teammate of his teases him excitedly.

"Speaking about Nina Matthews? She's fucking fit mate" Louis, another of his teammates says from across the room. "Lucky you Styles"

"Thank you" Harry rolls his eyes at their playful banter, his response coming out as soon as their coach walks into the room.

By the time they need to head out onto the pitch, Harry's received many photos from Nina of her and her family getting ready for the game, when they arrive at the stadium, when they get to their seats, you name it. He's enjoyed every single one of them, excited his new friend is there to watch him at his best. Then the players are out on the pitch and the fans go crazy, Nina and her family joining in on the craziness.

"I still can't believe you're dating Harry Styles" Her youngest brother, Sam says with an excited smile.

"She's not dating him you idiot" Luke, her older brother smacks the back of Sam's head. "She's explained it to you about ten times today"

"M'not an idiot" Sam grumbles, shoving his brother.

"What're you two fighting about now?" Amy, Luke's wife, pipes up next to him, trying to hear what they're saying.

"He still doesn't understand that Nina and Harry Styles aren't in a real relationship even though she explained it to him already and it's not that hard to understand anyways"

"Don't be mean to him" Amy scolds.

"Thank you Ames" Sam grins back.

"You do understand that we aren't really dating though?" Nina asks her younger brother, making sure he knows.

"Yes, it's a PR stunt" He says waving her away, "it'd be awesome if you really were though. Harry Styles as my fucking brother-in-law, bloody brilliant" He says with a dreamy smile.

"What a world that would be" Nina's dad joins the conversation, sitting next to his wife who has been listening in on the conversation but not commenting, "Imagine Margret, our daughter marrying THE Harry Styles" He says to her.

"You should all marry him if you love him so much" Her mum comments, making all of them laugh.

"Haven't even met him yet" Nina adds.

"He seems like a good guy" Luke says and Nina shakes her head with a chuckle.

"Will we get to meet him?" Sam asks excitedly.

"I don't even know, maybe" Nina shrugs. "Can we stop talking about it now, I'd like to watch the game"

"Yea and your boyfriend's arse" Sam comments making Luke and their dad laugh, the women shaking their heads.

The game is unbelievable- from start to finish. Harry is on top form, scoring two goals and assisting another two as he runs up and down the pitch tactically. The whole team plays incredibly well which leaves the home fans even more excited than when they started and just like the beginning of the game, Nina and her family join in on the excitement.

Once the game is over, they all head home and Nina makes sure to send Harry a congratulations message once she arrives home. She really enjoyed her afternoon. Although her family have always been football fans, including her, and had gone to many games before, she finds that this was her favourite as she rooted for her friend the whole game. As she winds down for her night- craving a nice and relaxing night- she gets a FaceTime from her new friend.

"Hi winner!" She answers excitedly and the other side of her screen is met with the tired but smiling football player.

"Hi" He chuckles at her excitement.

"You were unbelievable today Harry! I can't believe you can move like that" She says and again, he laughs at her (mostly because he doesn't take compliments well)

"Thank you" He blushes "And thank you for coming, it was nice playing knowing a friend was there"

"Of course! Was kinda in the contract" She teases and they both laugh.

"Did your family enjoy it?" He asks and she nods with a big smile.

"They loved it and my brothers and dad are dying to meet you" She says. "Beware though, my younger brother thinks you're already his brother" She chuckles.

"Sweet, how old is he?" He asks fondly.

"He's 20" She chuckles and he throws his head back in laughter, "and is probably your biggest fan" She adds.

"Then m'looking even more forward to meeting him" He smiles.

"Meeting the family eh? Seems kinda relationship-y to me" She teases.

"You're not wrong" He smiles back at her. "Although, all of my friends have met my mum and sister so"

"Good point" She smiles, "so maybe not too relationship-y"

"Not if we don't make it" He says and she chuckles.

"You're not wrong"

"I just wanted to confirm we're on for brunch tomorrow?" He asks.

"We are! And m'very excited for bottomless mimosas" She grins excitedly. "This place in West Hampstead has the best brunch, I wanna take you there"

"Alright" He chuckles. "Would you like me to fetch you?" He offers.

"I can just catch the tube- it's easier and I prefer to walk home from brunch anyways" She adds, "needa sober up a bit after the mimosas"

"So let me come to yours in the morning and we can go together?"

"Harry Styles on the tube?" She teases, "No ways a famous footballer can be spotted riding the commoners tube" He laughs at her antics, shaking his head.

"I can be at you at 10am?" He suggests and she nods with a smile.

"Sounds perfect to me. I'll see you tomorrow H"

"I like H" He says and she frowns, "as in, all my friends call me H, only fitting that you do as well"

"I agree" She smiles.

"What do your friends call you?" He asks.

"Well anything they want really" She shrugs, "but if m'doing the H thing maybe you should call me N"

"Like in Gossip Girl?" He raises his eyebrows.

"You've watched Gossip Girl?!" She asks with wide eyes.

"Had an older sister growing up, f'course 've seen Gossip Girl- s'a good one" He smiles.

"You keep surprising me Styles"

"Why's that?" He laughs.

"First it's the blue kitchen, then it's the FaceTime calls and now Gossip Girl"

"Wha's wrong with FaceTime?"

"Nothing, just pegged you as a message kinda man"

"Well you know what they say" He grins and she nods.

"Never judge a book by its cover" Nina says at the same time as Harry says, "Don't eat yellow snow" making her burst out in laughter.

"I see what you did there" She smiles.

"Goodnight N, I'll see you tomorrow" He waves and again, he has her smiling (which honestly she hasn't stopped since they started chatting)

"Sweet dreams" She says as he hangs up.

The next morning is crazy. Harry wakes up late and he never wakes up late. On the other hand, Nina is up the whole night planning the launch of her brand after someone messed up the dates of the release, so she's awake bright and early to resume her work. However, when 9:45am rolls around, both are frantically trying to get their shit together before they go out.

Harry's just about sprinting around his bedroom trying to get ready so that he can leave in time to get to Nina's on time and ends up throwing on two different coloured socks, a random pair of pants and a jumper he thinks he's had since high school.

In her apartment, Nina rushes a shower, ends up leaving her hair wet after washing it, throws on a dress (which is a bad move in October) and just about gets a coat of mascara on her lashes before her doorbell rings at 10am sharp.

A sigh of relief (more like exhaustion) is released by the both of them as Nina opens her front door. Nina just lets out an exhausted chuckle when she takes in the very similar expression on Harry's face of franticness and lets him into her home.

"I look a mess" She states and he shakes his head.

"I wouldn't call it a mess" She smacks his arm playfully, "but I would suggest you change into something a bit warmer, after all it is October"

"Do you mind?" She asks with a grimace, "I've just been working the whole morning and didn't wanna be late so I just threw whatever on"

"Of course not- I'll wait here" He smiles, "trying desperately not to worry about what I look like"

"Nonsense, you look-" She takes a moment to take in his appearance- a cozy cream knit jumper, a pair of brown pants, converse, messy hair and a lazy smile on his face "Cozy, you look very very cozy" She finishes and he chuckles.

"M'taking that as a compliment"

"Definitely is" She shouts back from her bedroom as she changes into a similar outfit. "The fashion world will go mad for it, I already see the headlines. Harry Styles, the football magician, looks like pure dreaminess as he takes his lazily dressed girlfriend out for Sunday brunch" She says in a posh accent and he just laughs, sitting down on her (comfortable) couch.

"Lemme give it a go" He takes a second to think, "The extremely beautiful and talented Nina Matthews, spotted with her boringly dressed boyfriend who doesn't care about his looks"

"Change it to extremely boringly dressed boyfriend and you've got a headline my friend" She trails back into her living room, pulling a boot onto her foot while trying not to fall. "Ready to go?" She asks and he stands up, huffs out a breath and nods.

"To the tube we go" He says and she chuckles.

"I cannot wait to see this" She says as she grabs her purse and everything she needs before following him out of her apartment, locking it behind her before they stroll down the street to the tube station.

The whole experience has her laughing. From Harry not having an Oyster card and having to pay for a ticket to him sitting (uncomfortably) next to a man who has not stopped staring at him and every part in between and after. Throughout the ride, obvious to the pair, people were taking pictures of the two very famous people riding the tube and Nina knows the pictures will be everywhere even before they step out of the tube station.

"M'proud of you" Nina chuckles as they walk out of the tube station.

"Thank you, it was extremely rough" He says dramatically and she shoves him playfully. "So how far is this walk?" He asks.

"About five minutes" She says, "and there are the paparazzi" She points out discreetly to a group of three or four men across the street from them with cameras. "Fran must've told em we'd be here"

"That's the point of this innit?" He states and she shrugs. "Should we hold hands or something?" He asks and she chuckles.

"Would you like to hold my hand?" She offers dramatically and he rolls his eyes playfully at her, grabbing her hand in his and walking side by side quietly for a few moments.

"I've always liked holding hands with someone" She pipes up.

"Yea?" He asks.

"S'like a way to stay connected to a person without being too overly affectionate. Used to hold everyone's hands" She chuckles at herself, "honestly I still do"

"M'not a big hand holder" He states and she frowns.

"Why not? Do you not like it?" She asks.

"S'not that, I actually really like it" He says, "I think my exes weren't fond of the whole hand holding thing, always said my hands were too cold or that my hands are too big"

"That's mean of them, I think your hands are the perfect temperature" She says, "plus, big hands are always the best to hold, makes mine feel tiny and protected"

"Good" he hums. The remainder of their walk is spent in comfortable silence.

Nina can't help but think about how quickly it took her to feel comfortable around Harry. Granted, Nina warms up to people fairly quickly normally, but being comfortable around someone is different, she's comfortable with herself and never finds herself changing who she is to impress Harry or be someone she isn't.

Harry feels the same. Although, the difference is that he has stopped warming up to people without getting to know them properly first. So him being so comfortable around Nina already, means something to him.

It's weird, being so comfortable with someone that you've known for less than a week. Think about it, they've seen each other a total of 4 times in person and have had 2 phone calls, FaceTimes at that (which are a bit more personal than a normal phone call). So within those 4 meetings and 2 calls, they have each found comfort in the other. Pretty big.

And yet, the rules still apply, it is strictly friendship for the pair.

Brunch goes well. Nina ends up ordering for Harry, claiming to know what's best and what he will enjoy from the restaurant (and he absolutely loves what she ordered for him). They both end up drinking quite a few mimosas, leaving them both buzzed as they leave the restaurant and walk to Nina's apartment which is a 45 minute walk.

"Alright, what's your biggest pet peeve?" Nina asks Harry, initiating their game of 21 questions.

"Um I'd say fake people" He says.

"Nobody likes fake people Harry" Is Nina's rebuttal and he chuckles "A pet peeve is like not liking the sound of people chewing or people that are or hating how some people talk"

"Alright alright" He chuckles. "I really hate it when people don't put their phones on silent when they're typing and they're in public"

"So the tapping of the keyboard?" She says, "that's not a bad one" She adds.

"What's yours?" He asks.

"Not how 21 questions works! You can't ask me the same question" She protests, "c'mon H, be creative here"

"Okay okay, what about" He takes a moment to think, "What's your favourite song?" He asks.

"Good question" She hums, "probably Ribs by Lorde" She says, "huge Lorde fan"

"Surprising" He smiles. "Your turn"

"Favourite movie?"

"Easy, Love Actually" He answers quickly.

"Interesting, thought you'd say some football movie or something"

"The point of this game is to learn new things about each other" He points out and she nods.

"Good point. Go for it"

"How many boyfriends have you had?" He asks.

"Random question H" She chuckles, "but I've had two- just Nick and my high school boyfriend. What is the worst date you've ever been on?" She asks.

"Good question" He takes a beat to think before answering, "I once went out with someone my sister set me up with through a friend of hers, I don't really know how it came about but the girl I went out with was very clearly not into me" He chuckles at the memory. "I had fetched her in my nicest car, hoping to impress, wore my best outfit and everything but the minute she stepped out of her apartment, she rolled her eyes at me and I heard her scoff under her breath about how I was a typical footballer. She kept saying things throughout the night about how much she hates footballers and never dates them but I was just sitting there like an idiot, not knowing what to say. Safe to say, never went out with her again"

"That's awful" She grimaces, "Mine don't even come close to that"

"Well now I really wanna know your stories" He pouts.

"Nope, different question buddy" She smiles teasingly.

"Um what's the worst and best job you've ever done?" He asks.

"Within modelling?" She asks and he nods. "I've loved shooting for my brand, which seems pretty obvious but it's been incredible being able to make my vision come to life every step of the way you know?" He smiles at that answer. "And my worst has to be when I modelled for a lingerie company and they basically shot me nude. It was awful, the photographer was so horrible, just shouting random things at me and eventually, for the first and last time ever since, I walked away halfway through"

"Good on ya for leaving though" He praises her, "not many people are strong enough to do it. Have you had many experiences like that? Rude photographers and tha'" He asks.

"I haven't had many but there have been a few when I didn't feel so comfortable. The lingerie shoot was the last time I felt uncomfortable, promised myself after that to never put myself in that situation no matter what" She shrugs.

"M'sorry you had to go through those shoots in the first place. I had heard loads of stories about this kind of thing but had never heard it directly. It sucks"

"It does" She nods sadly, recalling all the horrid photoshoots she had done in her career. "And don't think I didn't notice the two questions in a row Styles." He chuckles.

They go on like this for a while, back and forth asking each other questions about their lives. The pair enjoying getting to know each other through the silly little game of 21 questions. By the time they reach her home, they've most definitely gone over 21 questions but they never stopped.

"Brunch was wonderful, thank you" Nina says to Harry when he stops at his car.

"Thank you for showing me the restaurant, you're right it was delicious" He says and she smiles.

"I'll see you soon, yea?" She says and he nods.

"F'course. I'll call you?"

"In the contract, Mr Styles"

"Oh god" Harry rolls his eyes with a chuckle.

#solo harry #harry styles #tpwk #fanfiction #fanfic #writing #storytelling #football #soccer #zendaya #zendaya coleman #model

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idkkkstyles · 2 years

Text

BROTHER'S BEST FRIEND

HI! I HOPE YOU ENJOY MY FIRST ONE SHOT (I HAVE A LOT MORE IN MIND) I LOVE IT A WHOLE LOT! X S 10k words | MY MASTERLIST | PINTEREST

When Rachel is absolutely head over heels for her brother's best friend and he doesn't feel the same (or so she thought)

Rachel's first ever encounter with a cat was when she was about three, and according to her parents, she had been completely in awe of the animal. She recalls the picture of her and the cat sitting in her grandparent's home on their console. It was their cat, Fluffy as she recalls, and the white ball of fur had crawled onto her lap and had fallen asleep all while Rachel sat there in awe, not even touching the thing. Everyone had watched on with wide eyes, afraid the cat (having a bad reputation of scratching everything that it comes in contact with) will take the leap, however it didn't even make a move. It just slept there, for the rest of the afternoon. However, right after the cat woke up from its nap on Rachel, it attacked her brother Joe and from then, each time the family would get together, Fluffy would be locked up in her grandparent's room to avoid any further scratch attacks.

Her second encounter was with the same cat, Fluffy who was thereafter the cat-who-shall-not-be-named. It was a classic Sunday brunch at her grandparent's, with all the family sitting around the large table in the garden (even though it was November, but no one could argue with her nanna who was a force to be reckoned with everyday, let alone Sunday brunch). Fluffy had been locked up in her grandparent's bedroom, as per every week, and everyone was extremely grateful for it since they all collectively hated the cat. They were all eating, all the adults sat at their table and all the kids at another when Rachel made her escape. All she really wanted was a piece of the chocolate cake in the kitchen (she'd always been obsessed with cake). However, as a short five year old, she couldn't reach the counter and ventured her way into her grandparent's bedroom to get the stool (she would always use it when brushing her teeth at a sleepover with them and therefore, it was in their bathroom ready for her) which she took to the kitchen. However, in the process, she let the cat out who then proceeded to jump on the counter and push the cake off- which absolutely killed Rachel- to the point of her shouting at him. She had been shouting at him (along the lines of 'You're the worst!' 'Bad kitty!') when her mum walked into the room to the crazy scene in front of her. Just as her mum was about to tell her to be careful, Fluffy attacked, scratching her chin (leaving a scar for the rest of her life) and ergo, her hatred of cats was spawned.

The next time she encountered a cat was at her primary school best friend's house. It was her first time over for a playdate and her friend was so excited to show Rachel her cat Whiskers. Rachel remembers the craziness of it all. As soon as her friend brought out Whiskers, Rachel burst into tears and hid behind the living room couch waiting for her friend to get rid of the cat. Her friend, being utterly confused as to why she was afraid of her cat, just put the cat down which then ran towards Rachel in curiosity. This then had her in absolute hysterics as the cat sniffed her up and then just walked away. Even though the cat didn't do anything to her, Rachel still absolutely hated cats, and still does.

So that's why, when her brother plans a weekend away with his longtime girlfriend and she asks Rachel to look after her cat, she says no.

"No?" Joe, her brother asks with a shocked face.

"Nope" Rachel shakes her head, standing her ground.

"C'mon, Rach, don't be like that" He says.

"I hate cats, Joe, there is no chance I am looking after one for a whole weekend. Can't you guys just leave it with food and water, m'sure it'll be fine" She says, taking a bite of her sandwich.

"Jesus, there is something seriously wrong with you" He scoffs.

"Please Rach, I beg of you! He's so good. His name is Theo and he's cuddly and good and definitely won't scratch you" Jaz, Joe's girlfriend asks.

"Jazzy, with all due respect, I don't trust a word out of your mouth" She says bluntly and both Joe and Jaz groan.

"I'll do anything for you" Jaz asks, "whatever you want"

"Whatever I want?"

"Whatever you want" Joe agrees and Rachel takes a moment to think but instead asks.

"Why can't you give him to one of your friends to look after him?"

"We asked Harry but he'll be away till Saturday so you'll only have to watch him for a night and Harry will take over"

"One night?" Rachel debates.

"One night, Harry will take over for the rest of the weekend" Jaz states.

"Why the fuck didn't you open with that? I'll do it" she puts her hand out for them to shake.

"You're so odd"

That's why, on the next Friday afternoon, Jaz and Joe drop the fluffy little menace off at Rachel's town house, equipped with all his things (such as food, his bed and some toys) and leave, with a wish of good luck to the pair (Theo and Rachel).

"Alright little psychopath, go lie in your bed or summat" Rachel waves off the cat, who is staring at her. "Stop staring at me!" She says with wide eyes, backing up into her bedroom. "Alright, you stay there, imma stay in my room" She closes the door behind her before jumping onto her bed and phoning her brother.

"What's wrong now, Rach?" Joe answers quickly.

"The fucking cat won't stop staring at me" She whispers into the phone, "he looks like he want's to kill me"

"Jesus Rachel" He sighs. "It is not going to kill you"

"You don't know that" She bites her nail nervously. "I can't believe I'm doing this" She says softly, mostly to herself.

"And we're really grateful you are!" Jaz says from the other side of the phone.

"What time did you say Harry is comin' to get the demon tomorrow?" She asks.

"Call him" Joe says, "discuss it with him, you don't need me"

"Ugh I guess"

"Now please, my darling sister" He says sarcastically, "don't call us again yea? The purpose of a vacation is to relax and not be disturbed by annoying sisters"

"Dickhead" She bites back. "Love you both! Have fun and don't make me an aunt yet, m'not ready for that"

"Bye Rach" They both say before Joe hangs up and Rachel pulls up Harry's contact, butterflies becoming present in her belly.

See, Harry has been Joe's best friend ever since primary school and ever since primary school, Rachel has had a big fat crush on him. Growing up with a brother who is only two years older than you opened doors for the adolescent girl that she didn't even know were there. Joe had been one of the popular football kids, often bringing all of his friends home after a practice and Rachel, being the cute younger sister, used to sit on the sidelines and admire all the good looking footballers in her house (granted they weren't that good but in her eyes they were all godlike). Then, there was Harry.

Harry, the boy who lived right around the corner. Harry, the scrawny teenager who dressed up as Scooby- Doo for Halloween. Harry, the curly haired boy in the band. And now, Harry the international recording artist, songwriter, actor and fashion icon. Safe to say, Harry has and will always have Rachel's heart (and he hasn't got a clue). In her mind, she thinks Harry only sees her as his best friend's little sister, who at times annoyed the hell out of him. Rachel and Harry have, let's say a weird relationship. Joe and Harry are practically brothers and Rachel thinks Harry always saw her as his younger sister, just like Joe and therefore, treats her like a younger sister.

That's why, when Joe tells Rachel to call him to ask about the cat, she absolutely freaks out but calls him anyways.

"'ello" Harry answers cheerfully and Rachel feels goosebumps settle on her skin.

"Hi H" She says.

"Ah hi Tiny" She blushes at his use of the nickname (which comes from her height). "How're you doing, love?"

"Should be asking you that rockstar" She teases.

"Oi quit it" He chuckles.

"No seriously, how are you?" She asks.

"Good, busy but really good. Missin' home loads but m'done tomorrow and hopefully will have a bit of a break"

"Sounds good H, everyone needs a bit of a break" She says and he smiles on the other end.

"And you? How's work going?" He asks.

"Busy and shitty but I go into court on Monday which should be exciting"

"Ooh Tiny, the big shot lawyer" He teases like a brother.

"Shut up" She rolls her eyes with a blush. "So I'm calling for a reason"

"Ah man, thought you jus wanted to catch up with me" She can hear his pout and she groans. "Jus teasing, love. What's up?"

"You're comin to fetch the demon from me tomorrow right?" She says and she hears his laughter burst through the phone, the sound being so loud she has to move the phone away from her ear.

"He's just a cat, not a bloody demon Rach" He stifles his laughter.

"That cat is a bloody demon, the fucking thing won't stop staring at me" she says with a frown, "well it isn't anymore" her voice goes softer, Harry getting suspicious.

"What'd you do to it?" He says slowly.

"Nothin" She says simply.

"Tiny" His tone is warning.

"May or may not have locked myself in my room" And once again, his laughter rings through her room.

"You're so strange babe" He laughs.

"So what time are you fetching the dickhead?"

"Watch your language!" He teases.

"Harry!" She groans.

"I'll be at yours at like 9 tomorrow mornin?" He suggests.

"Yea guess I have to accommodate the thing" She sighs.

"Accommodate?" Harry laughs and she groans.

"What else do I do with a fucking cat?"

"Well, you feed it, give it water and give it cuddles"

"You can give the thing cuddles" She spits.

"If you give it a chance it'll give you love, everybody loves gettin loved on" He explains and she frowns.

"Not by a cat" She says.

"Try it babe, I've got a flight to catch but I'll see you tomorrow yeah?"

"Bye H. Have a safe flight" She says.

"Bye love"

After their phone call, Rachel decides to stay put in her room for as long as she can but then she gets hungry and after eating the granola bar in her purse, she realises she had to leave her room at some point. That point was when her stomach begins making audible noises and then she starts, and subsequently cannot stop, thinking about the leftover chicken parm in her fridge.

So she gears up, first putting on clothing that covers every part of her body in case the cat decides to pounce. Then she sits with her ear by the door for a few minutes to make sure the cat is nowhere to be heard before she's ready to make her move. As soon as she opens the door, though, the little devil is sitting outside her door. They make eye contact, and Rachel lets out a squeak and shuts her door. She takes a moment to calm herself down, reassuring herself that it's just a cat and can't do anything to her. She then opens the door again and when she sees that the cat hasn't moved, she makes the decision to slowly walk around it. As she does, the little cat lets out a soft meow and she freaks out, running towards the kitchen.

Once she gets her food out of the fridge and into the microwave, she spots the cat sitting on the kitchen counter, licking its paws and for a second, she thinks it looks pretty adorable (even snaps a picture to send to Jaz). She remembers she needs to feed the cat so does so as her food warms and she watches the cat eat (which she finds cute). When the microwave signals that her food is all warmed up, her thoughts are cut off and she pulls her food out of the microwave.

When deciding on where to sit and eat, she takes a moment, looking over at her living room couch and picturing her sitting cross-legged on her comfy couch watching Criminal Minds on her tv and then she remembers the little demon walking around her house. She then thinks about sitting on her bed and trying to eat her food without messing her bed, while watching Criminal Minds off her phone screen. But when she feels a furry thing rub along her leg she rethinks her decisions, looking down at the demon (who she's warmed up to a bit) and shrugs, making her way to her couch.

It's after two episodes of Criminal Minds and a delicious leftover dinner, when she feels the couch dip by her feet. She freezes for a second, not fully processing what's happening before she remembers Harry's advice. She makes a small move, using her foot to pat the cat slowly and then she feels the cat move and she freezes again, watching the cat move its way into the little spot that she's left on the couch next to her. Once he's settled she calms down and is eventually patting the cat in front of her. That's how she falls asleep.

She wakes up abruptly.

She hears the knocking on the door and immediately shoots up, confused about her surroundings but then remembers that she had fallen asleep on the couch with the cat next to her. The cat. She looks around her town house to see if she can spot the cat and she soon sees him curled up by her feet and she coos.

The knocking on the door returns and she quickly jumps off of the couch and towards her door, shouting 'coming!'. She feels the fur at her feet once again so she just reaches down and picks him up before opening the door, hair messy, eyes sleepy and cat in her arms. The sight on the other side of the door is the complete opposite of what she looks like. There, Harry is stood in workout clothes, a wide and awake smile on his face- which completely throws her off.

"Mornin babe" He charms, "Looks like the devil's changed your mind" He teases and she frowns in confusion before he points to the animal in her arms with a smirk.

"Oh shut it" She shrugs him off and puts Theo on the ground. "Cuppa?" She offers him, opening her door for him to enter her townhouse.

"Please" He smiles and walks in, closing the door behind him and then crouching down to give the cat attention.

"Milk? Sugar?" She calls from the kitchen and he calls his preferences back to her.

Once they've both got their drinks, they take a seat on her couch. "So how was your night?" He says with an eyebrow raised, looking at Theo who's cuddled up to her.

"It was surprisingly good, you're a good little boy aren't ya Te?"

"Te?" Harry teases.

"Everyone deserves a nickname" She shrugs and he chuckles. "How was your time away?" She asks.

"Really good, but not so productive" He shrugs. "Happy to be home, hoping it'll spark some inspiration"

"m'sorry to hear that" She pouts, "but when the inspiration strikes, m'sure it'll be great" She states and he smiles, thanking her softly.

"So tell me about this case next week" He says, turning his body to face hers.

"It's an adoption case, the father is in rehab and the child is getting adopted by his ex-boyfriend" Rachel says simply. "I feel really bad for the little girl, she has no idea what's happening with her father and now she has no clue why she's never seeing him again and the case worker is trying to figure out if the boyfriend will be good for her or not- s'just a bit of a mess" She explains and he listens intently.

"That's heavy" He says, "are you alright working with it though? Obviously work wise you can handle it but emotionally?" And there it is, so big-brotherly of Harry she thinks to herself.

"Yea, uh it's really heavy" She chuckles sadly. "It's really hard like removing myself from the situation emotionally?" She says, hoping Harry understands where she's coming from. "But I'll be alright, just another day's work" She brushes it off, holding her emotions back.

"Love, s'alright to feel sad about it, be emotionally attached, it happens to everyone yea? Jus' remember that it makes you better at your job because it means you really care for your clients and will work harder to get them what they deserve" He reassures her, rubbing her back comfortingly.

"Thanks H" She smiles. "So I've executively decided that Theo is staying with me till Joe and Jaz come back" She changes the subject, trying to process the events that just took place (namely Harry's hand on her).

"Oh really?" He teases, eyebrows raised.

"Mhm" She nods, patting the little cat. "He loves me now"

"And you love 'im?" Harry chuckles.

"That I do, he's jus so cuddly" She scrunches her nose, looking at the cat fondly.

And Harry just about melts.

_________________________

Harry is so easy to read.

Or at least to his older sister, Gemma. Ever since he had been back and had seen Rachel, his emotions had become way more present and he has no idea what to do with them. See, Harry has been in love with his best friend's little sister ever since he saw her at one of his first shows as One Direction. He had left their hometown when she was 15, a young girl still going through puberty, who he saw as his younger sister. But the next time he saw her, she was 17 years old and had grown up so much in those two years that he had to take a double take to recognise her.

He remembers, she was wearing a short black dress with a pair of sneakers, her long hair left down and curled, a wide smile on her face as she was introduced to all his bandmates and he felt a pang of jealousy hit him when each of the boys wrapped their arms around her in greeting. That's when it started, and he tried his hardest to push his feelings away, trying to think of her as his little sister again. But it only got harder to do so.

The next time they saw each other was when Harry had come home for Christmas after his first world tour, and when Harry saw her his heart stopped (or at least it felt like that to him). She was sat on the couch in her living room, bright red sweater with a Christmas tree embroidered onto it with a pair of jeans, (that Harry thought she wore perfectly) and a boy sat next to her as they whispered and giggled to each other, hands joined. He freaked out for a moment, wondering who the boy was before Joe informed him, with much distaste, that the boy was her boyfriend, Tom. Harry hated him already but when the boy greeted Harry like he was the bees knees, Harry just hated him more. Rachel, however, was fully in love with Tom, thinking that he was the best thing to ever exist (as first boyfriends usually are) and Harry just didn't understand it.

Then she joined her brother on a trip to New York City to watch Harry perform once again. Harry had been seeing someone at the time and when Rachel saw the two of them together, she felt like she could throw up and Harry did too. When he saw her that night, she was a 20 year old law student, with a beautiful body and an even more beautiful face. He was, once again thrown off and he had to stop himself from staring at her. She greeted him with her warm and familiar hug and it was almost impossible for him to pull away from her. She smelled like lavander and he wondered what shampoo she used, almost asked her but refrained from doing so.

Over the next few years of seeing each other in situations like that, One Direction took their break and Harry decided to go home for a while, try live a normal life to cool down from the craziness his life had become. While he was home, he saw Joe an awful lot (which he was extremely grateful for) but always wondered where Rachel was. One day, when he finally had the guts to ask Joe, he was told that she had moved to London to practice law, and Harry remembered her dream of always wanting to live in the city. He was happy she followed her dreams but constantly wondered if she was dating someone, if she was okay, if she missed him.

Then she returned home for three weeks, something about missing her mother's food and needing a break from city life. Harry could not have been more excited to see her and when their two mothers' decided to have dinner together, Harry knew that he had to have a proper chat with her. He had been in his bedroom getting ready for the evening when Gemma walked in and burst out laughing.

"What are you wearing?" She asked.

"Um, a shirt?" He points down to his button up and she shakes her head.

"It's a casual dinner, H. We're not going to some fancy restaurant, they're literally coming to have dinner." she takes a pause, "unless, are you trying to impress someone?"

"What no" He says quickly, too quickly and her eyes widen.

"Oh my god you are!" She jumps up, "oh my god it's Rachel!"

"No it's not!"

"Dude, there's no one else and you're probably the easiest person to read" She says excitedly. "Holy shit you're in love with her! You're in love with your best friend's little sister!"

"Gemma" He groans, throwing his head back frustratedly.

"So, are you gonna ask her out then?"

"S'abit weird innit?" He asks, "can't really walk up to her and say, hey Tiny been in love with ya for a while now, wanna go out with your brother's best friend?"

"I think it's adorable" She smiles, "although"

"Although what?" He turns to her with a frown.

"She is seeing someone" Gemma mumbles.

"What? Who? How do you know that?" He asks, sitting next to her.

"When she moved to the city mum asked me to reconnect with her to help her out and we became quite close- good to have a familiar face around. We go out for coffee every Sunday" She smiles happily. "Proper grown up she is, kind and charming as always"

"So she's seeing someone?" He asks, smiling at the thought of Rachel and his sister hanging out.

"Last she told me, yea. Some bloke named Jordan, said they had been going out for a few weeks which was like a month ago" She explains.

Rachel, Joe, Jaz and their mum arrive at Anne's home about thirty minutes after Gemma makes Harry change. Harry hears them downstairs greeting each other and he takes one last look in the mirror before heading down to the group.

"There he is!" Rachel's mum smiles when she sees Harry.

"Hi Lisa" He smiles, giving her a hug. "Haven't seen you in a bit"

"A bit! Harry it's been years, remember you as the skinny little mischief making teenager running around with my son" she teases and he chuckles.

"A bit grown up now?" He chuckles. "It's really good ta see you" He admits and she smiles, saying the same to him.

Rachel stands to the side, watching the interaction and she melts at the sight of her brother's best friend. He's somehow gotten better looking in the time she hasn't seen him (which is, in her mind, impossible because he was gorgeous to her to begin with). And as she thinks about all of this, he can't help but feel the same. He watches as she chuckles along with his mum, who says something funny, scrunching her nose cutely and listens as his mum whispers something back which makes her laugh even louder. He smiles to himself when he hears her loud laughter, nodding along to what Lisa was saying but not really listening as he's paying attention to Rachel.

"Hey H" She makes the first move, walking up to him. "Welcome home" She smiles and he brings her in for a hug- he needed it.

"Tiny" He teases and she rolls her eyes teasingly. "Should be sayin that ta you big city girl" She chuckles. "How is it there?"

"So good, busy but really good"

"You got that internship you wanted?" He asks, remembering that she wanted to intern for a specific firm.

"I did, yea" She blushes, happy he remembered the little fact.

"C'mon gang, let's go eat" Anne says and everyone follows her to the dinning room.

"Good ta see ya, babe" He gets in that little statement that makes her heart absolutely soar.

After that dinner, Rachel and Harry saw each other a lot more than they both expected. For some reason, Harry was over a lot more at her home during those three weeks that she was home and not that she didn't love it (because, let's be honest, she adored every moment of seeing him) she just didn't know why. She realised he was probably just there for Joe but she wished it was more, hoped it was more.

And it really was. After the dinner, Harry did everything in his power to see Rachel more often and that began by him going over to their house more than before. Then, when she returned to London after her little break, he did too and claimed it was pure coincidence, offering her a ride with him back to the city. Then every Sunday, when Gemma and Rachel would meet, Harry joined them. From there, Gemma would 'miss' some Sunday's which left Harry and Rachel alone. After a while, the two of them hung out a lot more regularly, grabbing lunch together, drinks or even just going over to each other's homes to spend time together.

Then Harry released his first album, toured it (she went to three of the shows with her brother) and then went away to work on his second. Now, he's back and they're both more infatuated with each other than before. And still, neither of them know (even though it is extremely obvious to everyone around them).

________________

If there's one thing Rachel loves more than anything in the world, it's birthdays. She has always been a birthday fanatic, going over and above when planning her friends' birthday parties, getting them only the best gifts and really just making them feel as special as they should. But when it comes to her birthday, she doesn't want all the craziness, or attention. All she wants is to spend time with the people she loves.

But her best friends, Amy and Mona, decided otherwise. This year, for her big 25th birthday, they decided to throw her a birthday party to remember.

"I really don't want anything big" Rachel insists as they all grab a cup of coffee one afternoon.

"Bullshit" Amy states and Rachel chuckles, while Mona rolls her eyes at her antics. "We know you want something big"

"I really don't"

"Babe, don't be so boring" Mona, the ever confident Essex girl, states. "And plus, we want one and we're well overdue a party"

"Mona" Rachel groans.

"Y'know m'right Rach" She smiles over her cup of coffee.

"C'mon Rach, let us do this for you? Please?" Amy begs and she sighs.

"Alright" The other two cheer.

"Now let's talk about a theme" Amy says excitedly, her party planner side coming out in full force.

"I was thinkin like posh spice"

"And the theme would be?" Rachel asks Mona, with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh that would be my outfit" Mona clarifies and they both shoot her questioning looks "I donno, like 90s themed or somethin" she shrugs and Amy shakes her head.

"Rachel doesn't even like the 90s"

"And how would ya know tha?" She asks.

"I know you, decades aren't your thing"

"That's not true"

"Babe, c'mon, you hate that shit" Mona adds, "you love the music but whenever we go to a party that's like 80s themed or somethin you complain about the unoriginality"

"Well it isn't original" Rachel shrugs.

"So what else then?"

"Maybe like actors or something like that?" Amy offers and Rachel grimaces. "Alright, not actors"

"What about like icons?" Mona suggests.

"Whad'ya mean?" Rachel asks.

"Like how I wanna be Posh, so we do icons. Bowie, Elton all that shit" Mona waves off the end of her sentence, hoping her friends understand what she means.

"I could be Britney!" Amy says excitedly. "Who would you be, babe?" She asks Rachel.

After their coffee date, Rachel began thinking about all the different icons she could be. Amy had brought up a few good options like Christina Aguilera and Madonna but just after Mona suggested Stevie Nicks, Rachel knew who she had to dress up as and she couldn't have been more excited. Amy and Mona vowed to prepare everything perfectly and just as Rachel would love, only asking her who she wanted there. After much planning, the night had finally arrived and Rachel made her way over to Amy and Mona's shared apartment across town from hers, her perfect outfit tucked away in her bag, waiting for her to get ready.

As the three girls get ready together, the pre party playlist streaming through the apartment, they have the time of their lives and Rachel is positive she's never been more excited for a party in her life. Before Uni, she had never been much of a partier but through Uni and all the crazy experiences that come with it, she was exposed to many different parties and nights out. She loved it at the time, thoroughly enjoying the process of getting ready with her friends before going out, getting drunk and then heading to McDonald's for a late night snack. But after uni and when she started working, she realised it was only a Uni thing, not really enjoying the stress of a night out on top of the stress of her job.

But that doesn't mean she didn't enjoy the few nights out she's had since. And that's why, tonight, she decided to go all out with her outfit.

"Holy shit Rach" Mona says as soon as she's out of the bathroom, dressed in her costume ready to do her makeup and hair. "Your body looks fucking killer in that" Rachel replies with a quiet thank you, her face turning bright red.

She's never been too good at receiving compliments.

"Rach! When you said you were going all out I didn't know this was what you meant!" Amy says as soon as she reenters the room.

"You guys look great too" She smiles, taking in Mona's little black dress and Amy's recreation of Britney's school girl look. "Is Josh coming as Beckham?" She asks Mona, referring to her boyfriend.

"I told the little shit too, even helped him find an outfit, so he better be" She states and Rachel smiles.

"Harry is going to melt when he sees you" Amy says and Rachel turns to her friend wide eyed at the mention of her crush's name.

"Harry's coming!?"

"Of course he is" Amy chuckles at her friend's surprise.

"But I didn't put him on the list?" Rachel says with a confused face.

"Babe, you think we'd leave your hot and extremely famous lover boy out of the party?" Mona says, applying her lipgloss in the mirror.

"He can't see me in this!" She freaks out looking down at her outfit. "I thought this was for close friends so I went all out, he can't see me in this!" She repeats and her friends laugh.

"Rach, babe, I seriously don't know why you're being so crazy about this. When he sees you he'll die, and if you don't go home with him tonight I will shove you two into my room without either of you knowing" Amy states.

"What?" Both Rachel and Mona ask, confused.

"Never mind, just fuck him already" She says and Rachel gasps while Mona laughs.

"Jesus Ames, don't be so crude"

"Ah sod off, you know how I am" She waves her hand. "Now can I do your hair? I wanna do like very loose curls and it'll take about forty five minutes because your hair's so fuckin long"

"Would you ever cut it?" Mona asks.

And the two soon forget about the boy Rachel had been freaking out over to discuss the possibility of her cutting her ever growing hair all while Rachel continues to freak out over the idea of Harry seeing her in her outfit. Now she's extremely proud of it and her body in it, she had worked her ass off to get to where she is now, confident in her body and proud to show it off. But it's Harry! She thinks about all the times they've seen each other and she realises he's never seen her in something so revealing. Sure, he's seen her in a bathing suit but it had been years since he saw her, the last time probably being when she was about fifteen and just starting to get insecure within her body and it never happened again.

But now, now she's wearing a top that's barely a top and a skirt that hangs so low on her hips she had to forgo underwear because they came up too high. She can't help but wonder what Harry will do or say when he sees her, will he blush, will he check her out, oh god will he hug her? She thinks about Harry's hands on her body in a normal circumstance, fully clothed and her body feels hot but when his bare hands meet her naked back? Holy shit she gets hot just thinking about it.

Before she can think anymore about it, her friends begin blabbing her ear off and successfully distract her from the situation at hand all the way until the actual man shows up to the party (a good 20 minutes in, after Harry took his time, hoping to come across as casual and not like he had spent the whole day waiting to see her smile, hear her laugh.. oh who's he kidding, he had done exactly that). He strolls into the apartment (Joe and Jaz following behind him in their Kelso and Jackie outfits from That 70s Show) dressed head to toe in a bright yellow three piece suit, paired with matching sunglasses and a simple pair of vans.

She feels the breath getting knocked out of her as her eyes follow Harry glide (to her it looks like he's gliding) through the party, greeting everyone effortlessly and charmingly as ever. She watches her two best friends from the other side of the room, drinks in hand, wiggling their eyebrows at her and grinning excitedly as he gets closer to her side of the room. Joe and Jaz greet her, both complimenting her outfit excitedly, loving how she channeled her favourite artist into her 25th birthday party. But once Harry's eyes lock on her, he takes a physical step back, hand on his chest as he watches his best friend and his crush (although it's definitely more than a crush now but there's just no word for it) interact.

He tries not to think of her in a sexual way, his head trying really hard to think of anything else as he watches her shoulders catch the light perfectly, her hair falling perfectly and well, everything to do with her is just perfect, Harry thinks. He watches as she fixes her top, taking a deep breath to calm himself down, fixing his own to distract himself. But he can't help it. His eyes trail down her body, taking in every inch of her and watching as she holds herself so highly and confidently and to him, she just oozes everything Harry's ever wanted in a person. And fuck, he really didn't want to think of her sexually, well at least not tonight. Then her eyes meet his and he thinks fast to cool himself down when she smiles at him.

"No fuckin way" He grins, dimples indenting when he spots Rachel's eyes on him. She, in turn, bursts out laughing, throwing her head back in pure delight and Harry gulps, walking closer to her. "This was not planned, I swear!" He holds his hands up in surrender and she laughs at their outfits.

"Didn't even tell anyone my costume" She smiles and he chuckles.

"Neither did I" He smiles just as excitedly. "Well we've gotta have a photoshoot now!"

"Good thing we organised a photo booth!" Amy and Mona suddenly show up next to the pair, pushing them towards the booth set up in the corner of the large living room which is filled with people. Harry and Rachel don't have time to say anything before they find themselves squashed into the little photo booth.

"Hi" Harry chuckles after a second, letting them both catch their breaths.

"Hi" She breathes out, her face red and body hot from their proximity.

"They didn't even let me greet you properly" He smiles, "Happy birthday Tiny" He says, opening his arms and she already feels tingles throughout her body. She leans into his arms, momentarily freezing when she feels his hands splayed out on her bare back, pulling her closer to him with a squeeze. She breathes him in and for a second, she feels woozy because of their proximity and she has no idea that Harry feels the same. They both have to push themselves to pull away from each other, both wishing they could hold onto each other forever.

"You look incredible" She states, unconsciously dragging her hand up and down his lapel.

"Thank you darlin" He says and she looks up, first through her lashes and then tilting her head once she sees how close their faces are to each other. "And you look.." He pauses for a moment and her cheeks already heat up from how he's looking at her. "You look magnificent" he ends, taking the middle ground (he could have said nice but that's quite boring or he could have said she looked sexy and beautiful and everything he's ever wanted but that's... extreme).

"Thanks" She chokes out, her breath caught in her throat and he chuckles softly, unconsciously pushing a piece of her hair behind her ear and she swears she just stops breathing all together. "I-" She starts but he shakes his head and her gaze jumps between his eyes and his lips, they're so close that she knows he can tell what she's thinking and there's a piece of her that thinks he's thinking the same.

"I really-" He starts and she just nods, not caring what comes out of his mouth just knowing she wants him to do anything. "Rach, I really-" he tries again and she just nods.

"Yes" She cuts him off, impatient and just wanting him to kiss her. "please" She adds with a whisper and his eyes meet hers again, silently asking again if she wants what's about to happen and she nods, hoping it doesn't come off as desperate.

His hand that had been going through her hair, finds its way to her cheek, softly brushing his thumb over her cheekbone. Ever so slightly, she tilts her head further into his hand and if they weren't so close or so zoned in to each other, neither would have noticed. He takes a deep breath, preparing himself for what's about to happen and she smoothes her hands over his shoulders, lightly cupping his neck and as she fiddles with the little curls at the nape of his neck, he swears he's never wanted anything more. Then, he leans in, ever so slowly and ever so gracefully. All she can think is is this really happening? and all he can think about is is this finally happening?

It isn't.

Mona cuts them off before their lips even brushed each others, by pulling back the curtain and shouting that they're hogging the photo booth and then exclaiming that Rachel's not nearly drunk enough before pulling her out of the photo booth, leaving Harry all hot and flustered behind her. As she's being pulled towards the kitchen, she turns her head and simply smiles at Harry, shrugging her shoulders as if to say sorry I can't do anything about her. He smiles back, waving his hand at her as if to say don't worry, enjoy your night.

And all she wants to say is that she'd really really enjoy her night if they had kissed.

______________

She tells Gemma about the incident the next day over coffee.

"I know something happened last night, you look all flustered" Gemma teases, waving her finger at her face over her coffee. "Now spill"

"It's nothing" Rachel blushes, she's pretty sure her face matches the colour of Gemma's coffee cup and knows Gemma knows something is up.

"Rach, I've known you for ages, m'like your big sister, please just tell me what's going on, promise I won't tell anyone" She begs.

"Gemma, I will kill you if you tell anyone" She warns, leaning over the table getting ready to dish.

"Promise I won't" She nods excitedly.

"Gemma" She warns again and Gemma crosses her heart. "So I've had a crush for quite a while" She begins, brushing a piece of hair behind her ear, hesitating to carry on.

"On my little brother, yes" Gemma nods in confirmation and Rachel nearly chokes on her coffee, throwing her into a coughing fit. Gemma quickly reacts, softly patting her friend's back and handing her water.

"Wh-what?" She says through coughs.

"Ah c'mon babe, you thought I didn't know?" Gemma asks and she nods seriously. "You're lucky it's me that can read you so easily, but I've known for years yes"

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Wanted you to tell me yourself" She shrugs. "Now carry on with the story please" Gemma begs.

"Well when he arrived we both laughed over our costumes" She begins again.

"Yes Cher and Elton from the 70s, classic and adorable" She states, trying to get Rachel to keep the story going.

"Can I carry on?" Rachel chuckles and Gemma nods. "Well we were laughing about it before Mona and Amy shoved us into the photo booth and well, we nearly kissed" There's a beat of silence before she carries on. "Well I think we did but I can't be too sure, he said I looked magnificent and then he touched my hair and cupped my cheek and I was playing with his cute little curls at the bottom of his neck and-"

"Take a breath Rach" Gemma laughs, stopping her from passing out. "As happy as I am that you're finally confiding in me, you can move past all the little details yea? Love you both but I'd prefer not to hear about my brother's cute little curls" Rachel blushes, mumbling a soft sorry before Gemma brushes her off, telling her to carry on.

"But then Mona cut us off and she dragged me away into the kitchen. I didn't see him for the rest of the night, well not until he came to say goodbye and even then we were rushed because Joe was taking him home and was gettin' impatient and ya know how Joe is when he's impatient" She takes a breath.

As Rachel finishes her story (telling her about how she nearly cried herself to sleep out of frustration) Gemma just wants to bang their heads on the table and tell them to finally get together. She knows she can't tell Harry how Rachel feels for him because she promised Rachel she wouldn't tell anyone and vice versa. But one thing she does know, is that it's up to her to get the two together.

_____________________________________________________

"Harry, can I interest you in something" Gemma says over the phone after coffee with Rachel.

"Go for it" Harry chuckles at his sister.

"Would you ever let me set you up on a blind date?" She asks and he takes a deep breath on the other side, ready to say something. "Before you go and complain, just hear me out"

"Alright, go on" He states.

"Well I didn't think you'd let me carry on, so give me a moment to see where I'm going with this"

"Gemma" He sighs and she stops him.

"Wait wait! So I found this girl, she's everything you've been looking for" She stops, thinking of the best way to carry on. "She's kind, charming, beautiful and really just the best" She thinks she may have oversold it, scratch that, she's sure she's oversold it.

"Is there something wrong with her?" Harry asks hesitantly.

"No! Why?" Gemma is quick to say.

"You're just describing her a bit too perfectly for it to be real" He says and she grimaces to herself.

"Just, Harry just trust me on this one" She says exasperated. "Don't you trust me?"

"Of course I trust you, you just sound, well truthfully you sound weird" He states.

"Alright so forget how weird I sound, just do this for me would ya?"

"Yea okay I'll do it, but if this girl isn't as amazing as you've described, you're never setting me up again. Deal?"

And with Gemma's plan, she hopes no one will have to set Harry up ever again. "Deal"

"So you're setting me up on a blind date with someone after I've admitted my feelings for your brother?" Rachel asks confused as Gemma shows up to her home later that week.

"Yes" Gemma nods.

"And it doesn't seem weird to you, like at all?" She asks, a frown etched on her face.

"Not one bit" Gemma grins. "So let's get ready then?" She asks excitedly.

"You are so strange Gemma" And regardless of her statement, she opens her door for Gemma to follow her inside.

"So what are you gonna wear?" Gemma asks.

"Babe I have no idea where I'm going or who I'm going with, how the hell am I meant to know what to wear?" Rachel says sarcastically.

"Alright, you go jump into a shower and I'll find you something nice to wear" She states and Rachel nods.

"You know" Rachel says over the noise of her shower, "I didn't even agree to this date"

"You're in the shower, you've agreed to this date" Gemma calls back. "And could you please shave"

"Who the hell have you set me up with?"

"It's called a blind date for a reason, now hurry up before I have to pull you out of there, he's expecting you in thirty minutes"

"Thirty minutes!?" She shouts.

"Calm down, I've got your outfit picked out and you don't need any makeup"

"It's a first date, wha' d'ya mean I don't need makeup?" Rachel states, getting out of the shower.

"For gods sake, do you trust me?" Gemma asks, just as she had asked her brother earlier in the week.

"Of course I do"

"So get dressed!"

Gemma hands her the sage green bodysuit that has a square neckline and puts it on on top of her nicest bra (as insisted by Gemma). She then gets into her flared jeans and slips her white heels on. Gemma fusses over her outfit, picking out her jewellery and doing her hair before rushing her out of the house and into a taxi already waiting for her outside her home. She has no idea where she's going or who she's meeting up with.

She's done this once before, the blind date thing. It obviously didn't work out, or else they would still be together. It was Amy who initially set her up with the guy, Chris, and he had decided to take her to a McDonald's. Now, Rachel by no means cares where she eats, she was just thrown off because Amy had told her that Chris was extremely well off and was known for treating girls extremely well. Rachel did not get to experience that. Chris had been on his phone throughout the evening, not even looking up when she spoke to him. He was rude, arrogant and uninterested and Rachel wanted absolutely nothing to do with him afterwards.

So, going into this blind date, she had very little expectation.

Harry on the other hand, had been on many many blind dates in his life. He had been set up on dates by nearly everyone in his close circle, all of them knowing how much he loves love and deserves to be loved. So they've tried and tried to help him find his person, but clearly, none of them had worked. And even though none of them had worked, he remains hopeful, open to being set up on dates, hoping that one will end well. But Gemma, Gemma's got a track record of setting him up on awful dates. So when she approached him with the offer and he was hesitant, it was all for a reason.

So, going into this blind date, he had very little expectation.

_____________________________________________________

All Gemma had told Harry about the date was to go to the restaurant and wait. She told Rachel the exact same thing.

Harry gets there first and is escorted to the table by a very kind (also extremely excited because it's Harry Styles) waiter. Once Harry is seated, he asks for a glass of water before getting comfortable, or as comfortable as he can as he awaits the mystery girl.

His time was spent racking his brain trying to figure out who his sister had set him up with. He had first thought it could be one of her friends and then remembered she once vowed that she would never ever set him up with one of her friends because it would be too weird for both of them. Then he thought about maybe someone she met through work and that was a viable option but he remembered that he had gone out with someone she met through work once before and it didn't work out because she was too focused on her Instagram story and after that, he begged her to never set him up with someone from work. He then circled back to one of her friends, but was cut off when he realised who was being escorted to his table.

Rachel had wondered the whole ride over who Gemma could be setting her up with. She first wondered why on earth Gemma was so quick to set her up on a date after she confessed her feelings for her brother's best friend and her mind raced, thinking perhaps it could be Harry. But she laughed at herself and her thoughts and shrugged it off, just guessing it was someone Gemma had met from work or something. But when she gets to the restaurant and is lead to her table, she thinks she's daydreaming when she sees who's sitting there waiting for her.

Safe to say, both miss a breath when they lock eyes and the first thing they both do is burst into laughter. Both bright eyed, red faced and laughing their asses off in a restaurant filled with people. Through their laughter, Harry gets up to greet her and as they hug, their laughter dies down.

"Hi Tiny" Harry pulls away from the hug, a bright smile on his face as he can't believe he's finally gotten a date with his best friend's little sister, someone he's been pining over for years.

"Hi" She smiles, scrunching her nose with rosy cheeks, not trusting her eyes are telling the truth as she stands in front of someone she's been in love with for what seems like forever.

"She's sneaky, my big sister" he chuckles, helping Rachel into her seat and getting into his own.

"Sneaky?" Rachel teases with her eyebrow raised.

"Sorry, m'abit nervous" He knows he's bright red as the words tumble out of his mouth and she smiles softly, grabbing his hand from across the table.

"So am I" She admits and he smiles on the outside but on the inside he's swooning like a teenage girl. He's so whipped.

"Hi, I'm Steve, what can I get for you guys tonight?" The waiter greets them, basically heart-eyed as he stares at the beautiful girl sitting across from the rockstar who is the one usually being swooned over. Harry notices and so does Rachel, already getting a bit uncomfortable from the stare of the waiter.

"Can we please have a bottle of your nicest white?" Harry asks, looking at Rachel for confirmation and she nods, quickly turning her attention back to the man, the only man, she wants sitting across from her.

"Yea" She blushes as Harry taps her foot with his and wiggles his eyebrows teasingly, trying to lighten her mood that had been crushed by the waiter. She chuckles at Harry's antics and picks her menu up to stop her from leaning over and kissing him right then and there.

"He's gone" Harry whispers and she puts her menu down with a blush. "A bit creepy innit?" Harry states.

"What is?" She asks.

"Being stared at" He says and she nods.

"It must happen to you all the time" She states. "Sorry, that sucks" She pouts.

"Don't be sorry, love" He smiles softly, "I chose this life didn't I?" She nods. "You didn't choose to be gorgeous and have creepy men stare at you" His words get lost after she hears him call her gorgeous.

"Gorgeous?" She raises her eyebrows.

"Drop dead" He says confidently and she's fully on fire.

"Oh" Harry chuckles, thinking about how cute she is.

"This is weird innit?" Harry asks.

"A little bit yea" She scrunches her nose with a chuckle.

"Alright, let's do it this way" He leans onto the table and signals for her to come closer too. "We've been out for dinner about thousands of times so let's just treat it like a normal dinner of ours yea?" He suggests.

"Sorry, H, can't do that" She states and he frowns, tilting his head to ask why. "Well, let's map this out shall we?" He chuckles and nods. "As you've said, we've been to dinner thousands of times but before tonight, they've all been innocent right? Whereas tonight, we both know that there are feelings involved and that just changes everything" She uses her hands to exaggerate her point.

"It does, doesn't it?" He smiles, "so do you have a better plan?" he asks.

"I most definitely do not" She chuckles and his loud laughter streams through her ears, making her smile widen.

"Let's just relax yea?" He offers.

"How the hell can I do that when we're finally on a fucking date" She says crudely and he smiles.

"Finally?" He teases.

"Yea finally" She says confidently, "babe, I've been pining over you for years, every single person around us knows that and m'sorry, you can't possibly be that blind to not realise it" She finishes as he watches her talk fondly.

"Babe?" He smirks and she rolls her eyes.

"That's the only thing you got from that?"

"Of course not. But you could've asked me out" He counters and she raises her eyebrows.

"Touché" She nods, "but there's no use dwelling on the past yea? We're here now"

"Finally" He teases and she bursts out laughing, throwing her head back and her eyes scrunched closed, one of his favourite things about her.

As Steve makes his way back over to them, Rachel shifts in her seat uncomfortably and Harry notices it, moving to the seat next to her instead of the one across from her. She turns to him with a grateful smile.

"Here's your wine" Steve pours the wine into the glasses, eyes trained on Rachel, now even making Harry uncomfortable. "why'd you switch seats?" He asks Harry.

"I prefer being next to my girlfriend than across from her" Harry answers for them, grabbing her hand and placing a kiss on the back to further prove his point. "We're not ready to order our food" Harry bites out.

"Could you give us a few minutes please?" Rachel finishes for Harry and the waiter nods before walking away. "Creepy dude" She whispers once he's further away.

"I could ask for another waiter?" He offers and she shakes her head.

"He's not gonna bother us, he'll jus serve us and tha's it" She states, realising her hand is still in his. She likes it a lot. "So girlfriend huh?" She teases and he shakes his head, playing with her hand in his.

"Soon" he states and her eyes widen. "Oi don't be so surprised babe, this is happening" He gestures between the two with his pointer finger.

"Oh is it now?" She teases and he chuckles, nodding proudly.

"One hundred percent positive that this is going to happen" He says and she blushes.

"I'd like that" She says softly and he smiles.

"Now, I know we're meant to be out for our first date but I'm kinda hating the waiter and I could go for some of your famous tomato soup" He states and she nods in agreement.

"Let's do it" She smiles happily.

"Did you drive here?" He asks and she shakes her head. "C'mon, my car's outside"

"Bowie?" She asks about her favourite car of his excitedly and he chuckles, nodding. "Are you sure Gemma didn't tell you it was me coming?" She teases and he chuckles, kissing her head before helping her up. He places some bills onto the table and she stares at him as if she's saying that he didn't have to pay.

"Gotta pay for our first date" He states as if it's the most obvious thing in the world.

"Thank you" She kisses his cheek and he blushes.

"M'hopin you'll land one of em on my lips tonight" He teases and she laughs.

"If you do everything right, might have to"

"Tempting"

"Not just tempting baby" She winks and he gasps.

"Baby, I like it" He teases and she laughs. "Now c'mon before I give all these people a show" He grabs her hand and leads the laughing girl through the restaurant.

_____________________

"So you two are dating?" Jaz asks the two as they sit across from her and Joe a few weeks later.

In those few weeks, Harry and Rachel had been having the time of their lives. After their first date, they spent almost every night together, either at her house or at his and they had completely fallen for each other. From cuddling on the couch watching reruns of The Office (Rachel's favourite show and even though it isn't Harry's, he'd watch anything for her) to cooking dinner with each other, they have been inseparable. With many cheek/ head kisses here and there and nothing more, yet. But they have yet to label anything.

There was never a conversation between the two as to where they stand, neither felt and feel pressured to label what they are and they're happy about it. They both like each other, loads and that's all that matters.

"Basically" Harry states confidently and Rachel raises an eyebrow teasingly.

"Basically?" She teases and he shrugs with a blush.

"I'd like to think"

"So do I" She smiles, him leaning in to kiss her head.

"Yea, you're gonna have to give me a few to get used to... this" Joe says with a grimace, gesturing to Harry and Rachel.

"Don't be such a dick!" Jaz swats his chest. "They're adorable"

Harry is quick to change the subject to something about Joe's work instead of their relationship, whatever it is at the moment. The group of four enjoy their dinner together, chatting away aimlessly like always, most of them forgetting about the shift in the group between Harry and Rachel. But then, as they all exit the restaurant, Harry's hand in her's as they quietly discuss what movie they'll be watching in bed that night, Joe speaks up.

"Almost forgot about this" He gestures to the two of them again.

"You say it like it's a bad thing, mate" Harry chuckles, Rachel leaning into Harry's embrace for warmth.

"Do you think it's a bad thing?" Rachel asks nervously.

"It doesn't have to do with me, does it?" He states with a smile. "Imma jus have to get used ta it" He shrugs.

"Yea, you will" Harry smirks down at Rachel. "So, same time next week?" He asks.

"Come to us next week? I'll make the Alfredo pasta y'all love" Jaz suggests and everyone nods eagerly.

"Love you guys" Rachel gives them both hugs, Harry following her lead before they all go their separate ways.

"D'you think this is weird?" Harry asks on their drive back to his home, his hand in hers as he drives.

"What?" She asks, turning to him with a soft expression.

"Us. Is it weird?" He asks and she frowns.

"I don't think so" She shakes her head. "I mean" She takes a pause to figure out the right words to use. "I guess where Joe's comin from, he's seeing his best friend and his little sister get all cozy"

"Get all cozy?" Harry laughs.

"You know what I mean" She scoffs. "Like, in the beginning of it, on our first date we also found it weird but now because we've been doing this for a while, we're used to it" She states.

"I get that" He nods, "D'ya think your mum will be alright with it?"

"H, baby, she adores you" She chuckles. "I don't think there is anyone she'd rather I be with"

"I think my mum would say the same" He hums in agreement.

"Yea, I think she would" She smiles.

"Alright, no need to brag, we both know you're me mum's favourite" He chuckles.

They chat a bit throughout the drive, eventually getting back to Harry's and getting ready for bed. Now, Rachel has spent many a night at Harry's and has left multiple things over 'accidentally' like her toothbrush, some pyjamas or even a pack of makeup wipes. So as they both get ready for bed next to one another in Harry's en-suite, he can't help but point it out excitedly.

"You should just move in" he teases and she laughs.

"Slow down baby" She pats his chest, "but do remind me to bring over my skincare next time, these makeup wipes are doing nothing for my skin" She grins, showing him all her teeth as she walks into his room, making him swoon as he follows her.

"You know" He states as he takes off his shirt, handing it to her to put on (a request of her's on the first night she stayed over and had become their routine whenever they stayed together). She hums as she slips the shirt over her bra, taking it off from under the shirt. "We've never kissed each other"

"Haven't we?" She teases with wide eyes and a gasp and he chuckles, rolling his eyes as he gets into the bed next to her.

"We've been together for a few weeks now, I think it's time" He says seriously.

"You do?" She raises an eyebrow.

"What do you think?" He asks and she shrugs.

"I think this could go very badly" She teases as she shuffles closer to him. "What if you're a terrible kisser and all my pinning was for nothing?" She carefully wraps her arms around his neck. "Or what if I'm a bad kisser? Oh no this is make-it or break-it" She whispers because of their proximity.

"Oh shut up already" Harry puts his hands on her cheeks, taking a breath of a second to look into her eyes, making sure she's okay with it. He then leans in, softly placing his lips on hers and she reacts immediately, leaning into him and wrapping her hands around his neck to play with his hair at the nape of his neck. What starts soft and innocent turns passionate when she boldly licks his lip, and he accepts her invitation by opening his mouth for her. Neither want to break away from the kiss, both feeling like they are floating, but they do need to breathe.

"Are you gonna leave me now?" Harry teases, breathless.

"Yea, that sucked" She begins to get out of the bed and Harry pulls her back into him, making them both laugh before she kisses him again and again and again.

"You're a little shit yea?" He smiles after they pull away, brushing a piece of her hair behind her shoulder.

"Your little shit?" She pouts at him, teasingly and he shakes his head with a light chuckle.

"Yea, my little shit"

#harry styles #fanfic #fanfiction #music #love #romance #fiction #famous #fine line #styles #songwriting #lovestory

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