Here's the first chapter of my fanfic One Moment, enjoy!

Chapter 1: Complicated

Present Day

Everything can change in a year. You can meet the person that you are destined to be with and lose them, twice. You can lose one of the most important people in your life, forever. You can do things that you never thought you would do, and find out things that you never wanted to know. For me, 2013 was a rollercoaster year but even after everything that happened between January and December, I still can't make myself regret meeting Harry. He changed my life, in more ways than one, and not always for the better. But I think we are meant to be together no matter what, no matter how much I have to sacrifice.

One year earlier, January 2013...

My arms burned and my back ached as I struggled to carry the two heavy cardboard boxes full of my belongings across the car park. The ground underfoot was frozen and slippery and a few flakes of snow floated down passed my eyelashes. The inhospitable English weather was not uncommon for January and I couldn't help wishing I had been born in a country with a hot climate. Moving house in the middle of winter was not one of my smartest ideas.

Stopping at the bottom of the first flight of stairs, I set one of the boxes down and took a deep breath. I would have to make two trips; climbing to the top with my arms feeling like they were about to fall off was not a challenge I was willing to undertake.

"Do you want a hand with that?" A voice said from behind me.

I turned around to see the owner of the voice striding over from a classic black Ford Capri parked nearby. The first thing I noticed about him as he neared me was his green eyes. Well, that and the wild, dark curls that sprung back into an unusually attractive mess after he ran his hand through them. He leant against the hand rail and raised an eyebrow when I didn't respond.

"Um...yeah...thanks." I said, reaching my hand around the box to offer to him. "I'm Hailey, I'm moving in to apartment 120B."

He smiled at the formal gesture but shook my hand anyway as I mentally cursed myself for acting like I was at a job interview.

"I'm Harry." He introduced, seemingly unfazed by my awkwardness.

"You live here to?" I asked, making a conscious effort to pull myself together.

Harry scoffed. "No. This place is a dump. I wouldn't live here if you paid me."

I met his gaze evenly, unable to keep the frown off my face.

"No offense." He added, but he was smirking.

"Well if you find somewhere better for £200 a week in Central London then let me know." I said with a smile so that he would know that I wasn't offended. "If this block is so bad, what are you doing here?"

"Some of my mates from uni live on the top floor. One of them is actually renting the apartment next door to yours, her name's Katie."

"You go to university?" I didn't mean it to come out sounding as rude as it did but he just didn't seem like the university type.

"Not anymore. I dropped out. What about you?"

"Oh...um...I'm still at school, in sixth form. I'll start university in September."

Harry's expression didn't change but there was curiosity in his eyes. "So why are you living on your own already?"

"It's complicated." Was the only thing I could think of to say.

He smiled. "I've heard that one before."

I was about to try and explain when I heard another set of footsteps crossing the car park. It was my brother, dragging another few boxes to the stairs.

"How far up is the..." He started, but then his eyes fell on Harry. "Who's this?"

I cringed inwardly at his attitude. "Harry, this is my brother Jamie. Jamie, this is Harry. He's visiting friends who live in the building."

Neither of them said anything. Instead they just stared at each other in a silent standoff and I was surprised when Jamie was the first one to back down, turning to me.

"Are you sure you remembered the keys?"

"Yes, for the hundredth time." I sighed. "You don't need to worry about me. I'll be fine on my own."

Harry smirked and I could tell he was amused by Jamie's protective behaviour.

"Sorry." I mouthed at him.

Harry just shrugged and stepped around me to go up the stairs.

"Hey." I called after him. "I thought you were helping me with these?"

He looked around at me over his shoulder, still smirking. "Looks like you've got someone else to help you. You don't need me."

I just shook my head, exasperated. What was it with men and their stupid displays of bravado?

Harry waited half way up the first set of stairs while I stayed at the bottom, trying to work out how to carry the other two boxes.

"Why don't you use the lift?" Harry suggested with a smirk as Jamie drew level with him, nodding to the other side of the stairwell.

"You couldn't have mentioned that earlier?" Jamie spat, grabbing on to the handrail as he tried to turn around on the narrow staircase.

I hid my smile as I slid the boxes along the floor to the lift. The last thing I need was for Jamie to think we were ganging up on him.

When the lift arrived, I held the door for a second, looking up at Harry. "Are you coming?"

"There's not enough room for all of us. I'll walk."

"See you around then?"

"Yeah." He said and there was a mischievous smile playing on his lips as he repeated my words. "See you around."

When the lift doors closed, I turned to Jamie with my hands on my hips. "Do you want me to end up a bitter old spinster with five hundred cats?"

Jamie looked confused. "No...why?"

"Because that is what's going to happen if you keep trying to intimidate anyone who so much as looks at me!"

Jamie laughed and his tense expression dissolved. "I'm your big brother, that's my job."

"I'll be eighteen in March, I can look after myself."

"Are you sure about that?"

"Yes." I pouted.

"Then where is your mobile?"

My hand automatically went to the back pocket of my jeans. It was empty.

Jamie was holding up my brand new iphone with a smug smile. "You left it on the back seat of my car."

I snatched it out of his hand, elbowing him in the ribs. "Whatever."

"Whatever." He mimicked and I couldn't hold back my laughter, however awful his impression was.

"But seriously Hailey, stay away from him."

"You don't get to tell me what to do, you're not Dad." I said, crossing my arms.

"I know." Jamie replied, his expression softening. "But I still need to know that you're going to be happy here."

"I will be." I said, although I wasn't convinced. "What do you have against Harry anyway?"

"He looks like trouble. With that attitude, all those tattoos..."

"You have a tattoo." I interrupted childishly.

"Yeah, one tattoo. I don't look like a drug dealer from Brixton."

I rolled my eyes. "Now you're being ridiculous and you know it."

The lift came to a half on the top floor and as the doors opened, Jamie held up his hands in submission.

"Come on, I don't want to fight. Just be careful. Promise?"

I nodded. "I promise."

Jamie smiled. "Then let's go and find your new home."

I couldn't keep the smile off my face as I led the way down the corridor. Although I never thought that I would be living on my own at seventeen, it was exciting. Just as I was sliding my key into the lock, the door to apartment 120A opened and a short blonde girl stepped out. When she noticed us standing outside she beamed.

"You must be my new neighbours!"

"Actually it's just me moving in." I said with a smile. "I'm Hailey and this is my brother Jamie."

"It's nice to meet you." She said returning my smile. "I'm Katie."

"Oh, you're Harry's friend?"

Her smile widened. "That's right, how do you know him?"

"I just met him downstairs. He was going to help me with the boxes but...well we could manage." I lied to avoid having to explain the situation.

Jamie looked amused and I nudged him.

"I'm sure he'll be here in a minute, he's just going to find the others." Katie said.

I didn't get a chance to ask who "the others" were because she ushered us into her apartment straight away.

"Come in, come in. Do you want a drink?"

I shook my head, putting the boxes down away from the door. "No thanks, I got a coffee on the way here."

"But I'll have a beer." Jamie added.

Katie's face lit up again. "I'll get that for you, why don't you go and sit down? Lucas, we've got guests!"

"What?" A voice shouted from the other room.

"I said, we've got guests." Katie called back.

There were footsteps in the hall and a boy of about the same age came into the kitchen.

"This is my brother Lucas." Katie explained before introducing us to him.

Lucas smiled at me. He had one of those faces that was instantly likeable. "We're twins, not that you could ever tell."

I smiled. It was true. The pair looked nothing alike; even their hair colour was different.

Lucas led us through to the living room with Katie following behind holding Jamie's beer. As I sat down on the plush sofa opposite the television, I tried to relax. It was a little surreal, especially since I was getting to know my new neighbours before I had even seen my apartment.

"So what made you decide to rent an apartment here?" Katie asked.

I looked towards Jamie and he gave me a nod of encouragement. I had managed to evade Harry's probing questions earlier but people were still going to ask so I decided to get the explanation out of the way and just hope that they wouldn't judge me.

"I was living with my parents before but I got kicked out. Jamie said I could move in with him but his apartment is too cramped already and his girlfriend is expecting a baby. There isn't any room for me." When I looked up to see that both Lucas and Katie were still smiling, I breathed a sigh of relief.

"What happened? Why did you get kicked out?" Lucas asked.

Jamie rolled his eyes. "She's going through a rebellious stage."

I swatted his arm as Katie and Lucas laughed. "I am not! I sort of walked out actually, it's a long story."

To my relief, neither of them pushed the matter and Katie changed the subject.

"Are you sure you don't want anything to drink?"

"Um...can I just have a glass of water?" It seemed rude to refuse again.

"I'll get it." Lucas jumped up.

I smiled to myself. It was a relief that both Lucas and Katie were so nice; one of my biggest worries had been that I would be stuck between two sets of nightmare neighbours.

"Do you want ice with it?" He called from the kitchen.

"No thanks. I'm still cold, it's freezing out."

"Oh, that reminds me. The heating system is really unreliable in this building." Katie told me. "I would leave it on all the time if I were you, otherwise your apartment will never warm up."

I made a mental note to switch it on the moment I got inside.

Lucas came back into the room and handed me the glass of water, sitting down beside me. "Do you need anything else?"

I bit my lip to hold back another smile. He reminded me of a puppy. "No thank you, I'm fine."

I heard the front door slam and new voices in the hallway. One of them was much louder than the rest, and I recognised it.

Harry must be back with the others, I thought. Whoever they might be.

"If you need anyone to show you around then let me know." Lucas said, distracting me. "Oh and watch out for the old woman who lives in the apartment at the end. She's completely crazy. The last time we had a party here she got angry because apparently there were too many people hanging around in the hallway so she chased some of them down the stairs with an umbrella."

I burst out laughing as an image of an elderly lady in a moth-bitten cardigan and pink slippers chasing a group of wild teenagers popped into my head.

"This other time, she attacked Harry's new car with a broom because he parked in "her space". And the funniest part was that she doesn't even have a car!"

My sides began to hurt as Lucas carried on. He had a real knack for storytelling and his eyes lit up with enthusiasm when he spoke, even though I was the only one paying any attention.

It was a few minutes before I noticed Harry standing in the doorway, leaning against the frame and watching us. I offered him a smile, which he didn't return.

"Don't you have a class to go to?" He snapped at Lucas instead.

Lucas looked confused. "It's Saturday."

"Whatever." Harry muttered.

I tried to catch his eye but he looked straight passed me.

"Move out of the way." Someone said behind him and he stepped aside so a couple holding hands could come into the room.

Katie introduced me to them and the boy gave me a smile, telling me that his name was Charlie, but the girl said nothing. She didn't even acknowledge me.

"That's Talia. Don't worry about her; she's not good with new people." Lucas whispered to me.

I nodded in response, but felt myself bristling inside. She didn't have to be rude, a simple "hello" would have been enough.

Charlie pulled a couple of chairs in from the kitchen for himself and Talia, and Harry shot him an irritated glance.

"What?" Charlie said.

Harry ignored him and his eyes fell on me. There was nowhere else to sit except on my other side on the sofa.

I felt myself tense up under his gaze. He was completely different to how he had been less than half an hour ago and I couldn't think of any reason for the drastic change.

Jamie stiffened too when Harry sat down beside me and I prayed that he wouldn't say anything to make the situation any more awkward. Luckily he didn't but I couldn't relax. Even when everyone else fell into normal conversation, I could feel the anger radiating off Harry and it was off-putting.

For a long time, I barely spoke. My mind was too preoccupied with Harry's sudden mood swing. For some reason, his irritation seemed to be aimed at Lucas and I but neither of us had spoken to him since I met him for the first time downstairs. What could I have done to upset him?

You don't know him, I reminded myself. Maybe he's always like this.

The only other possibility was that he was still annoyed about how Jamie had acted towards him and I felt anger rising up inside me as I thought about it. That wasn't my fault and there was no need for him to take it out on me.

"So you're doing your A-levels?" Charlie asked me, drawing me into the conversation.

I nodded. "I can't wait to get them over and done with so I can get a job with more hours. It's going to be really difficult to make enough money to pay the rent here."

"Seriously? I bet Daddy pays for everything." Harry cut in.

"Not anymore." I replied evenly, but in my head I was yelling at him. Who the hell did he think he was? What right did he have to start judging me and my family?

Jamie had a thunderous expression on his face, but luckily Lucas spoke before he could say anything.

"I had to worry about all that stuff when I was at school too." He defended me. "Our parents never paid for anything, did they Katie?"

Katie shook her head.

"We had three jobs between us." Lucas carried on, and while I was grateful to him for standing up for me, his comment only seemed to make Harry even more irritated. If looks could kill, Lucas would have been dead a long time ago.

Luckily the tension dissolved fairly quickly as other conversations started but I could sense that Katie was still looking at me. When I caught her eye she gave me a sympathetic smile.

I looked towards Harry who had moved over to the window, completely ignoring everyone, and then back at Katie. "What's the matter with him?" I asked her quietly.

"He's just moody sometimes." She replied.

"But he was fine earlier."

"That's just Harry, you'll get used to it. It's not personal." She laughed. "Well most of the time it's not."

I smiled, but what she had said didn't make me feel much better. Either I had done something to offend him or he just treated everyone that way.

"If you want any help with decorating I can come around. I've got loads of spare time." Lucas said, speaking only to me, but Harry overheard.

"Don't talk crap, yesterday you were complaining about how much work you have to do."

Lucas looked embarrassed, his eyes fixed on the floor, and I was finding it more and more difficult to stay calm. Whatever Harry's problem was, Lucas didn't deserve to be treated like that. All he had done was try to make me feel welcome.

"In that case, it was very sweet of him to offer." I said through gritted teeth.

"Why don't you just ask your brother to help you, since you can't fucking do anything by yourself." Harry shot back.

There was an awkward silence.

I set my glass down on the side table with a clash. There was no way I was going to sit around listening to him insult me when I hadn't done anything wrong. "You know what, we need to go. Come on Jamie."

Jamie got up too but all eyes were on me as we left the room. No one said anything to us or tried to stop us but just before as I was picking up the boxes in the hallway, I heard Katie speak.

"You could have at least tried to be civil."

I didn't wait to hear Harry's reply. It was bound to be something vindictive, littered with expletives.

We had barely crossed the threshold of my new apartment before Jamie exploded but I was lucky that he had waited that long really. It wasn't like him to think before he acted.

"If he thinks he can get away with talking to you like that..."

"Don't Jamie, just leave it. He's not worth it."

"I should have told him exactly what I think about..."

"No, you shouldn't have. I'm glad you didn't." I interrupted again. "I don't want to cause a scene before I've even moved in."

"I think it's a bit late for that."

I sighed. "You're right, I've probably ruined my chances of making any friends around here. But thank you for not saying anything, it would have made it worse."

Jamie didn't look convinced, but his eyes were sympathetic and he put his arm around me. "Don't over think it, he was just trying to pick a fight. I don't think they would take his side."

"Are you sure?"

Jamie nodded and then he grinned. "Anyway, Lucas seemed to like you..."

"Shut up, he was just being friendly." I said laughing, but the way he had been so eager to help me had made me think the same thing myself.

"You say I'm overprotective, but I wouldn't have a problem if you wanted to date someone like that." Jamie grinned.

The door bell rang, saving me from having to reply.

"I'm going to get the door, how about you actually do something useful and start unpacking?"

"I thought you wanted to be independent?" Jamie teased.

I ignored him as I walked back down the hall, passed the stacks of boxes, to open the door.

Katie was standing outside, her hand raised as if she was about to ring the bell. "Oh, Hailey, I'm sorry...I thought maybe...never mind. I just wanted to apologise for what happened..."

"You don't have to do that." I said. I was surprised that she came around at all. "It wasn't your fault."

Katie looked relieved and her expression brightened up again. "You're welcome to come around anytime, we're all really pleased that you're moving in here."

"Even Harry?" I raised an eyebrow.

Katie gave me an apologetic smile. "Don't take it personally, he's complicated. No one knows what's going on in his head most of the time."

Great, I thought to myself. Moving in to my own apartment was supposed to be an escape from all of the drama and mood swings I had faced back home. Instead I had to deal with some arrogant college drop-out who seemed to have some twisted vendetta against me.

"I'll talk to him." Katie added when I didn't reply. "And if you need anything, just come next door."

"Thank you, I really appreciate it." I said, meaning it. The thought of being completely alone for the first time was terrifying and having people next door who cared enough to make sure I was okay was comforting.

As I closed the door and went to look around the apartment, I couldn't get Harry out of my mind. Yes his behaviour was irrational and rude, and getting involved with him was a bad idea, but something about him intrigued me. He was different, and definitely my type but whether or not I could handle his mood swings was another matter entirely.

Maybe I'll never get a chance to find out, I thought.

It looked like Harry would never speak to me again anyway.