Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with the band nor have I ever met them. The contents of this story are mere fiction and the lads are portrayed the way I imagine them. Inaccuracy is expected.

Note: Okay, so I'm really excited about this story and I really think it suits Louis and Harry. I hope you like what I do with this. Let me know what you think. Review! ;)

When I was younger, I was so convinced that I would meet the man of my dreams when the time was right. I always imagined it like the fairy tale stories my mother used to read to me before bed. He would sweep me off my feet, and I would just know that he was the one.

When I started school, I eventually realized that princes simply did not exist, though that fact did not totally extinguish my desire to find my supposed soul mate. I still believed in my innocent little heart that the right one would still find me. He wouldn't be a prince, but he was out there.

By high school, I had totally given up on finding the perfect man. I'd been through years of watching assholes screw over my friends. More than just being scared of getting my own heart broken, I just knew that none of the guys were serious about anything. I was convinced that all of them would say anything just to get in your pants.

While it was sad that my happily ever after was tainted, I was glad that I wasn't naïve enough to fall for whatever bullshit the guys tried to pull on other girls. My friends still continued to date guys. They even tried to set me up for dates because they didn't want me to give up on the male species, but I simply wasn't interested.

In my mind, I was totally content with just myself. It was easier. I didn't have to ask permission from anyone – well, other than my parents anyway – when I wanted to do something. I didn't have to please anybody other than myself. I wasn't tied down. That was the perfect situation.

That is, until I met him – Louis Tomlinson. Even just a mention of his name sends shivers up and down my spine. He was a fresh face in our small town then. He was staying at his cousins' house for the summer because his parents were going through a divorce. It was to keep him and his sisters away from the mess.

The first few weeks, it was obvious he was miserable. Although he was always the one with the best jokes, he was also the one with the saddest eyes - when he thought nobody was looking anyway. I knew this because I watched him for days on end that summer. They always hung out at the poolside in our community pool, so it wasn't hard to spy on him especially since I worked as the lifeguard there.

"Hey. Why the long face?" I asked him when he walked by my station.

It was almost the end of summer then. I heard he was heading back to Doncaster in a couple more weeks. It was a now or never situation, so I figured why the hell not.

"It's nothing. Just a bit lost in thought." He had smiled then, his nonchalance quickly wiping off any trace of sadness. To someone who hadn't been keenly watching observing him, it would've been convincing enough, but I simply didn't buy it.

"I think it's more than that, but if you don't want to talk about it, it's none of my business." I gave him a smile too. "Enjoying the summer out here?" I quickly changed the subject to save him.

"Yeah. It's alright out here." He gave me a small nod before walking back to his cousins.

I continued to watch him after that, but I rarely saw the sad look again. I think he became guarded, more aware of his expressions especially when I indirectly admitted that I was watching him from where I was sat.

He caught me on my break the next day. I was lounging on a floater when he sat on the edge of the pool beside me.

"Hey." He called out. I had my eyes closed so I was surprised when I saw him there.

"Hey." I called back with a smile. "Can I help you with anything?"

He was hesitant, but he told me that he was glad I noticed he wasn't happy. He told me that it sucked living with his cousins and pretending he was fine even when they knew what was going on with him.

"What is going on with you?" I had asked then. Looking back, I was overstepping boundaries, but I'm glad I did. If I hadn't done that, I don't think I would've gone far with him.

He told me about his family and the divorce. He explained further everything that was going on with his life and how he felt about that. Although I only offered a few hmm's and huh's, in the end, he still thanked me. I was never quite sure why, but I figured it was for letting him vent.

I missed my shift that afternoon, but I was glad I did anyway. He stopped by my station the next day, and the day after that. He didn't mention anything about his family after that day, but he just stayed with me to chat.

He moved back to Doncaster a week after the day I talked to him, but before that, he stopped by my station one last time and exchanged numbers with me. He thanked me for salvaging his summer and he promised he would repay me someday.

"Don't think about it too much." I replied. "Just promise that when you think you need to talk to someone, you'll consider talking to me."

He promised and that meant much to me. I knew that he didn't want people to know what he felt, but I figured some time he would need to vent or he'd explode.

I was in Hatfield visiting my grandmother when Louis finally texted. He said that the divorce was finalized and hell was breaking loose in his life. He didn't know how he would deal with his family. I told him where I was and he drove so quickly that he was there less than an hour.

I would never forget that day I hugged him and listened to him sadly tell me about his life. That day, he tore down his walls and allowed me into his life. Within hours, I had a good view of who he was through everything he said and everything he hadn't said. He revealed himself to me, but my heart broke because it was through the bits and pieces of his own shattered heart.

He was in touch regularly since then. I helped him patch up his heart and face the world even when I was miles away. In turn, he listened to me bitch about my own life and offered jokes to cheer me up. It was a good thing we had going on then.

The next summer, he came back to visit his cousins. He hung out with me in my station as I did my lifeguard shifts again. Although he was only there for a week, he made the most out of it. He stopped by my station on his last day and asked me to be his girl.

We were together without even being physically near each other. I was finishing up my senior year and he was a sophomore in university. He visited once in a while, sometimes totally missing to go see his cousins. We carried on like that until the year ended and then I went to the same school he did for college.

He moved out of his house a little after the divorce was finalized. He said he wanted to be away from the drama for a while. He moved into a flat with Harry Styles, one of his mates' cousin. Harry was younger than him; he was about my age, but a few months younger still. I went to their flat every so often that I became closer to Harry too.

And this is where our story begins.

Continued.