Chapter 4: The Storm
We walked down to the end of the street then right on the corner was the cutest, Italian restaurant I'd ever seen. It had a few tables inside, only enough to fit about 10 people or so and on each table were old-fashioned, stereotypical, red and white checked tablecloths. It looked like it camestraight out of a romantic movie.
Emma led the way to the counter and ordered her share of food then stepped aside so I could order mine. I looked out the window when I finished and noticed the sky had started to turn grey.
"Hey Emma, looks like it's going to start raining soon." I alerted her
"Oh, shit. Doesn't look like it's gonna be light rain either…" she muttered under her breath.
"I've got an idea, let's get the food and go back to my place. We can eat it there and you can stay until the rain clears up." I offered.
"Are you sure?" she replied, her mouth in a wide O shape.
"Hahaha, um yes? Why not?" I asked, confused at her reaction.
"It's not like you're a stranger or a dangerous criminal right?" I laughed light heartedly, trying to ease the tension.
"Of course not! It's just… Don't you live with the boys at the moment? But hey look, the foods ready, let's go." She smiled, grabbing our order and pulling out the money owed.
"Hey! At least let me pay for half, you've been so kind showing me around all night." I protested, reaching for my own wallet.
"No! This meal's on me." She smiled, grabbing me by the arm and racing for the door.
Once we were outside we waited endlessly for a taxi under the shelter of the restaurant. It had started to rain lightly now, but surely it would pick up soon and get heavier.
"C'mon, we should probs just run for it. Don't worry, the place isn't far.'' I suggested, and with that we sprinted into the cold, empty street.
By the time we got to the apartment it was full on pouring and our clothes were clinging to us, sending shivers across our entire body. It was freezing cold and I couldn't wait to have a shower. I rushed up to the door careful not to slip on the rain that had now completely covered the streets. Hurriedly I ran up to the glass doors and waited for them to automatically open, once inside I pressed the button for the elevator and waited.
"That's some storm hey?" Emma giggled, squeezing her hair and wringing out as much water as she could.
I nodded in agreement, taking off my jumper that was making me even colder now it was drenched with rain.
"Are you sure the boys won't mind? I mean, about me being here. They wouldn't want a stranger in their apartments I'm sure. Let alone a fan like myself... They'll probably think I'm a crazy stalker." Emma frowned, looking uneasily at the floor.
"No! Babe, seriously don't worry about it! I'll call Harry and prove it's cool once we get upstairs okay?" I offered, trying to set her mind at ease.
Her cheeks twinged a small smile as she dragged herself into the elevator. She looked so guilty about being here. I wish I could do something! Once I got upstairs I was definitely calling Harry to get him to re-assure her it was honestly fine.
Finally the elevators ding rang throughout the entire 8th floor and we stepped off, walking over towards Louis and Harry's place.
"Wow. This is where they live?" Emma asked looking around.
It was a great place. The 8th floor had the elevator then 4 doors in front of it. The one furthest to the left was Niall's, then on the right was Zayn's, then Liam's and lastly on the far right was Louis and Harry's. From the outside it looked sophisticated and simple. I walked over to Harry and Lou's and unlocked the door.
"Welcome to Harry and boobear's place." I smiled, holding the door open for her.
She hurried inside and shut the door as I turned on the heater.
"Babe, you don't mind if I go take a shower do ya?" Emma asked
"I hate to take advantage of the situation and I know it isn't your place but I am seriously shivering right now." She continued, looking hopeful.
"Of course you can shower!" I almost laughed at the ridiculousness of her question.
"There are 3 showers. A main one down the hall and then Lou and Harry have their own in their bedrooms." I smiled.
"You can take the main one. I'll go get some of my clothes for you to change into afterwards. You look about the same size yeah?" I offered, walking over to the kitchen and putting the food we'd ordered on the bench.
"Thankyou so much Eva! You are seriously the sweetest girl!" she beamed happily.
"No worries, gimme a sec. Also I'll go make that phone call to Harry alright love? So just chill here for a bit." I quickly shouted over my shoulder before disappearing into my own bedroom.
I reached for my phone which was sitting on the little drawer opposite my bed. Instinctively opening it and dialling a familiar number.
"Hey beautiful, I miss you so much already." Harry's deep voice spoke from the other end of the phone call.
I imagined him smiling into the phone and my stomach went into a frenzy of butterflies. How was I gonna last while he was away at L.A.?
"Aww Harry, I miss you too. How's L.A.?" I asked, trying to sound happy.
"Yeah it's great. The sun hasn't disappeared on us once! You would've loved it! You know... It's not too late to book a flight and meet us here..." he added, hopeful to change my mind.
"Harry I miss you heaps but seriously, this is good for you and the band. Just try focus on that okay? I promise I'll still be here waiting for you when you get back." I giggled at the thought of me ever loving someone else now that I'd met Harry.
"But Eva, how am I meant to full enjoy myself if you're not here with me?" he whined like a child.
"Harry Edward Styles, suck it up. Plus there are hundreds of gorgeous fans that I'm sure are dying to meet you. I don't wanna keep you all to myself when you need to meet all those fans." I laughed.
"Honestly Eva, none of those girls are you. I love you. You and only you." He whispered meaningfully.
"Harry I love you." I whispered, barely audible to myself.
"I love you too." He whispered back, even softer than my own voice. He sounded so sad, the words came out like a breath, I could only just make out what he'd said.
"Well, that's not why I'm calling. I have a question." I spoke normally again, trying to change the mood.
"Oh right. Yeah, what's up?"
"I've got someone here with me. In the apartment. Well in your apartment with Lou-"I began.
"Is it a guy!" he quickly asked before I could even finish my sentence.
"No Harry it's not." I giggled, a smiling spreading across my face.
"Okay good. Continue. Also remember, that apartment is just as much yours as it is mine and Lou's. You have your own room, your own bathroom. Seriously, please stop thinking of this as a temporary home. You are living there with me and the lads so I really want you to start thinking of it as home." He laughed back.
"Okay, I'll remember that from now on. Also she's a fan. Remember Emma from outside Jack Wills the other day? At the shopping centre? Yeah, I ran into her and we got some dinner together but had to bring it back to the apartment. And now she's here and she feels awful about being in your place because you'll think she's a crazy fan or something and yeah. Please just talk to her for a sec and tell her it's alright?"
"Sure Eva, put her on now." He chuckled.
"One second, I just needa get her some of my clothes to wear. She's gonna have a shower. Don't worry, she'll use my shower and I'll just wait." I explained, my teeth starting to chatter from the coldness that was still spreading through my entire body.
"Eva you sound freezing!" he exclaimed, worried.
"D-don't worry Harry. I-I'm fine. Just a bit of rain. I'm gonna have a s-shower in a second." I tried to calm him down.
"Eva babe, quickly get Em some clothes then put me on the phone with her. As soon as I'm done and she goes to have a shower I want you to go into my room and shower there okay! You can't wait for her. I can't even see you but I can tell you're shaking from the cold!" he commanded, his voice ringing with worry.
"H-harry I'm fine. S-seriously. Calm d-down babe. But sure, just let me get s-some clothes f-first." I chattered even more. I tried to control my mouth from shaking but I couldn't. I could barely keep the phone up to my ear my hands were shaking so much.
I rushed over to my suitcase and drew out the first top and pants I could grab. Then I walked into the lounge room to find Emma cuddling her legs, trying to stay warm.
"It's for you." I smiled, handing her the phone.
"H-hello?" she asked, a little surprised that someone was calling for her.
I watched as her mouth dropped when she realised it was Harry. I couldn't hear what he said to her but he must've made her feel better about being in the apartment because next thing I knew she was handing the phone back to me, taking the clothes outta my arms, and walking off into my bathroom.
"Thanks so m-much for that Harry. She's a really nice girl." I thanked him, walking off on my own into his bedroom.
"Has she gone to take a shower?"
"Yeah she has. I'm in your r-room now. Gonna go take a shower now okay b-babe?" I explained, getting ready to hang up.
"I wish I could be there." He spoke seductively, chuckling at the end.
"Oh harry shut up! Go find yourself a nice fan to h-hook up with okay?" I teased.
"No seriously. I would give almost anything to be with you right now." He spoke more seriously. His voice was filled with longing. He was making it so hard not to miss him.
"Aww b-babe. I love you. M-miss you heaps too. Now I'm taking a s-shower because I am f-f-freezing!" I almost dropped the phone because my hands were becoming that numb.
"Trust me, I miss you more. Now text me after your shower okay?"
"Sure thing love. B-bye!" I quickly managed to get out before I quickly hung up and sprinted for Harry's bathroom.
Not thinking, I ripped my clothes off and threw them to the floor. Stepping into the shower I turned on only the hot water and let the warmth stop the violent shaking of my body. I washed my hair and stood in the steaming heat for a few minutes before turning off the water and wrapping myself in a towel.
Shit. I forgot to bring clothes to change into. I opened Harry's bathroom door a crack to see if Emma was waiting for me in his bedroom. Luckily she wasn't. I tiptoed into his room and walked over to the nearest drawer to find some clothes. I laughed as I pulled out a pair of his blue, plaid boxers then shut the door and opened his cupboard. Taking out his purple jack wills hoodie.
I walked back into the warm bathroom still filled with steam and got dressed. Throwing a quick glance at the mirror I couldn't help but laugh at how ridiculous I looked.
Harry's boxers covered the upper half of my thighs and his jack wills hoodie was huge on me. I pulled the sleeves down, re-adjusting where it sat on me and taking in the aroma of Harry. His hoodie smelt just like him. My brown hair was in clumps from the shower and I just left it down so it would dry faster.
Eventually I picked my dripping wet clothes off the floor and dumped them in the shared laundry basket between me, Harry and Lou.
"Em? Babe, where are ya?" I called, walking into the kitchen.
"Here love." She responded.
I found her sitting in the lounge room, with all the food already set up on the table in front of her.
"Sorry I took so long." I apologised.
"No problem. Also, are those..?" she trailed off, eyeing me head to toe.
"Yeah, it's Harry's clothes. Hopefully he won't mind." I laughed back, remembering the reflection I saw in the mirror before.
"Babe, I bet Harry would get excited seeing you wear his clothes!" she laughed louder, patting the empty space on the couch next to herself.
"Oh shut up." I giggled, slightly embarrassed.
"No seriously, I bet he'd love it." She winked, teasing me.
"Hahaha you have banter. Nice to know." I nudged her arm.
"You'll fit right in with me and the boys. There is so much joking, playing and banter going around here 24/7." I explained.
The next two hours we spent eating and talking about ourselves. I found out Emma was eighteen, a year older than myself and that she was born here in London and had lived here her whole life. Her dad owned that restaurant that we'd ordered from and she was helping out while she found herself a proper job. After that we cleaned up the dishes and I started telling Emma all about Australia.
"You don't have Jack Wills in Australia! Seriously!" she asked bewildered.
"Nope." I answered, my mouth popping on the p.
"Well then. If this hoodie is the first thing you've worn, I believe you need to take this purple sweater as your own first Jack Wills garment." She giggled, walking over to the couch we were sitting at before and grabbing my phone.
"Wait, what are you doing Em?" I laughed, confused at what was going on.
"Smile babes!" She shouted, taking a picture of me and then rapidly tapping the buttons on my phone.
"What are you doing you idiot?" I continued to laugh. This girl was so unpredictable! She was also such good fun to be around.
"And send." She smiled at my phone, touching one last button then throwing it at me.
My eyes darted to the screen as I made sense of what happened. On the screen was a MMS to Harry...
"Hey babe, hope you don't mind but I had to borrow some clothes. To be honest I think they look better on me than you;) mind if I keep them? Hahaha much love, Eva. xoxo"
And attached was a photo of me, my face in a wide smile, laughing at Emma's surprise photo.
"Oh my God Emma, good one. Now he's gonna think I'm crazy! Hahaha." I laughed, walking over to the couch and collapsing. It was getting late and my eyes were starting to shut.
"Mmm oh well. I think you look hot in his stuff." She shrugged playfully.
"It's getting late. I should head off now before it gets too dark alright? My dad will be home from the restaurant soon and will have a heart attack if I'm not home." She sighed, rolling her eyes.
"No problem." I smiled.
"I'll call you tomorrow okay? Maybe we can have a girls day and do something." I offered, glad I'd finally made a new friend.
"Oh shit. I'm busy tomorrow. But maybe the day after? Just call me, we'll figure something out." She smiled over her shoulder and walked out the door.
I walked into my bedroom and turned on my laptop when my phone went off. It was a text from Harry. I held my breath as I opened it, wondering what he'd sent...
"Don't mind at all;) And they sure do look better on you, you look hot;) Go ahead and keep them both haha. Love you so much Eva. x"
My heart skipped a beat when I finished. He was so cute! I dropped my phone into my lap as the laptop started up and I opened the internet.