Okay, so I'm breaking my Wednesday/Saturday posting routine because I'm having a horrible Singles Awareness Day (or, as some of you may know it, Valentine's Day), and whenever I post a chapter of this, it makes me happy. So. Here is the next chapter a day early!

Enjoy and review! Your reviews make me very happy. Just saying.

IV

Harry

She led the way down the street, walking slightly ahead of me the whole way. We didn't do very much talking, but I didn't mind. I was more than happy to just watch her.

There was a light wind and it was blowing the pieces of her hair that had fallen out of her braid around her head. She had to push it out of her face every couple minutes. I hadn't noticed in the store, but when the sun was shining through her hair, it looked like a lot of it was ginger. There was one streak of blond twisting its way through her braid as well. Once I was able to look away from her hair, I watched her walk. It was strange. At times, she would walk toe to heel, and others she would go from heel to toe in a much exaggerated way that looked quite uncomfortable. It was when she was going between these two techniques that she would stumble.

Watching her made me smile.

"Here we are," she announced walking down a set of stone steps to a door with a sign on it reading "The Wired Puppy." She pulled open and held it for me. "How chivalrous," I said as I walked in. She made a face at me and I grinned.

It was a tiny place, but it had a really great atmosphere. Laid back, no rush, like there was all the time in the world. It contrasted vividly with the busy street outside. She got a caramel macchiato, I got a cup of tea, and we both ordered blueberry muffins. She tried to pay, but I wouldn't let her, reminding her that I owed her for making her try on the dress. I didn't mention that it was almost more of a thank you for trying on the dress. She was absolutely beautiful in it. I had seen plenty of pretty girls, flirted with a good number of them, but her in that dress in a dressing room at Jack Wills…she was a vision.

We sat down at a small table in a room at the back of the coffee shop and sipped our drinks. I took a bite from my muffin. She broke off a piece of hers and put it into her mouth. The silence that hung around us was a bit awkward. She had put her purse on the table when we sat down, and I resumed looking at her pin collection. That gave me an idea of something to say. "So, earlier when you thought I was…you know…I really wasn't. Well…not at first. Anyways!" God, I was stammering like an idiot. I could tell from the smirk on her face that she was enjoying my discomfort. Pull it together, Styles. "I was really looking at your pins," I told her, gesturing to her purse.

She laughed. "At first," she clarified.

I grinned and bowed my head. "At first."

Her eyes glinted. "And what did you think of my pins?"

"I liked them. I thought they were funny. Especially the one about having rehearsal," I told her pointing to the pin in question. "Basically the story of my life."

"Oh, how hard it must be for you to make insane amounts of money by singing and performing. Getting all that attention from people all over the world for that talent…wow that must be really difficult for you." She was being very sarcastic, making fun of me. I rolled my eyes. "The hours of rehearsing aren't always fun," I informed her and pointed to another pin. "And you watch Doctor Who?"

She nodded. "Religiously. I love it. I am a bit of a nerd, I admit, but I am completely proud of it. I love my nerdyness."

I grinned. "I like it too."

We were staring at each other now. Just looking into each other's eyes. God, her eyes are a beautiful green.

Rose

Dear god, his eyes are gorgeous.

My mind fizzled incoherently as I stared sort of pathetically into Harry's eyes. Although, he was staring into mine too, so I guess that made it a little less pathetic. Finally, he tore his gaze away, coughing slightly and taking a sip of his tea. I tried to discreetly shake my head to reorganize my thoughts and took a very large gulp of coffee. "So," he finally said, breaking the silence, "you mentioned you worked earlier. What do you do?"

I snorted. "I'm a barista at the Starbucks on the corner of Charles Street and Pickney Street. It doesn't get me much money, but it's a nice location, I have a decent manager, and I get free coffee."

"You're a coffee person?" he asked, mock disapproval in his voice.

I shrugged. "It depends where I am. Here and Starbucks, yes. Anywhere else, I'm more of a tea person. But if it's tea, it has to have milk and honey, and if it's coffee it has to have caramel, unless it has eggnog."

Harry was looking at me amused. "Very specific. Okay, so recap…if tea, then milk and honey. If coffee, then caramel unless eggnog."

"Correct," I told him, raising my cup in a toast to his excellent deciphering skills. "But other than working at Starbucks and drinking tea and coffee, I'm a student."

He grinned. His smile made my heart race, and god, those dimples. "A university girl? What are you studying?"

I smiled stupidly. "Yeah, I'm studying psychology at BU. I want to be a therapist. Specifically for adolescence with depressive disorders."

He smiled. "You love using big words, don't you?"

"It's a side effect of taking psychology," I informed him. "You start sounding like your textbooks."

He nodded his understanding. "So, you seem really sure about what you want to do."

I could feel myself start to freeze up. Oh, god, why did you have to mention the therapy Rose? Was that really necessary? You just met the guy and you start telling him everything. "Yeah, well I want to help people. I always have." I cringed at how defensive I sounded. He just nodded though, looking me over. Suddenly, I felt my pocket vibrate as I got a text message. I pulled my phone out, happy for the distraction. It was from my friend Teegan:

Hey! Sorry I haven't talked to you in ages. Super busy with packing for senior week! Graduation is just around the corner... Ugh. But what are you up to?

I laughed and shook my head at her text message. Teegan had never quite moved on from that euphoric obsession stage when it came to One Direction. I looked up at Harry, who was watching me with questioning eyes, and just started laughing harder. I typed a quick response:

You would never believe me if I told you.

I shook my head and put my phone back in my pocket. "What are you laughing at?" Harry asked when I looked back up.

"The irony of life," I said simply.

"Explain."

I took a deep breath. "Well, this morning, as I was walking from the T, I was listening to One Direction on my iPod, and I hadn't listened to your music in months either. Then, you randomly turn up, telling me I'd look pretty in a certain dress that I couldn't afford, and now you're taking me out for coffee…tea…whatever to make up for making me fall in love with that dress. And then one of my best friends, who just happens to be a huge fan of you guys, texts me and asks me what I'm doing."

He laughed too. "Yeah, that is pretty ironic." He smirked. My stomach did a flip. "Would you like to make your friend completely freak out?"

"What did you have in mind?"

He stood up, walked around behind my chair and pulled out his phone. He bent down so his face was right next to mine, chin almost on my shoulder, and held his phone out in front of us. I ignored my thudding heart and the proximity of his face to my face and grinned as he snapped a photo. Then he returned to his seat. "Okay, what's your number? I'll send it to you."

I laughed at him. "Was this all some clever ploy to get my number?"

"Maybe," he replied, smiling. I told him and he entered it into his phone. A second later, mine buzzed. I opened the message from the random number that appeared. For a picture taken on a cell phone, it was pretty good! My face actually looked normal, and Harry, as always, looked like a model, completely eclipsing me. It was probably the hair. The hair always stole the show. I quickly forwarded the message to Teegan and saved Harry's number to my phone. Within seconds, Teegan had replied. It involved several pages of all caps, keysmashes, expletives, and lots of exclamation points. I cracked up and passed my phone across the table for Harry to read. He laughed too and typed a response. When he passed it back to me, I looked to see what he had sent:

Love your enthusiasm! –Harry xx

I laughed, only imagining what her reaction to that would be. I looked directly into Harry's beautiful green eyes and proudly announced, "She is freaking the hell out right now!"

We laughed and laughed and laughed at this strange twist of fate.