GOTTA BE YOU
Summary: Bambi Aerith was an upcoming fashion model and actress working really hard to find her place in the industry. This is until she was advised to meet and befriend the One Direction boys and fell hopeless in love with Harry Styles, the boy who was able to take off her carefully applied mask.
CHAPTER TWO
By Harry's side, Bambi stepped out of the limo, knowing that there would be a horde of paparazzi at the front entrance, even if it was supposed to be a private party. Her new dress, a black laced Alexander McQueen number with towering indie designer boots, fitted her perfectly and accentuated her tiny waist. Her hair fell in loose curls and her make up was perfect. Everything was perfect and everything was in control. Harry wore a white shirt and black vest, his smile brighter than ever now that the most beautiful girl in the world was by his side.
The cameras flashed and voices screamed: Why was Bambi there? Was she dating Harry? How did they meet? How did Joe feel about this? However, everybody knows that when you want to give the media more to talk about, you don't tell them anything at all. She made sure that they caught a few nice photos of Harry with his arm around her waist before entering the private nightclub.
She looked around at her surroundings, the pulsing lights and the dark corners, smoky rooms and the attractive bodies dancing on the floor.
"Hey, Bambi!" a voice called. She turned around and saw Zayn, his hair perfectly styled and his crisp black shirt fitting his athletic body perfectly.
She smiled, "Nice turn out here, the DJ sounds great."
"Thanks, us boys don't deserve any credit though, management did it all. You wanna dance?" he asked, as though forgetting that she was, in fact, Harry's date. She considered it, knowing that it would be the more sociable choice but, thinking about the sweet boy standing beside her feeling awkward as his band mate attempted to pry away his date, she knew it went against every morale she had ever had.
"No thanks, Zayn. I think we'll go and get a drink," she smiled nicely before taking Harry's arm and letting him steer her to the bar.
They sat at the bar, probably the only people not already wasted. "Thanks, Bambs," Harry said smiling, "Zayn loves being a prick now and then."
"I can see that," she acknowledged.
"He means no harm though; it's just a bit of a joke. If you had said yes he would've just taken the mickey out of me."
"You know," she realized, looking at him in the eye, "For celebrities, you boys are the most… normal I've ever met. If it were anybody else, they would fly into a rage with embarrassment, but you guys actually take something like that for fun?"
Harry laughed, "Well, yeah, it can be embarrassing but the lads are just dicking around. I do it to them too. How else are you going to bond as five complete strangers?"
"True, you do have an odd beginning story for a band."
"Exactly," he smiled.
The bartender, an attractive and tattooed male, approached them, "What can I get you guys?" he asked. As with other celebrity parties, the waiters and bartenders were usually struggling musicians or actors hoping to meet their big break that night, so they treated everybody particularly well.
"Just a beer, thanks; I don't have much class. You, Bambi?"
"Vodka raspberry, please. A bit heavier on the vodka than usual, if you don't mind," she replied. As the bartender walked away, she turned to Harry, "Can you even drink?"
"Here I can," he laughed.
Drink after drink followed as they continued to talk and laugh, forgetting about the people around them and becoming tipsier by the second. The lights began to pulsate faster than it did before and Bambi felt herself become a lot less controlled and more natural.
"So what did you do before modeling?" Harry asked.
"I was a high school student," she laughed, "Seriously, I have never ever done anything aside from this my entire life. I never had a part time job or sold ice cream, or even had a lemonade stand!" Her voice seemed louder than it usually was, although she barely cared.
Harry laughed too, "So you're like one of those experienced girls right? Do your first shoot at fourteen and made your runway debut at sixteen or something?" his eyes closed a little longer than a normal blink.
Bambi smiled and thought about her childhood; the rush between classes and auditions, the in between lunch jogs, the constant dieting and the shopping for 'audition clothes'. To any other person, it would seem stressful, but it made her feel safe. "Twelve," she said.
He tilted his head, "What?"
"I did my first photo shoot at twelve."
"Hey, lovers!" called a voice. They turned to see Louis and Niall standing behind them, "You guys going to stay here and drink yourself silly, or actually come join us on the dance floor?"
"Yeah!" said Niall, "It's so much more fun there and, if you make it to the other side, there's food too!"
Harry shook his head, "I'm a little tipsy to be honest, I reckon if I got up right now I'd be a bit of an arse."
"I'm not!" stated Bambi, although she knew that she was definitely not sober, "I'll totally dance with you fine young gentlemen." She stood up, but felt her feet become unsteady.
"Whoa, Bambi," said Louis, balancing her, "Are you sure you're okay? How many have you had to drink?"
"Just one or two."
"About seven, I think," corrected Harry who, having had three beers in that time, was probably a lot more sober than he thought he was.
"You're such a silly liar!" Bambi exclaimed, attempting to friendly punch Harry but completely missing him. Instead she fell forwards and into his arms, as he so luckily stood up in time. Her face was buried into his shirt and she had completely blacked out.
Harry lifted her up, "Okay, tipsy time is over for me. I'll take her back to ours."
Bambi woke up with a headache. She rubbed her eyes and looked around at her completely foreign surroundings. She was in a plain bed with a thick heavy blanket. The walls were painted cream and there were dark wooden floor boards. She looked down at her clothes, all completely intact with a purple Jack Willis hoodie on top – definitely not a well matched outfit. She tried to remember the night before and got a few spots as she scolded herself for drinking so much when she knew she was bad with alcohol now. Remembering what last happened, talking to the boys from One Direction, she realized that she was probably in the guest room of their home base.
Standing up, she looked in the full length mirror. Her eye make up was smeared and her hair a complete mess, along with the fact that her clothes just looked awkward. Standing closer, she rubbed the bottom of her eye until her make up looked presentable, brushed her fingers through her hair and reached under the hoodie to remove her dress. Although common sense told her that she probably should have taken off the hoodie and just wore the McQueen dress, she felt like it just didn't work in the morning. Plus, Joe had always told her that she looked sexy in his jumpers.
Satisfied with her appearance, she opened the door and walked down the corridor. She found the boys sitting around a kitchen bench, Niall eating cereal whilst the others drank coffee. Harry stood at the stove, frying pieces of bacon and eggs. Most of them wore only their track pants, except for Liam and Zayn, who also wore a shirt. "Good morning," she greeted, unsure about what to say.
"Hey, you're awake," said Harry, immediately dropping the pan, "How's your head? Need a bit of breakfast to make it better?" His eyes trailed up and down her body, admiring her long legs in his hoodie.
"Just a small headache, thanks, and I'll be fine," she replied and smiled, seeing Niall dash behind the boys to make sure the bacon didn't burn. Heaven forbid good bacon should ever burn.
"You were pretty drunk in the limo," joked Louis, "You kept trying to kiss me and Liam and we were just like, No Bambi! We can't take advantage of you like this, it's just wrong!"
Niall smiled cheekily, "They did it anyway."
Harry and Bambi laughed. "They didn't," he said, "I made sure of it. We didn't know where you lived though so we just brought you back here, I hope you don't mind. You also seemed cold so I just threw a jumper on you."
"It's okay, I like it anyway," Bambi twirled laughingly; "I think it looks better on me than you. I should keep it."
"Is it so you can smell me and my manliness whenever you want?" Harry winked.
"Of course not. Only because I think Jack Willis needs a better model," Bambi pulled out her phone, "And I am obviously a good candidate."
Zayn laughed, "You're funny, Bambi."
"Yeah, you are," said Liam, "Who you calling anyway? Stay for lunch, come on."
"I really can't," she apologized after she sent a text message to her driver, "I have a photo shoot on later in the day and it's already…" she glanced at the time, "twelve! Shit, how did I sleep the entire morning away?"
She was obviously panicked so Harry gave her a hug, "It'll be fine, Bambs. When's the photo shoot?"
"Four pm."
"You'll be fine," he said reassuringly, "You still have another four hours and you don't look that hung over," he joked.
Bambi pushed him away and headed towards the guest room she was sleeping in, "I'll go get my stuff." She tried to act as though she was fine, but it was obvious that there was more on her mind that gathering up her McQueen masterpiece and the upcoming designer's boots. Going into the room, she suddenly felt as though the walls were a lot closer and she felt suffocated almost. She sat on the bed, willing herself to not cry and make herself look even worse. She covered her face with her hands as a choking sound came from her.
"You okay?" he asked. Bambi looked up to see Harry's face poking through the doorway, his expression of concern becoming more evident when he saw that she had been crying, "What's wrong?" He came to sit beside her and put his arm around her small shoulders, pulling her closer.
"Nothing, I'm fine," she replied, pulling away and wiping the tears from her eyes, ""I just… accidentally poked myself in the eye." It was the lamest excuse she had ever came up with, but it wasn't every day when people were actually concerned about her emotions instead of whether she had her make up kit in her bag to fix up her mess of a face.
"You're a little liar," Harry said, smiling slightly, "Tell me."
"No," replied Bambi with a hint of humor in her voice. She didn't like the seriousness of the situation, it came far too close to her insecurities and she had lost enough control already, she wasn't about to lose any more.
"Bambi," Harry grabbed her shoulders and looked her right in the eye, "Tell me what's wrong. You can trust me."
She hesitated, taking deep breaths, but looking into the most concerned and sincere eyes she had ever seen in her entire life (well, almost, she had her parents to account for as well) she couldn't stop herself as the words came out of her mouth, "I'm scared, Harry."
"Of what?"
"I'm a model and there are a million girls out there who look up to me, how I look is extremely important and I can't just go to a photo shoot with a hang over, bad skin and…" she mumbled.
"Bambi, and what?" Harry asked.
"Fat," she whispered, pulling Harry's hoodie closer around her so he couldn't see the atrocity that was her current body.
Harry was taken aback, "Fat? Bambi, you look great and, if anything, you're a lot thinner than girls usually are."
"I got drunk last night, Harry, and not to sound like an obsessive idiot, but do you know how many calories every drink contained? I can't even remember how many I had-"
"Seven"
She looked at him sarcastically, "Thanks Harry, really, you're helping so much."
He laughed, pulling her back into a hug and holding onto her really tightly so that she was unable to let go, "Bambi, you look great, there is nothing to be scared about. You're one of the most beautiful celebrities in the world, the magazine polls have proved it. There is not a single part of you that is inferior or that should be changed in any way."
She stayed silent for a while, feeling comfortable and content for the first time in as long as she could remember, when her phone suddenly vibrated. She picked it up and looked at the screen, "Thanks Harry, but I really have to go." She took a deep breath and picked up her clothes, regaining her composure and feeling in control again, "The car's here."
"I'll walk you to the door," Harry said, smiling.
"Thanks for everything," Bambi said as they stood in the doorway, "For taking me home last night, I mean."
"You're welcome. Can I see you again sometime soon?"
"You have my number," Bambi smiled, feeling her trained flirt coming back into play, "I'll wait for your call."
"I'll call tonight," Harry said, "Definitely won't forget."
"You better not," Bambi whispered as their faces unconsciously drew closer. Before she knew it, his lips were touching hers and it felt like she was being kissed for the first time.
"You're beautiful," Harry whispered as they pulled apart, not realizing the tiny click of a camera across the road.