The Other Side

Chapter 15

Phew! Taken a while to update as I have been uber busy, but I'm having a sick day today. hehe. So unbeknown to me, this is the last chapter. haha. the characters wanted to wrap it up ;-) but there will be an epilogue posted today too. So enjoy, and I'll get my Liam, Niall and Zayn stories up soon, as they're progressing quite well :-D Hope you all enjoyed and comment and vote and send me love or criticism I don't mind! I just wanna hear from everyone :-)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Sorted out?" Sam asks, but I'm sure he knows with the giant grin I'm wearing when I get to school.

"I'd say so," I say with a smirk, wiggling my eyebrows.

Sam pops his mouth into an 'o' shape. "Whore!" he accuses with a smile.

"I'll happily live with that label if it means I can do it again," I laugh, and Sam pushes me playfully. "Ugh," I groan, seeing a couple of kids talking to a guy with a recorder. They were looking in our direction.

"Guess you've decided to live with that," Sam nods in their direction.

I look displeased. "Yeah, but it still frustrates me to no end. Wonder what they're saying about me." I shrug it off - I had decided to ignore it.

After school I go to the store with Sam to grab a few things Mum didn't get for dinner, and he has to work. I grab what I need, and as I'm getting ready to pay, I notice the cover of one of the magazines. It has the picture of Harry and I kissing on the cover. Wow, front page news. I almost ignore it, but I'm kind of intrigued, so I grab it and chuck it with my groceries. The girl serving me used to go to my school, and she gives me a dirty look. I ignore it, pay and get the hell out of there.

When I get home I get started on dinner straight away. I text Harry, telling him to come over about 6.30 with his parents. Once everything is on to cook, I grab the magazine that I almost forgot about.

'Harry's new Hook-Up' the caption says on the front. Oh goody, I'm a hook-up, I think sarcastically. I flip the pages until I get to the full article.

'1D heartthrob, Harry Styles, has been linked to many girls, or more like women, recently. Fellow celebs and older women seem to be his thing. But the latest pictures snapped of Hazza show him snogging 16 year old school student, Alexia Grant, who lives next door to the dashing lad. This pictured captured yesterday, shows Harry leaping the fence to get to his current romantic interest.'

As I read on, I scoff at the ridiculousness of the article. But certain parts do pique my attention and cause me concern.

'But will it last? According to fellow band mate Liam Payne, probably not. In a recent article, Liam stated that Harry will end up a lonely old man, because he's incapable of getting and keeping a proper girlfriend. Poor Hazza. But if you believe his Mum, Foxy Coxy, Harry's a super romantic, and will be a great boyfriend. Guess only time will tell.

'And we suppose that Alexia will have something to do with the outcome of the relationship herself. If she keeps hanging out with rumoured 'secret boyfriend', Sam Johnson, Harry could end up alone. A source close to both Alexia and Sam confirmed 'they've definitely slept together', and they're always hanging out now. Perhaps still a spark?

'Watch out, Harry, you might have some competition. But all good, we'll happily comfort you if it goes pear shaped!'

I throw the magazine on the coffee table, annoyed at how stupid people will gladly give out private information and publish it. I don't know how Harry can put up with it constantly, because I feel like falling apart after one article.

When dinner was ready, it smelled awesome. I made a topside roast with white sauce and winter vegetables, as well as a fresh apple pie for dessert. I hadn't heard back from Harry, but at 6.30 he turned up with his parents.

I greet Anne and Joe, and my parents do the same. And when I greet Harry, he seems hesitant to return my friendly demeanour. Ok, so something is definitely up. But of course now we are surrounded by our parents, and we need to play nice until we can be alone.

Well that's my plan, but apparently not Harry's. He makes no attempt to be nice during the night. He stays quiet and moody, and when my parents try and talk to him, he gives them just enough of a response to keep them happy, but he does it without a hint of fake enjoyment. I, however, am not happy - because I slaved away making this meal, and he's clearly not enjoying it.

"What's wrong?" I ask when our parents are gone, off to look at something lame together.

"Nothing," Harry says moodily, helping me clear plates.

Right, since I was the Queen of Moodiness, I knew that was a lie - so I stopped what I was doing and just walked outside. If Harry wanted to talk, he was a big boy, and he could follow me out here. After about 10 minutes of me swinging on the old tyre my dad had hung in a tree, Harry finally decided to join me.

"Took your time," I note.

Harry shrugs, leaning against the tree trunk and looking at his shoes kicking the roots. "Cleaned up."

"You didn't have to," I say, spinning myself around on the tyre. A moment of silence passes, and I decide I'll have to force it out of him. "So, what's the go?"

"Did you sleep with Sam?" Harry blurts out, and I almost fall out of the tyre, but Harry looks more composed.

"That article is what turned you into a sour puss for dinner?" I ask in disbelief.

Harry shakes his head, looking annoyed. "No, see I can deal with the articles, I do it all the time. But I'm asking you, did you sleep with Sam?"

"It was a while ago, before you moved here. And only once," I answer quietly.

Harry scratches at his head and then pushes himself off the trunk, heading for the fence.

"Hey," I call out, a bit angry now, "don't walk away. You wanna talk about this, then we're gonna talk!"

"What's there to talk about, Lex?" Harry demands, turning back to me. "You slept with your best friend, and you didn't tell me. I had to read it in a magazine. I feel like a right idiot now!"

"Chill the hell down," I nearly growl. "You never asked me about it. I don't know the details of every girl you've ever slept with."

"I'm not best friends with the girls I slept with!" he shouts back.

"That's right," I say with a laugh, "you're Hook-Up Harry, the guy who can't get a serious girlfriend because he's too busy slutting it up. Liam was right when he said you'd end up alone, cause you're real good at messing things up.

"You wanna know something about my past, then just ask me, and don't get shitty if you don't like the answer," I say in an accusing way. "You can't act like a douche bag jealous boyfriend when you haven't even asked me out yet!" I turn to leave.

"Is that why you're pissed? Because I haven't asked you out?" Harry asks in disbelief.

I spin on my heel and stomp back to him. "I wasn't the one pissed off first! You were!" I realise I sound like a five year old, but I don't care.

"Do you want to go out with me?" Harry asks, completely calm now.

"Huh?" I ask stupidly, my face scrunched up in annoyance.

"Do you want to be my girlfriend?" Harry says slowly, his dimples fighting to appear in their usual carefree way.

I can't believe him! He's pissed at me for something that happened before he moved here, we've just had a screaming match in my backyard for the past five minutes, and now he's asking me out when I'm not even sure I ever want to talk to him again?

"Yes," I breathe out, smiling widely.

Harry's cheeky smile returns, because he knows I clearly can't stay mad at him. He closes the small gap between us and wraps his arms around my waist, kissing me.

"Good," he says as he pulls away, "Cause I want to be your boyfriend." He chuckles as he kisses me again.