falling in love (mcfly)

Chapter 8

It had been two days since the Harry incident. I was working at my job as a waitress at a small pizza joint when the door opened, revealing four new customers. I called over my friend Kayla when the band starting walking towards my direction. Kayla was one of the first people I had met in London; we got to know each other after working the same shifts.

“Hey, Em!” Tom called out. “We just finished recording for the day and thought we’d stop by for some dinner.”

“Alright! This is my friend Kayla,” I said, gesturing to the blonde girl next to me. “Kayla, this is Tom, Dougie, Danny…and Harry.”

I watched Harry’s face turn into confusion at the sour tone of my voice. Turning away from him, I saw Kayla laughing as she looked at Danny.

“Well, if it isn’t Mr. Danny Jones.”

“Hey, Kayla,” Danny responded with a smile.

To everyone’s surprise, Danny reached over and gave her a huge hug, the two of them wearing matching grins as they pulled apart.

“Do you guys know each other?” Dougie asked, voicing everyone’s thoughts.

“Danny and I go way back. He was my first boyfriend when we were like, what, fifteen or sixteen? But we were pretty close friends for a while before that.”

Danny nodded in agreement and added, “We decided we would be better as friends, but then we just drifted apart... It’s really good to see you, Kaykay.”

“Kaykay?” Tom asked as Kayla began to blush.

“Shut it, Danny. There is no way you’re using that nickname again.”

Danny gave a cheeky wink as Kayla excused herself to ring up a bill for some customers.

“My shift ends in ten minutes, so why don’t you guys grab a table, and I’ll join you in a bit.” I told them.

After my shift had ended, I walked over to where the boys were sitting. They had grabbed a booth, leaving an empty spot next to Dougie and a spot next to Harry and the end of the bench. I chose the spot next to Dougie, making Harry frown slightly. I don’t know why it would matter to him so much. He had said himself that he didn’t even like me. Harry’s frown continued to deepen as the night went on and I continued to ignore him.

“Emma, can you hand me a napkin?” Harry civilly asked.

I pretended not to hear. He could reach over and grab his own damn napkin.

“Emma.” He repeated.

I turned around and grabbed a stack of paper napkins, pushing them towards him coldly. I could tell he was getting a little pissed off at my behavior, but it wasn’t as if it wasn’t justified. He deserved the treatment he was getting.

“Emma…” Harry started.

“What? I gave you your damn napkins.”

Dougie turned to me, a little surprised. Thankfully, Tom and Danny were too immersed in their own conversation to notice. Harry stood up.

“I need to talk to you.”

“Fine.”

I got up, adjusting my skirt so it covered everything, and followed Harry out of the restaurant. He crossed his arms as we reached the sidewalk.

“What’s your problem?” he demanded.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I said in a falsely innocent voice.

“Actually, I think you do.”

“Fine. You want to know my problem? You are my problem. You acted like you liked me, and you never actually meant any of it. It really fucking hurt after what happened with Michael.”

“What makes you say that I never meant any of it?” Harry asked.

“I overheard you saying it to Tom!”

Harry cringed, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly.

“I didn’t mean what I said to him.”

“Then why would you say it?”

Harry looked panicked. He rubbed the bridge of his nose, taking a deep breath.

“Emma, I’m really not supposed to be saying any of this,” he quietly said. “I-I didn’t want to hurt Tom by telling him there was something going on between us. Or by telling him that I really like you.”

“Why would that hurt Tom?” I was confused. Harry really liked me? And what would that matter to Tom?

“Are you really that blind? Tom likes you…a lot.”