OLIVIA'S POV

"Liv! Have you seen my black trousers with the white stripes?" Harry calls across the hallway from his room.

"They're in the laundry! That's that mysterious tiled room at the end of the hallway with the big machines in it." I yell back.

Harry had given Mrs. Stewart two weeks off over Christmas and it was becoming increasingly obvious just how undomesticated he really was.



He had been home for ten days and it was only after he had started borrowing my sweatshirts that I realised he hadn't washed any of his clothes from his suitcases.

"Thanks, you're the best," he smiles as he pokes his head around the door frame of my bedroom.

"Did you think fairies were going to come and wash them for you?" I tease.

"mmm, pretty hot fairy," he winks and disappears down the hallway.

I shake my head as I take off my robe and slip on the burgundy dress I bought for Xander's party tonight. It was the most beautiful red wine colour and had shoestring straps that held up the v neck line. The material was thin and velvety and hung just below my knees, skimming my body in just the right places and being the perfect mix of sexy and elegant.


Frankie's label was doing incredibly well and the e-commerce store I had been employed to assist with had been a success so far. Although it was new, it was generating a large portion of sales and far surpassing Frankie's expectations.

She had rewarded my hard work with a pay rise and promotion and I had treated myself with a beautiful new dress and heels.

"Jesus, you look amazing. New dress?" Harry says stopping at the doorway again, now carrying his trousers I had washed, pressed and hung for him.

I nod, feeling suddenly self conscious. 

Things had shifted slightly since the other night's confessions of love, although we weren't together there was a new level of understanding and consideration. We knew, clearer than ever, where the destination was, we just weren't on the road to getting there yet and the goal in the meantime was to not hurt each other in the process.

We had both invited dates to the party tonight in acts of anger and spite and we knew this was just the start of many nights to come where we would be in this situation. It wasn't fair on either of us, to not be together but be expected not to date either.

We had agreed to keep our interactions and affections with our dates away from each other as much as possible, to cause the least amount of jealousy and pain, and accept that this is the way it had to be for now.

I glance at the clock on my bedside table and pull a faux-fur coat on. 

"I gotta go, I'll see you there?" I sigh as I walk towards him still standing at the door.

"It'll be fine, see you there." He reassures me, hooking his finger under my chin and kissing the tip of my nose as I rush out the door and into one of the black cars waiting.

I had told Craig I would pick him up on my way to the party even though he had insisted on coming to get me. Not only did I not want the awkward one on one moment with him and Harry but I also didn't feel right about inviting him into Harry's home. 



Harry's privacy was one of his greatest concerns and challenges and although he would never ask me not to bring anyone around to the house, I understood it was just part of protecting my friend's personal space whose life happened to be of public interest.

He had made it clear a long time ago that his friends were never to post anything online with him in it, no matter how "private" our social media accounts were and we were not to discuss or disclose any personal matter of Harry's with anyone outside of our immediate friendship group.

He was so serious about this rule that I had decided to check with him at the start of our friendship, if telling Emma or Bec things about my life that involved him, would be ok.

Craig slid onto seat next me after I had text him of my arrival.

"Hey Olivia, you look beautiful!" He says sweetly, kissing me on the cheek.

"Thank you, you look great too."



He is wearing a pair of navy trousers with a crisp white shirt and tan peacoat that makes his bright eyes look impossibly blue.

Craig is as courteous and polite as I thought he would be, as I introduce him to people at the party. We snake our way through Xander's crowded house, Christmas decorations hanging from the walls and a giant sign that hangs above the back door that says, "The Fun's Out Back".

Craig hands me a glass of champagne from a waiters tray as we make our way into the marquee set up in the back yard where I can see Bec and Frankie talking near Xander and Will.

I watch as my friends introduce themselves to Craig and he makes small talk about the weather or a new restaurant he has been meaning to try and asks questions about their jobs or hobbies.

We are talking to Bec and Frankie about the horrible movie we had seen on our first date when I see them glance behind me. Although they keep smiling, I see the emotion in their eyes change as they look back at me. Harry had arrived.

I take a deep breath in as they excuse themselves to say hi and I brace myself for the unreasonable jealousy that is sure to occur when I finally see his picture perfect date.

"Whoa! Olivia look, that Harry Styles guy is here! Apparently he has a different model on his arm every day!" Craig whispers excitedly in my ear and I'm really turned off by the gossiping.

I look up to see Harry staring at me, inhaling slowly as I had just done and obviously preparing himself for the same torture. 

His date was like all his others, tall, fit and impossibly beautiful. I see his eyes flash over Craig and a small smile creeps onto his lips ever so slightly.

"Actually, he's a great guy. He's a good friend of mine." I say guarded, the way I always am when talking about Harry to people who don't know him.

"Wait, your friend Harry you live with is Harry Styles?" He gawks.

"Mhm," I hum, not wanting to disclose anything more and I see Craig stiffen as Harry and his date walk towards us.

"Hey," Harry smirks at how awkward this is.

"Hey," I smirk back.

"Um, this is Craig, Craig this is my friend, Harry."



"Hey mate, nice to meet you." He says politely, shaking Craig's hand.

"Tatiana this is Olivia and Craig."

We all smile uncomfortably at each other and I hear our friends murmuring behind us.

"Fuck me, this is like a car crash, I can't look away." Xander mumbles to the group and I hear Frankie shush him before approaching us.

"We are going to sit around the fire outside guys, come on." She announces, throwing her arm around my shoulder and leading the way.  I squeeze her hand as a silent 'thank you' for her thoughtful distraction.

After a few glasses of champagne, the usual banter from our tight knit group has taken over any awkward tension and Harry and I do our best not to look directly at where our dates are touching the other person.  I had occasionally caught Tatiana whispering something in Harry's ear and her hand rub up and down his chest but I broke my gaze away as quickly as possible.

Harry, as always, looks every bit the international rock star he is. He is wearing his tight black pants with white stripes and a long black woollen coat.  His black silk shirt is unbuttoned obnoxiously low with this tattoos and the cross pendant that he never takes off on full display.

His ring clad fingers push through his long hair and he pinches his smiling lips as he makes the group laugh with a story about a language barrier issue he had while on tour in Japan.

"Alright, time's up fuckers, you have to come to the dance floor right now." Xander calls as he walks over to us with a tray of brown shots.

Harry and I exchange brief glances before tilting our heads back and putting the empty glasses back on the tray.

We follow Xander inside and I actually start feeling a little bad for Tatiana. Women descend from every corner in an attempt to talk or flirt with Harry.  He engages in polite conversation every few steps, removing arms from around his waist and off his shoulders, but once we get to the dance floor it really starts becoming obvious.

Tatiana is pretty much pushed aside a handful of times by women trying to dance with him. I end up squeezing her hand sympathetically and dancing with her alongside Craig and Bec while Harry gets caught in some sort of one-sided heart to heart conversation with a woman who wont stop touching him, even though his arms are crossed on his chest and he is looking away from her.

I walk up to them when he sends me a "help me" look, telling him I need him over here and pulling him away as the girl practically hisses at me.

"Thanks darling, heard her whole bloody life story!" he laughs in my ear as we make our way back over to our friends and Tatiana grabs hold of him like she just found the perfect sweater at a designer sample sale.

Two, three, four drinks later I've lost track of the time and some of our friends when I lean in to tell Craig I'm going to the bathroom. He misreads the signal and kisses me, pulling me into him with both hands on my waist.

I gasp and pull away immediately, looking around for Harry's hurt face and a wave of relief washes over me when I don't find him near me. Craig looks confused and a little angry at my strange reaction but I choose to ignore it as I gesture again that I'm going to find a toilet.

I walk down the hallway to Xander's bathroom and groan when I see the line of at least ten people deep. I run back to where I saw him last and tell him I'm going to use the bathroom upstairs before he holds his thumb up in approval. I hear him scream something about Harry as I walk away but I can't understand over the loud music

I step over the roped off area and run up the stairs, swinging open the door to what I thought was the bathroom.

I lose my breath as I see Harry and Tatiana standing at the end of a bed, his hands are up the back of her skirt, his shirt open and his trousers unbuttoned as her hand moves up and down to rub him over his underwear.

They break away from their frantic kissing in shock and I can't peel my eyes off her hand down his pants.

"Fuck. Oh my god. I'm so sorry, I thought this was the bathroom. Fuck!"

Harry's face is panicked as I stumble over my own feet trying to walk backward as quickly as possible out of the stunned room and into the next door which opens onto the bathroom I was looking for.

I lock the door and lean my elbows onto the stone bench top to try to steady my racing heart and my trembling knees. I cover my face with my hands as if the darkness would take away the vision of her touching him but it only makes it worse.

I hold my breath when I hear the bedroom door open and let it out when the footsteps are walking down the stairs and back into the party.

I quickly use the toilet and I jump when I hear a knock on the door while I'm drying my hands.

"Um, just a second" I scramble, running my shaking fingers under my eyes in an attempt to clean up my smudged makeup a little. The last thing I want to do right now is go back to the party and I debate telling whoever it is that the bathroom is downstairs.

I pull open the door to find Harry who is pushing my shoulders back into the bathroom and locking the door behind him.

"Liv! Are you ok?" His hands are cupping my face and I push them away as I think about them up her skirt.

"I'm fine. I thought it was the bathroom! I'm so sorry I barged in on you! I didn't know you were in there Harry! I swear!" I raise a shaking hand to my mouth in a bid to stop the hysteria I feel from pouring out.

"Fuck, come here," he says sitting me down on the closed lid of the toilet and crouching between my legs.

"I'm fine, I'm fine" I chant, "that was just.. a lot to see, it's not your fault, it was mine."

I push his hand away again as he tries to reach for my face and I squeeze my eyes shut trying to hide my disgust as I imagine where his fingers could have just been.

Knowing exactly what I'm thinking he gets up and washes them before crouching back down.

"For the record, I wouldn't touch your skin anywhere, let alone your face, if I had just done that. But thought I'd ease your mind anyway."

He bites his bottom lip and watches my face as he rubs his hands up and down the sides of my legs in comfort

"I'm so sorry you saw that," he whispers. "If that was me I would have flipped."

I laugh at him because it's better than crying.

"At least it was me and not "whole-life story" chick, she probably would have joined you."

He pulls his head back and raises his eyebrows as if I just came up with a great idea and I giggle, smacking his arm and shaking my head at his inappropriate timing.

"We are so fucked up," I sigh.

I let him run his fingers through my hair before he rests our foreheads together, his nose brushing back and forth along the tip of mine.

"Baby?" he whispers, "Do you know?" 

"I know, Harry. Do you know?"

"I know." He smiles slightly.

"We need a signal!" He says, jumping up. "We need something, a hand gesture or something that we can give each other when it's getting too much and other people are around. It'll mean that you know, and that I know."

I half laugh and half sigh at the man who is so heartbreakingly sweet yet was just about to fuck another girl at a party we are both at.

"Ok, I've got it, what about when we pinch our bottom lips?" He suggests excitedly.

"You do that all the time!" I giggle.

"Do I?" He asks, genuinely shocked, making me laugh harder.

"Ok, what about when I scratch my shoulder and you pull your earlobe? We should have different ones so it's not so obvious!" He grins.

His enthusiasm is so endearing I nod my head and he is pulling me up to hug him.

"Fine, 007, but we can't use it all the time it will be too obvious. Only when the situation's critical!" I tell him and watch his gorgeous mouth widen and break into a boyish laugh.

"Alright baby, secret, critical love only," he teases. 

"Oh and by the way, could you have found a guy MORE opposite to me?" 

We make our way back down stairs and find our friends huddled together on the dance floor, Craig is nowhere to be seen and by the look on everyones faces as they see us approaching, Tatiana has let slip what happened.

"Liv, bloody hell, I'm so sorry, I thought you heard me tell you they were in there." Xander rushes in my ear as he hugs me.

"It's ok. I'm fine, we're fine."


I try and shake off what just happen and just enjoy the party and being around my friends. I'm guessing Craig has left and to be honest after his comment about Harry earlier I really couldn't care less.

Tatiana pouts as Harry dances with the group, peeling her hands off his waist as she tries to drag him away several times to no doubt continue what I had interrupted.

I look at Harry, silently happy that he isn't going to have sex with her while we are both in the same house.

He smiles and scratches his right shoulder and I burst out laughing, stepping towards him and pulling his hand down. 



"Is it critical!?" I scream at him above the music.


He smiles a cheeky, closed lipped smile and nods.

I giggle at his cuteness and touch my ear discreetly.

A cackle breaks from his lips and he spins me to pull my back into his chest, his arms wrapping around the front of my waist.

"It's always critical!" He exclaims in my ear causing us both to laugh harder and we look up to see our friends grinning at us and shaking their heads.