10 . Pet Peeves

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"So, what did you have planned for tonight until you got the pleasure of seeing me?" Harry asks, his confidence back and evident in his tone. I must admit, his confidence doesn't come off in a rude way, it actually makes him more attractive.

We are now currently in my apartment building, waiting for the lift so that we can go up to my floor. I don't know what will happen in these next mere minutes. Will Harry want to come inside? Should I invite him inside? A million thoughts race around in my mind all at once.

"Well..." I pause, taking a breath to give me time to think about what I'm going to say without it coming off as rude."I was going to have a nice relaxing night including having a bath, reading a magazine and eating pizza. After that I would get dressed into my most comfortable pyjamas and fall asleep on the lounge whilst watching movies."

"So in other words I ruined your lovely girly night ahead?" Harry's smug grin makes its way to his face as the lift makes a dinging noise, notifying us that it is ready to take us up to our level.

"Pretty much Styles."

"Oh, so we're calling each other by our surnames now Jackson?" He grins widely at me as we step into the lift. "What floor?"

"I don't know, are we?" I match his devious grin. "Five."

"Oooh, miss Jackson is on level five hey?" Harry wiggles his eyebrows up and down. I'm currently thankful for this lift having mirrors everywhere. I can see the front of Harry as well as the back in the reflection of the mirror. I take this time to look at his aphotic curls. They are placed disheveledly everywhere on his head, falling into every direction and ending in tiny swirls of ringlets. Harry's hair looks like he's spent hours doing it, but really he probably just woke up like that and his hair has settled into its best position from him constantly running his hands through it.

"Yes."

"You took a while to reply to me there, Ella. Something distracting you?" Harry asks, slowly licking his bottom lip with his tongue. It's almost as if he's trying to tease me. I'm thankfully saved by the lift as the doors open to my level. I'm glad I didn't have to answer that question.

"This is me." I turn to Harry, waving at my door. "It's nothing special."

"I like it." Harry nods his head. "It's the same as every fucking door on this floor, but it may just be my favourite." He sends me a toothy grin. Usually I'm a little thrown off by curse words, but with Harry it somehow suits him and doesn't phase me at all.

"Very funny." I roll my eyes as I search for my key inside my handbag. Once I retrieve it, I slide it into my doorknob and unlock the front door of my apartment. "Did you want to come in?"

"I was hoping you would ask." Harry winks at me as he glides past me and into my apartment.

"Hey!" I click my fingers at Harry. "Shoes off in my apartment. Number one rule Styles."

"Oh sorry Elouise, didn't know you were so fussy." Harry holds his hands up in surrender. He removes his shoes and is about to take his socks off too and I can't help myself. I have to tell him.

"Harry please don't take your socks off." I say awkwardly as I fiddle with my fingers as I always do when I'm feeling awkward.

"Why?" He looks at me like I have two heads.

"I really hate feet..."

"You what?" He falls into a fit of laughter, throwing his head back and clapping his hands. "You make me laugh, did you know that?"

"Harry, I think the whole building knows that. Keep it down a little." I hold my finger over my lips to silence him.

"What happens when you fuck a guy? I bet you're not silent then huh?"

"Harry!" I shriek.

"What?" He asks, oblivious to the fact that the question he just asked me was extremely inappropriate.

"You just used two things in a sentence that I don't like." I slide off my own shoes and place them nearly in their home under the glass table that is the key feature to my opening of my apartment. It has a lovely vase of flowers in them along with different types of candles. Above the table, against the wall is a rectangular mirror that expanses the size of its surroundings.

"And what is that?" Harry raises an eyebrow. He takes his shoes off, slides them next to mine and straightens them up before looking to me and pointing towards his shoes. "Are they in the right spot or are they not straight enough for you?"

"Well smart ass, they're about 173° not 180° so they're not straight enough." I make sure to use my most sarcastic voice before changing my time into a more serious one. "And the two things I don't like are sex and curse words."

"What?" Harry chokes on his non existent drink. He coughs repeatedly before clearing his throat and moving closer to me. "Curse words I can understand, but sex? Who does not like sex Ella?"

"Me." I take a step away from Harry and walk further into my apartment. I set my handbag onto the kitchen table and grab out a glass to fill it with water. "Thirsty?"

Harry follows me into the kitchen. "No, I'm fine thank you." He pauses. "But do you really hate sex that much? I thought you were a virgin."

"There's a lot of things you don't know about me Harry." I take a sip of my water. I make sure to drink it slowly, giving him time to think about what I just said.

"Is that why you stopped that night we first met? Is sex the reason why you started crying?" Harry walks around the kitchen bench top and corners me into the bench. I can't take anymore steps back as he has me locked in. Again.

"What's with you cornering me Styles?" I ask, brining my water back to my lips. He's rather risky in cornering me whilst I have half a glass full of cold water that I could easily tip over him. It would be a win win for me. I would embarrass him, get him away from me and see through his white t shirt because everyone knows white becomes see through once wet. I grin at the thought.

"Maybe I corner you because I know you're going to run. Or maybe I just like the power." He moves his face closer to mine, his hot breath fanning over my face. "And you know how you said there's a lot I don't know about you? Well there's a lot you don't know about me either Elouise."

Again with the use of the full name. Does this boy really want water thrown at him because if he keeps it up I'll happily grant him that wish. "That's where you're wrong Harry Edward Styles from Cheshire. I knew I heard a British accent in your voice the first time I met you."

"How do you know that?" Harry moves his face back from mine, clearly shocked. I notice his back tense. I can tell because I see him swallow deeply, his Adam's apple bobbing as he does so.

"I work in a publishing business Harry. You're quite a hot topic in Hawk Publishing. A boxer Harry, really? I guess I never picked you to be a boxer. Boxers don't have a soft side like you showed me the other night and tonight when you saved me." It's now my turn to move closer to him. I stand up slightly on my toes so I'm closer to his height. It's not helpful that he's so tall though. My six inch stilettos are painful to walk in but they would come in handy right about now with this tall, lanky boy.

"Would you prefer me to be an asshole twenty four seven? Because believe me Elouise, I could be so mean I could make you cry."

"Try me." I tease, trying to push Harry to his limits. His next action completely surprises me. He steps away from me and walks to the other side of the kitchen, pacing back and forth on my mahogany floorboards.

"Why did you read articles about me, Ella?" Harry asks, breaking out silence. Surprisingly it wasn't an awkward silence though. We were both pretty deep in thought.

"Why did you help me tonight?"

"Hey, I asked you a question first." Harry stops pacing and points his finger at me.

"It's rude to point."

"It's rude to ignore people's questions." He grins smugly at me.

"I could be having a really relaxing bath right now, but no. You decided to show up and interrogate me. You drive me insane Harry." I can't help but snap. He's mixing with my emotions and making me boil like a kettle. How does he make me feel like this? I want to slap him in the face and throw my water at him but I also want to kiss his pink plumped lips like I did the other night and cuddle up to him.

"Fine." He says coolly. "Don't let me ruin your night then. Go on in and have your bath."

"As if I would trust you in my house whilst I'm in my bathroom completely unaware of what you're doing out here." I place my water on the table and lean back against the table, crossing my arms over my chest as I await Harry's answer.

"Well if you don't trust me I can join you in the bathroom so you can keep an eye on me."

"Oh Styles, I'm pretty sure you'll be keeping your eyes on me in the bath, not the other way round."

Harry laughs and a little pink arises to his cheeks. "Yeah, you're probably right."

"Harry!" I squeak, shaking my head and covering my cheeks with my hands that I know are probably as red as my apples in my fruit bowl behind me right now.

"I'm only telling the truth. Would you prefer me to lie?"

"No. Another thing I hate is liars."

"You seem to hate a lot of things, Elouise." Harry picks up a photo frame of me when I was very young with my grandparents. I miss them to bits. He examines the photos before looking at the rest of my personal photos I have on my wall unit.

"My full name is another thing I hate." I walk over to him and snatch the photo he's currently holding of my father out of his hands.

"Tell me Ella, what do you not hate?" He turns to face me, hands behind his back as he leans against the wall unit beside us. His frame slightly tilting forward as he does so.

"Er, well there's a lot of things I don't hate such as baths, writing, food, sweat pants, reading, pyjamas, ugg boots and horror films."

"You're a strange girl Ella Jackson." He pauses, running a hand effortlessly through his rural curls. "But you're different, unique and that's why I like you."

His words make my stomach do flips. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't feeling as happy as a clown at a circus right now. I look up at Harry and smile. "I like you too."

"Well, why don't you show me where your films are and whilst you have your relaxing bath, I'll pick a film for us to watch, make some popcorn and you can get comfortable in your pyjamas, get cosy on the couch and watch a movie with me."

"That sounds tempting Mr Styles." I hum. "Sounds like a plan." As I'm about to go grab the cd's I have for movies, Harry stops me and wraps his arms around me. At first I hesitate, but I can't resist how warm he is, how good he smells and how much of an amazing hugger he is. When we break away from our hug we share a little glance and grin amorously at each other before I walk away and fetch all the cd's I own.

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