Stephanie’s P.O.V.
“Hello, is Harry here?” Jade asked, peering around my shoulder trying to look inside.
“Um, no, he’s at a recording session right now,” I replied.
“Oh, my bad, I guess I’ll just come back later,” she responded with a smile and turned around to walk away.
“Actually, don’t bother coming back at all,” I expressed. She stopped and faced me.
“Excuse me?” she questioned.
“You heard me,” I said, standing my ground.
“Who exactly are you?”
“I’m Harry’s girlfriend,” I informed, giving her a sly grin.
“Um, no, he’s mine,” Jade defended, stepping closer. Her eyes scanned my body and her expression turned to disgust. “And ew, why would he like someone like you?”
Ouch.
“He likes someone with class. He likes girls who are pretty and smart. And he definitely likes a girl who can get it on,” she continued.
“How do you know what he likes?” I scoffed, fully aware of the lies she’s throwing at me. “You barely know him.”
“And you do?” she asked.
But before I could answer, a car pulled up in the driveway, both of our attentions on it. Someone climbed out, they waved goodbye, and the car descended down the driveway and sped away.
“Harry! Perfect timing! We were just talking about you!” Jade slurred as Harry walked up.
“Jade? What are you doing here?” Harry questioned, looking from me to her.
“I was just coming over to see you!” she cheerfully said.
“What makes you think I’d want to see you?” Harry inquired. Jade looked surprised.
“Um, hello, I didn’t put this on for nothing,” she replied, showing off her dress.
“Go home,” Harry told her, stepping inside the house next to me.
“Harry, I just wanted you to see what you’re missing out on,” she tried. “Your choices seem a little weak.”
What?
Harry’s arm slid around me and pulled me close and that’s when I knew I was wrong all along. He never was cheating on me.
“And your decision of coming here tonight is the lowest I’ve ever seen you. You’ll never experience true love by dressing yourself like that and knocking on guys’ doors begging them to take you back,” Harry declared.
“Harry, we were true love until you dumped me for that piece of trash,” she replied, looking straight at me.
“I never loved you,” he delivered, leaning forward so she got the message. Jade looked defeated.
“But Har-”
“No buts,” Harry responded. “And speaking of no buts, you should get yours out of my face, okay?”
“You’ll be crawling back to me soon enough and you’ll regret everything you’re doing now,” she replied, inching towards us. Jade turned her attention and spoke directly to me. “You don’t deserve him, honey.”
And with that, she turned and walked away, down the driveway and into the street.
I broke free of Harry’s grip on me and ran through the house to the back door, racing out of it and down the yard to the cottage. Everyone else was still sitting around the campfire, but I had no intention of rejoining them after what just happened. I could hear Harry calling my name, but I was too mortified to face him, so I flew open the door of the cottage and dashed inside, running straight to the bathroom. Locking the door, I slid down the other side in a pool of tears.
You don’t deserve him. He likes someone who’s smart and pretty. You’re a piece of trash. Why would he even like you?
Her words echoed in my brain, also piercing my heart at the same time. Am I a piece of trash? I have been thrown around a lot, especially when it comes to family. My dad is a complete waste, he gave me away, Helen definitely thinks I’m too much to handle, she threw me out. At every school I’ve been to, I’ve never been well liked. I was always picked on for not being the exact same as everyone else. Yeah, yeah, you’re probably saying, “Oh look, another sob story about bullying!” But these days, you’re lucky if you’ve never had any bad comment said about you or a horrible incident that left you feeling embarrassed and alone. Bullying is everywhere nowadays and it’s a cycle that can’t be broken. No matter how many programs are dedicated to bullying, no matter how many talks kids get to be nice, no matter how big the consequences are, it hasn’t stopped and it seems as if it’s gotten bigger. And in my case, it’s come between the person I love the most.
I am a piece of trash. I’ve been thrown away so many times, but I’m not just garbage. I’m a recyclable. I’ve been coming back as something new each time I’m reunited with the blue or green recycling bin. All of these words of hate have molded me into a stronger person, someone who’s changed for the better, just like a recyclable is used for a purpose, but then remade into something new, something different, something worthwhile. And so I’m glad to be a piece of trash.
Although those empowering words are true and made me feel a little better, that didn’t help the fact that Jade was still trying to get in between me and Harry. Why does this have to happen? Why now? Why me?

Harry’s P.O.V.
This can’t be happening. Why did I ever date Jade? She’s such a snob and she made Stephanie cry. My one true love that I finally got back was now breaking away from me. I’m a horrible boyfriend.
Running through the house to the back door, I raced into the backyard. I noticed a bright orange light coming from the side of the cottage and the lads were all sitting around it, talking and having a laugh. As I approached them, I didn’t see Steph among them.
“Do you know where Steph went?” I asked them.
“She went inside,” Rachel replied.
“Thank you!” I responded, and bolted into the cottage.
“Stephanie?” I called. “Steph!” No response. My voice reverberated off of the empty walls and I knew it was a lost cause, but Rachel said she was in here. My search wasn’t over.
“Stephanie!” I tried again. And then I heard it. Just a low sniffle coming from the bathroom, but it told me everything.
As I neared the door, I tried opening it but it was locked. Figures.
“Steph?” I quietly asked, cautiously knocking on the door.
“Go away!” I heard her yell.
“Steph, please,” I begged.
“No!” she cried.
“You leave me no choice,” I said under my breath. Turning around, I walked inside one of the bedrooms and looked for a paperclip. These doors have those old fashioned knobs where you can stick a paperclip or something sharp into it and unlock it from the other side, the side that doesn’t have the lock. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t, but I needed to do something and this was my chance, for I found a paperclip hiding underneath the bed.
Stepping back to the bathroom, I inserted the paperclip into the knob and poked around until I heard a faint click! and I knew that I had succeeded. Turning the doorknob, I slowly swung it open to find Steph sitting against it with her head in her knees. I sighed and kneeled down beside her, putting my arm around her and snuggling her close.
“I know words hurt. They can tear you down and keep you there, no matter what encouragement and comfort come to your rescue. The only thing is is that those words were all lies. She doesn’t know you. She doesn’t know us. When I was with her, I never told her about you because she didn’t deserve to know that much about my past, especially the most important. You are not a piece of trash and it’s fate that we’re here,” I whispered.
She lifted her head up and looked at me.
“You weren’t there for the other half of it,” she replied, tears staining her cheeks.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“I was the one who answered the door and saw her standing there. She asked me if you were home and I told her you were at a recording session, so then she said that she’d come back later and I told her not to. She was surprised that I said that and then I told her that you were mine. A-and then…”
“And then what?” I pressed. Steph couldn’t continue and buried her head again. “Steph, please tell me what she said.”
A couple of seconds later, she raised her head, but didn’t make eye contact with me.
“S-she looked at m-me and was like, ‘ew, why would Harry like a girl like you? He likes someone who’s pretty, smart, got class, and can get it on.’ A-and I asked her h-how she knows w-what you like because s-she barely knows you, but that’s when you came a-and…” she trailed off.
“Oh, babe,” I sighed, holding her tighter as she cried into my shoulder.
Why did Jade ever come into my life? What did I ever see in her anyways? She was a mistake, a mistake that I shouldn’t have made. I knew she wasn’t good but something told me otherwise when we had first started dating, but now she’s crossed the line.
I looked down at Steph and noticed she was calming, taking deep breaths instead of sobbing.
“Stephanie, you’re mine and mine only. I’m yours and yours only. I’m not here with you because I feel sorry for you or I just want attention. I’m here because I love you. I always have and always will. We grew up together and you’re the only one who really knows me and I wouldn’t trade that or you for the world. You are pretty, you are smart, and you have class, although I don’t really care about that. The only thing I care about is someone who loves and cares about me, the real me, just like I will do for them. Don’t let Jade get into your head. I broke up with her for a reason and now I’m with you,” I explained.
“So you’re not cheating?” she questioned.
“No, I would never do that to you. And I’m surprised you would even think that,” I said. I kept my tone light on this next part so she wouldn’t get upset. “Rachel came up and explained that whole situation to me, and none of it is true. I didn’t even know Jade was sending me pictures. My phone didn’t tell me I had a new message, which means someone went through my phone…”
Steph smiled a little, causing me to chuckle a bit.
“Oops, sorry,” she apologized.
“I’m not mad. I just didn’t know they were there and you were the only one who saw them. After Rachel told me, I deleted them, and here’s my phone for proof, if you want to check,” I responded, handing her my phone.
“Harry,” she whined, taking it and setting it on the floor. “I do trust you and I’m sorry for thinking that.”
“It’s okay, as long as we talk through our problems next time,” I replied.
“Speaking of that, there’s something else,” she continued. “When we were still in London, I saw the first picture and I noticed it was the same number as a call you made, the call you got when we were swimming that day.”
“Oh, that. Well, it was an unknown number, so I picked it up, thinking it might’ve been something for the band. I didn’t recognize Jade’s number and I didn’t think she would be calling me, but yes, that was her. She was going on and on about how she misses me and how much she wants to get back together with me and I was trying to tell her that I wanted no part in her, but she wasn’t listening. I should have just ended the call when I realized it was her,” I informed.
“Oh,” Steph replied.
“Don’t worry. I’m going to try and sort this out so she doesn’t keep coming after us, okay?”
“Okay,” she agreed.
“Is there anything else? Or do you think you’re okay now that we can join the others?” I questioned.
“One more thing,” she said, and before I knew it, she leaned up and pressed her lips against mine. I knew I won.

Stephanie’s P.O.V.
How could I have ever doubted Harry? Just like he said, he would never do that to me and he didn’t. I guess I got a little overwhelmed at Jade’s pictures and started jumping to conclusions without consulting Harry first. And now I know how important it is to communicate in a relationship.
“Hey, so what was that whole thing with Gemma earlier?” Liam asked me once Harry and I settled down by the fire, me sitting on his lap.
“Oh, my gosh, that was the other thing I was going to tell you, Harry!” I exclaimed. “But I’m glad I didn’t because now I can tell you all the good news”
“Spill it, girl!” Rachel said.
“My Aunt Christina and Uncle Harvey have agreed to adopt me!” I announced.
“Oh, my gosh, that’s awesome!” Rachel replied. Everyone else agreed and cheered.
“I knew they would,” Harry whispered in my ear and kissed my cheek.
“We should make s’mores to celebrate,” Rachel declared.
“What are those?” Louis asked.
“You’ve never had a s’more?” I questioned.
“Well, obviously not if I don’t even know what they are!” he sassed. The other boys nodded.
“Do you have marshmallows, graham crackers, and bars of chocolate?” I asked Harry.
“Um, I think so,” he answered. I hopped off his lap and followed him into the kitchen in search of the desired foods. Eventually we found the foods and I calculated that we had enough for 7 people, so we walked back out to the campfire. In our absence, Rachel had gone and found a few long sticks we could use and soon, we were teaching the boys how to make s’mores.
“Okay, so first of all, you need a marshmallow and a stick. Put the marshmallow on the stick and basically you toast it. Some people like it burnt, so don’t be scared if it catches on fire. Just blow it out right away and it should be fine, unless you don’t like it burnt,” I instructed.
“How do we know if it’s toasted?” Liam asked.
“It turns brown. See here, this side is perfectly golden brown, just the way I like it,” I responded, showing him the half-toasted marshmallow. I set it back in the fire and waited for it to cook a little longer.
“Now, when it’s toasted to your liking, take it out and you may need a little assistance on this next part. Rachel has already set it up for me. You put a chocolate square on one of the pieces of graham crackers and the marshmallow will go in the middle of that and the other graham cracker.”
With Rachel’s help, we slid the marshmallow off of the stick and onto the chocolate square, smushing it down into sandwich size with the other graham cracker.
“And there you go! That’s a s’more,” I said, taking the s’more from Rachel.
“And then you just eat it?” Zayn asked.
“Yup,” I replied, biting into it.
“I can’t imagine that would taste good,” Niall spoke, a disgusted look on his face.
“Just try one,” Rachel told him. “You like anything and I’m pretty sure you’ll like this.”
For the rest of the night, we made as many s’mores as we could until we ran out of the supplies, except for the marshmallows, but then we told the guys that toasted marshmallows by themselves are just as good, so we ate almost half of the bag of those.

I really enjoyed myself that night. I didn’t have that much more time in England and I didn’t want Jade or anybody else ruining it, and that was a perfect ending to a horrible day.

Notes

So there's only going to be one more chapter left! It's been an amazing journey writing this and I can't wait to write more! More details on all of that later!

Rachel and Stephanie :)