Harry slowly walked back down the steps, taking his time to look at all of the curious faces staring at him. He cautiously takes his sit on the one seat recliner and rests his hands in his lap. He fiddles with his fingers until Liam clears his throat. Looking up from his new fascination of hands, he sees the unamused faces of his band mates.

“Are you going to tell us about her or what?” Louis leans forward to give Harry a strange look. Harry scoots back to earn space; his eyes are full of fear from the pressure.

“Or what,” Harry says, but his answer comes out more like a question.

Louis shakes his finger and head at Harry. “Wrong answer. Now, you have ten seconds to start talking or I will pin you down and read those messages for myself. Understood?”

Harry gulped and nodded. He straightened his back and cleared his throat before speaking. “Her name is Darren, but-”

“I knew it was a girl!” Louis interrupts excitedly. The other boys flooded Harry with a storm of questions about his ‘girlfriend’. They seemed interested to know every single detail about her. Harry just chuckled at them and slouched back in his chair.

“Come on, Harry. Tell us more about your girlfriend,” Niall enthused.

“Well, if you had let me finish talking, you would know that she’s not my girlfriend. She’s just… I guess you could call us best friends?” Harry shrugged his shoulders. He didn’t realize how weird it sounded to tell his mates that the girl he had been sneaking off to text was his ‘best friend.’

His friends’ faces dropped when he said this. They were genuinely excited to be hearing that Harry had finally moved on and gotten himself a girlfriend. Hearing that this girl is only his ‘best friend’ crushed their spirits.

Zayn, on the other hand, had a different view on this subject. “You know, Harold; best friends turn into more that just friends… We’ve all seen it happen before.”

Harry’s eyes grew wide with a flame burning brighter than a thousand suns. His anger level was off the charts; his breathing became heavy and uneven, clenching his fists and jaw in an attempt to control his temper. Zayn was daring for saying the words that had just escaped his mouth.

However, Zayn’s composure didn’t falter at the sight of Harry’s off the wall anger level, and Harry could classify as a cultivated chef inside of a McDonald’s kitchen. Harry could qualify as a rogue missile that has no certain point of direction. Perhaps you could even compare his outrage with the Big Bang Theory itself, starting off small but taking years and years to finally make something out of. In this case, though, years was not an option.

“Are you okay, Harry?” Liam asked, as the erratic breathing continued to be one of the few sounds audible throughout the entire house.

“What makes you think that you have any right to say what you just said?” Harry ignored Liam and pointed his anger at Zayn. “Are you even aware of the demonic words you’ve just spoken? Do you even care?”

That last question hurt. Of course Zayn cared, but he was just trying to make a point. He, being the closest to Leanna, just wanted to be sure that Harry knew what the possibilities of his new friendship could bring. Zayn wasn’t suggesting anything; he was just implying that he didn’t want to see Harry hurt again.

“I just don’t want you to get hurt again…” Zayn looked deep into Harry’s eyes, showing true care in his eyes. The spark in Harry’s eyes faded; he unclenched his jaw and hands and took one last deep breath. He made eye contact with all of the boys before running up to his room and slamming the door shut.

Harry didn’t know what he should be feeling anymore. Could he be mad? No, it didn’t seem likely that mad was an option. Zayn was just trying to watch out for him, so it couldn’t be that much of a deal. That was just it, though; what Zayn said was a big deal.

If anything, Harry didn’t want a repeat of his past, but not being best friends with Darren just didn’t seem possible. Harry has smiled more in the past few days since he’s met her than he ever has in the past two years. It’s possible that he’s smiled wider than he ever has, even with her.

Darren was different in his eyes. She didn’t know who he was on a personal level, yet with her they both acted as if they were long distance friends still keeping in touch. Without Darren, Harry wouldn’t have gotten closer to the rest of the band again. There wasn’t too much of a difference to the public eye, but anyone close to the boys could feel the connection growing again.

Buzz… buzz…

Harry shuffled to take his phone out. He unlocked the screen to see a new message from her. His heart fluttered at the sight of her name. Then, he got scared. He wanted his heart to stop racing over a new message; he couldn’t be falling in love. Not again at least…

ThatInvisibleGirl: would you ever wear a tutu?

Harry stared blankly at the message. All he could think was, ‘What kind of question is that?’ but then again, ‘Would I wear a tutu?’ His thought process wasn’t long before he replied.

~

JustYourNormalGuy: yeah, I guess… Why?

“See, Finn. Harry would wear a tutu,” she yells, waving her phone in the air. “Just put it on! Only like… a million people will see you in it, so you should be fine.”

“But how do you know that Harry isn’t gay or something? You never know…” Darren glared at him. He sighed and went behind the corner to put on the sparkly blue tutu he had been given. Darren saw his head peaking around the corner before he fully walked out. She snickered behind her hand, mentally reminding herself to snap a picture later.

“You look amazing, Finnegan,” she smiled cheekily at him. She ruffled out the ends of the tutu before stepping back to admire her brother who bent over to check the back.

“Does this tutu make my butt look big?” he questioned. Darren cracked up laughing and nodded her head at him. Finn scoffed, “Well, I guess I’ll be leaving. Jack is probably waiting for me anyway. Stay out of the kitchen, and we’ll be back in about two hours.”

Darren frowned, but agreed as Finn kissed her cheek and walked out the door. As soon as she heard the lock click shut, she ran up the stairs. She whipped out her phone and finally made a response to Harry.

ThatInvisibleGirl: just needed to convince my brother that it’s okay for guys to wear tutus. So what’s up?

Darren had only known Harry for two days now, yet she too felt like it had been longer. Conversation was just so easy with him, and he seems to truly care about all of the stupidest little facts about her. This was something none of her ‘friends’ had ever done, and for once, she felt… wanted? No, that wasn’t the word.

JustYourNormalGuy: nothing much, just arguing with my mates about stuff and you?
ThatInvisibleGirl: arguing? I thought you would’ve made up by now :(
JustYourNormalGuy: we did. It’s something else…
ThatInvisibleGirl: what are you arguing about this time?
JustYourNormalGuy: you

She sat down on her window seat to catch a grip. ‘Why would they be arguing about me?’ Darren thought. She has no intentions of getting between Harry and his other friends. The confused girl just hoped that she wasn’t taking time away from them so Harry would talk to her.

JustYourNormalGuy: they’re just scared for me, that’s all… They just don’t want a repeat of past stuff

Past stuff? Darren was confused. She wanted to know exactly what Harry meant, but she was scared if she pushed it he would never talk to her again. She’s been through so much in her life already to get more bad luck thrown her way.

ThatInvisibleGirl: what do you mean?
JustYourNormalGuy: well, you see… I had a best friend before, and over time we became more then friends. Things were going great, but… the story doesn’t end well

~

ThatInvisibleGirl: oh… if it makes you feel any better, we can change the subject… I got parking lot tamales! :D

Harry made a mental thank you note to Darren for changing the subject. He didn’t want to be talking about his deep past with some stranger he just met. But that’s the thing… she wasn’t just a stranger. Darren – she was something else.

JustYourNormalGuy: hmm… maybe I’ll take you up on that offer now. Parking lot tamales sound pretty good right now.
ThatInvisibleGirl: haha… I wish, but I can’t eat them yet. I’ve been warned to stay out of the kitchen :(
JustYourNormalGuy: why?
ThatInvisibleGirl: let’s just say I don’t have the best history with kitchen utensils or appliances… or just kitchens in general

Harry chuckled. He couldn’t begin to imagine what she had done to get banned from her own kitchen. His guess was that she either caught her kitchen on fire or played dirty with the knives. Either way, it had to have been something bad.

JustYourNormalGuy: so why is your brother wearing a tutu?

Harry tried to keep the conversation going, though the late hours of the night were upon them. His brain was still wrapped around the tutu question that branched out to the brother question.

ThatInvisibleGirl: it’s for… something. As much as I wish I could tell you, I can’t because if you knew my brothers, you’d wonder a lot more about me…
JustYourNormalGuy: how would I know your brothers? And I already think about you a lot, so it wouldn’t really matter

Harry did a double take on his last message sent. ‘Did I really just say I think about her a lot? Stupid-stupid-stupid! Ugh… She probably thinks I’m a freak of nature…’

~

‘He thinks about me?’ Darren asks herself. Her cheeks then heat up and turn into a bright shade of pink. Realizing what she was doing, she slapped her cheek. ‘Stop it, Dare. You have a boyfriend!’ After starting to type her message, the doorbell rang, so she decided to end the conversation here.

ThatInvisibleGirl: like I’ve said before maybe someday, but now just isn’t the time. I’ve got to go now, but kik me tomorrow, yeah? xD

Darren locked her phone and threw it beside her before racing down the stairs. Peeking through the peephole, she checked for stranger danger. She immediately opened the door when she saw her two brothers had come back and were shivering from head to toe.

“Oh, God; this is hilarious! I told you leggings and tutus wouldn’t protect you from the cold,” she reprimanded through laughter. The two boys simply pushed past her and hurried over to light the fireplace. Darren laughed, shutting the door behind her to keep the cool air out.

“How did the filming go today? Was it as brutally cold as I told you it would be?” Darren asked innocently as she squeezed between her two brothers.

Jack grunted. “It wasn’t half bad until I got a face full of snow because someone here couldn’t keep their balance. Might as well get mum over here to teach you how to tie your shoes again.”

Finn scoffed. “I know how to tie my shoes. If anything, you should be careful as to not stand next to me while leaping behind that old lady.”

Darren laughed and wrapped her arms around her brothers, leaning her head on Finn’s shoulder. “I love you guys, but you need to stop fighting. No need to bring mum into matters…”

She said the last sentence as discreetly as she possibly could, but being so close to the two, they heard her anyway. They weren’t too happy with how their sister handled family matters, but at the same time they were upset with their parents for handling things the way they did. More so on their dad’s part however. After all, it was his fault they missed more than four years of her life.

“You should really talk to them, Dare. It’s been far too long; I know mum, Emmy, and Rhys miss you…” Jack told her. Darren started to tear up, but she wouldn’t let her brothers know that she missed them as well.

“But Dad will never accept me… He doesn’t care at all about me. He was right to send me away to boarding school. I don’t belong,” she reminded not only her brothers but also herself.

“He was just upset, that’s all. Either way you’re still our sister. We love you, Dare. Don’t you ever think different.”

Darren nodded, a single tear managing to fall from her face. She knew her family connection would never be the same, so why did her brothers try to convince her otherwise?

That night, Darren rolled around restless in bed. She couldn’t help but think about how Emmy and Rhys had been doing. The last she had seen them was during her surprise party thrown by her cheeky brothers. All of her friends and family had shown up. Everyone that is, except for her dad.

In her heart, she always thought that there would come a day where her father would apologize for all of the shit he put her through, but her conscious mind always knew that it would never happen. He overreacted about everything he promised would never bother him.

Darren is a mistake in his eyes. He will never again learn to love her like she is his own, because he looks at every con instead of all the positive characteristics. Because of his actions, Darren has changed, but Darren never wanted to change. She just wanted to be daddy’s little princess, but you can’t always get what you want…

~

Harry lay awake that night as well, thinking and rethinking. This time, however, he wasn’t thinking about her or the possibility that he may have ruined their friendship. Instead he thought about his family and seeing them again from a large gap of no communication.

The tour would be starting up before they know it, and the thought of greeting his mum and Gemma scared him. What would they say? How would they feel? Harry abandoned them after he needed them the most. He had no reason for leaving, but his walls started construction and people were pushed away.

Harry thought about seeing his old home in Cheshire, being greeted to the smell of homemade cookies and all of the other homey thoughts. He wouldn’t be sure how to react to his mum, or how she would react for that matter. After all, he had pushed them away…

The more he thought, the more his eyes began to sag. Before Harry as aware, he was out like a light, his body giving in to rest until the next day where he would wake up and think over everything again.

Notes

So I'm going to start putting gifs related to the chapter in my notes - Disney of course. It's been a while since I've updated.

What did you all think about the Darren insight?

OR

What's up with Harry's past?

Just to clarify: Jack and Finn... Finn and Jack... Darren's brothers are JacksGap on YouTube, and if you don't know YouTubers, you may as well start because there are going to be plenty of YouTubers in this story. Comment, rate, and subscribe. ~A