“How did you find this place?” Harry asks Darren as they walk into the lesser-known coffee shop. The barista behind the counter welcomes the two with a genuine smile. She does this quickly, but politely, before rushing around the kitchen station to fill the few orders of other people occupying Kaffeine.

Darren shrugs her shoulders. “My brothers found this place and suggested it to me. I’ve been coming here ever since. I like to go sit in that back table over there and just sit here for hours on end all by myself. It gives me the peace of mind when everything around me seems to be going crazy.”

“And the food?” Harry questions.

“To die for,” Darren answers him with a smile and a laugh. They walk up to the counter to order, and seeing that Harry will take too long to order, she orders her usual for the both of them. She does, however, allow Harry to pay because he insisted so much – and she also forgot her wallet.

When the order is placed and paid for, they go and sit down at Darren’s usual table in the back, as she said. Darren leans her crutches up against the side of the booth, and Harry takes his seat across from her. Darren wiggles her butt around to get comfortable and leans back when she decides that she feels okay. Harry laughs at her actions.

“What? I like to make myself feel comfortable,” Darren defends herself before Harry can say anything. Harry puts his hands up in his defense while slowly calming down his laughter. “I cannot believe I agreed to go to lunch with you.”

His chuckles finally cease, but his face now holds a frown. “I thought we were friends, Darren. I thought I was your BFFWIKHS…” Darren laughs at that remark, but assures him that they are still friends, glad that the awkwardness from Wednesday night had up and left when today came around.

In fact, when Harry came over to pick Darren up, the awkward from that night could have been believed to be a lie at how natural their greeting was. Everything flowed nicely; there was no awkward space between them. The two can convince anyone that they have known one another for years, thought they’d only met that awkward night just two nights ago.

This connection is truly a friendship that will grow even stronger in due time as friendships tend to head in that direction. There is no deny that these two people click without effort, open to allowing the other person into their lives so easily and with great flow.

By the time their food has come and gone, Darren and Harry are too deep into conversation to leave the table. They use this time to tell each other more of, what may seem stupid or foolish, facts about them.

“So that’s how you know Zoella!” Harry says in realization after Darren told him who her brothers were.

Darren just laughs at how stupid he sounds. “I still want to know how she knew it was you. She literally told me, ‘this really is Harry Styles – don’t ask how I know, I just do…’ Then she deleted all of the messages between the two of you. She drives me fucking insane.”

Harry manages not to wince at Darren’s choice of words and settles her curiosity by telling her the inside joke between the two of them that should never be repeated. Darren’s eyes go wide at their choice of ‘inside joke’ finally understanding why people say ‘you had to be there’ and ‘it really is none of your business’.

“So what are your plans for this weekend?” Harry asks Darren, trying to forget their current awkward conversation and changing the subject.

Darren thinks about it for a minute before answering, “I have to catch up on some of my online assignments, so I’ll be bundled up in my room trying to finish some stupid essay.”

“You take online courses?” Harry asks. Darren nods. “Why didn’t you go to a real college? No offense…”

“It’s fine. It’s just… too many people, and I can’t really afford college anyway – too pricy,” Darren replies. “I really wanted to get into MIT [Massachusetts Institute of Technology], study over seas in the states at least, but it was just too much and I don’t think I would do too well without knowing anyone.”

“MIT? That’s a pretty prestigious school in the States. What were you aiming to be?”

“An architect.”

Harry scrunches up his nose. “Ew, too much math.”

The two of them laugh at how true that is, but Darren goes on to explain to him how math comes easy to her (she doesn’t find it hard at all really). Harry listens with as much interest as she has talking about it, loving the way she talks about her goals with such openness and devotion. He hadn’t had this much thought going into his last years of high school, and he starts to wonder what would have happened if he hadn’t gone to become part of One Direction.

Darren can literally tell him where she sees herself within the next five, even ten years where he wouldn’t have been able to tell someone what he was going to eat for breakfast the next morning. He likes how she knows, however; it gives him that knowing that he didn’t have but now knows (if that makes sense).

After a while, Darren gets a text from her brothers asking her where she is and why she isn’t at home. She quickly responds by telling them she’s out with a friend and will be home soon after realizing how much time had passed.

“Well, I have to get going. My brothers are a bit worried about me and it’s getting pretty late.”

Harry, too, admits that it’s time for him to throw in the towel for now and walks with Darren to his car, opening the door for her when they get there. She shoots him thanks as she climbs in and waits for him to start driving.

~

After talking for a while more, Harry finally pulls into Darren’s driveway where she waves goodbye to him as he drives off. She awkwardly tries to open the door until Finn comes along, smirking at her inability to open the door with crutches, and opens the door to let her in.

Darren wipes the stupid look off his face, literally, by taking her hand and rubbing it in Finn’s face. He pouts and goes off to find his twin to complain about their mean little sister. Darren laughs lightly before making her way up to her room, one step at a time. When she opens her door, she’s surprised to see her boyfriend sitting blankly on her window seat.

“James?” she questions with a smile of the sorts. “What are you doing here?” She limps over without her crutches to greet him better but is cut off with a surprising question.

“Whose car was that?” His tone is dull, not at all amused or happy to see Darren. “I know it wasn’t Blithe’s or Caspar’s, so tell me, Darren, who were you out with today?”

“A friend.”

“God damn it, Darren! Tell me who the fuck you were out with today. Was it Harry? Huh? Did you meet that stupid boy you’ve been cheating on me with, did you!” he rages, seething with an anger more compassionate and deep than his love for her and vice versa.

Darren, however, is unfazed by his ‘tude and easily lies, not wanting him to blow up, about her whereabouts. “I went out with Zoella; we borrowed Alfie’s car.” She ignores the pathetic look of apology and regret in James’ expression and goes to her closet to acquire pajamas for bed after she showers.

James follows her in with that fake sympathy of his and wraps his arms around Darren’s waist from behind as she pulls out a pair of warm pajama pants. “I’m sorry,” he breathes out in a whisper. Darren continues to rummage through her clothes for an oversized t-shirt to add to her ensemble, uncaring of her own boyfriend.

They boy sighs; burying his face in her neck, placing a kiss on the skin that his lips touch. “Don’t ignore me, Dare.” His hot breath lingers on her skin, sending shivers down her spine. Darren pushes away the naughty thoughts and unwraps James’ arms from her waist to face him.

“It’s fine,” Darren finally says, but she sounds almost unsure. “I’m going to shower. Maybe you can pick out a few movies and we can have a movie night?”

“Or we could do something else…”

“Like what?”

James smirks, rewrapping his arms around Darren’s waist. “I have a few ideas.”

~

Darren sighs, oddly, from her window seat early Sunday morning due to the fact that she can’t climb to her roof with the extra leg restrictions she has. The sunrise is beautiful, as always, but Darren doesn’t feel the warmth, and it’s not just because she isn’t on the roof. She looks solemnly back at her bed, unmade and empty. She had hoped to wake up to his sleepy face, but alas he was gone long before Darren had woken up.

She can’t be more upset, especially with today being what today is, that James wasn’t here this morning to wake Darren up or at least have his sleepy arms enveloped around her waist with her being cuddled almost suffocating in his chest.

James wasn’t there, however, and so Darren woke up, shivering with her sheets pulled back carelessly and the cold morning air causing her bare spine to curl up from lack of warmth.

Now here she is, left alone to sit and her window seat and stare out at the spacious park below with few early birds out and about and cars driving by at a slow speed either getting back home from a late shift or heading out for an early one.

“Knock-knock,” Jack announces his and Finn’s arrival in Darren’s room. Darren doesn’t shift her gaze out the window only motioning them slightly to come in. Her brothers walk in slowly, glancing around at the unwelcoming scene including strewn bed sheets and a depressing view of Darren’s sad mood.

Nonetheless, they walk over to her and start to sing.

“Happy birthday to you;
happy birthday to you.
Happy birthday, dear Darren;
happy birthday to you…”

By the second line, Darren began smiling and burying her face in her knees at how amazing her brothers really are for doing all of this. Then, they had her laughing when they sang her name out in a strange fashion during the third line of the traditional birthday song, finally looking to see their masterpiece of a stack of pancakes covered in strawberries and whipped cream, not to forget the single candle melting slowly on top.

Darren obliges to their wishes for her to make a wish and blow out the candle. She skips the wish part, not believing in silly superstitions that all your wishes come true on your birthday, and blows out the candle.

“Thanks you, guys,” she says, happy now, getting up carefully to give them nearly bone crushing hugs. She pulls back and takes a huge whiff of the fresh stack of birthday breakfast. “Mm… Now how about we eat this monster?”

~

2 Missed Calls and 4 New Messages

From Haaarrrrryyy:
heey.

From Haaarrrrryyy:
answer your phone

From Haaarrrrryyy:
you didn’t tell me it was your birthday :(

From Haaarrrrryyy:
Happy Birthday!

Darren twiddles her thumbs over the keyboard on her phone, a natural habit of hers, while deciding what to reply. Across from her, engaged in conversation, are her brothers and sitting to her right hand is Blithe. James is still nowhere to be seen, a common trait of disappearance, but still a sad fate for him not being here for her birthday – if he even remembers it that is.

To Haaarrrrryyy:
must have slipped my mind…

After she hits send, she locks her phone and readmits herself in the lunch conversation at hand. Her brothers ask her what her pans are for the rest of the day, being that Darren doesn’t usually like to go to big for her birthday – no party, just minimal celebration with her friends and siblings.

“I think Em said she wanted to come over and have some ‘sisterly bonding time’ with me on my birthday, so I’ll probably be watching a few movies with her in my room tonight,” Darren answers. Then she turns to Blithe, “You’re welcome to join us, Bee.”

When the four finish their lunch, ending with a singing waitress bringing out ice cream for the birthday girl, they part ways. Jack and Finn head off in their car to do some editing at the office and address some issues in their building. In Blithe’s car, she and Darren get in and drive off to pick up some movies and whatnot for tonight.

They arrive shortly at the drug store, just three blocks from the restaurant they ate at, and head inside to file through the movies and get a good amount of junk food as well.

“You seriously need to get your license soon, Dare,” Blithe re-informs her friend of the long going topic at hand while shuffling through the old ‘80s movie bin.

“I know. I was supposed to be getting my permit renewed soon and having Jack or Finn teach me for the test, but then,” Darren pauses and looks down at the red restraint on her leg, “this happened.”

“What about James?”

Darren stops looking through the DVDs to look at Blithe. “What about him?”

“I haven’t seen him today. Has he even called or texted you saying ‘Happy Birthday’?” Bee’s voice is monotonous. She, as well as Jack and Finn, has negative views on Darren’s boyfriend. She doesn’t like him one bit, and it’s not just the normal ‘he pulls best friend time away from them’.

“No, he hasn’t.”

Notes

At the point I realized that it's been pretty much a month since I've updated, I started typing extremely fast to get one up for you amazing people, so I'm sorry if this is a shit chapter.

Darry or Harren?
Or do you ship Jarren?
Does anyone even like James?
What do you think will happen next?
What do you want to happen next?

As always, votes and comments are greatly appreciated! A big thanks to all 81 subscribers. I know I thank you guys a lot, but I feel like you still don't get enough thanks. I'm pretty sure this is the most subscribers I've had for any story while it's in progress and hopefully I can get more of you guys to subscribe as I continue to write (maybe? I don't know?) :)

~A