A few drinks and a couple of bad jokes later, the group was completely and utterly wasted.

“Babe, let’s go dance!” El tugged on Louis’ arm down the steps of the balcony and onto the dance floor.

“Please, for me?” Perrie pleaded Zayn to go as well. Zayn sighed and reluctantly followed behind her.

“Ooh. There’s a lonely blonde down there. It’s time to get my groove on,” Niall swayed his hips as he walked down the steps in pursuit of his friends leaving Liam and Harry by themselves.

Liam got off of the couch hauling his beer with him to stand next to Harry who currently leaned onto the railing with his strong concoction in hand. Harry was in a daze as he looked over the newly awoken memory of his old clubbing days.

“You alright man?” Liam asked placing one hand on Harry’s shoulder.

Harry shifted his head to look at Liam. “To be honest, not really.”

“What’s on your mind?” Liam tried to keep the conversation going.

Harry sighed and turned his body to allow Liam to give his undivided attention to him. “It’s just… this whole ‘internet dating’ thing. I tried it today. I started a chat with someone.”

“Well, that’s great-”

“No, it wasn’t. It made me feel guilty. I felt sick to have done such a thing. I mean, the girl… she was nice… but she didn’t seem like anything compared to…” Harry stopped short as he realized what he was saying.

“Leanna? Harry, I get it. You aren’t completely over her, but maybe, if you do find a girl, she doesn’t have to be like her. We just want you to be happy. We can always try something else if perfectmatch isn’t your thing, but give it another week.”

“You know what, Liam? You’re right. I can’t compare every girl to her, because no one is the same. And I wasn’t planning on quitting perfectmatch; one conversation isn’t enough to quit something I just started.”

“Good, because we don’t have any other ideas after that,” Liam scratched his head, embarrassed. Harry suppressed his laughter from coming out. He didn’t want to admit it, but he actually felt a little happy for once.

“Do you mind if I catch a cab? This club is making me a bit claustrophobic,” Harry disclosed.

“Yeah, sure. I’ll just keep an eye on the other guys for while, and we’ll be back around midnight probably,” Liam replied.

“Thanks, Li… For everything.”

Liam waved off his thank-you. “It’s no problem, Harry. We’re pretty much brothers.”

Harry nodded, turning to leave. He smiled slightly to himself. Brothers. He hadn’t heard that in a while. The boys had always been brothers, but lately they seemed more like distant relatives. It made Harry feel more secure, and ‘Sometimes being a brother is even better than being a superhero.’ That’s just how much the boys have changed him in one day. These boys were Harry’s superheroes. They were the people he looked up to, being the youngest, and at the same time, they looked up to him.

“Hello,” a clearly drunk blonde girl stumbled into Harry as he walked the path toward the exit.

“Um… hello,” he replied, glancing at the door. All he really wanted to do was get out of here right now, and she seemed to be the only thing in his way of doing so.

The girl let out another giggle, leaning up to Harry’s ear on the top of her toes before whispering, “My name is Caye. Wanna dance?”

Harry stared at the impaired blonde. He didn’t want to cause a scene by telling her no, but he also didn’t want to dance with this girl who willingly got downright wasted.

“I’m actually leaving right now,” he shouted over the pumping background music.

Caye’s smile failed to falter as she stated simply how much of a shame that was. Harry gently pushed her off of himself, balancing her steadily by applying his hands to her exposed waste. He was just about to let go when someone took the job for him.

Harry spun a full 180 degrees, his face meeting the unhappy look of a burly man. The man’s veins were popping out of his neck as he breathed heavily, gritting his teeth.

“What the hell are you doing with my bird?” he spat in Harry’s face. Harry cringed at his use of vulgar language, something that had always bothered him.

“I’m sorry. I was just leaving, and she just fell into me,” Harry secretly crossed his fingers in hopes that the guy would see through this misunderstanding.

“Is this true, Caye?” he turned to his deluded girlfriend who was busy grinding into another guy’s pelvis.

She tee-heed again. “Suure, Braaad,” she slurred. The guy behind her started to kiss up her neck. The guy, or ‘Brad’, let go of Harry.

“You got lucky. Now leave before I beat you the same as I’m about to do to him,” he said brusquely freeing Harry’s arm out of grip.

Harry turned and walked abruptly, making a beeline for the door. Once, in a safe distance from the club and all forms of paparazzi, Harry pulled out his cell phone and called for a cab to take him back to the pad.

~

When Harry reached his room, he lazily sprawled out on the covers of his bed. He groaned into his pillow at the effect that the small consumption of alcohol had done to him.

Out of the corner of his eye, Harry saw a small flashing light on the brim of his laptop screen. He lifted his head up higher, attempting to read the fine print from his current distance, but his mind blurred the words marking them illegible.

Slowly dragging himself towards his computer, Harry leaned in closer from his chair to read the screen.

*1 new message*

Sighing, he clicked the link to lead him to the right page. Clearing his eyes a bit, he contemplated whether or not to message back while being intoxicated, but he took the risk and read on.

The sender goes by the username Loving_Life. Her hobbies include shopping, especially for shoes, and sleeping. Someday she wishes to travel all across Europe, but for now is just “loving life” as it is.

Harry smiled as he read through her bio. Overall, she represented a nice personality, and he wouldn’t mind taking the time getting to know her.

Loving_Life: Hi, I’ve read your bio. Maybe you’d like to meet up sometime so we can get to know one another?

Harry thought about this offer. She didn’t seem like the kind of person that would do something drastic if she knew who she was, so he took the chance and hit reply.

JustYourNormalGuy: Sure. Meet me at the Starbucks on Kingsway tomorrow at 8AM.

He knew it was late, but her message had been sent to him not minutes before so she would surely get the memo. Closing his laptop shut, he made preparations for bed by setting his alarm for early the next day and changing into sweatpants and a shirt. He turned off the lamp on his stand and turned over on his side, letting sleep overcome himself.

~

The next morning, Harry woke up with a sudden jolt and upturn in his stomach. He raced to the bathroom connected to his room and hovered over the toilet bowl, allowing his stomach to toss up all of the remains from last night.

After he was sure that all of the bad stuff was out of his system, he gargled some sink water to rid the horrid taste from his mouth. He quickly brushed his teeth after popping in two Advil’s. Brushing through his hair, he finished up in the bathroom and proceeded back into his main bedroom just as his alarm set for seven went off.

He hit the off button and moved onto his closet, pulling out his usual sleek skinny jeans, a simple black T-shirt, and a heavy coat to block out the cold winter air.

“Morning,” Liam called as Harry hustled down the stairs. “Going somewhere?”

“Uh, yeah. I’m meeting someone on Kingsway actually, a girl to be more precise. Don’t worry; I’ll be at our meeting at 8:30,” Harry rushed his words still heading towards the door.

“Good luck!” Liam shouted behind him, just as the door shut slowly behind him.