Awkward Beat [H.S]

Chapter 6

In which Fitz makes a sorry attempt to flaunt the love that never was.

Chapter 6

And by "not a chance in hell," what Harry really meant was, "I'm uncomfortable with this idea, but if you bother me enough about it, I'll give in as I always do."

That was fine with me.

A decent band was playing at the Hub Club on campus, Niall had told me, and he and his roommates would be attending. So the following Thursday evening, I informed Harry that we would be making our grand debut. After rattling off a list of silly excuses about focusing on his schoolwork and going easy on the partying, I infused my dear flatmate with a couple of shots of whiskey and carefully went over the plan with him.

His instructions were rather simple: imagine I was the girl of his dreams and act as one would act in that situation. Improvisation is an art, and I didn't want him to be bogged down with too many lines and cues.

We met Niall outside of the Hub Club, which was an ancient house on campus now used for moderately exciting social events and chair meetings. As we approached, Niall was seated on the fence outside the walkway, staring intently at the screen of his camera. When he heard our footsteps and saw it was us, a

brilliant smile lit up his face and he immediately stood, camera at the ready.

"Here they are, the wonder couple who never really was, the sexy love affair for the ages, the romance that trumps Gone with the Wind and Pride and Prejudice and even Titanic –

the future Mr. and Mrs. Harry Styles!"

I bit my lip to contain my laughter, but Harry was not nearly as amused. With his jaw set and his eyes clouded grey, he turned to me and promptly declared, "I'm out."

"No – no, wait," I said, grabbing his arm as he tried to escape. "It's not going to be that bad.

Remember: the better your performance tonight, the sooner we can get this all over with."

"It's over with now," Harry argued.

"That's not fair!" I shook his arm to convey my frustration. "I did the exact same for you in front of your father!"

"Yeah, but this is in front of my friends!"

"So what?"

"So, it's different! It's worse."

"A lovers' quarrel," Niall whispered into his camera, still rolling.

I released my grip on Harry's wrist. We paused our 'quarrel' to turn toward him with stony faces.

"Niall – no filming," I said firmly.

Still grinning, Niall shrugged. "Think of it as your audition for my shoot next month. Harry said you can't act. We'll see if he's right."

"As much as I would enjoy proving Harry wrong," I began with a sharp glance at my flatmate, "you can't film this. It's too obvious."

"Oh, I'll be sneaky," he assured me. "If the camera freaks you out, my phone has film capabilities, too."

"Oh, sweet God," I whispered under my breath. I turned to face Harry again. "Look. Just ignore Niall – who, by the way, wouldn't be filming this if you hadn't told him everything –

and let's go in. I think you could stand to be a little more drunk. I know I could."

Harry gave me a sarcastic smile, which he then shared with Niall. Stepping back to allow me first entry, I heard him mutter to his friend, "My future fake bride, the mother of my fake children."