Neighborhood ➳ h.s. au

Ten

The booming music coming from the other side of Harry's front door is what made Ann uncomfortable as she approached it. Harry was having a party. Again. And Harry invited Ann. Again. He was giving so many mixed signals, but maybe that was just his way of being a good friend.

When Ann walked inside the house, Mickayla greeted her and downed the alcohol that had been in her red plastic cup. She chatted Ann's ear off, all the while introducing her to everyone in the room at the same time. Ann wanted nothing more than to find Harry, but when her eyes met with bright blue ones, a relieved sigh escaped her mouth.

"Hey babe!" Niall nearly screamed as he approached Ann, the stench of alcohol almost making Ann gag. "I'm glad you could make it. Harry's been asking all about you!"

He slung his arm around Ann's shoulders, and she felt out of place with her tight deep blue cocktail dress. Maybe she was a tad overdressed for a party like this?

"He has?" She asked, causing Niall to nod before he bumped fists with one of his friends.

"Yeah, but I told him to back off," he smirked and took a sip of his vodka, the strong smell causing Ann to turn away. "You're mine anyways, right?"

"You had no right to tell him to back off. He's just a friend," Ann snapped back, her voice giving away that she was clearly annoyed at his drunken state.

When Harry appeared in the middle of the crowd, her stomach felt as if it was doing flips and turns, and she mentally slapped herself.

He would never be just a friend to her.

"Ann!" Harry's eyes lit up when he saw her slim figure, and he smiled brightly. "I'm so glad you could make it. It wouldn't have been the same without you."

Ann's eyebrows raised when she realized Harry wasn't even close to being drunk, and Niall's eyes narrowed. "Yeah, I would be pretty lonely."

Ann rolled her eyes at her protective boyfriend, or whatever he was, and shook her head. "You would have been fine."

Harry smiled and nodded towards Niall. "You're a lucky guy, Niall. Just make sure to take care of her." Ann's cheeks turned bright red, and she was then thankful for the dim lighting in the room. He patted Niall's arm and grinned. "Well, you two have a good time. I'm gonna go kick out the pricks that decided to show up."

He waved at Ann and Niall before walking away, and Ann wanted nothing more than to go after him, to kick out people as well, but she stayed put in her spot with Niall's arm around her shoulders. Niall leaned down and kissed the side of her head and took her hand in his before leading her over to the couch, his hand resting lightly on her thigh as he told her about his day.

"...and so I was telling everyone about us, and Louis was being a total dick about everything, so I socked him in the stomach and then-"

"You punched him in the stomach?" Ann's eyes were wide and he shrugged. "It's just their opinion Niall, you don't need to punch him."

He shrugged once more and continued talking, but Ann was focused on the bleach blonde behind him, who was talking to some guy with black hair and dark eyes. Ann's head was tilted to the side as Marie's pointer finger was trailing up and down his upper thigh, and Ann gasped when Marie suddenly cupped the guy's crotch, causing him to stand up and hold his hands out in defense, his eyes wide. He quickly walked away after saying something, and Marie's face looked horrified as she saw Ann watching.

Marie stood up then and took Ann by the arm, Niall's face filled with confusion as Ann got dragged away. Ann shrugged and yanked her arm away from Marie's grasp as they reached the kitchen, Marie's nostrils flared with anger.