I'm Right Here- SWM Sequel (Harry Styles)

Chapter 8:

When I get to Bear’s flat, I discover that Louis, Eleanor (Louis' girlfriend), Liam, Danielle (Liam's girlfriend), Maz, and Andy (Liam's best friends) are already at Bear's flat. I wonder how Bear is getting any work done, but when I see her smiling on the couch with most of her pile of papers already done, I admire her ability to multi-task. That's probably the same way she manages to keep me and the four other boys doing what we're supposed to. Liam is sitting with his arm around Danielle next to Bear on the couch and Louis holds Eleanor's waist on the loveseat.

A shirtless Maz and a tank top wearing Andy joke around with each other for the enjoyment of the assembled group. I push past them until I get to the far corner of the couch and get in front of Bear. Her body is unchanged but her eyes have followed me from the moment I walked in the door. A smile appears on her face as she shakes her head slightly and looks up at me. When she looks like she's about to say something, Liam speaks up first.

"Hello there Mr.Single." Liam jokes lightly, testing the water with me. Danielle hits him in the gut and gives him a mean stare that Liam accompanies with a smile. After a few seconds of grimacing, a smile appears on Danielle's face too.

"God, Liam! I can't even stay mad at you for a minute!" Danielle shouts playfully as she puts her head on Liam's shoulder and he puts his arms around her.

They’re so cute together. So were Louis and Eleanor. Zayn's girlfriend Perrie was down-to-earth despite her celebrity status and her and Zayn were amazing together. Then there was me who had just been dumped. And last, but not least, was Niall who hadn't really dated anyone since we got put together as One Direction. I sit on the ground where Bear's feet would have been if she hadn't tucked them up with her on the couch.

After a few seconds of watching Maz and Andy, Bear slides her feet off the couch and lifts her knees up so that they rest on my shoulders. Her legs in proportion to my arms are so much smaller, one might think that Bear was a pixie of sorts. I lean my head back against her thighs and she smiles. She runs her fingers through my curls and I close my eyes at the comforting feeling.

"Harry's like a kitten." Eleanor says from the loveseat and I can hear the smile in her voice. I keep my eyes closed and let out a purr as Bear runs her fingers through my curls again.

"Yeah, my little kitten." Bear says softly.

I open my eyes for a second and find Bear staring into my eyes. My breath gets taken away again, but I don't feel bad about it anymore. I'm single. Instead, I smile and lift a gentle hand up run my fingers lightly up and down Bear's leg. I watch her as my actions tickle her, but she continues to run her finger through my hair. Suddenly, she shakes her head and gets her fingers out of my hair. She goes back to doing her work but I still run my fingers up and down her leg and I watch her as she works.

When she reads, her eyebrows furrow slightly but she makes a conscious effort not to look like she's angry. When she's not using her pen, she holds in between her teeth. She shakes her foot as she reads, her energy causing her to be always moving. As the say goes by, the others dwindle away, leaving me and Bear silent in the living room. Finally, just after sunset, Bear finishes her papers and she jumps off the couch over me. She runs around her flat and I quickly join her. When we collapse in the couch a little while later, my stomach growls loudly.

"Sounds like a bear's in you too. Hungry?" Bear smiles as she catches her breath.

"Very." I say before my stomach growls again.

I haven't eaten all day and Bear shakes her head at me. She stands from the couch and as she walks away, I stand up to join her but she snaps at me to sit back down, so I do. Near returns a couple minutes later with a Chinese restaurant's menu and her cell phone.

"You order. Just get me lo mein." Bear smiles as she hands me the menu.

She takes the pile of papers from the coffee table in front of the couch and she goes into her room with them. While she's in there, I call the Chinese restaurant to place our order and tell them Bear's address for delivery. Bear comes out of her bedroom a few seconds after I hang up and she carries her laptop. She sits back in her corner and hits the couch cushion next to her, signaling for me to join her. When I sit up onto the couch, I see that Bear's on Tumblr.

I swear, she's obsessed with this website. I don't think I'll ever get over the fact that she spends her days surrounded by everything One Direction. I mean, I would get completely sick of me. After 'reblogging' a few pictures of me in the British Virgin Islands, she changes tabs to Twitter and closes Tumblr. Her recent tweet feed is filled once again with One Direction.

"How do you do it?" I ask, not even thinking about the question twice. "Constantly be surrounded by One Direction, I mean." Bear lets out her happy loud laugh as soon as the question leaves my mouth so she just even hear the part I added. After she laughs, she looks over at me with a smile and her blue eyes shining.

"It's an obsession of sorts. And it's my job now. It's like being paid to be the ultimate fangirl. I love you guys and your music- it's very easy for me but difficult to explain." Bear says simply.

We go on a few twitcams to tweet hello to a fans. The fan base has reacted well to Bear and she talks a lot to them. She wants them to treat her like another fan, because that's what she is. But they insist on taking pictures with her and asking for her autograph.

"It's only my signature. Just a bunch of squiggly letters that make my name. And a fake name at that." Bear always says after fulfilling the fan's request. She has no idea of the effect age has on people's lives. Especially mine.

"Hey, do you remember when you were telling me about your new Nikon?" I ask, an idea coming to me.

"My new Nikon that is very expensive, takes AMAZING videos and pictures, and will kill someone over if they do something to it camera? Yes, I remember talking about the new love of my life." Bear says seriously, turning her attention to me.

"Exaggeration?" I ask, testing the water.

"No. That's exactly how I feel. Why do you ask?" Bear says, fighting a smile.

"I promise I'll be careful- But you need to take it out of it's box at one point or another! C'mon, we can be camera twins." I say as I get as I get my identical camera from my satchel. Call me hipster and whatnot, but you never know when you'll come across the perfect picture.

"Fine, I'll go get it. But only because I wanna make sure I set it up correctly." Bear says defensively as she gets off the couch and goes into her room.

After a minute, she comes out with the unopened camera box in her hand. Gently, she takes it out and she makes me vow to be careful. I do, and I help her set up the camera. As I'm making her an account to store her pictures, I let Bear use my camera so she can get used to using it. She goes outside for a little bit to take a few pictures but she comes back and insists on taking pictures of me. I give Bear her own camera and she gives me mine.

We start taking pictures of each other when the doorbell rings, signaling that the Chinese food is here. I run over to the door to pay before Bear, and she nods a thank you and she goes to put our cameras safely onto the counter. I go into the kitchen and place the box of Chinese food onto the counter Bear follows me in and she into the box to see what I ordered.

"Fortune cookies, crab rangoons, and lo mein. Either you're trying to make me fat or we just like all the same foods." Bear smiles as she takes out the food.

"Oh, definitely trying to make you fat. Without a doubt." I say seriously before breaking into a smile. I hand Bear one of the two cartons of lo mien and she hesitates a second before taking it from me.

"Just call me Gretel from now on." Bear jokes as she hands me a fork from the drawer. I laugh loudly and Bear fills cups for me and her with orange soda. We sit on the couch and joke around as we eat with Doctor Who on the TV.