Stumbling Into Perfection...

Chapter 3

Harry had no idea what had happened to Liam. Louis and Niall had taken off with Alex and a couple girls they'd met earlier into the crowd and he hadn't seen them since. There was someone of the female persuasion sitting next to him, rubbing her leg against his in a desperate attempt to get him to pay attention to her. He wasn't meaning to be rude by ignoring her, he just wasn't interested. About 20 feet away, directly in his line of sight, Jennifer was dancing by herself.

It was fascinating to watch her brush off the men that came up and tried to touch her or dance with her. She simply turned her back, pushed their hands off her and stepped away. Eventually they would move away and leave her alone.

Harry's life was full of women who held their own and didn't allow themselves to become objects for men to toy with. But Jennifer was different. It was like she just didn't care. The same way he wasn't interested in the girl currently trying to get into his good graces.

He was a bit weirded out by his sudden attraction to Jennifer. In fact he wasn't even sure if it was attraction or the fact that she was one huge question mark. And he hadn't been able to get the feel of her lips on his out of his head.

He looked over at the female next to him and smiled weakly before placing his hands on the seat to push himself up to his feet. He walked towards Jennifer. A bright smile stretched across her face as he approached,

"Hi." She quipped, "Where are your partners in crime?"

Harry shrugged,

"Not sure. Disappeared a while ago. Left me to fend for myself."

Jennifer gestured to the girl he'd left on the couch who was now scowling while she burned holes into Harry's back,

"Yeah, I can see how you'd need their protection."

Harry didn't bother to turn around, he was well aware of what he would see if he did. He smiled,

"I'm a delicate flower."

Jennifer lifted the glass she was holding to her lips and almost downed the entire thing. Harry's smile faltered a bit as he watched her. He couldn't remember how many different drinks he'd seen her with tonight but it was clear she'd drank quite a bit more than he had. In fact, Harry had yet to finish the one beer he'd been nursing all night.

She grimaced down at her empty glass,

"Wanna get outta here? There's a boardwalk a few blocks down. This place is loud and crowded and I'm over it."

Harry felt a bit of fear creep up. In the club he was safe behind the velvet ropes of the VIP area. He shrugged after a moment, deciding that hanging out with Jennifer would be so much better than sticking around here.

"Sure. Let's get outta here."

When she'd said there was a boardwalk a few blocks down, Harry should have asked what she meant by "a few". It had been almost an hour and they still hadn't reached any boardwalk. She walked along the cracks in the sidewalk like she was on a tightrope, her arms thrown out from her sides for balance.

Harry stole a sideways glance at Jennifer as she balanced. She was definitely a mystery. But there was something underneath all the mystery and wild antics. Like she had this intense need to be understood but wasn't about to ask anyone to take the time out to do so. He couldn't quite understand his pull to her just yet but he was definitely down for taking the time to get inside her head. If she let him, that is.

She whirled around at him,

"Favorite vacation spot...go."

His eyes widened a bit at her quick movement, but a smile stretched across his face,