Perfect | How Would You Feel (Book 2) \\ ON HOLD

8. Somethin' Stupid

November 17th 2014, London

"For fuck's sake, Gemma," I rolled my eyes, "can you please hurry up?" 

"I'm almost done," she replied,

"You've been saying that for the last bloody half an hour," I snapped, "we're only going to Niall's, was it really necessary to put all that shit on your face?"

"Harry, don't be a dick," she finally turned around, "you're always late, anyways," 

"Oh, shut up," I opened the door and let her exit before following her. Today our album had been released and, as per tradition, Niall had decided to throw a little party at his house to celebrate. I wasn't particularly in the mood to have a crazy night since we had an early call in the morning but, for some reason, I was anxious to get to Niall's house. 

"How come you're always the last one, Harry?" Sophia, Liam's girlfriend, giggled as she opened the door, "Gemma!" she exclaimed before quickly hugging her, "how are you?" she asked my sister as we made our way inside. Soon, they were caught in their conversation while I scanned the room to check who had been invited. 

"Tequila, right?" Sophia called for my attention as she placed her hand on my waist, 

"Yes, please," I smiled at her, 

"Did you notice Louis dancing with that girl?" Gemma burst out laughing, "I don't know how I'm still not used to his dance moves,"

"I'm still not used to his dance moves," I giggled, "who was he dancing with?" I curiously asked as I didn't actually see him before, 

"That girl," she pointed at a brunette who was pouring some alcohol into two glasses. Even if I could only see her from behind, I immediately recognized her and felt weird inside. Why couldn't I stand to look at her for more than a few seconds before feeling crazy? Why did my mind go blank if she was in the same room? Was it annoyance I was feeling? Was it jealousy because I was told that she was dancing with my mate? Was it the disappointment I had been trying to hide all day since she hadn't tried to contact me at all? Was it the dumb insecurity that she was going to enjoy someone else's company more than mine? I couldn't quite comprehend what was going on in my mind but, before I could overthink it too much, Gemma was dragging me towards my bandmates, towards her. 

"Harold," Louis smirked at me as I took a seat next to Niall, "lovely for you to finally join us," 

"I hope you like rum and cola," Jade walked towards us and handed a glass to Niall, "hi!" she smiled at me, 

"Hi," I replied, sounding way colder than I anticipated, "didn't expect to find you here," 

"Niall invited me yesterday," she explained, "congrats on the album, by the way," 

"Yeah... thanks," I said and, for some reason, she didn't reply. She shyly smiled at me before looking back and deciding to take a seat next to Louis. I couldn't help but stare at her - them - and feel curious, especially because Louis was now talking to her, with his usual flirty face, and I couldn't hear what he was saying to her over the music. I only realized he was talking about me when she took a sip out of her drink and gazed at me. Her glance was innocent but sexy at the same time and, once again, I found myself unable to look into her eyes. What the hell was up with me tonight? I needed a drink or something. 

"I wanted to thank everybody for coming here to celebrate with us," Niall called everybody's attention, "but the time has come: as a tradition we'll have to do karaoke," he drunkenly said, "if you don't know how it works..."

"Mate, I think everybody knows how karaoke works" Louis sassily said,

"Whatever," Niall rolled his eyes, "the difference is that all the song are duets, so you're gonna have to pick a piece of paper from this bowl," he raised a glass bowl filled with little leaflets, "and you'll find out your karaoke partner," he said and my eyes fell on Jade, who was smiling at how silly Niall sounded, "then, your partner will pick a piece of paper from this other bowl and you'll find out the song you're going to perform for us," he continued and, as he switched on the huge TV, I couldn't help but hope I was going to sing with Jade... or maybe I didn't want that. Why was I so confused?