Always You |harry styles| - completed

THIRTY-THREE

Peaches and Herb: Reunited

After a full month in London, I finally got into a routine. I got used to the rain waking me up before my alarm. I got used to the tube and the horrible crowds of work-goers I had to encounter on my way to the office. I got used to hanging out with Harry more frequently, spending time in his house or my flat, cooking dinner and laughing a lot. We were back to being friends, which was really good... the only fact that worried me was that we tried so hard to rebuild our friendship because we knew the reward at the end could be getting back together. I didn't want the friendship to feel like a stepping stone to something more. I wanted the bond between us to be strong in and of itself. I was currently at work, wrapping up paperwork and fighting off Ben the intern's attempts to ask me out. Ben's sweet, he brought me coffee every morning and ate lunch by my desk, he complimented my new hair and even offered to ride home with me if we stayed in the office late. Ben is a nice guy, but he barely turned 19 and this was his first job. I had no intention of dating him and I tried really hard to let him know painlessly.

"Ah, saved by the bell.", he said as soon as my phone started ringing. Thank heavens for the person calling me.

"Yeah?", I answered without checking to see who it was.

"Teacup, I know it's Friday and you've got your weekly night out with the lads, but I was wondering if Gemma, my sister, and I could crash? Niall already said it was fine, just to check with you. What do you say?", he talked a lot about his sister and mom while we were together and I was kind of looking forward to meeting them, sometime in the future. Now, I wasn't so sure she wouldn't hate my guts for breaking up with him.

"If you can promise me she does not despise me, then I'm happy to meet her.", he chuckled, "Teacup... Gemma doesn't even know you, how could she despise you?".

"I don't know what you told your family after we broke up, or even if you told them we were together in the first place. So I don't want them to hold all of it against me now that we're friends, y'know?", my worst fear was his mother hating me, because I knew how special Anne is to him and how her having negative feelings about someone could totally lead him to change his mind on the person in question.

"That's bullshit. They both know me and neither of them is quick to judge without hearing both sides. We'll meet you at Mahiki around 9.", he hung up and left me wondering what the night would hold.

I called Niall on the way home, wanting to hear his thoughts on Gemma and Harry crashing our night out. He became my closest friend in London, besides Nora (my childhood best friend who travelled more than a superstar and was rarely in the UK to begin with) and Harry. He assured me Gemma was very sweet and that tonight would go okay. The only thing left to do was have faith and try not to get too drunk.

Josh rang while I was going into town and he spent most of our conversation laughing at my bad luck. I was sweating and it was really cold outside, my makeup probably looked a mess and I wanted to turn straight around and go back home. I didn't, however.

"There you are, darlin.", Niall and Lewis were already a pint in when I joined them at the bar and they told me Willie couldn't make it.

"So... meeting the sister, eh?", Lewis did what Lewis does, teased.

"I don't need more nerves, I'm fine with what I've already got, thank you very much.", he buggered off quickly just as a pair of very tall people appeared at the entrance.

"Teacup, I'd like you to meet my sister Gemma.", the girl went straight for a hug and it calmed me a bit knowing she was friendly from the start, "Gem, this is teacup.".