Rebel Rebel |harry styles| - ongoing

THIRTEEN

The Kinks: You Really Got Me

FOUR MONTHS LATER

Essie

It feels as if I'd lived through a fast-forwarded video of the last couple of months. Work picked up fast and it's been a constant chase ever since... going on dates with Matt, travelling to New York and Zurich and Paris to shoot big campaigns. I haven't been able to catch my breath in what feels like forever. Thankfully, everyone has been supportive and more than willing to pick up the slack for me at home – Harry hung out with Becks and Ramona more than once, Mia was basically on-call for Bono-sitting duties and Matt was very kind and understanding of my lack of time for everything. Since I've been so scattered for the last four months, none of my friends got the chance to meet Matt. Today was the day, brunch at The Flask. It wasn't exactly neutral ground, but I thought it would be better to allow my mates the comfort of their own territory.

"Are you close?", I called Matt for a status update, afraid we'd be late. Nobody would mind, but I wanted him to make a good first impression. They only get to meet him for the first time once, and I knew how they could get when something didn't tickle their fancy.

"Pulling up to your house right now. Come out.", giving Bono a little goodbye treat, I grabbed my bag and keys and ran out.

"Why are you in such a hurry?", Matt was confused, "We'll get there right on time, it's literally around the corner.".

"Forget about it, let's go."

I observed him from the passenger seat, thinking about how different this relationship was to my previous one. It never felt forced and Matt was absolutely wonderful. He understood that my career implied having to travel around the world, be gone for weeks at a time and he didn't mind. I'd still get really bored when he started talking about his job, but I guess it hit too close to home and reminded me of the conversations my parents used to have over dinner, when they were still together. It was probably my brain fighting it, nothing more. All that aside, something was missing in this relationship. I was more open and freer, more so than I ever was with anyone before. Well, not anyone, if you count Harry as a relationship (which I didn't, obviously). Afraid I was overthinking it, I let it go and hoped that my feelings would automatically change as soon as I'd see him interacting with the people that matter most to me.

"Should I let you out here, and I'll go find parking?", I nodded and got my stuff. As I got closer to the pub, I saw everyone was already here, which meant they were all early.

"Where did you hide Matt?", Ramona teased as soon as I walked in.

"What, no 'I missed you so much' from you today? He's parking the car, don't worry.", I went around the table and hugged everyone. We truly hadn't seen each other for over a month, with all that has been going on. Crazy how time sneaks up on you.

"Do I have to warn you lot to behave?", they all shook their heads, and did their best to hide little cheeky smiles.

Matt walked through the door and I felt the energy in the room change immediately. It wasn't necessarily a negative shift, but something did feel a bit unusual.

"Everyone, this is Matt,", he waved, "and these are Becks and her fiancé Pierce, Ramona and Harry.". Harry and Matt did that little nod, the one that men do when they're sort of checking each other out. That wasn't the luckiest way to put it, but I didn't think that saying they were like two male dogs at their first encounter would be appropriate.

"So, what do you all do for a living?", Matt attempted to break the ice, bless his heart. Luckily, Guy, the bartender, was incredible at reading situations from afar so he just brough over pints and some peanuts.