𝘾𝙍𝘼𝙎𝙃𝙄𝙉𝙂 𝙄𝙉𝙏𝙊 𝙔𝙊𝙐 ↣ 𝙊𝙉𝙀 𝘿𝙄𝙍𝙀𝘾𝙏𝙄𝙊𝙉

twenty-six - olivia

[when I look at myself
i hate what i see.
when i look at myself,
i wish i was anyone else.]

_________________________________

I followed Zayn into the kitchen. Harry was already waiting, along with Liam, Niall, and Louis. I bared my teeth to them in an awkward attempt of a smile.

"As long as you don't make that face, you look beautiful," Harry said lightly. I laughed and rolled my eyes.

"Thank you, lover boy," I said with an eye roll.

"Where are your shoes?" Louis asked. I looked down at my feet. Well, foot. It was, in fact, shoeless.

"Shit," I mumbled, turning around.

"Language," Niall and Liam quipped. I sent them a look over my shoulder. Louis followed me upstairs, taking them two at a time to catch up to me.

"You're following me," I said.

"Maybe," Louis agreed. I went into my closet and walked out a moment later with a pair of Air Force 1's and a pair of Chuck Taylor's. Louis nodded to the Converse, so I threw my forces back into the closet. I sat down on my bed and slid my feet in. I tied one shoe, and Louis tied the other.

"Let's go!" Harry called from downstairs. I stood up from my spot a moment Louis did, and started walking to my door.

His hands grabbed my hips. I tore away from him with a yelp and wide eyes. "I'm sorry," I said frantically, "That was just like an instinct I didn't mean to-"

"I get it," Louis mumbled. "I'm not Harry."

"No, it's not that. It's the fact that I've had men grabbing onto me like that since I was eight  and when you did that I thought you were going to hurt me," I snapped. Louis' eyes went wide. "But sure, you can think that it's because you're not Harry."

"I'm sorry, love," Louis mumbled. I flinched away from him when he ran his hand through his hair. He took a step back to offer me space. "Are you alright? Can you go to this thing tonight?" Louis asked.

He knew me well enough. He knew me enough to know that if there was one person I didn't flinch at, it was him. But I had just done it twice, and I had snapped at him, and I told him that people had man handled me like that before.

Louis knew something wasn't right.

"Mickey!" Niall called from downstairs.

"I don't exactly have a choice. Come on," I said, nodding for him to follow me. We went downstairs. Everyone was waiting expectantly for me at the door. "Sorry, sorry," I said quickly, doing a little jog to get to them.

"You're fine. Are you ready?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, let's blow this popsicle stand," I said.

Niall pulled me into a quick hug and put a kiss on my forehead. "Have fun, Mick," he said lightly. Harry opened the door for me to walk though it.

"I'm sure I'll have the time of my life," I quipped. Harry followed me out the door and shut it behind him.

-

The restaurant was nice. Way nicer than any place I had ever been before. "We're going here?" I asked Harry.

"Did you think we made you dress up to go to McDonalds?" Harry teased, nudging my leg with his.

"Whatever," I giggled. The car parked out front and we climbed out of the backseat. Harry held the door like a proper gentleman.

"Table for Styles," Harry said to the hostess. She nodded and nodded for us to follow her, which we obliged to. She led us to a corner booth. I slid in one side and he sat down across from me. "Don't look now, but there's paps to our left," Harry said.