Watching Harry attempt to flip a pancake without ruining it was the highlight of my morning.

"Your bloody spatula is broken." He frustratedly grumbled, putting his deformed pancake on the plate while I leaned against the counter and made sure he didn't burn anything down.

"There is nothing wrong with my kitchen utensils. You just aren't letting the pancake sit long enough." I tell him, taking the spatula from him so I could flip the last pancake.

He stared at me in awe when I managed to flip it without making a mess or ruining the shape.

Once it was done, I turned the stove off and turned around, seeing Harry with a frown on his face.

"Awe. Are you mad you can't flip a pancake?" I cooed teasingly, sliding my arms around his torso while he glared down at me.

"Bully." He mumbled, resting his arms around my shoulders.

"Love you too, asshole."

That got him to smile. He leaned down and left a quick kiss on my lips. After I pulled away, I grabbed the pan and put it in the sink, getting ready to wash the dishes.

"Uh, no. I'll wash them." Harry insisted, bumping my hip.

"I cooked, so I wash them. You need to eat so you can go get ready."

"You need to eat too." He says scoldingly.

"I'll eat when I'm done." I lightly shoved him out of the way and smiled when he finally moved.

My smile left when he lifted me up and I was hanging over his shoulder. "Hey!"

"Sorry, darling. You of all people should know I will not let a woman do all the housework. This isn't the fifties." His hand came in contact with my ass and I let out a squeal before I was set down on the other side of the counter, rubbing the spot he hit.

"Vafanculo." I cursed at him under my breath, watching as he took my place at the sink and began to watch the dishes.

"Language."

With an obviously fake smile, I flipped him off, which only made him grin widely before he finished cleaning the rest of the dishes in the sink.

We ate our breakfast quietly, talking here and there about random things until I booted him out of my apartment.

An hour later, he met up with me at Riley's along with everyone else Nick had decided to bother into going to the carnival with him.

"He was so comfortable, I swear." Nick says to Zayn, and I watched as Louis sighed and leaned back into the couch.

"I've got some work to do then." He mumbled, looking down at his chest.

"You're fine, Louis. Don't change yourself for Nick. He's not worth it." I tell him with a hint of humor, nudging his side with my elbow.

"Hey, I can hear you." Nick glared at me.

"I know. That's why I said it."

"Ding dong." A voice erupted from the front door, and it immediately brought a grin to my face.

"Speaking of the devil..." Nick smirked in my direction as Harry came into view.

"Why am I the devil?" My boyfriend questioned confusedly, standing behind the couch and sliding his arms around my shoulders. My hands slid up and rested on his wrists, his chin on the top of my head.

"It was nice cuddling with you this morning. We should do it again some time." Nick winked, earning an eye roll from me.

"I want my key back. Harry deserves it more than you." I said, but he ignored my request and proceeded to flip me off while Harry dipped his head down and pressed a kiss to the side of my neck.

"Wait, what?" Riley cut in, sitting up straight and looking between my eyes and the pair above me. "You two are back together?"

Smiling, I nodded slowly.

"For how long? How did I not know this?" She exclaimed in disbelief.

"Just a few days. I thought Zayn told you guys already." I shrugged. "Nick's story made it pretty obvious too."

Riley looked over at Zayn, who was glancing at different parts of the room to avoid her eyes.

"Seriously?"

Zayn finally met her gaze and frowned. "See how shitty it feels to feel like your best friend is hiding a relationship from you?"

Riley tensed up and mirrored his frown while Harry and I immediately caught on to what Zayn said.

Nick sensed the awkwardness that grew between them and stood up, clapping his hands together excitedly.

"Who's ready to go the carnival?"

• • •

Harry, Zayn, and I rode in the same car while Nick, Louis, and Riley rode in another.

We were now all walking around the fair after we had gotten our wristbands and it was pretty nice outside. Not too hot, but not too cold either.

My hand was clasped in Harry's as we walked alongside Zayn, who was going on a rant about Riley.

"I don't understand why she is so scared of telling you guys. You're not upset about it." He frowned, looking ahead to see Riley, Nick and Louis walking towards one of the rides that swing you around in the air.

I've never been a big fan of these fairs. I only came for Nick because I knew he loved coming. Sure, in high school I had some fun times here, but I eventually started to hate these poorly maintained rides. They are never cleaned so it's basically a traveling disease center. Not only that, but the parts are carried in a van and assembled in just a couple days? Sounds like a death wish.

"Would it make you feel better if I talked to her today?" I asked him, a little concerned to see him so down. He must really like her.

"It would, actually."

"Okay. Once they are done with this ride, I will talk to her." I smiled, patting his shoulder with my free hand. "Now go have fun."

"Thank you." He sighed, smiling lightly at me before going to catch up with them in line.

"Look at you, playing matchmaker." Harry spoke as we walked slowly towards the ride to wait for them.

"It's not playing matchmaker if they are already together." I pointed out, removing my right hand from his and stretching it out.

"Hey." He frowned.

"Sorry, my hand was sweating." I chuckled. He grabbed my arm and pulled me so I was walking on his other side, taking ahold of the hand that wasn't clammy and locking our fingers together tightly.

"There." He grinned, kissing the back of my hand and letting them fall between us.

"Its just gonna sweat again, I hope you know that." I tell him.

"I don't care."

"Fine. Then don't complain when it's starts to get uncomfortable. I'll drag you out of here with our hands tied together."

I caught his lips lifting into a grin, and I raised a brow.

"What?" I asked.

"Say out again."

"Out?" I confusedly obliged.

He let out a giggle and shook his head, leaving me even more puzzled.

"What?" I whined.

"Nothing. Just noticing your Canadian accent." He bit down on his bottom lip as we came to a slow stop in front of the ride our friends were on. "You say out like oat."

"What? No I don't." I denied, saying the word in my head a few times until I heard it.

He pointed at my face. "You do, and you just realized it."

"Well you knew what I meant." I huffed, releasing his hand and folding my arms over my chest.

"I wasn't making fun of you, baby. I think it's cute." He laughed, wrapping his arms around me from behind and nuzzling his nose against my jaw. "I love you."

I fought the urge to smile, but he could easily tell I was breaking when my frown wavered.

"I love you more." I murmured without hesitation.

"What are you doing Monday night?"

"Probably celebrating the end of my period." I snorted jokingly, smiling at a few people I knew as they walked past me. "Why?"

"Let me take you out." He whispered, his lips ghosting over my ear and sending shivers down my spine.

"On a date?"

"Yes, on a date." He smiled against the skin of my neck. "I just got my best friend back and I want to prove to her that she means the entire world to me."

He's so cute.

"Mm. I'd love to." I quietly answered with a huge grin, watching the ride slow down and eventually come to a full stop on the ground again. I turned around and slid my arms around his waist, looking up at his beautiful green eyes. "And you don't have to prove anything. She already knows."

Dimples. That's all I have to say about his expression.

"Good." He whispers, pecking my lips quickly and holding my hand once again so we weren't too close anymore considering we were in a very public place.

"Look at you two, being all sickeningly adorable. Feels like twenty-sixteen all over again." Nick gagged as the four of them walked over to us.

I glared at him, but my gaze shifted to Zayn, who glanced at Riley sadly.

"Hey, Riley, I'm gonna go buy some water. Walk with me?" I asked, slipping my hand from Harry's and kissing his cheek. Knowing what I was doing, he smiled and walked over to Zayn.

"Sure." She shrugged, dragging her feet on the pavement as she approached me. Once she was close enough, we started walking further away from everyone else.

"I need to talk to you about something but first, let me say that I am sorry for not telling you about Harry and I. It's still new, and I figured Zayn told everyone. We weren't even trying to hide it, honestly." I started.

"Babe, it's fine. I know your period was probably murdering you so I get why. I just miss when it was so easy for us to come to each other after something happened." She frowned, the truth behind her words very clear to me.

"I know, but it can still be like that. If something happens to you, you can always come tell me. No matter what, I'll always love you, Riley. You're my best friend." I smiled sympathetically when I saw her frown deepen.

"What if I have something to tell you, but I'm scared you won't be my friend after?" She sighed, crossing her arms over her chest as we leisurely strolled towards the middle of the fair where the concession stands were.

"Trust me, there is absolutely nothing you can tell me that will affect our friendship." I tell her with honesty, adding in a joke to lighten the mood. "I mean, if you were to tell me that you seduced Harry, then we would have a problem. But I know you wouldn't do something like that."

She shook her head with a smile. "Yeah, I would never do that to you."

"But something is bothering you." I stated.

She sighed and dropped her arms, picking at her blue nail polish. "Promise you won't hate me?"

"Promise." I reassured, holding my pinky out and watching her smile as she locked hers with mine.

"Okay, I'm just gonna say it." She took a deep breath and shook her hands to loosen up. "Zayn and I are dating."

I forced out a gasped and brought my hands to my cheeks, feigning shock. "No. Really?"

She gave me a blank stare. "You knew."

I dropped my hands and grinned. "Of course I know! I walked in on you two naked in bed the morning I came to get Nick's shirt."

"So you're not mad?" She hesitantly asked.

"Not at all. If being with Zayn makes you happy, I'm all for it." I nudged her with my elbow. "So...you and Zayn. Tell me everything."

"It started when you and Harry were dating the first time. We were all at the beach with Harry's family in July and you were in the water with Nick and Harry. I think I had a couple beers and couldn't drive so I asked Zayn if he could drop me off at my dorm because I didn't want to disturb you guys. He was annoyed at first but he did it anyways." She smiled as she remembered everything she was telling me.

"When we got to my dorm, he had to use the bathroom so I let him do that while I took my bathing suit off. I couldn't undo the top tie because of my long nails so he did it for me and I just...kissed him. We ended up sleeping together. And then it happened again, and again, but neither of us bothered to stop it. We hooked up the rest of the summer and didn't talk after he went back home. Then after Lou and I broke up, he was so kind to me about it all. One thing led to another and..."

"You slept together." I finished, feeling giddy at the sight of her becoming shy talking about Zayn.

"Yeah. We agreed it was just rebound sex, but after a while I told him I actually really liked him, and he told me he liked me so...yeah. That's how it happened. We haven't confirmed the whole boyfriend/girlfriend thing, but we have been dating for almost a month." She finished, waiting for my reaction.

All I could do was smile. I was truly happy for her.

"He's a very good man and you definitely deserve someone as amazing as him. Same for Zayn. You are prefect together."

She looked at me in relief, her shoulders relaxing. "I just didn't want you to judge me because it happened so soon after Lou and I broke up. I kind of new the moment Zayn and Harry moved here that I liked him a lot more than just someone I hooked up with three years ago." She smiled shyly, avoiding my eyes.

"I would never judge you, Riley. If you like him, don't let it stop you because I know for a fact he really likes you too." I started. "The other day, he came to me upset because you didn't want to tell anyone. He looked hurt so I know he cares about you a lot. Nothing ever hurts Zayn."

"He did?"

"Mhm. So I'd talk to him when you can because he's been down all day."

She nodded and smiled down at me. "Thank you, Maddie."

"No need to thank me. I just want to see my friends happy."

"Speaking of which..." she trailed off before looking at me suggestively. "You and Harry?"

I roll my eyes playfully. "It was bound to happen."

"Obviously." She snorted. "But how did it happen? Did he admit he was still in love with you or did you do it? Was it before or after Italy

"Technically, I did tell him first, but how it led to that point was very complicated." I exhaled deeply. "And it was...both before and after."

"Oh? Well I'm listening."

I filled her in on everything that happened. From the moment his family came to the moment we got back together and everything in between. To say she was in shock is an understatement.

"I missed a hell of a lot. Holy shit." She laughed to herself. "I'm happy for you though. I know he makes you really happy."

"He does." I agreed, looking behind her to see the guys walking over to us. I smile when I make eye contact with Harry, and his lips lifted up.

When we finally met up with them, I certainly was not expecting Riley to straight up start kissing Zayn. He was taken by surprise, but melted into it and wrapped his arms around her.

"Hell yeah!" Louis shouted, throwing his fist in the air.

"Get a room." Nick commented, but I flicked him on the forehead.

Harry put his arm over my shoulder and pulled me into him, his sexy cologne filling my nose.

"My work here is done." I say in amusement before leaning into Harry's side more.

"I want one of those." He whispers in my ear, nodding towards Zayn and Riley's make our session that was cut short by a wolf whistle Nick had added in.

"If you can be good the rest of the day, you'll get a lot more than that." I say quietly so only he heard me, smiling when I heard his heart start beating a little faster.

"I'll hold you to that, baby."

• • •