Unrequited

Chapter 16

After dinner as the five of us plodded around London, window shopping in the freezing air, I felt a headache coming on. Although it was only a faint pain for the moment, I knew by the time we reached the hotel it would be blinding. Bundled up in coats and scarves, we passed numerous shop windows all decked out in red, green and gold decorations - we were nearing the Christmas season. Usually I would have found the lights and displays mesmerising, but now they only escalated the throbbing in my forehead. 

Back at the hotel, I’d convinced Louis I was better off spending the night in my Mum’s room. “You sure you don’t want me to get some of your stuff from our room?”

“No, really Louis, it’s alright. I’m just gonna go straight to bed...and Mum has some of my stuff in her suitcases anyway,” I nodded quickly, longing to just flop into a warm bed with a couple of Panadols in my system. “Okay, ‘night Char,” he said kissing me on the cheek. “Goodnight my little Australian sister!” crowed Niall, giving me a big hug, completely smothering me and only letting go just as I was about to suffocate. “We’re really enjoying having you on tour you know!” he called out, pointing at me as he backed down the hallway. I watched both boys return to their rooms before knocking on Mum’s door, having already said goodnight to Zayn downstairs where we’d left him to chat up a young receptionist who worked the late hours.

My mum’s space was far bigger than the one I was having to share with the two boys. She had not one, but two rooms to herself, the hotel having been able to make new arrangements after a couple of nights. She made it her business to play the worried mother, ushering her ill daughter into the spare bedroom and going through the Spanish Inquisition of medical diagnosis. After she deduced it was just a headache and a bit of a sore throat, she left me to sleep. 

***

I awoke to the sound of my Mum on the phone, my throat dry and feeling as though someone had taken a cheese grater to it. My eyes watered, my head felt heavy and my sinuses were blocked. So it was going to be one of those days. “Oh I’m sorry love, I don’t think so...she’s not well...no of course not, you go and enjoy your day off, full day of press tomorrow...yes, okay...thanks so much for asking, Niall, that was very sweet of you...see you later!” I heard the hotel phone replaced and Mum came into my room as I lay there drowsily, swamped in blankets and drowning in squashy hotel pillows. She felt my forehead. “Do you need me to stay here with you love?”

“No, no Mum,” I rasped, “Go out! I’ll be fine.”

“You sure? I’m out with Sam for the day. He wanted to take me sightseeing while we had the chance.”

“Go, really,” I insisted, waving her away. “I’m just going to sleep all day anyway.” She sighed, putting a hand to my forehead again with a look on her face that told me she was seriously thing about giving up her day off. I gave a small smile which seemed to convince her I was okay and she finally left, calling out to me about phone numbers and emergencies and so on as she went.

I heard the door slam behind my mother and I rolled over, groaning as I tried to reach the remote for the TV off the bedside table. The thick curtains let no light in, making the room a slightly depressing environment to be unwell in, but I vied to lose myself in whatever was on TV and maybe drop off to sleep again. In tune with the growing Christmas buzz, my favourite holiday movie was on - Home Alone.

I can’t have been asleep for that long because the movie was still going when I woke up. Oddly enough, I wasn’t in the slightest bit startled to see the figure perched on the end of my bed, leaning back on his hands and looking up at the television on the wall opposite. He was singing along quietly with the Christmas carol playing on the movie. Even more strange was the fact that I did not immediately question his presence in my room. I guess my brain was a bit cloudy after just having woken up. I began to study him as best I could over the waves of seemingly inflated pillows and blankets before he noticed I was awake. His hands were braced on the bed covers, his fingers long and almost feminine in their daintiness. The way they had made me feel spread across my back as he had hugged me previously was only possible of a masculine force however. He was strong and capable and his character was larger than life. I was tiny, somewhat quiet and always afraid to speak my true feelings and thoughts. No matter how comfortable I felt around him now, hugging Harry was like physically mashing together two very different personalities and it always left me feeling very small and insignificant - not to mention the fact that apart from the emotional effects, I experienced some physical effects that had formerly been very foreign to me, including losing the ability to stand up without assistance. My eyes moved upwards, taking in the way his thin woolen jumper fell loosely from his broad shoulders. The material did nothing to hide the obvious curve of his upper arms but as he was leaning back, the material gaped at his shoulder blades, leaving his no doubt muscular back entirely to imagination. I then came to his slender neck and glossy curls. The sight sent shivers down my spine and I rolled over with a quiet groan. The movement caused Harry to turn around and I had to pretend I’d only just woken up, not been staring at the back of his head for ten minutes. “Hey!” I said with a tone of surprise as I struggled to sit up. My voice was croaky with sleep. “You’re awake!” he smiled, pulling his legs up onto the bed so he could face me. “I am!” I gave a puzzled sideways glance as I rearranged my pillows. “Erm, so...what are you doing here? How did you get in?” His smile was much too bright for this time of morning but I was nonetheless happy to see him happy - it was a nice change from yesterday. “You left a spare key in the other room. And I thought you might want some company,” he chirped. “Niall said you weren’t well.”