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After sitting in two hour long traffic and actually driving a whole whopping hour, Harry pronounced that we should call it a day and make camp at a rest stop. Being the exhausted runaway bride I was, I happily agreed.
"I think this is where the campers and stuff park." Harry said, frowning at the road in front of him with his tongue stuck out in concentration. He maneuvered us into the long space and then turned the engine off, leaving us in complete silence.
"C'mon, I'll show you around the back. It's quite roomy." He smiled, nudging me to follow along. I felt a bit awkward invading this guy's space, but I didn't have many other options of where to go. Well, at least none that were this good.
"This is our kitchen, along with a table for two." He said. "We have a fully stocked fridge and pantry, as well as a working dishwasher."
"In exchange for giving me a temporary living space I think it's only fair that I'm on dish duty. Plus, it's the one job I really don't mind." I said. Harry looked at me with a huge frown on his face.
"No, no." He argued. "I brought you along by choice, and so as my guest you won't have to do any work around here. That's what a good host always does and I want to fulfill the role of a good host." He was so polite that it almost made me laugh.
"I object." I teased. "But I have a happy medium we can come to. Since we're technically roommates until you see fit, we'll share the load. Each of us can split the work in half and we each must clean up after ourselves on occasion."
"Deal." Harry nodded. "Proceeding with the tour." He spun on his heel and grabbed my wrist gently as we maneuvered our way through the hallway that was going down the whole tour bus. "This here is the living room, complete with two couches, storage space, a flat screen, and a convenient cabinet filled with all of my favorite board games.
"Board games?" I snorted. "Mr. Famous celebrity that has no time to interact with fans on social media has time for board games?"
"It's a hobby." Harry said in his defense. "And I'll bet that I can beat you in Apples to Apples too, so don't you say anything smart about it." He smirked. I wasn't really sure whether or not I believed him about his so-called "hobby" until he opened a closet full of board games, three of which were versions of Apples to Apples.
"Guess we'll never know, because you need three players for that game." I chuckled.
"Fine, fine." He sighed. "Oh, over there is the loo and it has a shower as well. And if you follow me, there's a master suite in the back..." I bit my lip, wondering where this magical second bed that I was supposed to sleep in was going to appear. Something told me that it never was going to.
"Here we are, the grand finale of the tour. I asked for a waterbed but they don't allow them on tour buses." Harry said sadly.
The bedroom was bigger and better than mine, despite the fact that it was on wheels. The bed was an elegant red and black and above the headboard there was more closet space, just as big as the one that I had back at my parents' house. Another thing that I noticed was that there was another flat screen, similar to the one that I had literally seen two seconds ago.
"Damn." I muttered. "You're stacked."
"Thank you, I think." Harry gave a weird look as he chuckled.
"Wait, no." I blurted as I finally absorbed what I had just said. "That was supposed to be in my head, pretend I never said that. I swear I'm not trying to mooch off of you or anything. Really, all you have to feed me is Fruit Loops or something and I'll be fine."
Harry laughed.
"Relax, love." He said. "We're roomies, remember? What's mine is yours."
"Right." I noted. "So then I guess I'll be getting the queen size bed and both of the flat screens?"
"You will be taking the bed, yes." Harry confirms. I paused, unsure of what to reply to that, because what I said was completely joking and sarcastic, but the way this boy was looking at me told me that he wasn't being sarcastic back. Did he really expect me to take the big bed that was supposed to be for him away from him?
"It's okay, the couch is fine." I insisted.
"I know the couch is fine, but the bed is even better." Harry argued. "Which is why my guest will be staying in the bed, because I am the host."
"We're roomies, remember?" I said, quoting something he had said not even a minute ago. "And as your roommate, I am giving you the bed to sleep on as a peace offering. Take it or leave it."
"Alright, alright, I give in." Harry chuckled. You can put your clothes that you packed in any of the open closets, I'll cook up some Ramen for dinner for us and I can find something on the television, if you'd like."
"Sounds great." I smiled at his hospitality.
Harry walked through the corridor back to the kitchen, leaving me in the living room/ my new bedroom. Even though I was perfectly conscience of what I had done, it hadn't fully sunk in yet. As I unzipped my large bag, I pondered what was going on back at home. Had they called the cops for a search party? Were they worried about me at all? I didn't even care.
I wondered what would happen to me after this experience. My abrupt leaving would not be good publicity for my father's company, and since that was his main priority in his life, I knew that going home any time soon wasn't a rational option. The only way they would probably let me back into their home was if I married Matthew, which I would only do over my cold, dead body.
Besides, the only thing that Matthew had going for him was his looks. And now that I had somehow managed to become the roadtrip partner of a very gentlemanly man called Harry, I was honestly fine with not having to mother Matthew's children. The mere thought of having little Matthew's running around the house was enough to make bile rise in my throat.
I glanced down at the large sofa in front of me, trying to figure out how to make it pop down into a bed. Sticking my tongue out in concentration, I stared at the plush sofa and looked all around it for some sort of button to push to make it into a bed, but when I couldn't find it I resulted in jumping on the couch and wrestling with it in an attempt that it would magically turn itself into a bed.
Suddenly, the pull out couch started to move towards me until it folded me in like some sort of sandwich. I screeched loudly as it squeezed me tightly, engulfing me in black leather.
"Help!" I called. "This thing is eating me!"
I heard a husky laugh from somewhere in the room, which I knew was my new roommate Harry's.
"This isn't funny!" I protested. "All of a sudden I was trying to make the bed and it decides to cave in on me!"
I looked up to the little crack of light that I could see atop me, and suddenly there was a head looking down on me. Harry was grinning and giggling like a little schoolgirl as he waved some kind of remote in front of me.
"This, my friend, is the remote control that controls the couch. And this red button is what you press to make it fold itself in, which is what I just pressed moments ago." He cheekily laughed.
Since I was pinned down and unable to move my arms, Harry was basically taunting me with the remote as I struggled to wiggle myself free. His laughed rang out through the whole bus as I shouted some colorful language his direction.
"Ow!" I cried out. "I think I just broke my leg." I fake cried.
Suddenly, the couch opened up into the bed shape that I had been desiring all along and a very serious looking Harry was body checking me for any serious injuries. I smirked at him once I was completely free and hopped myself out of the bed, snatching the remote from his hands.
"Hey, that was mean." Harry pouted.
"So was restraining me in a folding couch, Styles."
"Touche."
We both grabbed some blankets and neatly assembled them on the makeshift bed, and by the time we were finished it looked nice and homey. Harry rearranged the pillow in a very intricate way, putting the two larger ones in the back and two small ones in the front.
"It's getting late, I can see what's on television and we could just chill out if you'd like? Or I can go stay in my bedroom and give you some space if you'd like to sleep." He smiled warmly.
"You can put something on t.v if you'd like." I said, tucking a loose strand of hair behind my ear. "I'm just gonna grab a glass of water from the kitchen, if you don't mind."
Harry nodded and I slipped into the kitchen to find a glass cup. I had to rummage my way through nearly all of the cupboards until I found one with the glasses in them. I ran my cup under the tap and drank the water quickly before draining the last bit in the sink and setting it in there. After all of the events from today, I felt like I just needed to take a step back and chill out.
24 hours ago, if you had asked me where I would have been right at this moment, I would have replied by saying I would be on my way to my honeymoon destination. And now, I was parked in a bus and tractor trailer lot somewhere in New York state, completely single. The way things can turn out to be is absolutely mind boggling.
I returned to the living room a few minutes later, with Harry watching a rerun of Fresh Prince and sitting on the floor in front of my bed. Everything felt a tad bit awkward- I mean, even though he was known worldwide that still didn't mean he wasn't a stranger to me personally.
"You good?" He asked. I only nodded.
"Thank you for taking me in...to your lovely bus home thing." I said awkwardly.
"It's not a problem." Harry smiled. "Can I ask you a question though?"
I froze, knowing what this was all about. And it made sense for Harry to wonder about exactly why I didn't want to participate in my wedding, all he knew was that I didn't want to get married and he saved me from it. I guess I should have known that questions were going to be coming sooner than later about just why I didn't want to get married.
But, instead of just going along with the question, I had to attempt to get out of it through wit.
"You just did." I smiled a bit nervously.
"Oh, come on!" Harry laughed. "Everyone does that to me!"
"I'm sorry." I giggled.
"Anyways," Harry said. "Can I ask you why you didn't want to get married? And if you didn't want to, why did you stick around? If it were me I would have broken it off beforehand, you know? I'm just curious, 's all."
My heart rate was rapidly increasing as I tried to come up with an answer. Yes, my family had forced me into a marriage and done something that was completely illegal, but that didn't mean that I was going to sell them out just like that. They were my own family. Besides, I didn't think I was ready to tell anyone about it, let alone a boy that I had just met today.
"My feelings had changed." I lied. "And I felt bad if I didn't go through with the wedding, so I went along. It wasn't until the day of my wedding that I realized there wasn't any way that I could get married to him."
"So, you fell out of love?" Harry's face fell. "I always liked to think that once you were in love, you stayed in love, y'know?"
"I think that's true, too." I said quietly. "But in this case, it was never really love."
"And what would have happened if you just didn't say 'I do'?" Harry pondered. I wasn't sure whether to feel a sense of tenderheartedness toward him or annoyance. I really didn't have any valid and honest answers for him simply because I wasn't ready to give them.
"Guess I would never know." I smiled weakly. "Hey, uh, I think I'm gonna go to bed now. You can stay and watch t.v in here if you want, though."
"No, no, it's fine." Harry insisted. "I was just thinking of going to bed, too, actually. It's been a long day, especially for you."
"Right." I said stiffly. The air felt awkward and uneasy.
"So, goodnight, then, roommate." Harry said.
"You too. Again, thank you for everything." I said sincerely.
"It's not a problem." Harry got up and turned the television off, leaving almost no light in the tiny room. I found my way over to my suitcase of things that was sitting on my bed and plopped down next to it, exhaustion finally kicking in.
"And uh, I really think you made the right decision." Harry said. I didn't have time to reply, because he had closed the door that led to his bedroom. I smiled before getting myself completely ready for bed, and then fifteen minutes later, falling asleep in a rather comfortable sofa.
In the morning, I woke up in Harry's bed.
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a/n:
i decided that updating this might make some of you feel better and i really hope it did <3
WE CAN GET THROUGH THIS. STAY POSITIVE, I LOVE YOU ALL. i have a feeling zayn will be coming back, anyways. i'm not gonna stop writing, either!! sorry guys, but you can't get rid of me that easily ;)
VOTE/ FAN /COMMENT
i love you guys so much, we really are a bunch of troopers
All the love,
xx Del