"What are we even doing? I'm tired and traumatized."
Harry ignores my whining as he drags me out the back exit to the hotel. For once we're leaving in clothes we'll be easily recognized in on purpose. Especially in the streets of New York when Everyone knows we have a concert later today.
I can already feel the anxiety starting to manifest in the pit of my stomach the second we're out in the open and in the eyes of the public and the paparazzi I already know are lurking everywhere.
It's New York.
"You've got to let it go, Niall. You're not that innocent.", Harry points out as we walk shoulder to shoulder, doing our bests to keep our heads down. At least I am.
I scoff, "Now that's just insulting, Harold." "Fuck off Nigel."
"No but seriously.", I do anything to distract myself from whatever reason Harry has for insisting that he drag my poor arse around New York. "Because I would love to know what the hell you're up to that you need me to come with you. My innocent self can't come up with something other than murder or bank robbery."
Harry snorts. His head is turning to look at me with a smirk, that I know for a fact is just for show. His eyes don't shine the way they do when he's actually gloating. "I would love to break all the laws that exist with you, Nialler. But you see. I have this thing that I may or may not have agreed to.", he explains vaguely.
I grab the sleeve of his knitted, blue sweater to force him to look at me. My heart breaks into a million pieces when I see the moisture filling his eyes behind the hair that's fallen out of the roughly styled quiff he did as a joke to mock Zayn after walking in on Liam and Zayn nearly fucking on the couch this morning.
"This better not be what I think it is."
When Harry doesn't say anything, it takes everything in me not to leave him right here and track down Simon or Joanne's hotel rooms and scream until my throat is dry.
Harry's hand around my wrist might be holding me back too, but that's besides the point.
"Harry. This isn't okay. They can't do this to you again. You're not what they're trying to make you out to be, you idiot. You're not fucking into anyone but Louis fucking Tomlinson who is also a part of the same band as you with sass the size of Jupiter.", I lower my voice when people start looking, praying that no one heard anything.
Harry wraps his arms around my shoulder so he can get close enough to whisper in my eat, the sound of cameras clicking making me hug him back, "We're going to go meet a girl named Zara. She's 24. She's supposed to be my new beard. But it is going to look better if you're there with me. If you're uncomfortable with it, then we won't. We'll just go back to the hotel and eat pizza until we nothing short of throw up."
I shake my head. "No Haz. I'm here for you, ok? But why do you want me to go with you and not Lou. It would be hilarious to see him try to keep from biting her head off."
Harry chuckles, giving my shoulder a squeeze before letting go of me and ushering is to keep walking to wherever he is planning on ending my life. "You, my friend, are one sadistic motherfucker.", he laughs, "You and I both know that poor girl wouldn't have as much as a fingertip left after Lou is done."
I shrug, feeling at ease now that we're joking about it. Humour is good. Humour is something I understand. "Or maybe he and her become best friends and she steals your cuddle privileges."
Harry gasps in faux offence, "You did not go there."
"Oh but I did.", I throw my arm across his shoulders, cursing the tall frog for being taller than me. It is not ok. Never had been.
-
Turns out this Zara is an aspiring artist looking to get money to cover whatever shit she wants through this whole stunt business.
She seems incredibly sharp and creative. At least from the short amount of time the three of us spent walking aimlessly around as they kept closer than I thought they would. But every five seconds Harry would look at me helplessly, obviously wanting the ground to swallow him whole. With his lips into a pout whenever there wasn't a paparazzi in sight.
When I got furious texts from Louis demanding to know why the hell I was out with Harry and his new 'Townes'.
He send me links to various articles already circling the internet about how this was gonna be either a fling for the days Harry is in New York. Some say they're old friends. There is even someone saying that they met back in 2015 and that she got pregnant with his child. Where they got that from, I honestly have no idea.
These people writing pure gossip and lies about celebrities are just embarrassing themselves at this point.
The whole stunt thing set aside, Zara is an alright girl who is gonna get a lot of hate thrown at her that she doesn't deserve.
Right now Harry is off to use the bathroom. Or at least that's what he said, but he is probably talking to Louis though Zayn on the phone at the moment. There is no way in hell that Louis is going to let Harry get off that easy when he didn't tell him about Zara.
"Ok. Question for you now that Harry is gone for a minute."
I snap my head in Zara's direction.
She's sat next to me on the bench we chose to wait for sir Harry the non-royal Styles to finish his business. Her legs are crossed and she is turned halfway towards me, her arm draped on top of the bench.
I sigh, "Shoot."
She grins at me, crinkles appearing next to her hazel eyes. Her eyelashes are a thick, dark frame around her almond-shaped eyes. A tiny wing of white eyeliner contrasts her skin. "Are all of you going to hate me?"
My eyes widen at her. "Why on earth would we hate you, Zara?"
She cocks her head to the side. "Come on, Horan. I wasn't born yesterday. You're all tighter than any group of five people on this planet despite everything you've been through. This horrible thing that's being done to hide your sexuality, I'm now a part of. I'm just saying that I wouldn't blame you if you did hate me."
She isn't trying to get my pity or compassion. She just wants to know straight up if this makes her a bad person.
"Want the truth?" When she nods, I make I explain it to the best of my abilities, "I hated you a few hours ago. Now I think you're alright. I can put my anger at what you're doing aside to see that you're a decent person, Zara. And the same is going to happen with the other guys too. Especially Louis. Which I'm guessing you already knew. But we're all kind men."
I point at her with a look when she nods again, "But if you do anything to damage my babies, I don't give a shit if you have a contract that says you have to kill someone, I will hurt you."
Zara laughs at me, her unusually deep voice making my lips tug into a smile. "I thought you were supposed to be the innocent one of the group."
"Oh, this baby is all grown up. Daddy Direction could only dream of having my balls."
"I can already tell you're insufferable.", leaned closer as if she was telling me a secret. "Can you tell me I'm wrong?" I shake my head, jutting my bottom lip out, "You've got me all right, Zara. Down the T."
Someone clearing their throat has me turning towards Harry standing with his hand on his hip, "What are you two lovebirds chatting about?"
"Niall's balls.", Zara says bluntly, forcing me to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing.
But the joy is sucked right out of me when I notice the whites of Harry's eyes are red along with the tip of his nose. "Give us a second", I say to Zara as I get off the bench and walk a bit with Harry, leaving her to her vices.
I make him sit down underneath a tree with me, the surrounding bushes offering some desperately needed privacy that is probably going to seem questionable to anyone who doesn't know why.
"Are we about to kiss right now?", Harry tries to cover up for himself with the weak joke. "And you call yourself a comedian."
Harry pouts, "That's fucking mean, Niall and you know it?"
I shoot him a look, "Harry Styles. You do not get to cry without me and then lie about it." When he opens his mouth to protest, I cut him off, "I know that you did, Haz. You look like shit, mate. I might have a love for food unlike no other. Just like I have exceptional eyesight."
Just like that Harry's eyes brim with tears, his hands curled into fists in his lap. I take one of them in between mine, "Talk to me, Haz."
His bottom lips wobble as he gives up on keeping his composure as we're sitting in between bushes in the middle of New York. "Louis was so hurt Ni. He wouldn't talk to me, but Zayn told me everything. I know he's been texting with you. How did he seem?"
"Angry."
Harry lets out a cynical laugh, "He's not even close to being angry. He has been crying since the first article came out, Ni. How the hell did I think it was a good idea to do this without telling him? To spare him the anxiety I knew he was going to have about this whole thing. I am so fucking stupid and the worst boyfriend in the whole fucking world."
My heart spills all over the ground around us joining the pieces of Harry's floating around in the same ocean of tears that are spilling from both our eyes as I pull his head to my chest, stroking his hair.
He snakes his around my and sobs into my chest, wetting my shirt with his tears as his fingers hold onto the back of it.
I don't know what else to do than just sitting here with him and pray to God that no one, especially not the paparazzi go through the trouble of having no fucking decency at all. Harry and I are both mentally exhausted from not just this day, but the past months.
"What am I going to do with you now, Harold?"
He sniffles, still holding onto me, refusing to lift his head from my chest, "What do you mean, Nigel?"
"I mean you ruining my perfectly good shirt with your froggy tears." I can hear the smile in his voice when he jabs back, "Let's not get started on all the clothes you owe me, you dipshit. And I don't look like a frog. I don't even know where you got that."
I hum, "Sure you don't, darling."
After a while of just staying there talking about everything and nothing, Harry turns serious, "Thank you, Niall."
"What do I owe these pleasantries my friend?", I put on my best posh accent, earning me a slap on my back and a friendly 'Shut up' grumbled into my chest. "I'm being serious, dickhead."
"You're always there for everyone even when you don't have to be. We've been sitting under a tree. On the ground. For probably way too long letting me snot all over your clothes. After I dragged you out on a stunt with me without telling anyone where we were going when I know we have a two-and-a-half-hour concert later the same day. And you don't ever complain about it. There is nothing I can say to justify what you do for us."
Every word coming out of his mouth is spoken into my chest, my throat once again closing up from the heaviness of the emotions going through me right now.
I cough in an attempt to ease the discomfort, "Except for leaving that poor girl behind for way too long."
Harry shrugs, "Let's leave her behind for a little longer. Our faces are too red right now to be seen in public." I laugh at him, scratching his scalp. "What do you mean ours?"
"Don't you think I heard your little sniffles? You're not that slick, Horan."
"No comment, your honour."
-
Hey!
Long time no sea....girl
How's your guniea pig (or however you spell it. I'm tired.)
*gasp*
is this? omg. it is. a new chapter? who am I?
On a serious note though, I am so sorry for dropping off the face of the Earth. I've been writing on a different book for a month now.
So much shit has happened that I might as well have forgotten my own name. This is killing me. All the anniversaries. Tour. Pleasing. Dazed. Liam. Niall. Zayn. Harry. Louis.
I hope you're all ok and enjoyed whatever the fuck this chapter is.
TPWK!!
I love you!!!!!!!!
- Emily xx