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it's you and me, that's my whole world, they whisper in the hallway "she's a bad, bad girl"
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HARRY'S POV
"Thank you New York! We are One Direction! Good night!"
And I'm running.
"Harry, your mic!"
Now I'm not...
...Now I am again.
"Where are the girls?" Niall shouts from behind me as we repeat last night's exit, running through the hallways of backstage to get to the cars waiting to get us out of here.
"I didn't see them in the box when we left so they must be waiting!" Louis responds, the squeaking of our shoes being so loud that it's almost louder than him.
I'm gonna get an asthma attack from this one day, god.
We probably look ridiculous as hell sprinting like we are, but it's necessary, okay? Otherwise we'd be stuck in the mayhem of people trying to leave the parking lot. Which makes me feel bad for the people that actually have to sit in their cars for however long...but I can't say I'd want to do it.
"Oh fuck, my phone is in the green room–" Liam groans, taking a detour down a different hallway but the four of us keep going. Brooklyn has my phone, at least I hope she still does, because I gave it to her before the show for this very reason.
When we reach the doors to the outside, Zayn is the first one to push them open and the rest of us follow. I hear Liam catching up to us and we all frantically split up between the two SUVs parked and running– Niall, Zayn, and me going for the one in front, and Louis and Liam in the one behind. I have no idea who's in which car, but right now that's not the biggest concern.
Zayn opens the back passenger door and flies in, me following him and seeing that my mum is sitting in the front passenger seat, and Gemma, Brooklyn, and Devin are in the back seat. I get squished between Zayn and Niall as Niall slams the door shut and the driver takes off. Niall lets out a loud whoop, probably fueled by adrenaline, making half of us jump in our seats.
"That was the best show to date. I'm not kidding. I've never felt better!" He exclaims loudly, right into my ear.
"We agree." I turn around at Brooke's voice. I immediately take notice of Devin's face, evident that she's been crying and I immediately grow concerned.
"Devin, are you okay?!"
"No." She deadpans, staring at me with a blank face and I look back at Brooklyn.
"She's okay." She mouths at me, but clearly not quietly enough.
"No I am not." Devin says. "I just witnessed– no, you know what, I can't talk about it. This is too much–"
Brooklyn puts her arm around Devin, and I can tell she's totally stifling a laugh and a smile.
"What she's trying to say is that this was the best night of her life and it might take a while to recover."
I want to laugh, but then I would feel terrible because I'm glad she loved the show.
I see Gemma pass Devin a water bottle and I turn back around in my seat, smiling to myself and I can hear Zayn laughing under his breath next to me.
Looking at Brooklyn, the thing that happened before the show comes rushing back to me and my cheeks are beet red.
I can't believe I said that.
I mean, I can, because it's true, but I just had this whole idea of how I would say it in my head and it was not that chaotic. That's what I get for waiting until the literal last second to get ready for the show– an accidental love confession. Who knew? I could tell by her reaction that it didn't shock her that much, which I'm glad about, because that means she knew that's how I feel and was just waiting for that last confirmation.
I still want to actually tell her for real, with just us, and in a much calmer manner than I just did.
We make it to the hotel in what feels like record time, and soon we're all jumping out of the car and making our way through the entrance. I wait for Brooklyn to catch up to me, also seeing Reagan and Hadley emerge from the other SUV and it's apparent both of them have been crying too. I'm truly glad they enjoyed the show, but I still feel bad for some reason.
We all pack into the semi-big elevator– probably not big enough for every single one of us, but it's fine– and it smells horrendously bad thanks to us, and everyone rushes to be the first to get out once we get to the floor.
"So we do happen to have more plans tonight, if that's okay with you." I swing my arm around Brooklyn's shoulders as we walk to our room.
"There's more?"
"Only if you want there to be."
"What is it?"
"Just going out. We have to, but you guys don't if you don't want to."
"You're crazy if you think any of us would turn that down."
"Better spread the word that we leave in an hour, then."
She bites her lip through a smile, slipping out from under my hold and jogging up to stop Devin in her tracks to tell her the plans I just relayed to her. Hadley definitely overhears and lets out an excited 'fuck yeah' and soon everyone knows what we're doing, and are naturally already rushing because apparently there's too much to do and too little time to do it.
Everybody ducks into their respective rooms, Brooklyn and I heading into ours and her wasting no time in flinging open her suitcase, mumbling up a storm about finding something to wear.
"What's wrong with what you're wearing now?" I ask her genuinely, and she whips around.
"I'm going to be very candid, I sweat so much during the show that this dress might permanently reek. So I think I need to change." She grimaces.
"If it makes you feel any better, just look at me. I probably could've filled up a gallon bottle."
"That's– okay, ew."
I slip my t-shirt off my head, immediately balling it up and chucking it in her direction.
"No–" She yells, dodging the gross piece of fabric and cursing at me while I laugh. "Stop doing that! Go take a damn shower."
"Only if you–"
"No!"
I throw my head back in laughter as she waves me off, going into the bathroom and turning the water on. Not even two seconds after I shut the door, there's a knock.
"Yes?"
I open the door to see Brooklyn standing there with her arms crossed.
"I forgot something." She mumbles.
"What?" I raise my eyebrows.
"I love you too."
Oh.
"Yeah, sorry about that..." I murmur.
"Why?" She chuckles. "It was funny, and frankly perfectly on brand."
"Yeah, but like, I wanted to tell you in a much more meaningful way."
"Well did you mean it when you said it?" She asks.
"Of course."
"Then it's fine."
"Really?"
"Of course." She repeats my words. "Plus I kind of already knew, so."
"Me too." I smirk.
"Yeah?"
"Mhmm." I hum, reaching out to grab her waist and pull her against me, planting my lips on her for a fleeting moment. "I want to do a lot more than just kiss you right now."
"And I would happily let you, but we're on a time crunch."
"Let's ditch."
"Nope."
"Whyyy?" I whine like a kid.
"I wanna have fun."
"I can show you fun–"
"Get in the shower." She rolls her eyes at me.
I smile.
***
It sounds like someone's trying to break down the door when the clock hits a minute before we're supposed to be downstairs. I slip on my boot and grab my jacket, slipping it on and jogging over to the door and swinging it open to see Louis and Niall on the other side.
"What?"
"You ready?" Niall asks.
"Yea, but why do you look like you've been doing laps up and down the hallway?"
"He's nervous." Louis whispers loudly.
"Shut the hell up." Niall smacks the back of Louis' head.
"Okay." I shake my head, stepping out of the room and shutting the door behind me. "Where is everyone else?"
"Liam and Zayn haven't–" he stops when two doors simultaneously open, revealing the two of them, "never mind. Girls haven't showed yet. Wait, where's Brooklyn?"
"She disappeared to one of the girls' rooms half an hour ago." I shrug, running a hand through my hair.
"Which room is that?" Liam thinks out loud as he and Zayn catch up to us.
All of us shrug. Meaning, we're stuck waiting here because we can't really go knocking on every door since that could be awkward.
Conveniently, a few seconds later, a door about four doors down from the mine opens. Nobody comes out immediately, but I can hear several familiar voices overlapping each other and it sounds chaotic. All of our heads whip in the direction of the noise as one voice starts to grow particularly loud.
"At least I'm not going to make us late!" Devin yells, her body halfway out the door. She fully emerges and the door shuts behind her, drowning out the rest of the noise.
She breathes out a sharp breath and plasters a smile on her face. "I better have a drink in my hand in the next thirty minutes or one of you isn't gonna make it to your next show."
I raise my eyebrows, wondering what has been going on in there, but knowing what I know about them, hell was probably raised.
The door opens again. "Where– oh." Reagan's head turns in each direction of the hallway before her eyes land on us. Her hair is loose down her back and she's wearing a different outfit than she wore to the concert– a black, corset-type top with a black leather skirt and big black boots.
Has Niall hit the floor yet?
The door opens again, this time revealing Hadley and Gemma. I didn't know Gem was coming along, but I'm glad she's getting along with the girls; now all we're waiting on is Brooklyn, of course.
"Don't worry, she's right behind us." Gemma says to me, making me roll my eyes. "And she looks fantastic."
Okay, now I actually don't know how I feel about my sister coming with us.
Impatient, everyone else starts to file out of the hallway and to the elevators to head downstairs, leaving me waiting. Which I don't mind, frankly. Less than a minute after everyone disappears around the corner, Brooklyn emerges from the hotel room and I just about choke on air. In a good way, I swear.
She's wearing a fitted, red silk top that's neckline is scooping down and entering dangerous territory, paired with a tight black skirt similar to Reagan's that has a small slit and ends around her upper thigh. She's not really paying attention to where she's walking because she's putting an earring in; her hair is still softly curled and down her back and the cherry on top is the bold red color that's painted on her lips.
"Oh my god, am I that late? Where is every– why do you look like you're about to throw up?"
I clear my throat. "They...haven't been gone long at all, you're fine."
"Okay, but why aren't you blinking?"
"Hm?" I hum, unable to keep my eyes in one place as they admire and appreciate every inch of her.
"Fuck, I knew I should've said no to the red lip–"
"No." I stop her immediately, forcing myself to snap out of my daze. "I don't...you look..." What are words? "Fucking phenomenal."
She gets shy immediately.
"Oh...you don't have to...we can just..."
"No you don't." I grab her arm as she tries to brush me off and head for the elevators.
The chances of surviving tonight when my girl looks like this? Low. Better yet, not happening.
While I still have the chance to before our unpredictable night ahead, I wrap my arms around her waist and pull us together and smash my lips against hers, not missing the way she subtly pushes her hips against mine and makes me even more feral.
I pull away barely a centimeter. "You know, maybe we just ditch everything and I unlock this door and we–"
"No you don't." She repeats my words from two seconds ago, chuckling. I groan, knowing she has all the power right now and she knows it. "In fact, we should probably catch up or they'll leave without us."
"Why is that a bad thing?"
"Because if they do then we're walking and I don't think that would work out well."
I stuck in a breath through my teeth, knowing she's totally getting her way because I'm completely helpless.
"God help me." I murmur under my breath, my forehead against hers and my eyes shut tight.
She chuckles, pulling away and lacing her fingers through mine. She pulls me to follow her down the hallway, but I don't move. I can't move.
"Come ooon." She draws out, annoyed at me.
"I physically can't." I say under my breath, trying to collect myself.
"Wh–" she starts, stops herself, realizes, and then slaps her hand over her mouth. "Oh."
"Yeah, oh. And I'm not apologizing because it is one hundred percent your fault."
***
Twenty minutes later and we're pulling up to the club scene, but the absolute last thing that was on my mind is waiting for us outside the door.
A swarm of paparazzi.
There's two bouncers/security guards keeping them out of the way of the door, but there's still an absolute pit in my stomach about it.
How did I not think of this? Think to even mention the possibility of it to Brooklyn? Hell, I should've known.
I can totally tell she's seen them because it's impossible not to. We're sitting in the middle row of the car and she's next to the window, Hadley, Liam, and Gemma in the back row behind us. Liam totally noticed too because I can hear him mumbling in frustration under his breath.
I would be a lot less annoyed that they were here if the girls weren't here and having this sprung on them. It might not seem like a big deal, like it's just a few photographers, but in the ten seconds you're in front of their cameras, they can yell whatever the hell they want at you to try to provoke you. And boy do they take advantage of that.
"Um..." Brooklyn starts, whipping her head to me and I nod at her, knowing what she's gonna say.
"I know. I wish it was avoidable, but..."
"I'm sure it'll be fine."
"Even if it is, just keep your head down. They're gonna shout things and say things so just tune them out as best as possible. I'm don't know if there are sunglasses–"
"It's fine." She reassures me.
"Just hold my hand, okay? I don't want anyone getting lost in the lights."
She nods, and I feel terrible because it's clear to me that she's a bit nervous and is trying to play it off. I don't blame her– these people can be ruthless to get the photos they want.
I also know that we're thinking the exact same thing– getting our photo taken together means that there's a one hundred percent chance of our relationship getting 'exposed.' The only reason we've kept it so private until now is because we were doing long distance and were never seen together– not counting that one night in Charleston last summer– so this is going to be the rip of the bandaid we've been waiting for. And I don't think either of us know what to think about it.
We obviously don't have to confirm anything if these photos do find their way to the media, but I'm not going to try to make it unsuspecting and walk a mile behind her to avoid the potential rumors.
"I'll get out first." I tell her once the car stops and she nods, and I slide all the way across the seat and open the door.
Before I can even get a foot on the ground, I'm simultaneously going blind and deaf from the flashes of the camera and the volume of the paps shouting at me. When I help Brooke out, it's like the volume doubles, and I can tell by the look on her face that she underestimated in her head what it would be like. To my left, I can see everyone else hopping out of the other car and bracing themselves for the walk to the door.
The ground beneath my feet looks damp, so it's possibly been raining or going to rain later. It also smells like rain. Great. I don't wait up for everyone else, grabbing Brooklyn's hand tightly and quickly trying to get inside as we're yelled at.
"Harry, who is she?"
"Harry, is she your girlfriend?"
"Harry, who'll be next?"
"Harry, how long will this one last?"
Just what you want to hear, isn't it? I tune it out. I hope to god she does too.
One of the bouncers escorts us inside and I exhale the breath I was holding in, turning to Brooklyn.
"You okay?"
"They just don't give a shit, do they?"
"Not necessarily, no."
"Jesus. I can see the headlines now, 'Miss Americana and the Heartbreak Prince: How long will this one last?'" She repeats the yells of one of the paps.
"Please, they're not that clever."
The rest of us pour through the door, everyone rolling their eyes and poor Devin looking traumatized. Reagan just looks confused, and Hadley looks totally unbothered.
"Drinks? Please? Now?" Gemma says, and all of us nod rapidly and disperse.
The place is relatively crowded, enough to have to speak louder than normal over the volume of the voices and the music. I have no idea the name of this place or who's here, but I have a feeling it's only going to get more crowded as it gets later.
Liam points out a huge corner booth across the room, and about half of us follow while the other half stay at the bar waiting for drinks. It's so dim in here that I have to squint to try to see more than five feet in front of me.
Brooklyn slides into the circular corner booth first, followed by me, with Devin, Louis, and Zayn sliding in on the other side.
"Will they still be there whenever we leave?" Brooklyn leans over and asks me, situating herself in her seat.
"If they don't get kicked out beforehand, then it's more than likely." I sigh, feeling terrible about it even though there's nothing I can do about it. "Are you sure you're okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine" She nods her head convincingly. "I just need a shot."
"Or three."
"Or five."
"Or ten!" Devin shouts.
"Okay, I don't wanna drag anyone out of here unconscious tonight!"