tbh this gif is so so so so appealing to the eye & the song I attached is so amazingly good (Bad Blood by NAO)
// Get this story ranked higher than #74 in fanfiction by voting & commenting! 💖🎉
Norah
I hopped out of Harry's Range Rover at the O2 Arena with a fat stack of cash.
Just kidding. I had like thirty pounds.
I closed the door and swung my small leather backpack over my shoulders. I walked around the car to join Harry. He took off his sunglasses and placed them on top of his head. As soon as we walked through the entrance, pulsing music was bouncing off the concrete walls. It was too muffled to tell what song it was - meaning that it was probably being played on the stage.
"Someone's having a party," Harry joked, looking down at me.
I nodded. "Yeah, it sure sounds like it."
We turned a corner to walk down a narrower hallway. I recognized it from yesterday as the one Harry's dressing room was located at. He unlocked the door with a separate key on a red lanyard with the O2 Arena label on it.
I followed him inside and he turned on the light. The black blankets were still hanging on the walls, and I hid a smile behind my hand.
I sat down on the couch and leaned my elbow on the arm of it. Harry dropped his duffle bag in the director's chair, then picked up a lighter from the vanity, lighting the two candles on the table.
"I'm not making a move," he murmured in assurance.
'"You're not moving away."
"Can I?"
"You really shouldn't."
"I want to...But you don't...want it."
"Didn't say you were," I smiled.
He turned and walked over to sit at the other couch against the opposite wall.
"Just wanted to make it clear," he noted with a nod.
"Can we...talk about it?" I sputtered out cautiously.
I felt like what happened this morning was plain confusing.
He slowly ran his tongue over his lips before pursing them outwards. "Mmhm." He sounded like he was very interested in what I had to say. I would be, too, if I was in his shoes.
"I don't not like you."
I cringed at myself. Holy shit. That was a horrific start.
Harry's smirk deepened with amusement. His eyes were trained on mine and for some reason they calmed me rather than freaked me out even more.
"That was fucking awful," I blurted out loud, a smile cracking through to my face.
He let out a breathy laugh and a wide grin.
"Okay, let me try that again."
"You don't have to say anything, Nor," he sighed. "I put you in an awkward situation, and -"
"But it wasn't awkward - to me. I...I just don't know what I'd be getting myself into," I struggled to find words to express what I was thinking.
"I understand," he nodded, looking down at the coffee table between us.
"At the same time, I don't want to think much about it. I want to just let things happen. And with Sam, you know?" I silently begged Harry to look up at me again. I felt jumpy all over, and I just wanted to see his eyes.
"I get it. Trust me. There's a massive load of shit that comes into play with this."
"Because you've never had a girlfriend while being famous," I concluded.
His eyes flickered up to mine as soon as the words left my mouth. It was just a wild guess that I shouldn't have said out loud.
It was quite possible and likely that he'd had a girlfriend but kept it a secret. The fans have always believed that all of the media explosions involving people like Kendall Jenner, Taylor Swift, and Nadine Leopold, were fake. But who knows what the reaction would be if he were to get involved with a regular girl.
"Right," he said just above a whisper. His gaze softened on mine.
Harry sniffed and scrunched up his nose. He shifted his position on the couch.
"I wouldn't want to just throw you in this life either, Nor. You're too...genuine."
I raised an eyebrow. A small smile curved onto my lips, hoping to ease the tension.
He laughed at my reaction. "That wasn't supposed to be taken as anything other than positive. I just...I honesty have no idea how the public would react to someone like you."
"Assuming we were dating," I added.
"Yeah, and even if we were just going out for some lunch, like we have in LA. If paps or fans had gotten any pictures, they would've found out who you were in five minutes."
I nodded. That was definitely the reality.
He suddenly let out a soft laugh along with a smile. "But I really like you, Norah. That hasn't changed."
I bit the inside of my cheek. "Then we've caught ourselves in a bit of a crossroad."
He tucked his chin up, his fingers playing with his lower lip. His eyes wandered around the room like he was lost in thought, so I didn't say anything. My thoughts began running wild, as well.
This was dangerous territory for sure. Relationships shouldn't be business deals, but in this day and age, they could be. Even if I had true feelings for Harry, which I very well may, I was sure it'd be made everyone else's damn business. Everyone would want something from me. They'd expect me to act a certain way, though my relationship with Harry had nothing to do with them. His management, I'm sure, would weasel their way in between us, as well.
"Norah."
My head snapped over to Harry. His face was flushed and I wondered what was wrong with him.
"What?" I asked.
He let out a breath, another heart stopping smile finding it's way to his face.
"Oh, thank god," he muttered.
"What?" I repeated.
"You didn't hear me?"
Had I zoned out that much?
I shook my head. I felt a blush creeping up to my cheeks.
"Good. I asked you out and you didn't answer and I was starting to freak out a bit," he chuckled.
My lips parted. Come again?
"Well, it actually wouldn't just be the two of us...so...I guess it's not really a date," he continued.
"You're gonna have to elaborate a little better, Harry," I explained.
"We could go to dinner. With, like, some of my friends. But in the restaurant, we could sit at a separate table. If you're comfortable with that. Or we could sit as a group."
"You really thought that through," I smiled.
"Yeah. I mean, it's pretty genius, right?"
I reminded myself to let things happen.
I pushed my hair off my shoulders and tucked my legs underneath me on the couch. "Yeah, it is."
I watched him stand up. He walked over to sit beside me - close enough so that I could feel the heat that radiated off his body.
"So, do you want to do it? Tomorrow night after the show?" He asked.
His gaze drifted downwards. I realized I'd been absentmindedly biting down on my lower lip. I release d it and a smirk began to form on his face as we made eye contact again.
"Just a date. Just talking," I clarified.
He tucked a strand of hair that'd escaped from his bun behind his ear. "Mmhm."
A loud chime bounced off the walls of the room. Harry took his phone out of his pocket. "Cal wants to meet you at the stage. I'll come with."
I nodded and we both stood up from the couch. Before Harry left, he blew out the candles.
"Hey, Norah?"
"Yeah?"
"Can we just say that I've been on vocal rest all day?"
I laughed. "Instead of just for three hours? Fine."
***
There were two hours before the show started and Harry and I were just sitting around.
He was on his phone beside me. He sat so that one foot laid flat on the couch cushion and his other leg was bent, his knee resting just on top of my thigh.
I was bouncing between texting Winter and scrolling through Twitter and Instagram. A fan account that I followed on my personal tweeted a picture of Harry from backstage this afternoon. I opened the tweet so that I could see the full photo.
"Still not your favorite, huh?" Harry coughed. In the midst of looking over my shoulder, his arm pressed against mine.
I locked my phone. "Mm...I don't have a favorite anymore."
"Whaaat?" He drawled.
I turned my head to the side just as he started to lean his head in. The intended purpose was probably to say something into my ear, but now the temperature in the room seemed to rise several degrees.
"Aye! Aye! Come on, lad!"
At the sound of Louis' voice coming from down the hall, I leaned away from Harry and faced forward.
"Fine. One game," Liam replied to him. Both of them turned the corner and entered the room. Their eyes locked on us.
"Hey, you two," Liam greeted, a bright smile on his face. I smiled back, but my head was still recovering from yet another intimate moment.
"Hey, Liam," Harry murmured, sounding less than enthused.
"Harry, you wanna play FIFA?" Louis asked. He took a seat at the couch facing the television. He and Liam took the game controllers from the coffee table.
"Rather not."
Louis looked over at me. "Gotta be polite...Norah, do you wanna play?"
"No, I'd probably get too frustrated at how bad I am at it," I admitted.
"Understandable," he chuckled.
While Louis set up the game on the TV, Liam sat next to him. He looked over at Harry, then made eye contact with me. He sent a small smile my way then looked back at the TV. I had a feeling that he was wondering why Harry was sitting so close to me.
God, what if he suspects something between Harry and I then starts secretly hating me because he thinks I'm using him.
Okay, maybe that's a little bit of a stretch.
"Liam, is Sophia busy?" I asked.
"Nope, she went to see the other girls in makeup."
I stood up and brushed off my jeans, keeping the small smile on my face. "Okay. I'm gonna go see what they're up to."
"Do you know where it is?" Harry asked for reassurance.
I glanced down at him. "Yeah, but I'll text you if I get lost."
A hint of a smile showed on his face.
As I walked out of the room and turned to the left, I could hear Liam.
"Bet you're wishing she'll text -"
"Liam," Harry hissed impatiently.
There was more talking after, but I was too far away and it was muffled.
Only when I stopped to knock on the door the girls were in, did I realize that I was smiling.
Lou opened the door and brought me into a hug. "Hey, salt!"
I hugged her back. I saw Lux in between Gemma and Lottie on the cou -
Gemma?! Shit. Shit. Shit.
"Hi, Norah," Lottie said.
"Hey, Lottie." I cringed at how wavered my voice sounded.
I dared to look at Gemma who was already looking at me with a curious look on her face. I sent her a friendly smile. Her expression became taut and unreadable.
I had a good sense of what I may look like to her. I was a girl that her brother may or may not be involved with. She must be protective over him - being his older sister.
So, yeah...I had a feeling that we weren't going to be BFF's for a little while.
"Norah," Gemma said my name like she was piecing together a puzzle.
I walked with Lou to the couch parallel with the one Gemma was sitting at.
Thanks, Louise. I've become an open target for suspicious looks and, ultimately, death glares.
"Yeah. Norah Gates. Hi," I sputtered, still keeping a friendly smile. I think I was going for the "I am not the enemy" impression.
"I'm Gemma," she said and pursed her lips.
I know. That's why I'm practically shitting my pants.
"It's nice to meet you," I replied.
Lux looked over to me while she was halfway through braiding a portion of Lottie's hair.
"Hiiii." Lux gave me a big, cheesy smile that made be feel a little bit better.
"Hi, Lux. I love that braid your doing."
"Thanks."
The door to the room opened again and Sophia walked in. She had on a 1D t-shirt and boyfriend jeans. I didn't know that it was possible to make a 1D concert t-shirt fashionable, but Sophia pulled it off.
"Hey, Sophia," I smiled.
"Norah! I was wondering where you were." She walked over and I stood to give her a hug.
"I like your shirt," I complimented.
She laughed and glanced down at it. "Oh, me, too."
She sat between Lou and I on the couch.
"Norah, where are you from?" Gemma queried randomly.
"Originally, or currently?"
She shrugged. "Both."
"I was raised in Northern California near Oregon, but I live in LA. More specifically, Glendale."
"Do you have any siblings?"
I nod. "An older brother."
"Does he live in LA, too."
"No, uh, he's a marine. He's currently overseas."
"What's his name?"
"Evan."
"Done!" Lux exclaimed, jumping off the couch once she'd finished Lottie's braid.
I was grateful for the distraction from the personal questions.
"I haven't done No's hair yet," she said. It sounded like she tried to say "Nor", but with her accent and not being able to enunciate words completely yet, it sounded like "No".
"You can do mine," I assured, scooting over towards the arm rest so that Lux had room to stand. She got to work on my hair as soon as she got on the cushion.
For the next fifteen minutes, we talked about nothing in particular. Honestly, I didn't care about what the topic was, as long as it wasn't about me. Personal questions were not my personal favorite, that's for sure.
"Well, it's 7:30, we should go check in on all the lads and their hair," Lou decided standing from the couch.
"I'm not finished!" Lux declared loudly. She was still doing my hair. She'd finished the braid quickly, but then decided to try a fishtail without using any extra elastics. So, basically, she tied my hair in knots.
"You can finish my hair later. I promise," I told her.
"'Kay."
I smiled and started to follow Lou and Lux to the lounge.
"Norah? Can I talk to you?" Gemma asked.
I stopped in my trail before I made it out the door. Sophia, Lou, Lux, and Lottie were already out. Sophia sent me a reassuring smile that just screamed that she knew why Gemma wanted to speak to me.
"Yeah, sure," I replied lightly, turning back into the room.
Gemma, who had been standing a few feet away, moved to sit at the couch. I sat down at the one angled towards her.
My heart was beating at a hundred miles per hour, while she seemed calm and composed.
She took in a deep breath, then let it out steadily. "What are you to my brother?"
Her voice wasn't threatening, yet it also wasn't nonchalant.
How the hell was I supposed to answer the question when I didn't even know the answer myself?
"We're friends," I bleated.
I saw the corner of her mouth twitch upwards. Good sign? Bad sign?
"That's not what he told me," she informed.
My lips parted.
Harry told her about me?
I stayed stiff. "What did he tell you?"
"I won't say that, but...I'll tell you what I think."
I nodded my head very slightly.
"I think that my brother is very careful. Especially being his renown self. He can't trust people. Not that he doesn't want to - because he does - he just can't. He's been used countless of times, he's had fake friends, and he's only one person. I know you're a fan, and I have yet to figure out why you're here. No offense..."
I shake my head, dismissing it. I sat still and speechless.
She licked her lips and thought to herself for a few moments before she continued.
"He's been through so much shit. He's basically given himself up to this life. He's let this management company drag him around. They've made him go to the shops with a girl he doesn't even know. They've had him go walk in the park and hold hands with someone whom he'd only met minutes beforehand. He hasn't really done anything for himself in five years. I love my brother. I'm protective of him because he doesn't have a lot of people around him who are.
"But you, Norah, I think that you're for him. I think you're the thing he's done for himself. I don't know if you two have talked about a relationship at all, but you and I both know that you guys aren't just friends. And that's okay. Nobody ever said that's a bad things." Her voice got softer and softer as she spoke.
"Actually. I take that back. The fans are going to think that's a bad thing," she chuckled. I let out a laugh as well, finding that the tension in the room had dispersed immensely.
"Please, Norah. I think we can both agree that Harry deserves every good thing in the world. So, I'm begging you. If you have any doubt in your mind about him - if you don't want that relationship with him because of him, don't lead him on. Break it off right now, if that's the case."
I really respected Gemma even more than I already had after hearing this from her. All she wanted was to make sure Harry was happy, and she believed that I could do just that.
"I just want to know him first. I want to know him better. He knows that. And I know that the fans and the media are going to put a toll on things. I guess I'm lucky that I don't give a rat's ass about what people think of me," I said, then sighed. "I just got out of a relationship. One I jumped into too quickly, and I don't want that to happen with Harry."
Gemma nodded. I practically sighed in relief when a smile came to her face. She stood up, so I did, too.
"It really is nice to meet you, Norah."
"It's nice to meet you, too. Thank you. For telling me that."
Her shoulder raised and dropped. "Just looking out for my brother. Anyways, let's go find Lou and them before they think I've murdered you or something."
I raised an eyebrow while following beside her through the hallway. "Why would they think that?"
She shrugged again.
Even though I knew she was joking, I didn't know if I felt like laughing or crying.
When we made it to the lounge area, Lou was fighting with Louis because he apparently believed his hair looked perfectly fine, but Lou thought otherwise. Then he ran out of the room and one of the security guards trailed after him.
I saw Harry sitting on the couch on his phone, but he looked up once I walked closer. He met me halfway.
"Hello, Norah."
Not that fucking robot woman voice again.
He grinned and I just shook my head slowly. I stepped closer to him. "If you start screwing around, I'll tell everyone that you didn't obey the vocal resting rules."
His eyes narrowed for a split second, then he began typing on his phone. When he was done, he looked up.
"Vocal resting rules?"
I just smiled. It was hard not to.
"Norah? Can you come help me for a minute? Soph and Gem disappeared," Lou called over to me.
"Yeah, sure," I replied.
I started to walk over to her, but a hand gripped my upper arm gently. I spun back around just to have Harry touch my waist to turn me back around so that my back was towards him again.
"You've got a bunch of knots in your hair," he breathed out.
His hands touched my hair, working at what, I'm sure, was left by Lux. When I felt his fingers brush slightly in my hair after the knots were out, I faced him again.
He had lively smile on his face.
"Beautiful," he whispered.
A/N: I'm screaming
I hope you all liked this chapter!! I'm really happy with how the Gemma speech turned out :')
Please vote and comment to get this story ranked higher! Next chapter will be up ASAP(:
HAVE A HAPPY NEW YEAR'S! MAY 2016 BE BETTER THAN 2015! 🎉
Twitter: @wtvrharold
Instagram: @harry.reckless
xx
OH AND THIS STORY IS ALMOST AT 100K READS WHAT