I woke up before the sun rose, feeling surprisingly well rested for what I had to deal with last night. During the night, Harry had moved closer, his face centimeters from mine.
He stirred a little in his sleep; his lips parted slightly, and his eyebrows furrowed. It took all my strength not to lean in. After I was done being a creep, I almost laughed out loud, thinking about Harry's antics from last night.
I got up quietly so I didn't wake him. We were supposed to be at bus call in a couple of hours, so I straightened out my suitcase and got ready for the day. I braided my long hair, not really bothering with washing it, or whether or not it looked good.
I threw on an old little league baseball t-shirt I'd found back in one of the Goodwill's in Missouri, and jeans. Makeup seemed like too much of an effort right now, so I packed everything up, putting my makeup bag in my purse for later.
For Harry's benifit, I made coffee. I was sipping on my second cup and reading a book in the sun when I heard his body stir from under the sheets. "Oh god," he groaned, pulling the sheets over his head further.
"Good morning to you too," I grinned as he sat up and put his hands over his face.
"What time is it?" his voice sounded groggy, which for some reason, I found extremely attractive.
"Just after 7:30. How you feeling?"
"How do you think?" he laughed dryly. "Like death."
I got up to get him a cup of coffee, handing it to him along with two Advil, as he sat at the table. "You're the best, T."
I sat down across from him. "I would assume so; you were telling me how much you looooved me last night," I smiled, and he rolled his eyes.
"Oh, that's embarrassing. Thanks for putting up with me," he reached over and touched my hand. It didn't last long before we awkwardly pulled away as another bolt of heat shot through us.
"Oh, no problem. Best friend," I winked. "We have bus call in an hour. You might want to get
ready." He groaned again, causing me to laugh.
"I'm looking forward to it," he said sarcastically, and grinned. He wrapped me in a hug, and the smell of his shirt made my mind go fuzzy.
He squeezed my hand. "Thanks for everything," he whispered in my ear softly when he pulled away to go take a shower. He gave me another one of his heart stopping smiles before shutting the door. I stood there, stunned.
Harry Styles had a tight grip on my heart, and he refused to let go. I wondered if he had remembered what I had told him last night. My brain wandered off to all of the dreams I had been having, and I foolishly wished they would somehow come true.
When he came out of the shower looking ten times better than he did when he first woke up, my breath caught. How could somebody, as hungover as he was, be so handsome? It just wasn't fair to the rest of the male population.
He ruffled his still-damp hair, smiling at me. "Care to help me pack my suitcase?" he batted his eyelashes so I couldn't say no. Once that was done, we still had about half an hour. We sat there staring at each other before I suddenly lit up.
"Do you think we have enough time for a McDonalds run?" I smiled brightly over at him.
He pulled me to my feet. "Let's go!" we ran down the street, thankfully there was one about a block away. It was too early for any of the fans to be out, so Harry didn't bother with the hat, but he brought the sunglasses just in case. When we walked into the McDonald's, my stomach instantly rumbled, which earned a loud laugh from Harry.
When we stepped up to the counter, the man working recognized him instantly, sending me a shocked glance. I shrugged. Harry didn't seem to notice this. "Um, I'll have an egg McMuffin. And she'll have a chocolate milk and the pancakes with two syrups and one powdered sugar," he recited. The man went to make our food, and we sat down at a booth.
I stared at him incredulously. "How did you know that?"
"I have my ways," he winked. But then I recalled our late night walks back when we were neighbors. I had once mentioned that ever since I was a toddler, I'd always ordered the same breakfast. But there was no way he could've remembered that. Unless he had been listening to every little detail?
The order came, and he got up to get it, handing me my pancakes, my face still filled with shock and flattery. "For you, love."
He wasted no time before digging into his breakfast.
"How did you know that?" I repeated, not wanting to believe it.
He shot me a look. "Oh, shut up and eat your damn pancakes."
I blushed, shooting him a look back. "Well, fine. No need to get snippy..." I took a huge bite, chewing happily.
He looked over at me, and suddenly burst into laughter. I narrowed my eyes. "What's so funny?"
He just smiled, shaking his head. "Here, you've got--" he reached over and carefully with his thumb, brushed away a bit of powdered sugar from the corner of my mouth, letting his finger drag over my bottom lip. My eyes went wide as I struggled not to breathe.
He brought it to his mouth and his tongue rolled over his thumb slightly, never once breaking eye contact. He noticed my face then, and smirked. He had done that on purpose.
"We've got to get out of here," he noted. I nodded, unable to form words after what just happened.
When we had gotten our bags from the room, the bus was waiting for us, and the other boys we're coming down as well. I spotted a very hungover-looking Louis. I snickered at his disheveled appearance, and he gave me the finger, smiling tiredly.
Niall seemed to look just as bad. I walked up to him, and gave him a pat on the back. "How you holding up, Nialler?" he just groaned, and I grinned. I greeted Zayn, who was plugged into his headphones. We all hopped onto the bus.
Liam came up to me while the driver was loading the bags. "So, how was that nightmare?" He gestured to Harry.
"It was surprisingly uneventful. He told me he loved me, more than once. He had trouble getting his pants off, but other than that, he handled himself," I told.
Liam raised his eyebrows at that. "Did you have to help him with that?"
I rolled my eyes. "No Liam, I didn't take his pants off."
"What the hell are you two talking about?" Louis had overheard the last bit of the conversation and had burst into laughter. I patted Louis' shoulder. "No need to worry about it, Lulu." I walked past them and put all my things on top of my bunk.
Just as I sat down on the couch with the rest of them, Stu walked in. "Alright boys, so as you know, this leg of the tour is almost finished. We've got a couple more shows in London as well a a week off before we head off to the US."
I whipped around, staring at them. Rachel had failed to mention that little gem of information. I was going back to America?
"Is something wrong. Topher?"
I shook my head. "No! No. I just...didn't know it would be so soon!" I lied.
Zayn smiled over at me; he knew I wasn't telling the truth.
"Okay so, to London then." Stu disappeared off the bus. I sat completely still, and a lump formed in my throat.
Louis came over and plopped down beside me, ruffling my hair. "Yay! Topher's going home to America!" he cheered, grabbing my arms and swinging them around.
I tried to look as happy as I could but inside I was in torment. I rose from the couch and made my way to the back lounge to watch a movie, read a book, anything really, to try to keep my mind off of the impending doom bringing me back to America would cause.
I was halfway into 50/50 when I heard a soft knock on the door. "Come in," I didn't even have to look to know who who was standing there.
Harry sat down next to me with a big sigh. I turned to him, running my hands over my face. "They let him out three days after my eighteenth birthday, Harry. He's still out there. What am I going to do?" I whispered, my eyes welling with tears.
He simply wrapped his arms around me, letting me cling to him for what seemed like forever. He pulled me into his lap at some point, cradling me to his chest, and stroking my hair. "Topher, look at me." I stared into his green eyes, which were centimeters from mine.
"No matter what, I will keep you safe. No one is ever going to hurt you again. I promise you, with all of my heart," he murmured, brushing away stray tears from under my eyes. I sniffled, leaning into his palm where it rested on my cheek. He looked at me with sadness. "God, it kills me so much to see you this way."
I sighed, "I'll be okay, now that you're here. And I'm sorry you always have to be around for my breakdowns," I laughed as I looked away from him. "Oh God, your shirt is ruined. I am really sorry," I pulled at the fabric that was now completely tear stained and soaked.
He brought my face up with his finger, and looked into my eyes. He gave me his famous crooked smile, and my heart sputtered. "T, I couldn't give two shits about the shirt. As long as you're smiling, it's alright," he murmured. He traced his fingers over my face smiling softly, and my eyes invountarily closed. I felt him kiss my forehead, and I knew everything was going to be okay, as long as he was around.