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Perrie turns to Zayn, and I can tell as soon as she opens her mouth, she didn't realise how loud she was talking over the already loud conversation.
"Who's Max?" Perrie asks, leaning over Zayn's shoulder as he reads a text message, and it seems that I am not the only one who is suddenly intently interested in listening to his response.
Not this again...
I try my best to not react to the shift in conversation, though I feel Harry tense up – almost for a fraction of a second as he sits next to me, and I hope and pray that I am not mentioned within his text message.
Zayn stares at the screen, presumably re reading the message, and then realises that mostly everyone in the car is watching him closely, waiting to see what he says.
"Oh, err nothing much. Just wishing us boys luck, and that he'll see us at the after party," he says, as he locks his phone.
I'm not convinced that is all that was said in the message.
This is confirmed when Zayn flicks me a look of confusion momentarily, and I sink a little bit into my chair.
We pull up to O2 Arena and the sight before my eyes is one that I never thought I would be a part of. The red carpet is teeming with celebrities, journalists, paparazzi, and camera crew. Fans cheer behind the barriers, all hoping to catch a glimpse of their favourite artist. Niall is closest to the door and steps out, and the noise from the fans cheering is instantaneously increased as they realise that One Direction are now here. I step out with Harry and he holds my hand lightly in his hand, giving it his little reassuring squeeze to let me know everything is okay. Instantly, I can see the reporters trying to wrap up their current interviews as they see that the boys have arrived, and we wait at the foot of the red carpet while we await Perrie's band Little Mix. Moments later, they arrive, and we all work towards the area in a little cluster that we have formed.
It is one thing to watch a red carpet screening in the sanctity of your living room, though another thing entirely to experience it yourself. I'd never realised the true extent of the harsh brightness of the combined camera flashes. Harry and I pose against a backdrop of the Brits logo, and soon we hear reporters calling out the One Direction, and the name of each band member to call their attention. I squeeze his hand to grab his attention.
"You go on and do your interviews. I can wait with the girls," I smile. I understand he has his commitments and I can handle being away from him for five minutes.
"You sure babe?" he asks, and I nod and let go of his hand.
"Don't be silly – I'll be fine," I confirm.
I am extremely aware of the camera flashes fixated on us as Harry grabs my head tenderly in between his hands briefly, and pulls my face to his as he kisses me twice on the mouth.
Eleanor taps me on my shoulder, grabbing my attention and I continue to walk down the red carpet with her.
"Wait, what about Sophia?" I say, calling her back.
"She says she's going to wait with Liam," she says, her expression kind of saying it all. It's as it she's saying, "I know," when she sees my own.
This must be a regular occurrence then...
My phone vibrates in my clutch purse as I climb up the steps, and I stop and smile as I read the message from Harry.
"You look beautiful."
I look back down below and spot him in a group interview, trying to meet my gaze. He blows a subtle kiss in my direction and I can't keep the smile that is now permanently plastered on my face.
"I know."
I hit send and watch his reaction turn from cool, sexy Harry, to a laughing, less composed Harry in a matter of seconds.
"You coming?" El asks, waiting for me at the top of the stairs. We continue until we get to the entrance and I remember I don't have a ticket or anything like that. We approach the security and they allow us through wordlessly, and we are taken to our table, which unsurprisingly is quite close to the stage. There is a name place for me, and I notice I am sitting beside Harry and Liam, which I am very happy about.
Perfect.
El and I chat about our surroundings and she kindly explains a few things, and how they work to get me better acquainted. Eleanor receives a phone call from someone and I excuse myself to go to the bathroom. I get lost along the way, and somehow find my way back to the table. When I return the boys are seated, and when I sit down, I notice that Sophia is sitting where Liam was originally planned to sit. I check the name card.
Sophia.
I clearly recall that Liam and I were seated together. Either Sophia has switched places because she doesn't want me seated next to him, or Liam would prefer not to sit next to me. If it is the former, than Sophia completely has the wrong idea and I'm almost annoyed, as nothing has happened for her even to suspect something being there.
The people begin to fill up the arena, and the lights dim indicating that the Awards show will begin shortly. Harry is telling me a funny story about the last Brits when I see someone crouching down, half running half walking towards us, and puts his finger up to his mouth to say "Sh."
He looks harmless, and I let him play out the scene and he playfully shakes Harry's shoulders, causing him to jump from being caught off guard.
"Nick," Harry exclaims, getting up, and hugging this 20 something looking lad. Dressed smartly in a tux with probably the coolest hair I've ever seen, he seems very likable.
"Nick, this is my girlfriend Ava," he says, and I stand up to hug him.
"Well hello there – you're his new lady I see," he chuckles, and kisses me on both cheeks. I decide I like this gent with the cool Northern accent, and East London attitude and sense of style.
"Thought I'd pop in and say a quick hello before the show," he explains. "And I'd wish you luck for the Global Success Award too while I'm at it," he says winking and nudging Harry with his elbow in a sarcastic, light hearted manner.
"Very funny," Harry replies, shaking his head.
"Your hair is looking quite flat here Harold," he comments, patting his hair, "this a new trend you trying out?"
"Very nice, go on then," Harry replies, "I thought you had enough volume in yours to account for the rest of us, so I thought I might keep it low key," Harry wittily replies.
"Alright, enough snark for tonight then," he says. Music begins playing, and he looks over to across the other side of the room where someone is trying to get his attention. "Best be off – I'll see the two of you later on then shall I?" he says before running off to his table, not really giving either of us time to respond.
"So that was my mate Grimmy," Harry tells me, "Good friend of mine – he also does a show for Radio 1."
"I like him," I smile, closing my eyes as he leans in to kiss my nose.
"Oh you do, do you?" he replies back as the host James Corden takes to the stage.
"What was that Global Success thing he said?" I whisper, curious.
"Oh that – Well it's a running joke kind of. The award was created for us last year, and it's up for grabs again, and there's a pretty good chance we've got it again," he quietly states.
The awards show is going off amazingly, and I am speechless to see the Arctic Monkeys perform 'R U Mine' this close to me, and I know how jealous Scarlett will be once she heard about this.
"I go crazy 'cause here isn't where I wanna be
And satisfaction feels like a distant memory
And I can't help myself,
All I wanna hear her say is 'Are you mine?' "
I feel Harry's eyes on me, almost beckoning me to look at him. His hand makes contact with my knee, and he runs his index and middle finger up the inside of my thigh, causing me to jump. I squeeze my legs tightly together and he persists as he takes a sip of his beer in such a nonchalant fashion that if I couldn't feel his hand trailing up my leg, I would have no idea what he was up to.
Cheeky boy.
I begrudgingly make eye contact with him as his fingers pull at my underwear, and he quickly flicks his head back to the side, as if to say, "let's get out of here," and I ignore it. He grabs a hold of my wrist, and now maybe realising he's serious.
What is he thinking?!
"Now?" I mouth, over the edgy rock number.
And he swipes his bottom lip with his tongue, eyeing me closely with his lustful green eyes, and nods. This causes my stomach to do a series of somersaults and flips and he takes a pen from the table and writes subtly on a napkin. He slides it over to me.
"Go through those double doors, turn left into the corridor, and enter the first room you see."
Oh my God! Is this actually happening?
I excuse myself and try to not stand out as much as possible.
Blend into the crowd. Just blend.
My mind shifts to a comment made by Luke at Calum's party
"You couldn't blend into a crowd if you tried."
I am almost at the double doors when my dress is caught on something. I stop to set it free when I notice the something my dress is caught on is Luke Hemmings' hand.
Well how's that for timing?
"Luke!" I whisper, now crouching down so I'm not awkwardly standing. "I didn't know you were going to be here?"
"Yeah, we thought we would come along," he replies.
"Oh lovely," and I wave to the rest of his band members on the table, to which they nod back.
"Where are you headed?" he asks.
"Ladies room. Speaking of, I better leave, but you'll be at the after party later on?"
"Yeah, definitely," he nods, biting the corner of his lip. "But the bathroom is that way," he points, in a completely different direction.
"Oh... right," I reply unsure. "Uh, thanks then," and I walk in the new direction.
Fuck! What do I do now?
I left my phone at the table so I can't really message Harry.
I open the doors so that I am no longer in the crowded room, but instead where merchandise is normally sold at concerts. I walk around the venue, trying to calculate roughly where those double doors were in relation to the doors I came through and I spot some.
Bingo.
I walk briskly toward the doors, my heels making a click clacking sound along the floor as I head down the corridor as per his instructions. I see a number of rooms and internally sigh.
But which is the first room I see?
I curse Harry for being so vague and start with the first on my left. I walk into the darkened room and call out his name,
"Harry?" I gulp, not really being a fan of the dark. "Harry, you there?"
I wave my hands blindly in front of me, feeling where I am going, and I reach a heavy curtain. From the sounds of things, it appears I am in a room directly behind the stage.
I hear a sound and I am about eighty-seven percent sure someone else is in the room with me.
"Harry, if this is you, it's not funny," I say, unable to keep the fear from my voice.
Suddenly, I experience total silence before my arm is yanked and I am pulled closer to the unknown person.
I scream out for help in a natural response, and I am cut short as the assailant's lips press hard onto mine, placing his tongue forcefully into mine.
Author's Note: Thank you so much for reading - I am currently at 798K reads and ranked #24 which I am absolutely blown away by! You guys are the best people ever :)
So that last scene was a little dramatic! Who do you all think the attacker was? Did you all like the chapter? Be honest please! I normally also hate when people call Harry 'Harold', though Nick is the only one that can get away with it and it be okay :)
The chapter goes to @dark99kat for her lovely comment and she has been reading since almost the start, and has been very friendly :)
I also ask that you please keep voting and helping me out as I do this all for free. Leave your comments, and share if you think someone else might enjoy it.
Gemma x
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