Harry's POV
I stood in the doorway of my bedroom, holding my warm cup of tea between my hands and smiling to myself, as I watched TJ and Lulu sound asleep in my bed. In predictable fashion, Lulu had taken up most of the bed through the night, constantly changing positions and kicking her legs around, but it appeared that once I'd snuck out to make my morning brew she'd snuggled up to Teej and made herself comfortable.
Her wildly messy curls were all over the place as she rested her head against TJ's stomach, her mouth half open as she breathed softly, and all I could think about was how much I'd missed her. I think for the most part I'd done my best to push it from my mind, trying to keep myself focused on all of the reasons I'd moved to the states in the first place, but having her in front of me where I could see that she was safe and sound felt like a huge weight off my shoulders and I hadn't realized until that moment just how heavy it was.
I watched as she began to stir, scrunching her face up as she slowly opened her eyes and rubbed them with her little hands, before she looked up and saw me standing there. A sleepy grin crossed her face as she sat up slowly, eyes half open, and I made my way over to her and crouched down beside the bed.
"Hi, Hazzy." She smiled.
"Good Morning, sleepyhead." I whispered as she leaned forward and rested her head on my shoulder, sighing like she was exhausted from being awake. "Should we go make some breakfast? Let's let Teej sleep for a bit."
She nodded against me as I wrapped my arms around her and lifted her up, doing my best to be quiet as I tiptoed out of my room and shut the door behind me. Lulu yawned and did her best to wake up as we made our way to the kitchen, and I sat her on the counter where she watched me rummage around the kitchen for something to make for breakfast.
"What should we make, Boog?" I asked her as I leaned down to look in the fridge.
"Waffles!" She said with a yawn as I stared into our serious lack of groceries.
"I don't think I have stuff to make waffles, it looks like Niall's cleaned us out of all breakfast possibilities." I sighed as I stood up, looking over at her. "I think we'll probably have to go out for breakfast when Teej gets up."
"That's okay, I'm not super hungry yet." She shrugged as I scooped her off the counter and carried her over to the couch, plunking us both down as I grabbed the remote and flicked on the TV.
The two of us sat there for a while, Lulu's arms and legs wrapped around me like a koala as we watched cartoons, both of us almost back to sleep by the time we heard Niall emerge from his room to escort the girl who'd stayed over to the door. Thankfully, his room was away from where we were facing and Lulu couldn't see them, so I didn't have to explain who she was or tell my baby sister why if she ever wore a skirt that short I'd have to lock her in the house forever.
"Styles, we got any food around here or what? I'm fucking starving." Niall asked as he came back down the hall and entered the kitchen, rubbing his stomach as he wondered why I shot him a look, his face immediately looking guilty when Lulu popped her head up over the sofa. "Oh shit, sorry little one. Don't use that language...or I mean, do...it's like the 21st century and shit. Girl power and all that. Do what you want...right?"
Lulu and I just looked at each other, Niall watching us hestiantly, looking extremely awkward.
"What is he talking about?" She laughed.
"I don't even think he knows what he's talking about." I laughed. "I think he's probably still a little sleepy, he was up late."
"Sure. Let's go with that." Niall agreed as he chugged a bottle of water.
We'd seen the boys briefly last night, when they came home to change before going out, and they had all been really excited to meet my sister. They were all pretty good with her, asking her about school and her friends, but Niall had struggled to keep his potty mouth under control.
"We're going to go out for breakfast when TJ gets up, you should come Niall! It will wake you up." Lulu offered.
"Well Darlin, if there's one thing I never miss it's a meal." He grinned as he sat down beside her on the couch. "I say we march down to her room right now and wake her up. Pull her right out of her bed and get some pancakes. You with me?"
"Yep!" She said as she stood up. "But she's in Harry's room, let's go!"
Niall immediately looked over at me, quirking his eyebrow at me as a knowing grin crossed his face.
"She's in Harry's room, you say? I wonder why that could be."
"Cause we all had a cuddle after the movie last night, duh." Lulu rolled her eyes at him, pulling at his arm.
"That seems to happen a lot around here." Niall laughed as he stood up and looked down at her. "Your brother thinks he's slick, but we all know. I bet they kiss too."
"Yeah cause he looovveesss her." Lulu giggled as Niall picked her up, both of them staring down at me.
"Have I told you how much I love this kid?" Niall chuckled. "She's been here like 12 hours and already called you out."
"I'm aware." I chuckled. "Thanks Luce."
"Welcome!" She called out as Niall carried her down the hall, and a few seconds later I could hear the two of them laughing and shaking my bed in an attempt to wake up Teej.
It wasn't long after that until Liam dragged himself out of his room, obviously hungover, and jumped at the chance to go for food. I sent Lulu in to brush her teeth with Liam and Niall, and headed to my room to pull on some sweats before I poked my head into TJ's room to find her throwing her hair into a messy bun.
"Morning, spaz." I smiled as I approached her and wrapped my arms around her neck, kissing her head. "How many times did you get kicked in the shins last night? I lost count of mine at about 15."
"You must have got the wrath then, because all I got were her little arms hugging me and snuggling up to me. It was thoroughly enjoyable." She smiled as she leaned up and kissed me. "Good morning."
"I missed you, my sister stole all my late night Teej cuddles."
"You'll live." She smiled. "And I mean if you don't, the better Styles sibiling is here so we won't miss you that much."
"Wow." I laughed as Liam and Niall appeared in her room, my sister thrown over Liam's shoulder like a sack of flour.
"We going or what? We're approaching hangry Niall here, and I don't know about you two but I don't want to expose mini Styles to that kind of trauma at such a young age." Liam said as he plunked my sister back down on her feet.
The five of us threw on our shoes and headed down to the car, discovering Shawn had stayed somewhere else the night before with some girl when we picked Rex up on the way. A few minutes later we were sat in a booth at IHOP, Lulu absolutely baffled by the entire concept.
"Wait, so I can have pancakes with sprinkles in them...with caramel sauce and whipped cream...for breakfast?" She asked, looking up at Niall as he pointed out all his favorites on the menu.
"Of course you can! This is America, babe." He explained. "You can eat junk food for every meal if you want."
"But just because you can doesn't mean you're gonna." I clarified as the two of them looked over at me.
"Let the girl live, Styles! We're at IHOP!" Niall defended.
"I know where we are, Niall." I laughed, rolling my eyes at him. "She can get whatever she wants. I'm just saying she's not gonna live off junk food the entire time she's here."
I heard Teej chuckle beside me, shaking her head at the three of us, as the waitress came over and took our orders. It was nice to be there with them, feeling like the two families I'd grown to have were somehow coming together, seeing Lulu smiling and giggling as they told her all kinds of things they planned to show her about America.
TJ's phone rang on the table in front of me, Louis' face crossing the screen as she reached forward and picked it up, answering it with a huge smile on her face as she brought it up to her ear.
"Hey Lou." She laughed as Liam reached for her phone and she swatted his hand away. "What's up?"
The two of them talked for a few minutes while Rex and I chatted about finals, before I heard a distinct change in the conversation by the tone of Teej's voice.
"Oh..." She said, sounding incredibly disappointed but obviously trying to hide it. "Oh yeah, no. Of course, you should."
I wasn't the only one who seemed to pick up on it, as all of our eyes shifted toward her, a quiet settling over the table as we looked around at each other.
"Lou, it's totally fine. It's not like we had any plans or anything. No, I honestly want you to. I think it'll be good for you." She said, doing her best to reassure him over something he obviously felt guilty about. "Stop worrying about me, I could use some time alone anyways without school or anything. It's not a big deal."
I gently reached up and put my hand on her shoulder in an effort to comfort her, but she seemed to purposely avoid my gaze.
"It's alright, I wasn't really planning on anything anyways. Yeah, that's fine. No, we can do that instead, sounds good. Okay, yeah. I'll call you later. Love you too." She said before hanging up, all of us staring at her as she put her phone back down on the table.
"You alright, Teej?" Rex asked as the waitress approached the table with our food, setting it down in front of us before she could say anything.
"I'm good." She said with a forced smile. "I'm just gonna go wash my hands before I eat."
She slid out of the booth and headed toward the bathrooms, leaving the rest of us looking around at each other wondering what had just happened. I took out my phone to text Louis, knowing he'd tell me whatever it was, and then excused myself and went to see if I could find her.
"I'll be right back." I said as I left the table, everyone nodding and waving me off as they started to eat.
I headed over to the washrooms and did my best to wait patiently in the hall, wondering what had just happened and hoping she wasn't as upset about it as she seemed. After what felt like forever she reappeared, looking like she was trying to gather herself as she left the restroom.
"Hey..." I said slowly, standing up from my place on the wall as she looked up and noticed me there for the first time. "You alright?"
"Oh, yeah...I'm good." She said, nodding as she looked down at her feet, obviously lying to me.
"Teej..." I said as I placed my finger under her chin and made her look at me, noticing the way she was trying to keep her face as stoic as possible. "What happened?"
"Nothing, it's...nothing." She said, trying to shrug it off.
"It's obviously not nothing."
"I'm honestly fine, Harry. Lou just called to say he's been invited to Chelsea's parent's for Christmas dinner and stuff since Rich is going to his girlfriend's and Dan is probably working. We didn't really have plans anyway, and we're gonna hang out after so it's not a big deal."
My heart sank as I realized how that must have felt for her, knowing she'd been struggling with the idea of what had been going on with her family. I knew the holidays were something she was uncertain of, and how upset she'd been feeling like she was drifting apart from her brothers, and the fact that they wouldn't be spending Christmas together almost seemed like confirmation of it all.
"I'm so sorry, babe." I said as I pulled her into a hug, kissing her head. "I know you were looking forward to spending some time with them after everything that's happened."
"Yeah...but I'm okay. I mean we have two weeks off, I'll see them at some point." She shrugged as she pulled away. "It's just another day, right?"
I knew she was doing her best to be optimistic, not wanting to dampen the holidays for anyone else or make her brother feel guilty, but I knew her well enough to know that she was hurt more than she let on.
"It's good for him...for Lou, I mean. He doesn't really get into relationships and I know he really likes Chels." She said, looking down at the floor. "I like the idea of him being surrounded by family after everything he's been through. It's better for him than the two of us just hanging out doing nothing."
"That doesn't mean it doesn't suck, Teej." I said softly. "You're allowed to be upset about it."
"I know...but it's really not a big deal. I knew Christmas would be weird this year anyways, so it is what it is." She sighed. "At least I'll have the whole dorm to myself for a few days, I just wish we had a tub. I'd live in it for a while without you guys around to bother me."
She did her best to crack a smile in an effort to prove to me that she wasn't bummed, but I scoffed at the very notion that I would ever even let that happen.
"You know, every time I think you're even remotely sane you remind me that you're out of your god damn mind." I laughed, shaking my head. "You are not gonna be sitting in the dorm by yourself on Christmas, you idiot."
"I'm not?" She asked, genuinely confused.
"No, you're not." I confirmed. "First of all, before I say this I just wanna clarify that I am well aware that I'm a completely selfish asshole."
"Excuse me?" She gawped, a light laugh escaping her.
"Well...as excited as I was to go home to England for Christmas, I was pretty bummed because I didn't really wanna be away from you for that long...and then my family showed up, and I still kept thinking how much it sucked that you were gonna be in Chicago for the holiday because I just wanted you here with me, so I could spent Christmas with you."
"Okay...."
"So..I hate it when you're upset, and I know how much this sucks for you, and I know you would have been upset either way because things with your family keep changing and you're just trying to keep up with it all...but now I don't have to worry about you being sad and so far away. I'm an asshole because a part of me is kinda happy that you won't be leaving to spend Christmas with your brothers, because now you can spend it with me."
"Harry your parents and sister came all the way from England to see you, and your aunt and uncle have been so worried about you through all of this, they need some quality time with you." She said. "You need to spend Christmas with your family."
"Teej, you are my family." I said simply.
She looked up at me, an expression on her face I'd never seen before, somewhere between being surprised and touched.
"You're all my family, and I wanna spend time with all of you. No girlfriend of mine is spending Christmas alone in the dorms all by herself, so you either come with me to have Christmas with my family or you and I are both spending it in the dorms."
I knew her well enough to know the inner battle she was fighting with herself, feeling like she didn't wanna intrude on my time with my family but deep down not wanting to be alone. As usual she was putting everyone else before herself, wanting her brother to have the best Christmas possible and trying to make sure that me and my family spent time together after not seeing each other for so long, but she seemed to keep forgetting that as much as she tried to make sure everyone else was okay it was my job to do the same for her.
"Harry, I-"
"Nope. Don't do that." I interrupted her as I threw my arm around her. "It's settled, so strap on in babe. You're spending Christmas with the Styles'."
"But-"
"Shut up, Teej." I chuckled, and she finally sighed in defeat as I leaned down and kissed her head. "It's gonna be great."
"Well...I guess it can't be any worse than when you came and spent Thanksgiving with my family." She sighed, shaking her head at the memory.
"Well I mean, my mother isn't Satan so yeah. It's gotta be." I laughed as we headed back to the table. "And I'm sure you'll see your brothers over the break. Everything will sort itself out."
She nodded as we approached the table and slid back into the booth, everyone watching her carefully as we settled back in, trying to gauge whether or not she was alright.
"You okay, Teej?" Liam asked softly.
"I'm good." She said, shooting him a smile, but it was obvious she was still disappointed. "Louis just called to say he had other plans for Christmas, that's all."
"Oh." Liam said, looking around at everyone else, obviously feeling bad that he would be going home to his family. "Well...you'll see your other brothers, right?"
"Nah, they've got plans. But it's okay, Lou's been through a lot and I'm glad he'll be with Chels. I think she's really good for him." She said as she cut a piece of her waffle and popped it into her mouth.
"Well, my parent's place is only an hour away." Rex started. "If you get bored or whatever, just let me know. I can always come back so we can hang."
"I'll keep that in mind." She smiled in appreciation.
"Nobody needs to worry about Teej." I said as I threw my arm around her. "She's gonna spend Christmas with us at my Aunt and Uncle's."
"Really?!" Lulu said excitedly, grabbing onto Niall's arm as she leaned across the table. "You're coming over for Christmas?!"
"Apparently." She said, sighing as she shot me a look.
"Yes! Oh my goodness, it's gonna be so much fun!" Lulu squealed.
"Christmas with the fam? Steppin it up, eh Styles?" Niall chuckled. "Late night cuddles, spending the holidays together, one might say the cat is out of the bag."
"Oh please, that cat was never in the bag." Liam scoffed. "They've been sleeping in each other's rooms for months, and it's common knowledge that all their bickering was just sexual tension. But they bicker like an old married couple, so I'm assuming they haven't banged it out yet."
Teej damn near choked on the water she'd just attempted to swallow, almost spitting it out of her mouth as Liam's words obviously took her by surprise, the entire table fully amused with how awkward she obviously felt as her cheeks blushed pink.
"I dunno, Payno. It looks like you're accurate in your assessment based on the look on their faces." Niall chuckled. "But hey, you guys do your thing. I'm not mad at it."
"First of all, my baby sister is sitting right here, so let's not." I chuckled, thankful to see the confused look on my sister's face and realizing she didn't understand what he'd meant. "And secondly, I think you guys know how complicated this whole thing could get, and how much heat Teej could take, so please just keep it to yourselves."
"Ah yes, forbidden love between a captain and his player, the classic fairy tale love story." Niall sighed, looking off into the distance on an overly dramatic way.
"Secret's safe with me, bro." Rex chuckled, clapping me on the shoulder. "It's nobody's business anyway, and lord knows Teej doesn't need anymore shit. Plus, we can't afford to have your credibility questioned with Tanner pulling all this shit anyway."
"Amen to that." Liam sighed. "I'll take it to my grave."
Niall nodded in agreement as I looked down at Teej, who still looked pretty awkward. It wasn't like none of us knew how private she was, that the idea of having everyone talking about her love life made her uncomfortable, but I did feel a bit relieved that at least our close friends knew.
"So just for my own clarification..." Niall said, clearing his throat as he leaned across the table. "You two are actually admitting that the worlds worst-kept secret is in fact true, that you're officially dating each other."
"Niall..." Teej rolled her eyes at him.
"I just need to know." He defended, throwing his hands up in defense. "I mean I can't be checking out my boy's girl all the time, or joking around about how I used to wanna bang you."
"Oh please, you don't check me out." She scoffed.
"I have eyes, don't I?" He said emphatically. "I'm a man Teej, and you wear those little pink shorts a lot."
"Okay, I couldn't definitely have gone the rest of my life without knowing that." She said, sounding grossed out. "And Harry aside, stop it."
"Yeah, and Harry not aside, stop it." I agreed.
"Point taken." He said, nodding in confirmation as a quiet settled over the table, everyone tucking back into their food.
"So, Tommo and Chels are like a thing now, huh?" Rex started. "They're not just hooking up anymore, it's kinda weird. I think it's good though."
"He's always had a thing for her, it's not surprising." Liam shrugged. "He just pulled his head out of his ass, I guess."
"Yeah, he always kept going back to her. She's like always been consistent for him, you know. Plus, I like Chels, she's good shit." Niall agreed.
I smiled over at Luce, who was stuffing her face with birthday cake pancakes and not really paying attention to any of the conversation, when my phone lit up in front of me with a text. Almost like clock work, everyone's phones started to go off as they pulled them out of their pockets to see what was going on, all of us immediately tensing.
"Shit." Rex mumbled to himself.
"This can't be good." Liam sighed, leaning back in his seat and looking over at me.
I looked down at Teej, who shifted her eyes from her phone to me, before my sister broke the silence that had settled over us.
"What is it?" She asked.
"It's Tanner." I sighed. "He just called a team meeting."
************
TJ's POV
"I feel like I'm gonna throw up." Shawn said as the six of us made our way toward the athletic building, all of us wondering what the hell was going on.
After dropping Lulu off with Harry's parents and picking up Shawn we headed straight to Tanner's team meeting, and my stomach was in knots. We had a game that night, so it seemed like he could have easily held a meeting before the game started at 5, but instead he'd called us all there at noon and none of us felt like that was a good thing.
"Maybe it's not so bad, maybe he'll reinstate Styles." Liam said, doing his best to be positive.
"Yeah, but at what cost." Rex said, throwing his head back in frustration. "He's already fucked with the lines so much that none of us can keep it straight, and knowing him even if he reinstates Styles he won't put the lines back together."
"We just need to find out what's going on, we'll go from there." Harry said, doing his best to be focused and reassure us all. "We just need to keep our cool."
It wasn't like Harry wasn't aware of all the changes that had been made, but he hadn't been around to see them all first hand yet. He'd been stuck at home watching us on TV, and hadn't yet come face to face with the change in energy that had come under Lundy's leadership. Things were bad in the locker room, the whole team frustrated and disheartened, and I feared that Harry might not be able to control his temper over some of the things that had changed.
"We'll be right there, I need to talk to Harry." I said to the boys as we approached the athletic building, grabbing Harry by the arm and stopping him before we entered. "We'll only be a minute."
They nodded as they headed inside, Harry sighing as he threw his head back, the frustration he felt written all over his face.
"Look at me." I said calmly as he moved his head back down to grant my request. "I need you to be prepared for this, you have to turn off your feelings for me right now. I need you to put on your Captain hat and remember that I am like any other player in that room."
"Teej, I've never treated you any different when it comes to hockey." He sighed.
"I know, but things are different now. Things are...pretty bad in there." I said, looking down at my feet. "I just need you to promise me that you're not gonna jump to my defense every two seconds. I know you're protective of me and I appreciate it, but whatever happens in there I need you to let me handle it my own way."
"What he's doing isn't right." He said through gritted teeth. "But I know you can handle yourself, I'd never wanna make it seem like you can't. I just hate what he's doing, not just to you, but to all of us. He's destroying everything we've worked for."
"I know, and I know you feel like it's your job as Captain to take care of everyone. But the reason Coach Bell made you Captain is because you're always fair. You're always objective and respectful and cool-headed. Don't let Tanner take that away from you, don't let him turn you into someone you're not. Coach Bell expects better of us, we're his team, and we're not gonna let him down. We're not gonna let all his hard work go to shit, and forget all the lessons he taught us about staying true to the kind of players we are, the kind of team we are. We're a family, and Tanner can't take that away from us. That is literally all we have left, Harry."
I watched as he closed his eyes and took a deep breath, seeming to focus himself and mentally prepare for whatever was coming, before he opened his eyes and looked down at me.
"Let's do this." He nodded.
I took his hand and gave it a light squeeze before we turned and headed inside. We could hear the chatter echoing from the locker room and down the hall, and I could tell just being back in that building was giving him some sort of motivation, like he was that much closer to being back on the ice. It was no secret how much it had weighed on him, and I just prayed that this meeting would at the very least get him resinstated.
The second we entered the room I locked eyes with Shawn, who just looked at me with a very worried expression on his face, and I just nodded at him in an attempt to reassure him. Harry and I looked around, seeing Lundy and Mac across the room playing beer pong like it was a frat house, and I instantly tensed.
Any hockey player knows that the locker room is a sacred space. It's the place where teams win and lose together, where speeches are made to inspire you and coaches tear you a new one when you need it. It's where dreams are made and broken, where you celebrate after a win or process a tough loss, where you hype yourself up or bring yourself back down. It belongs to the team, to the family, and what happens within those walls means something to people. Life-defining moments happen in those rooms, where you learn who you are and what you're willing to do for not only yourself, but your teammates. It's where you learn to pick yourself back up, to keep going when it feels like you can't, where you find out what you're made of.
And there they were, making a mockery of it as usual.
Aside from the fact that it was completely obnoxious and inappropriate, we had a game in a few hours and they were already drunk. It was a classic indication of how selfish they were, how little they cared about the rest of the team, and how while the rest of us were working our asses off to salvage the season they were acting like it was no more than an off-season practice.
I looked over at Harry, who's contempt for them had made its way through every inch of his body, as he watched them make a joke of the rest of us. There he was, still suspended for something he didn't even do, while the new captain encouraged completely ridiculous behavior and helped Tanner flush our season down the toilet.
That's part of what made Harry a good Captain, he understood it. He understood that a Captain leads by example, who takes every single member of the team into consideration whether he likes them or not. He knows his goal is to get us all where we need to be, to bring us together and lead us to victory, and there Lundy was pretty much ensuring that we would lose our next game.
The ridiculousness of it all was just compounded when Tanner strolled into the room, taking one of the balls from Lundy and sinking a shot, when he proceeded to chug a beer. The non-insane half of us just looked around at each other, shaking our heads at what we'd become, before Tanner took his place in the centre of the room and began talking.
"Alright boys!" He said, clapping his hands together. "Oh, and little lady. My apologies."
He smiled over at me in the condescending way he always did, and I could practically feel the tension radiating off Harry as he tried to keep himself controlled.
"Glad to see you all showed up, except these guys have been here for hours pre-gaming." He chuckled motioning to Lundy who held up his beer.
Nice to know the locker room is now open as a bar at 9am.
"What's this about?" Liam asked, doing his best to keep his tone even.
"Well I'm glad you asked, Payno." He grinned. "We've got some business to take care of."
He hopped up onto one of the tables, swinging his legs like he was a fucking five-year-old, looking around at us like he wasn't completely ruining our lives.
"Some of you look pretty bitter to be here." He chuckled. "I waited until noon, it was the latest I could go."
"Just get to the point, Tanner." Niall sighed.
"We gotta make some changes around here." He said simply, and my stomach clenched immediately.
Part of me thought this might be it, that he'd found a way to phase me out, that I'd played my last game. I knew it wasn't far off, he'd had me on third line for a few weeks and I hadn't scored nearly as much as I could have if I was still on first. I knew it was coming, and I'd be on edge until it did.
"What kind of changes?" Harry asked.
I knew Harry was annoyed that he hadn't been made aware beforehand, but knowing Tanner he wouldn't have given that courtesy since Harry was technically still suspended, and he'd probably discussed it all with Lundy.
Which meant it couldn't be good.
"Well, firstly you're reinstated as of this afternoon, so you're cleared to play in tonight's game." Tanner informed him.
The entire room knew there was a second part to that statement as he watched Harry carefully, waiting for him to continue.
"But Lundy will continue to act as Captain."
Panic immediately spread amongst us, everyone shooting each other worried looks as gasps and profanities echoed through the air, but Harry didn't seem the least bit taken back by it.
"No, he won't." Harry said simply. "I am Captain of this team. By reinstating me, you reinstate my position as Captain."
Part of me was terrified Harry would push him too far, that Tanner would do something drastic to get back at him for defying him, but it appeared that Harry knew something the rest of us didn't.
"Captain is up to Coach's discretion." Tanner said, standing up from the table and puffing out his chest like the pathetic egomaniac he was.
"That's correct." Harry nodded. "However, once a Captain has been assigned, the position can only be negated by resignation of the player themselves, injury or ineligibility to play. I'm afraid change in Coach isn't on that list, and since I haven't done anything wrong my eligibility isn't in question, I am in perfectly good health, and I am sure as hell not about to resign. So, I will resume my position as Captain."
I saw Niall tuck his lips into his mouth to stifle a laugh out of the corner of my eye, and I wasn't exactly sure how to feel. I knew it wasn't smart of Harry to get into a power struggle with Tanner, but I was also proud of him for sticking up for himself. I knew we had to pick our battles, but Harry remaining Captain was one we couldn't lose.
"I'm the Coach of this team, and I make the decisions." Tanner restated.
"With all due respect Coach, this is a decision that was made before you got here, and one you do not have control over." Harry stayed firm. "I have already been extremely patient, considering I've been eligible to play for a week now and am just now being reinstated. I could very easily file a complaint with the board regarding the unfair extension of my invalid suspension, but I wanted to give you an opportunity to get organized before my return. I think I have been more than fair."
They two of them stood there, locked in some kind of stare down, but Harry looked much less tense than Tanner. Tanner was practically foaming at the mouth, his anger obvious that Harry would even question him, let alone have the balls to not so subtly threaten him. Lundy was stood on the other side of them, looking completely panicked that his glory days of being rewarded for doing nothing might be over.
"I could suspend you right now for a bad attitude." Tanner threatened.
"You could, but you won't." Harry shrugged. "I think you know better."
If there was one thing I knew about guys like Tanner, it was that he was the kind of guy who talked a big game, but when it came down to it he had no balls. He could exercise his power over us and abuse it however he saw fit, but when it came to him getting into trouble with the board or his bosses he knew he wouldn't be able to back up his behavior with any actual reasoning. He knew they'd have to look into all of the things he'd been doing, all the changes he'd been making, the behavior he'd allowed to go on, and it would shed a spotlight onto all the reasons the team had suddenly dropped in the standings.
And it was a fight he didn't want.
Besides, we all knew that Harry's suspension in the first place was invalid, and the extra week was just ridiculous, so even if the board held up a suspension from Tanner Harry could argue he'd already served the time.
"I've always admired your balls, son." Tanner said, stepping closer to Harry so that he was only inches from his face. "But I'd watch your step if I were you."
"I think you should probably take a step back." Harry said, eerily calm.
"Why is that?" Tanner asked, tilting his head to the side. "You wanna hit me, Styles?"
My heart started to race as I watched the two of them, unable to tear my eyes off them. It always shocked me how calm Harry could remain in those situations, how he didn't look the slightest bit bothered that someone might take a swing at him, like he knew he could handle anything that came his way. He just stood there, unmoveable like a concrete building in a windstorm.
All I could think about was how I hoped someone else would jump in, the tension in the air feeling heavy and making it hard for me to breathe, unsure if I needed to be the one to say something, but knowing Harry didn't need me to rescue him any more than I needed him to rescue me. I closed my eyes and reminded myself that he knew what he was doing, just as Lundy's drunken voice cut through the tension like a knife.
"Fuck it, let him have it." He slurred as he walked over to them. "He gets off on all this team camaraderie and shit. Less work for me."
I almost laughed at the concept of him thinking he'd actually done any work as Captain as he placed his hand on Tanner's shoulder, gently pulling him away from Harry. Tanner continued to glare at him, barely even blinking as he and Harry stayed locked in their staredown, before he turned and stormed toward the door.
"Tomlinson, my office. Now!" He shouted, and I immediately looked up at Harry.
"I'm coming with you." He said, starting for the door before I grabbed his arm.
"No." I sighed, pausing for a moment to gather myself. "No, I'm fine."
I swallowed hard as I looked over at Liam, both of us well aware that I could very well be about to pay the price for Harry's behavior toward Tanner, before I exhaled and headed out the door toward his office.