11th of April 2018
"Been a while since we've been back here hey?" Harry said to me as we entered the O2 Arena with smiles on our faces.
"You could say that," I chuckled, as the last time we were here, One Direction were not on a 'hiatus' and they were playing multiple sold out shows in a row.
Flashbacks to the days upon end that were spent here entered my mind; playing table tennis with Louis, watching Zayn draw anything with ease, Niall begging me to go and get food with him, Liam and I watching all the Harry Potter movies, and Harry always close by my side, which I never thought much of but now that I look back on it, how stupid was I not to notice?
"Feels weird seeing it this empty," Harry said as we trudged through the arena.
We got to the show earlier than usual, as Harry wanted to make sure that everything was perfect for today and tomorrow, as he will be playing to over 50,000 people across the two nights.
"Won't be like this in a couple of hours," I said with a grin, Harry turning around to give me a smile as we found our way to the dressing room, Mitch, Sarah, Adam and Clare already waiting for us in there.
"Afternoon," I said, receiving a variety of responses from everyone in the room, including Mitch who gave me his usual soft 'hmph' to acknowledge me.
It was barely 12pm, meaning I had an extreme amount of time to kill, and had already spent my morning replying to emails and having a couple of meetings, so I basically had all the free time in the world, which was unusual to me.
"Anyone know where James and Ruby are?" I asked no one in particular.
"Out with Hélène, I think grabbing something to eat and shopping," Clare said nonchalantly from where she was on her laptop, one headphone in and one out.
"Thanks," I said with a smile, pulling out my phone to text Ruby, who responded immediately with a location and before I knew it, I was putting on my sunglasses and saying my farewells to everyone.
I quickly rushed outside and began the short walk to the cafe the three of them were at, and I knew I was in for a good afternoon.
The walk was short, but long enough for me to respond to some emails in the interim, which was always handy, as it was less for me to worry about in the coming days.
As soon as I entered the cafe I heard a 'Oi' from James and I looked up from my phone to see them sitting by the window, coffees already in front of them.
I practically skipped over to them, always excited to see my two best friends and Hélène, who is one of the most kind and talented people I know.
"Ello," I said with a grin, pulling up a chair and slotting between James and Ruby.
"Afternoon," Hélène said with a kind smile on her face, an old camera resting in her lap with the black strap hanging loosely around her neck.
Immediately a waiter came to take my older, and I quickly settled on a iced chai latte and a pumpkin and feta salad before he hurried away back to the kitchen.
"Should we go out tonight?" James and I shrugged my shoulders, knowing that Harry would probably not want to go out as he still had another big show tomorrow night.
"I'm not sure if Harry will want to come out tonight, another show tomorrow remember?" I said.
"If you're out, he will come out," Hélène said with a grin and I felt my cheeks burn but I said no more as we went back to talking about where we were going to go shopping after lunch, ideas popping into our head as my coffee arrived and then all of our lunches, all four of us digging into our food without hesitation.
There was a unanimous silence during lunch, all of us digging into our meals like there was no tomorrow.
Once everything was paid for and we were standing outside, we settled on heading to Selfridges, as there was a shirt that James wanted to try on from Gucci, and I had my eye on a pink Jacquemus dress that I wanted to get my hands on, even though I did not need it.
However, once again Ruby justified my spending, saying that it would get passed around between anyone who wants to wear it on tour, which was true.
My wardrobe was anybodies wardrobe, mainly Ruby though, who would usually come into my room at the last minute and scramble though my suitcase did something to wear for the night.
We eventually reached Selfridges, the streets quiet for a Wednesday afternoon, but none of us were comparing, as it was always better for us when there were less people around, as fans had started recognising us more than usual, which was bound to happen anyway.
We took the quiet afternoon in our stride, Hélène snapping candid pictures of us on her camera, ones that I knew would be beautiful, as all her photographs usually are.
In the back of my mind, I thought about what Hélène had said at lunch, about Harry coming out if I was out.
Did I really have that much control over him, that if I was having a night out, he would want to have one too? If I did, it does not show, as although the two of us are very much in love and are dating, neither of us have expressed that we have to be out when the other person is out.
I thought back to all the times when I used to go out with the One Direction boys, or even the 5 Seconds of Summer boys when they were on tour with us.
A lot of nights, I would end up with Niall and Louis, don't ask me how, that's just how it happened.
Harry would claim that he 'doesn't fuckin wanna go out' and nobody would question it because well, it's Harry and he can do what he wants, but then suddenly I would be in a bar or club with Louis and Niall and we would be dancing or getting a drink and I would feel a hand on my back and I would get ready to slap them away, but it would be Harry.
This would happen more than once, in fact it happened most times I was out without him, and it would happen more when I was with the 5 Seconds of Summer boys, which I never thought about at the time but now looking back on it, it was either a jealously or protective thing on Harry's behalf.
"Anna?!" Ruby snapped and I suddenly realised I had not been listening to a word anyone was saying for the last five minutes.
"Hmmm?" I asked and I realised we were standing out the front of Selfridges now.
"I was just saying do you want to come with me to the Jacquemus section with me to get that dress and Hélène will go with James and then we can meet up later?" Ruby asked and I nodded, so then we were on our way.
"How is Henry?" I asked we headed up the escalators to the third floor where the Jacquemus brand is located.
"Really good, he is excited to join us in Asia," she said with a smile and I let out a little squeal, over the moon that my best friend was happier than ever, and I also love Henry, as he matches Ruby's energy completely.
"I'm so excited, he's going to have the best time," I said with a grin as we went up another set of escalators, the two of us facing each other as we continued to chat away until we reached the area that we were looking for and I immediately spotted the dress that I was after.
"Oh Anna, it's beautiful you have to get it," Ruby gushed as we rushed towards the dress that I had been lusting after.
A rose pink satin dress, with an open back and a gathered side and dainty shoulder straps, so seriously right up my alley.
"I will try it on first," I said, even though I already knew that I was getting it.
After having a brief conversation with the girl that worked in the Jacquemus section, Ruby and I went to the change room where I quickly removed my outfit and slipped into the a dress a small 'oh' escaping my mouth when I saw the dress on me.
"Show me! Show meeeee!" Ruby exclaimed from outside the change room and I let out a small laugh as I stepped out, Ruby's eyes softening when she saw me in the dress. "Anna, if you don't get this dress I will kill you."
I laughed at her, doing a small twirl as I looked at myself in the mirror, loving the way the dress fit my body and how it complimented my lightly tanned skin and soft blonde hair.
"Don't worry Rubes, I'm getting the dress," I said with a grin taking a few photos to send Harry via text, knowing he would want to see what I had bought, as he is equally obsessed with shopping as I am.
"Anything that you want to look at?" I asked Ruby loudly once I was back in the change room, carefully taking off the dress and placing it back on the hanger.
"No I don't think so, I was hoping I could borrow that Gucci dress you wore the other night?" Ruby asked as I put my jeans back on.
"Of course, might be a bit short on you though," I said, as Ruby was pretty much 5'9 while I was only 5'6. "You can always wear stockings with it though."
"Yeah I was going to anyway," she replied and I nodded to myself as I finished getting dressed and headed back out with Ruby to buy the dress and meet back up with James and Hélène.
I texted Harry the pictures of me in the dress, but so far I had received no response, which did not phase me because he was probably busy or something, making sure that everything was perfect.
Fucking perfectionist.
"James and Hélène are downstairs waiting for us," Ruby said after I purchased the dress, clutching the bag holding my newest prized possession in my hand.
"God I'm fucking excited to go out tonight," I said as we hoped on the escalators. "Gonna be a serious girls night."
"James is not a girl?"
"James can be whatever he wants to be," I said with a laugh.
"So true," Ruby said with a slight smile. "Are you sure Harry won't come out?"
"No, which is alright," I said with a shrug of my shoulders. "He doesn't have to come out every time I do and vice verse."
"Mature," Ruby said and I rolled my eyes, giving her the finger and suddenly we had reached the ground floor where James and Hélène were waiting for us, both of them holding their own respective bags.
"He is such a bad influence," Hélène said with her contagious laugh, James rolling his eyes dramatically while Ruby and I laughed in agreement. "I had no intention of buying anything this afternoon and suddenly I'm buying a Gucci sweater and lipsticks!"
"He will do that to you," I laughed. "Once in Paris, he practically coerced me into buying a pair of Chloé boots."
"Did bloody not!" James protested as we left Selfridges and made our way back onto the street, all of us standing there wondering where to go next.
"James, you have zero impulse control but now is not the time to discuss your spending habits," Ruby said seriously. "Now is the time to get alcohol so we can get obliterated tonight."
************
And obliterated we did.
One minute we were dancing back stage with glasses of champagne in our hands, and then suddenly we were dancing in a club to old Justin Timberlake music, downing vodka sodas like there was no tomorrow.
I knew that I was going to pay for this tomorrow, but I didn't really mind all that much, as I was having the time of my life in some random London club.
The fact that it's a Wednesday night and we are out and partying in London is something I will never get over, and being able to do stuff like go to a club on a Wednesday night in my mid-twenties is one of the many perks of being a stylist.
After buying more drinks and floating back to the dance floor as 'Latch' by Disclosure came on, I felt a pair of hands on my waist, which at first startled me and when I turned around to throw my drink at the person touching me without my consent, when I was met with the face of my own boyfriend.
"Harry?" I asked, confused as to what he was doing here.
"Golden girl," he said over the music, a soft smile on his face.
"What are you doing here?" I asked, Ruby giving me a look as to say 'I told you so.'
"Missed you," he said to me with an infectious smile on his face, making me grin and kiss him on the cheek.
"Missed you too, H."
His hands rested gently on my waist as I downed my drink and placed it on the ledge behind me so I could dance freely with Harry, the moments of the weeks past seemingly not existing when we were together like this.
It was like we were in our own little love affair, forgetting the bigger issues at hand, which I know would come back to bite me in the ass but I seriously could not have cared less.
I loved it when Harry was not afraid to show affection in public, especially when we were in a place where probably anybody could see us.
I loved the way his hands traveled up my body, the way his finger tips touched my arms and his lips touched my own, the taste of vodka resting against my mouth.
From one song to the next, Harry and I danced together, taking short breaks to get each other drinks but we were never far from each other, and we were never from James, Ruby and Hélène as well, who danced and drank the night away with us.
I knew that Harry wanted to go home when he started placing gentle kisses on my neck, his hand resting on my ass, neither of us explicitly saying what we both wanted at the time but the mutual lustful feeling was there.
"You wanna go?" Harry asked over the music, looking at me with a glint in his eyes and I nodded quickly, both of us letting out a slight giggle before saying our farewells.
It was well past three in the morning, meaning nobody could be pissed off if we left, and to be honest I think everyone was so drunk that they really did not notice.
Harry practically dragged me out of the club and to a taxi, his hands never leaving my body, my fingers wrapped tightly around his bicep, feeling the tenseness of his muscles against my body.
"You look fucking ridiculous Anna," he said in my ear before we got into the taxi, and I had the fight the urge to choke down a gulp, his words taking me by surprise. "You're all I ever think about."
Not many words were exchanged between us for the rest of the night; our lips too preoccupied with each other to say anything at all.
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My word what a month it has been
Sorry this chapter is a little shorter than usual but you know the usual Harry and Anna not communicating blah blah blah
I don't even have the brain capacity to wrap my head around what's been happening but I got tickets for Harry's Aus shows and I'm so excited!!!!
Anna's outfit:
Hopefully I will have another chapter out this week (maybe) but love u guys <3
Thank you for reading, I love you xx