When I walked into my room, I was surprised to find the boys all sitting quietly. Louis was sprawled out on the sofa, Liam had taken the chair next to my bed, Niall was sitting with his back against the sofa (still with the pillow case of snacks), and Zayn was leaning coolly on the wall. I don’t know why I thought they would be running around completely full of beans, but I supposed that’s just how I had imagined it. All of their heads turned simultaneously towards me as I walked into the room.

“Well, Harry’s asleep.” I nodded awkwardly, not knowing exactly what to say.

“Aw, did Harry have a few personal words to say to you? Did he profess his growing attraction that I’m sure had nothing to do with the heavy sedatives that he’s under?” Louis smiled endearingly, a complete change from a few minutes ago.

I rolled my eyes, about to respond.

“Now, that’s enough cheek from you, Louis.” Another unfamiliar voice came from the other side of the room that I hadn’t noticed until just them. I turned to see-

“Simon Cowell.” The famous music mogul stuck his hand toward me. I was in complete shock.

“Well this explains why the boys are so well behaved!” I chuckled, trying to smooth over my racing heart. I was shaking hands with Simon Cowell. Simon Cowell! Simon Cowell was- He was still shaking my hand, looking expectantly at me.

“Oh! Hannah Clarke! I’m sorry, a bit starstruck, I guess…” I smiled awkwardly, finally getting around to my name. Ugh, I am such an idiot…

“Yes, well, I must thank you, Miss Clarke. The way I understand it, if it weren’t for you, these boys here may well not be alive right now. And for that, not only I but the incredibly massive One Direction fan base must thank you.” He nodded.

“Ah, wow, it was really nothing!” I shrugged.

“Well, I wouldn’t say ‘nothing’, but I appreciate your humility.” He flashed me a smile. “Anyway, I was just talking to the boys about the media and how this will affect the continuation of their tour.”

“Oh, please, don’t let me interrupt!” I tried to duck out bashfully, but twisted in an odd way and sent another one of those damned pain flares through my body. I would’ve doubled over in pain, but that would’ve just hurt more. Instead, I settled for the brilliant grabbing of the waist and practically screaming, “SHIT!”

“No, no, no, Hannah, back to bed you go!” I felt a pair of strong arms around me, leading me back to my bed. I looked up into the dark chocolate eyes of Zayn and had not an ounce of resistance in my body as I melted into his strength. “You didn’t actually think that we were going to kick you out of your own room?” he chuckled, helping me lay back down.

“I don’t want to intrude, though!” I protested softly.

“Quite honestly, Miss Clarke, there aren’t many quiet places in this hospital to talk, and they insisted upon staying here until either you or Harry was released.” Simon interjected.

“So, really, we’re the ones intruding. Do you mind horribly?” Liam asked genuinely.

“Oh, of course not!” I shook my head.

“Alright, then, let’s get down to business.” Simon took back control of the room. As he began to speak, I waited for Zayn to move back to his spot by the couch, but instead he stood right by my side the entire time.

“So the media have already got wind of the crash and are just discovering that it was your bus. We have a statement prepared and ready to release, so all that you boys need to do is lie low. We were thinking that-”

“But, Uncle Si, what about the preview show today? With all the fans down in the city that came up just for us and have been waiting all night? Can we still make it?” Louis interrupted, sitting up.

“Well, in case you hadn’t noticed, you’ll be one member short, Louis. Can’t exactly roll Harold’s hospital bed onstage now, can you?” Simon scoffed.

“Well, no, but we can bring Hannah, instead! And we can tell everyone the story and get it out there in the open, have a shorter concert so that we don‘t tire ourselves too much, but still a concert nonetheless, and maybe even a short Skype session with Harry broadcasted on a big screen or something and everyone will be buzzin’ and then we have almost a week to recuperate!” Louis said this all very fast in one breath.

“Wait, why would bringing me be a sensible part of the plan?” I asked.

“Because you’re our saviour and the fans would love to get a chance to meet you! They’d go wild! And you’d be the distraction to get the attention away from the fact that Harry isn’t there!” Louis said excitedly.

“But won’t he be on Skype like you said?” Liam pointed out, his brows drawn together.

“Oh, you know what I mean!” Louis rolled his eyes.

“I like the idea.” Zayn said softly with a nod.

“Oh, me too! I especially like the part where Hannah comes with us, I mean, the fans will be absolutely blown!” Niall piped up.

“I mean, while I don’t think it’s the greatest idea, I definitely see the merit in it. Not my decision though, you’ll have to pitch it to Management.” Simon shrugged.

“Yeah, why are you here, Uncle Si?” Louis asked bluntly.

“Because I was here for your show today and being the concerned human being that I am decided to check on you. You going to sue me then?”

“I’ll consider it! Really depends on who can afford the better lawyer!” Louis laughed.

“Kay, I’ll leave you to it, then. See you all at some point next week, then I’m heading back to the UK.” Simon nodded solemnly and walked out. No more than a second after he had left, a young woman in her thirties walked in.

“Hello, lovelies!” She quipped cutely.

“Sara!” All the boys shouted.

“Sara’s our assistant tour manager. Basically our babysitter, I suppose you could say.” Zayn smiled down at me.

“Yeah, let’s just go over a few things, yeah?” She pulled over a chair and sat near me. “Oh, I’m Sara Donahue, by the way!” She waved at me.

“Hannah Clarke!” I waved back.

“Ok, well, I heard your little idea about the concert today and if we push it back to around 4 o’clock we can definitely make it! That’ll mean you all have to leave shortly to get ready, including you, I suppose, Hannah?” Sara looked pointedly at me.

“Oh, I, uh, I wasn’t sure if-” I stuttered, unsure of exactly what was going on.

“Of course she’s coming!” Louis swatted any doubts away.

“Brilliant! So I’ll get wardrobe ready for you, then…” Sara began tapping away at her iPhone. “Right, then we also have to decide what’s going to happen over the next week. You have the preview show today, then Madison Square Garden on Monday night, and then you leave for the UK on Wednesday afternoon, so that gives you a good three and a half days to rest up and prepare. The question is where. Any ideas or suggestions? I know we’ve stayed in the city before, which is lovely of course, but-”

“We could stay at Hannah‘s house!” Zayn blurted it out, sounding like he was joking.

“Yeah, slumber party at Hannah’s house!” Louis threw his hands up in enthusiasm.

“No, Hannah, we really couldn’t ask that of you!” Liam shook his head.

“Well, I mean, I wouldn’t mind it!” Sara looked at me like I was crazy. “No, I mean it! My house is big enough and we have a guest house around back, plus we’re kind of in the middle of nowhere, so as long as no one gives up our location, I don’t think we’ll be mobbed too badly!” I said it quickly, not allowing myself to think about it. I was just being a good person, right? Yeah, I’ll just keep telling myself that…

“I like the idea!” Zayn said, even though it was his in the first place. “I mean, this town is beautiful and peaceful and we could all use some time in a real house on a real beach away from the very real fans!” he chuckled.

“I mean, as long as we wouldn’t be imposing, I’m all for it!” Niall had FINALLY put the pillow case aside and was now grinning from ear to ear.

Sara had been clicking away at her iPhone. “Yeah, and there’s a hotel not too far down the street that the rest of Management could stay at, as long as we left a bit of security with you boys?”

“No, no security! I’ve had enough of them!” Louis slumped down on the couch dejectedly.

“You know it’s only for our good, Louis?” Liam said in a parental manner.

“Well, I mean, I suppose if I really tried to convince Management that you would be fine as long as the word didn’t get out, I may be able to give you some time without security…” Sara kept clicking away.

“That would be lovely, Sara!” Louis said genuinely. “We would really appreciate it!”

“Alright, I’ll try…” I heard the smile in her voice as she kept click- well, you get the idea. “Now if we’re going to do this, Hannah, you’re going to have to treat the next few days with the utmost care and modesty. Absolutely no one can know that One Direction is staying at your house!”

“One Direction is staying at our house?” I looked up to see my sister plus Jessie, Ebony & McKenna, my three best friends, staring in awe at the star-studded room.

“Oh, god…” Sara muttered. “And who are they?”

“YOU GUYS!” I ignored her query and threw my arms open to them. Allie’s question was momentarily forgotten as they all gathered around me, suddenly bombarding me with questions.

“Are you okay?” “What happened?” “When do you get out of here?” “Will you be coming back to school right away?” “I’m not really sure what’s going on and I’m kind of freaking out on the inside and don’t really know how to handle myself right now!”

That last one came from Ebony. Ebony and I had a special relationship. It was most simply defined as a bromance, but with girls… Ebony was a rather quirky individual. She was very slim with elfish features and bright blue eyes and curly brown hair. She and I were crazy, individual, random and crazy.

“Ok, well, I believe that some introductions are in order, ey Hannah?” Liam stood. “I’m Liam Payne, but from the way you’re blushing I suppose you already knew that!” He smiled, sticking his hand out to Ebony.

“Yeah!” She giggled, taking his hand lightly. “I’m Ebony!”

“Well, that’s a very lovely name, Ebony! And you are?” He turned to McKenna as Ebony almost died.

“McKenna Dowd!” she smiled.

“Ooo, do I sense a fellow Irishman?” Niall perked up at the sound of McKenna’s name. Once you add the fact that she’s slim, extremely fair skinned, covered in freckles, has bright greenish blue eyes and rich red locks, it wasn’t that difficult to figure out.

“How did you ever guess?” She laughed lightly.

“Ah, just my wild intuition!” Niall smiled. I could see McKenna visibly melt under his gaze. She wasn’t exactly a fan of their music, but had openly admitted that they were all beyond adorable. “I’m Niall!” he shook her hand.

As Liam was finishing introducing himself to her, he noticed Jessie standing to the side. “Well, we know you!” He smiled widely at her. “And we owe you a massive Thank You!” he clasped his hands together in genuine gratitude.

“Oh, I’m just glad everyone ended up okay!” She blushed a bit and bashfully continued, “I hate to say it, but I still don’t know all of your names!” Jessie was the hater of our group.

“Oh, no worries! I’m Liam!”

“Niall!”

“LOUIS!” Louis shouted happily.

While all of this was happening, I had been sifting through my Facebook and Twitter notifications on my iPhone. Just as Louis yelled out his name, it blasted Tell Me A Lie, completely scaring me and making me drop it.

“Shit…” I said under my breath. There was no way that I was going to be able to bend down and grab it.

Zayn immediately bent down and picked it up, returning it to me with a kind smile. “There you are!”

“Thanks!” I smiled awkwardly.

“And the one making my sister swoon?” Allie’s irritating tone interrupted our small moment.

“I’m sorry, I don’t believe we’ve met you either?” Zayn challenged instead of answering the question.

“Oh, I’m Allie, Hannah’s sister.” She waved her hand to everyone.

“Hello, Allie!” chorused the room.

“And I’m Zayn, by the way.” He finally answered softly.

“Oh, you’re Zayn! Hannah makes us all shut up whenever your solos come on!” Allie purposely embarrassed me. It was just what she did.

“Oh, does she now?” Zayn looked at me expectantly.

I laughed it off. They COULD NOT know that I was the mega fan that I was. It would ruin my image for them…

“She’s just trying to embarrass me! I practically yell at them every time a song comes on the radio. Music buff, and all…”

“Ah ah ah, not buying it, babe!” Louis scoffed. “You’re just enraptured by our Zayn’s godlike tones, aren’t you!” Everyone snickered except for Zayn, who looked down at me with a smug expression.

“Oh, don’t give me that look!” I rolled my eyes and playfully hit his hand.

“Please, you know you love it!” he put on a goofy accent and nudged my shoulder.

“Aw, now look at those two love birds!” Louis slung his arm around Ebony’s shoulder and leaned into her small frame. She put her arm around his waist and leaned into him.

“Yeah, aren’t they just- DEAD WEIGHT.” Ebony suddenly screamed as she let herself go completely limp in Louis’ arms. Obviously not knowing what the whole “dead weight” thing was, Louis looked momentarily stunned before getting a hold on her. Just as she was just about situated in his arms, she shot back up and continued, “-adorable?” Louis gaped at her for a moment, then laughed with the rest of the room.

“You are completely off your rocker!” He smiled zanily. “I approve of this one!” he nodded in her direction.

“Well good! She’s the other half of Habony Breslarke!” I winked at her. Habony Breslarke was our bromance name. Yes. We are that weird. She winked back while the other girls rolled their eyes and the boys looked on, confused.

“Do explain, love?” Zayn leaned in. I was distracted by his closeness, so Ebony went on to explain.

“We kind of have the female equivalent of a bromance. Like, Jessie is my best friend and McKenna is Hannah’s best friend, but Hannah and I have this ‘thing’ that goes beyond all of that, ya know?” She looked to Louis. “You should understand what I’m talking about, hun!”

“Oh, you mean me and Harry?” He laughed.

“If you two are anything like Louis and Harry, then it would be incredibly entertaining to get all the four of you in the same room!” Niall pointed out, amused.

“Yeah, where is Harry?” Ebony questioned.

“Oh, he’s resting down the hall.” I said.

“Did he turn out ok? Cuz he looked pretty messed up…” Jessie asked, concerned.

“Yeah, but he’s gonna need a little time to recover. Which is why we are taking lovely Hannah with us to our preview show today!” Louis gestured grandly to me.

“Oh, my gosh, are you going to perform?” McKenna squealed.

“Oh, goodness, no! they just thought it would be cool for the fans to meet the person who, um, I guess saved Harry’s life, you could say? You know, since Harry can’t be there. But there’s no way I’d even be able to perform!” I explained quickly.

Liam had been quiet for a bit and spoke up suddenly, saying, “You all are welcome to come and watch too, if you like! And Jessie, I’m sure that the fans would love to meet you too!”

“Oh, no thanks! I’m not a big crowd kind of person! Plus, there’s this giant math final on Monday that I really have to study for…” she declined, always the studious one.

“Okay, well, I guess we’re stuck with Stinky, over here…” I looked up in awe at Zayn’s completely serious expression.

“I cannot believe you just said that!” I gaped at him. “Stinky?”

“Yeah, have you showered lately?” He squinted in disgust at me, wincing at my “smell”.

“Of course I have!” I shot back, offended by his- he was smiling.

“I’m kidding!” he laughed.

“Of course you were…” I grumbled as the rest of the room cracked up.

“You know you look like an awkward pigeon when you’re angry?” he chuckled.

“An awkward pigeon?” I looked at him in disbelief. “If I didn’t have two cracked ribs right now…” I shook my head at him, a smile creeping onto my face despite my efforts to remain expressionless.

“Oh, my god, Zayn! She really does!” Louis interjected with a boisterous laugh.

“Don’t mind them, they’re crazy…” Niall laughed.

As a debate began referring Louis and Zayn’s craziness, I looked around the room at my favorite band interacting with my best friends. Then my eyes met Zayn’s and he smiled that beautiful, calming smile that hid just a little layer of crazy.

It was going to be a wonderfully entertaining couple of days.

Notes

author's note full of idek stuff whaddaya think peoples