“New York City, make some noise!” Niall shouted. Times Square erupted in screams as the opening chords to “What Makes You Beautiful” resounded over the speakers. They’d told me they were opening with WMYB and closing with LWWY, leaving me oh so thrilled to hear those opening chords for the millionth time. (sarcasm)

I looked out at the screaming fans as Liam started up the group. A lot of them were holding the usual One Direction signs, a few wonderfully vulgar, a few “I Love You!”s, and a few with just a name on them. But most of them said something about the boys accident, and most of those revolved around Harry. “Get Well, Harry!” was everywhere.

A few more looked angry and had signs like “1D - Harry = NoD” or “No Harry, No Direction!” I felt bad for the boys, but I hoped that the little surprise I had planned would make up for everything.

The song was going wonderfully, and I almost didn’t notice when Louis shouted “Sing it out for Hazza!” before Harry’s first solo, and when all the boys sang it the second time around.

But as the song approached its climax, aka Harry’s big solo before the final chorus, I felt butterflies beginning to flutter in my stomach. I had, with some help from Sara and the rest of Management, prepared a little surprise not only for the fans but for the boys as well, and I was praying that it would work.

What I wasn’t prepared for was the little look that I got from Zayn during the second chorus. It was mischievous. And if I had learned anything about Zayn in the last few hours, it was to be nervous when he looked mischievous.

He slowly made his way over to the side of the stage that I was standing on, and as the chorus ended, he ran over, grabbed me by the arm, pulled me onto the stage and to the front of their little semi-circle that they always make, all the while shouting, “Give it up for our savior and friend, Hannah Clarke!” And thrust the microphone into my hands. The boys all looked on in amusement, obviously in on the joke, just “Na na na na”-ing right along. They meant for me to sing Harry’s solo.

Which would not happen.

I signaled to the band to loop the na na na section again, which they knew I would do, giving me time to make my little announcement.

“And now, ladies, give it up for the one, the only, HARRY STYLES!!!!” I shouted and turned, pointing to the big screen behind the boys where, suddenly, Harry appeared. I could tell that he was still in the hospital bed, but I noticed that his hair had been done, his face had been touched up, and he had been given some happy drugs. He looked fabulous.

And the fans went wild.

He sang through his solo surprisingly flawlessly, everyone singing along with him and the boys looking on, completely blown. I gingerly made my way off stage before he hit the big part and the boys burst back into the song. They danced around like their wonderful selves, giving the performance of their lives. …And Zayn kept throwing me those little looks that made me just squirm. I was still trying to figure out this whole celebrity suddenly in my life thing…

“That’s what makes you beautiful!” Harry sang over the airwaves, ending the song flawlessly. The crowd went wild as Harry grinned that gorgeous grin he was so famous for.

“Thank you!” Liam threw his hand up and waved with the rest of the boys as the reporters came up and began lauding their performance.

“Wow, that was just amazing! How amazing was that?” The female, Kim, I think her name was, said to the crowd, provoking more screams.

“Now, I think the big question going through everyone’s mind right now is what happened? Why is Harry on a big screen and not with you guys here? And who is that girl you brought up here, Zayn?” The dude, Garrett I think, addressed Liam, then Louis, then Zayn.

Niall laughed and said, “Well, that seems like more than one question there, huh?” The rest of the crowd laughed along with him.

“Yeah, well, I’m guessing you’re referring the crash that we were in, yeah?” Liam addressed the first question quickly, saving Garrett from any more laughter.

“Yes! Everyone was freaking out over the pictures and your tweets that you all sent out! But I don’t think we still really know what happened?” Garrett prompted.

I remembered the tweets that had lit up my phone in the hospital room when I had that moment with Zayn. Louis had tweeted, “It’s one of those things you never think will happen to you. Just thankful we’re all okay!”. Liam had taken the thoughtful and reassuring path, saying, “Don’t anyone worry, all the boys, Paul, the driver, and myself are fine!” Zayn was Zayn: “That was crazy… but we’re fine, I guess. Don’t know if I’ll ever ride a bus again… xx” And finally, Niall, twit happy, had tweeted multiple times, all reassuring and keeping the fans updated. Harry, of course, had been completely out of it and hadn’t had a chance.

“Well, we’re still not sure why, but what we know is that something went horribly wrong with the bus and we ended up on fire in the front and with steerage and brakes completely out. We actually didn’t know what was happening, at first. All the boys here, Eleanor and myself were in the back, and we were just having a good time and suddenly, Paul came back and had this horrible look on his face and we all just got really scared. And it wasn’t until we had gotten our driver out and we were facing that young lady over there that we realized Harry was still in there.” Liam spoke quickly, trying to keep his emotions in check.

“You mean Harry was still in the bus after it crashed and was all on fire?” Kim said.

“Yeah, he was napping in the bunks, and when we had gotten out, Louis here was holding Eleanor and brought it to Hannah’s attention and that’s when she got us all going and went in to get Harry.” Niall nodded, picking up the story.

“Hannah? Is that her name?” Garrett pointed to me.

“Yeah, Hannah Clarke. She pretty much saved all of our lives.” Zayn nodded solemnly.

“Well, come on up here, young lady! Ladies and gentlemen, give it up for Anna Clarke!” Kim outstretched her hand to me.

Ignoring her mess up, I tried hopping up onstage myself. But remember that little injury to my midsection that I suffered a bit ago? Yeah, that came back to haunt me. As I was trying to maneuver my way up, my waist stretched in a way that just killed my ribs. Although I had been on strong pain killers, they were most certainly wearing off.

I would’ve doubled over in pain, but that would’ve just made it worse. So, I opted for the obvious hand to waist and rather loud utterance of, “Shit!”

There were immediately strong hands at my side. I looked up and met deep brown eyes that seemed to say, “It’s okay, I’m here.”

Instead, the lips that were just below those eyes said lowly, “You okay, love?”

“Yeah, I think so…” I bit back the yelp of pain that had threatened to surface. He flashed me a gorgeous grin and helped me up. I returned the smile as genuinely as I could. “Thanks, Zayn.”

“Anytime, Pidgeon!” He winked surreptitiously.

“Ah, so this is the heroine of the hour! The girl who, apparently, saved One Direction!” Kim outstretched her arm to me, welcoming me to their little circle. I just smiled, not sure what to say. Plus, it was incredibly cold, so I preferred just to huddle in between Zayn & Niall, who had put their arms around me. (As I die inside.)

“Yeah, if it weren’t for her, I really don’t think any of us would be here right now.” Niall smiled down at me.

“So what led you out there running towards that burning bus rather than away from it?” Garrett held the mic out to me.

“Well, my friend Jessie and my sister Allie and I all saw the bus coming down the street from our front window, and as soon as I saw that it was burning and out of control, I made the decision that no matter what happened, I would be going out there to help until the paramedics got there. I mean, living where I live, I knew that it would take at least ten minutes for them to get there, and I knew that if the bus was going to crash the way I thought it would, then the people inside wouldn’t have a chance.” I said quickly.

“Now, when you got to the bus, what happened?” Kim prompted.

“Well, everyone was pretty much out. The first person I saw was Zayn, here, and that’s when I realized who it was. I’d seen them on TV and heard What Makes You Beautiful on the radio and stuff, so I recognized him. And once I did a head count, I realized that one of them was missing. So I ran towards the bus, ready to go in and get Harry, and Jessie was yelling at me that it was stupid and to wait and stuff, but I knew that there wasn’t much time. So that’s when Niall here-” I nudged him and smiled, “-offered to come in and help. And from there, we just worked as fast as we could to get Harry out and to safety.”

“Wow, that is really just incredible!” Garrett shook his head in amazement. Or was it mock amazement… I could never tell with these plastic reporters.

“It really is!” Kim took over. “What do you think Harry would say to you right now if he could?” She asked with a girlish grin.

“Um, I’m right here!” A low voice boomed over the airways. The crowd erupted as we all turned around to see Harry, still on the big screen, looking as cheeky as ever. Kim looked dumbfounded, while the rest of us were simply delighted.

“Of course you are!” I shouted.

“And I would definitely thank Hannah, yet again, for not only saving my life, but also saving all the boys and Eleanor, too!” He emphasized the ‘H’ in my name, obviously noting Kim’s earlier mistake. “Oh, and I would tell her she looks simply lovely in that red coat. Very suiting, don’t you think?”

He winked devilishly, making me blush. I had expected him to say the first bit, but that second bit about the fitted red trench coat that the stylists had chosen for me? Hence, my face turning into a fire truck.

“So, uh, we’ll have time for more questions for Harry, Anna-”

“It’s actually Hannah, Kim!” Harry interrupted the reporter.

“Uh, yes, Hannah-” she corrected herself bashfully, “-and the rest of the boys, right after the break!” Kim cut back in, blushing almost as red as I was, and signed off for commercial break.

As soon as the bells rang that we were clear, she stomped off with Garrett in tow. We were quickly guided under the stage, out of the immediate cold, where Management members were waiting for us with coats and blankets.

“You’re sure you’re okay, Hannah?” Niall put his hands on my arms and began rubbing them in an effort to keep me warm. “You looked like you were in pain back there…”

“Yeah, I’m okay!” I smiled, lying through my teeth. In truth, it felt like I had fallen on a wooden stake and it was still stuck in there.

He squinted and drew a bit closer. “You sure about that? Cuz you didn’t look okay.”

This. Boy.

I broke.

My shoulders fell and I looked down. “Okay, you have to promise not to tell, but it hurts.” I couldn’t bring myself to look up at him, the pain was so strong. “A lot.”

“Hannah, why didn’t you just say something?” I felt his finger on my chin and let him draw my face up to look into his eyes. Those cobalt blueyes… “You know you didn’t have to come!” he was saying.

“No, no, no, I wanted to!” I unconsciously brought my hand to his face. His eyes widened a bit as I felt an inexplicable warmth spread from his cheek to my hand up my arm and through my whole body. I could tell that he felt it too.

His lips formed a perfect ‘O’ as we stood there, my hand on his cheek, his hands on my arms, our feet planted in the concrete. It was as if there was no one else in the world…

Wow. That is the cheesiest thing I have ever said in my entire life.

The incredible part is that it is completely true.

“THIRTY SECONDS, PEOPLE!” A panicked yell interrupted our moment. Niall and I both looked up at the people bustling around, suddenly realizing that we weren’t alone. Our eyes met again, and we both opened our mouths to say something.

“C’mon, mate, let’s go!” Zayn pushed Niall as he jogged past.

“Yeah, let’s get a move on!” Liam smiled and followed Zayn out into the throng of fans.

Niall looked from Liam to me and, giving me one last lingering look and irresistible smile, followed him out. I stood there staring after where he had gone wordlessly.

What the hell just happened.

“Hey!” I jumped at someone’s touch on my back.

“Oh, my gosh, Louis, you scared the living crap outta me!” I laughed.

“Yeah, well, we gotta get movin’ and you’re just standing here like a lost little bunny or something!” He put his hand on my back and guided me forward. I laughed at his quirky little quip and allowed myself to be moved. “Oh, and by the way, you and I are going to have a little chat later about that little show of affection back there, yeah?” He pressed his lips to my ear as we drew closer to the screaming fans.

My stomach tightened at his words. “You mean you saw that?” I asked shakily. I myself didn’t know how I felt about that moment, not to mention how I felt about other people knowing about it.

“Darling, everyone saw that!” he chuckled.

My stomach dropped at the thought of Zayn seeing that. Dear God, why…

~*~

The rest of the performance went perfectly. There was a cute session with Harry on the big screen before the boys performed their latest single, Last First Kiss, and closed with Live While We’re Young. Then I was brought up again for the last little interview with Kim and Garrett.

“So you obviously brought Hannah with you today to connect with your fans and share the story, but are there any romantic affairs going on between her and anyone in the group?” Kim waggled her eyebrows awkwardly as my stomach did that dropping out thing again.

“Well, seeing as we just met her yesterday, I’m not quite sure how that would even be possible!” Liam saved me from having to answer. “But no, we’re all just becoming really good friends with her and like having her around. She’s a really nice, sweet girl and we’re really enjoying getting to know her.“ he nodded sweetly.

“Is there anything you’ve learned about her that you would like to share with the fans?” Kim prompted.

“Well, actually, she does this cute thing where she talks in her sleep! Yeah, I’m not sure she’s aware of it, though!” Zayn chuckled along with the rest of the boys while I stood there, mouth hanging open, blushing like a damned fire truck.

“I do not!” I protested when I had found my voice.

“You really do!” They all agreed.

“Unbelievable. I’ve known these boys for just a little over 24 hours and they’re already picking on me.” I turned to Kim, shaking my head.

“Wait, so you’ve seen her sleep?” Kim laughed, still stuck on that random detail.

“Well, before you jump to conclusions or whatever, we were talking to her in the hospital this morning and she completely blacked out. She got really hurt yesterday when she was helping Harry, so her body was in shock and stuff and when she went under she did that talkin’ in her sleep thing!” Liam explained swiftly.

“Ahh.” Kim nodded, as if masking the fact that that was a boring explanation.

“Well, guys, I can’t tell you how thankful we are that you’re okay and how incredible it’s been to have you back on the show! Our thoughts are with Harry right now and it’s been a pleasure to get to know the young lady who’s made this appearance even possible! So if you want to catch One Direction in its entirety, they’ll be performing at Madison Square Garden this Monday, December 3. If you don’t have tickets, then you can catch it on your local…” Garrett went off into the camera while the boys and I stood in the background.

“Hey look at the back of his head…” Zayn chuckled into my ear, nodding to Garrett. I looked up to see Garrett’s balding head facing away from us and immediately saw what Zayn had been talking about.

“It looks like a smiley face!” he continued. And, sure enough, the way Garrett was balding made the back of his head look like a smiley face. So, naturally, I started guffawing. Which meant that I had to tell Niall, who started hysterically laughing, who then told Louis, who joined in, who somehow passed on the information to Liam, who couldn’t help but join in laughing.

And so we all said goodbye to Times Square by laughing our heads off in the freezing December air.

~*~

“You WHAT?!” My mom screeched over the phone.

I had just told her that One Direction would be staying in our guest house. Oops.

“Mom, it’s only for a few days. They’ll stay in the guest house, pay for their own food, I’ll clean up the mess when they’re gone, and it’ll all be fine. I mean, I just wanted to be nice and help them escape the fans, you know? Plus, the doctors said that I have to stay home until Tuesday or Wednesday anyways, so it’s not like I wasn’t going to be home to watch them in the first place anyway!” I tried to reason with her.

“Hey! We don’t need a babysitter!” Louis protested from the floor beside Harry’s hospital bed. We were picking him up on the way back to my house. Of course, I had had to call my mom to make sure it was okay… something that I probably should’ve done awhile ago…

“Louis, you just spent the last five minutes rolling around the room like a human bowling ball. You need a babysitter.” I covered the mouthpiece and hissed at him.

“Hannah?!” I heard.

“Yeah, Mom, I got it!” I went back to her. “I just-”

Zayn took the phone from my hand without a word.

“Hello, Mrs. Clarke? This is Zayn Malik, I don’t believe we met. Yeah, I just wanted to let you know that if it really is a problem, then we should be able to find somewhere else to stay. Hannah’s an amazing girl and was only trying to help us out when she offered it, so please don’t be mad at her.”

There was silence on the other end.

“How many of you are there again?” She asked, even though I knew that she knew the answer. She knew exactly how many there were, what their names were, how old they were, and most of their songs.

“Only five, ma’am. And I promise you that we’ll all be on our very best behavior if you do allow us to stay. Otherwise, I promise that we can go somewhere-”

“No, you can stay. May I speak to my daughter, please?” I heard her say.

“YES! SLUMBER PARTAY AT HANNAH’S!” Louis shouted, still on the floor.

“Louis, just get up!” Liam walked into the room with the nurse in charge of Harry.

“But this floor is surprisingly comfortable! Do you know how difficult comfortable floors are to find?” Louis stroked the floor lovingly.

“Yes, mom?” I ignored the chaos and took the phone back from Zayn.

“They can stay. But. You will absolutely not be spending any alone time with five boys alone in a house with the five of them alone. Got it?” She said.

“No, I don’t think you said the words ‘five’ and ‘alone’ enough…” I said, making my sarcasm evident.

“Ha-ha, you’re so funny. When’ll you be home?”

“Uhh, we’re leaving soon, so probably under an hour?” I looked at the clock on the wall, accounting for dilly-dally time that would inevitably ensue.

“Ok. Be careful on the roads. I love you.” I could hear the weariness in my mom’s voice.

“Love you too, and we will! Bye!” I hung up and sighed, leaning against the door frame.

“Well, that went well!” Zayn smiled brightly.

“Yeah, I guess it did!” I smiled back tiredly.

“You okay?” He said, worry suddenly creeping into his eyes.

“Yeah, just tired. Long day, I guess?” I shrugged.

“Definitely a long day!” He nodded, leaning against the wall next to me. We watched Liam and Louis interact for awhile before Niall entered the room, his eyes immediately scanning it for-

“Hannah!” His eyes lit up when they found me. He crossed over to me, leaning against he wall on my other side and crossing his arms. “We ready to go, then?”

“Yeah, as soon as Harry is released.” I nodded to the nurse that had entered with Liam.

“Oh, yeah, we’re good!” She smiled and held up the forms.

I sighed in relief. I- we could finally go home.

Notes

yayyyyyy fourrrrr like doorrrrrr and morrrrrrre