The Wanted Girl

Harry's POV:
Bri was out on the balcony calling her dad. It was playoff week and she knew he was excited but definitely nervous. She had told me that this was the first year she wasn't there to watch. She wouldn't be there to cheer her team on. Normally, I wouldn't think much of it. But the way she spoke about those guys, I knew this was much more than missing some baseball game. I told her I'd fly her out there, wherever they were. I even offered to go with her until I had to fly back. She of course denied me, saying that this was important to her, spending time alone with me. We hadn't had much time 'alone', not like this at least. So I gave up. But of course she was still stalking the team on her phone, using the wifi to watch the games stream live.

I pulled out my phone and dialed Zayn's number.

"Hey mate," He said.

"Hey. What are you doing?" I asked.

"Mmm not much. Back in Bradford today to visit my mum. How's paradise?"

I laughed, "Amazing man. Seriously no paps! We walked down the beach and to the store and through the town and not a single person even LOOKED at us. It's been incredible."

"Wow. I'm taking Soph there next break, for sure," He said.

I sighed at the mention of her name.

"That's kind of why I'm calling..." I said.

"Yeah? About Soph, or vacation?" He inquired.

"You gotta let her go, mate," I mumbled.

He scoffed, "Why would I do that?!" He asked in astonishment.

"Because Zayn, she isn't yours."

"Really? Because last time I checked, she really is."

I sighed, "Hear me out. Louis will never love anyone the way he loves Sophie. She's his light at the end of the tunnel. She's the reason for all of his happiness. Remember back on last tour? He was complaining saying that he wasn't going to sign another contract. He wanted out. He was ready to be in the real world and go back to normalcy. He hated everything about this business. Until Sophia came around. Without her, he wouldn't even be here right now. She's his entire world, the same way that Perrie was yours-"

"Don't compare those two relationships mate because I'll hangup on you right now-" I cut him off.

"I'm not! I swear. It's just, Sophia is his end game. She's it for him. There will never be another relationship for him. And maybe that isn't right. Maybe that's not fair. Maybe his happiness shouldn't be the only one I'm worried about. But Sophia was happy with Louis, too. After Perrie..." I paused to see if he would interrupt again, but he stayed silent.

"After Perrie, everything was different for them. Sophia had to take on a much bigger role. She had to be not only YOUR care taker, but ours too. We all miss her mate. Every single one of us. But Sophia didn't have time to mourn like the rest of us. We think she did, but she didn't. Brielle tells me all the time that she'll start to talk about her, then stop because she feels guilty. She feels like Perrie would be disappointed in her for being with you."

"But she wouldn't! She'd want us both to be happy," He explained.

"I know. I really do. But Sophia will NEVER be able to see that. Eventually, she'll realize that she can't remove her memories with Perrie from her heart forever, and she'll leave you. She has the opportunity for a lifetime of happiness. So does Louis. I'm begging you. Please don't ruin that," I said.

The other line was silent for a minute.

"Just shut up, please. I... I have to go, Haz. I'll see you in DC," He mumbled.

I sighed, resting my head against my hand, "I'm sorry Z, I really am."

He hung up. The second I put my phone down, I felt like I had made a mistake. I felt as if I may have fueled his fire to make Sophia his instead of Louis'. I had fucked everything up, and Louis would never forgive me for that.

"Haz?" Brielle snapped me out of my trance.

I looked up at her and tried to put on a somewhat normal face. So she'd hopefully not see that I had just done exactly what she told me not to do... get involved.

"Yes dear?" I said, smiling.

She came and sat down on the bed next to me, curling up to my chest, "Have you talked to any of the boys?"

I nodded, "Um yeah. I spoke to Liam briefly. He's in Wolverhampton visting his family and some old friends."

She nodded, "Um... anyone else?"

I shook my head, lying, "Nope. Why?"

"No reason," she murmured.

I tilted her chin up to mine, "Bri..."

She sighed, "I'm just worried about Niall."

What?

"Niall? Why? He's with Serena, right?"

She shrugged, "I'd hope not. She cheated on him and Sophie found out and freaked, telling her that she had to tell Niall when he came home. She thought that he deserved to hear it from him. We've been here for like two days and no one has told us anything!"

My mouth was on the floor. Serena cheated on Niall? No way...

"Why would she cheat on him?! I mean, with who? Wasn't she with Max and Nathan the entire-"

I stopped, realizing what I was saying.

"I'm going to assume it was Nathan because if it had been Max, Soph would've killed Serena," I blatantly stated.

She nodded, "I don't know what to do. Niall's gotta be devastated."

I tightened my arm around her, pulling her closer to my chest. I kissed the side of her head and felt her relax under my touch.

I smiled, "Do you know what all of us guys seem to have in common? Namely Lou, Zayn, and I?"

"What?" She asked.

"We've always loved amazing women. You, Sophia, and Perrie all have this uncanny instinct with people. You're so similar. You have this strange maternal instinct not only over the person you're dating, but the people you love. It's one of my favorite things about you all."

She looked up at me and gave me a cheeky, 'I know' smile.

"I love you Harry," Brielle whispered.

I kissed her nose and she wrinkled her face, "I love you too, Bri."

"Can I tell you something?" She said.

I nodded, intertwining her fingers with mine, "Of course, love."

"I'm really sad that I never got to meet Perrie."

I felt my heartbeat pick up. Perrie would have loved Brielle. She would have seen her as a crazy little sister.

"She loves you," I stated.

"She never got to meet me,"

I shook my head, "She's still here. Soph used to say that all the time. That Perrie's always with us. She's watching, constantly. It used to be more of a threat, and God she'd be raising hell over all of this drama. But she knows you. I know she does."

She smiled, "How do you know she loves me then? If she can see everything, there's no way she'd like me."

I flicked her cheek and she let out a squeal, "She'd love your smart mouth. She'd also love the way you love me. The way you take up for Zayn. And the way you take care of her best friend. I was worried Sophie would never move on from Perrie, more than I was worried about Zayn. She was her soulmate, you know? They had that friendship that was so special, so untouchable, no one could ever ruin it. You brought Soph back to life, more than anyone else did."

Brielle had tears in her eyes, trying to be tough so of course she blinked them away, "Really?"

I nodded, "Really. You helped put our broken pieces back together. She would have adored you, I know it."

She sat up a little taller and smiled, "Thank you. That means so much to me."

I nodded and kissed her again. She stopped me and pushed me back, narrowing her eyes, "Back to business. Send out a group text and tell everyone we're having dinner together at my place back in London."

I furrowed my eyebrows, "But we were going to fly straight back to tour?"

She shook her head, "Change of plans, we're going home early."

My mouth dropped open in protest, "But-"

"No butts Harry! We're going home. Our family needs us. All of them. Now shoo! I'll make our flight arrangements and call management and security, you handle the boys and Sophie."

I raised my eyebrows, "Are you sure this is a good idea?"

She shook her head, "No. But Sophia is about to lose someone she loves, whoever that is. We need to start putting out the fire now so that you can have a good tour and good, happy, bandmates."

"Fine. I'll do it," I whined.

She smiled and kissed my cheek before standing up and strutting towards the bedroom door.

"Love you!" I called after her.

"Love you too, my little whiney baby!"

Throughout everyone else's drama, we'd managed to stay pretty much out of it. Besides her (most likely) telling Sophie to stay with Zayn and me telling Zayn to let her be with Louis... Okay, so we both couldn't stay out of it. We're nosey and want things our way. Since we were on different teams, only one of us was going to win. Even worse, someone was going to lose. I was much more worried for the loser, and I wasn't talking about Brielle or I.

Sophia's POV:
We walked into the dingy bar in South London and were seated at a tiny booth in the back. There were fans parked outside and luckily, none of them were old enough to get in. Or else maybe someone had paid them to keep anyone else out. I was going with the latter.

"What are we doing here?" I asked him.

He smiled, "Playing a game."

He called over the waiter, ordering a round of shots and letting him know to keep them coming. I looked up at the clock, it was three. I went to say a snarky comment and realized how ironic this all was. Shots at a shitty bar at three in the afternoon. The only difference was we were in London, and these questions we're going to be a hell of a lot worse.

I grinned, "Bring it on sucker. I'm going first."

He nodded, pushing the shot in front of me.

"When was the last time you cried?"

He took the shot, "Sorry, love. I'm being manly today."

I laughed at his audacity. That totally meant that whenever it was, it was recent and it was most definitely over me.

"Who was the last person you had sex with?" He asked.

I raised my eyebrows at him, "You really wanna know that?"

The past triumph in his eyes had disappeared, he then looked terrified.

"I... yeah. I do."

I smiled and pushed my shot towards him, "It was you. Take your shot, lover boy."

He smirked, "Gladly."

The second round came soon after.

"You told me last time the reason you're such a narcissistic asshole is because of some girl who ditched you before the prom, are you really that easy to crack Tomlinson?" I asked, trying to keep a straight face.

He grinned, "No. It's because every woman in my life drives me fucking insane. If you haven't noticed, i've become 3000 percent worse since I met you."

I held my hand up to my heart, sarcastically aweing, "Louis you always know the right things to say to me."

"Take your fucking shot, George," He said, smiling.

I took it with ease, forgetting how much I loved whiskey. I slid it over to the edge of the table and leaned back in my chair.

"Wow, no chaser? I'm impressed," He gawked.

I rolled my eyes, "Louis it's not a secret that I can hold my own drinking."

He smiled, "Yes love, but I started drinking before you."

I smiled politely, "I grew up in a country club with rich people and tons of drugs, no one started drinking before me."

He raised his eyebrows in amusement and tilted his head, clearly accepting my answer. He looked happy today. Unlike how I'd seen him lately. He was okay, not pressing me on our relationship, not worrying about Zayn, not bringing up Nathan or Connor. He was the old Louis. It was a pleasant reminder that even though he didn't have me, he was happy. Louis could be happy without me. He didn't have to be a wreck. He'd be okay. And that was easing my heart. Because I was going to have to choose tomorrow and I was going to hurt someone. I needed to know that whoever I hurt, was going to be alright.

Notes