Behind The Backstage Doors

The bus drive from Poland to Austria was awkward. Alison had been sitting with the boys in the back of the bus and everyone seemed tight. Except Harry. He was in a really good mood and no one seemed to know why but Alison knew it was because they were kind of trying to get back together. Josh hadn't said a word to her after their talk even though he tried to act like nothing was wrong. At the moment he was sulking in the corner of the couch. Everyone else seemed to think that Alison and Harry were fighting and she wasn't really wondering because she knew that Louis had a big mouth and he had probably told everyone about their "fight" yesterday.

When Alison had had enough of everyone being extremely quiet while they were watching a movie together she sighed out heavily and got up.

"Where are you going?" Louis asked when everyone settled their eyes at her indifferently. Harry being the only one who was looking at her with interest and Josh didn't even spare a glance.

"I just need to make a phone call," she lied. Or maybe she would call Brianna, she thought. Louis nodded and she sighed again exiting the room. Alison went to her bunk and lay on the bed exhausted. She picked her phone from her pocket and was just about to call her best friend but someone interrupted her.

"Can I join you?" she turned her head and was met with the infamous smirk. Before she had time to say anything he had already pushed her closer to the wall to give himself some space on the narrow bed.

"Heyyy," she said when he took her phone from her hand, locking the screen and putting the object aside. He crawled to his side and placed his arm around her, nuzzling his nose to her neck.

"Someone might just walk here and see us. We're supposed to be fighting," she noted after a while of silence.

"I don't care," he mumbled and she peeked her head to see that his eyes were closed. He looked so sleepy and cute that she didn't have the heart to be angry at him. So she carefully removed his arm around her and pushed his face away.

"You'll care when your manager finds out and sacks me," she said which make him move. He sat up and rubbed his eyes with his hands before locking eyes with her.

"He wouldn't do that," he said but she knew better.

"He came to talk to me in the start of the tour to personally tell me that I should keep away from you. So yes. I think we need to keep it down," she said while he just stared at her.

"Why didn't you tell me? Anyway. I don't really care about them. I want to take you out," he said out of the blue, making her breath hitch in her throat.

"W-what?"

"You heard me right. I want to take you on a proper date date when we get to Vienna," Harry said sounding sure. Alison thought he had probably thought about that earlier and it wasn't just something he made up quickly so her face lit up and she couldn't hide her smile.

"We both agreed on taking things slow so if we're gonna do this properly I have to take you on a first date. Just start from scratch," Harry explained and the smile on Alison's face rubbed off on him too.

For a moment they both just smiled at each other before a loud thump coming from the back of the bus made them jump.

"Okay," she said when he looked at her like waiting for an approval.

"But I think you need to go back now so they won't become suspicious," she said and he winked and flashed her a smile before exiting and leaving her alone with her thoughts.

She was about to call Brianna and tell her but thought better of it. First she had to make sure they would really work before telling anyone. They were more serious now. She couldn't really help herself and think about where he would take her. She had never been to Vienna and a new city would be nice to explore. Her thoughts made her smile widely.

-----

Alison liked surprises and when Harry sent her an address and a time later that day when they had settled in Vienna she didn't check the place from a map. She didn't really know if she should dress casually or a little fancier but after all she decided to put a nice summer dress that reached her ankles and put a little bit more effort on her make up. When she was ready she just got in a cab, giving the driver the address.

After a short drive she found herself in front of a movie theater. She paid the taxi, thanking him and then walking inside of the building. The place seemed big but it wasn't too crowded in that time of the afternoon. She didn't really know what to do so she wandered around for a while.
"Hey, you must be Alison Livesy?" she turned on her heels quickly when she heard man's voice calling her.

"Yes I am," she answered and the tall middle aged man guided with his hand for her to follow. He led her in to a dark corridor before nodding and leaving her alone. She frowned and wondered what Harry was up to but she didn't have to think it for a long before she heard a voice.

"You're here," she turned her head in the direction of the voice and saw him. He was wearing a black suit which was more like casual but it still looked so good on him. His hair was a bit differently too and when she took a few steps closer she could see he had visited at barber's. It was now much shorter and he was styling a quiff on top of his head.

"You cut your hair," she stated when she didn't know what else to say.

"How'd you know? We haven't met before," he said widening his eyes and looking too innocent for what she knew about him. She raised her eyebrow at him but his expression didn't change at all so she thought to play along.

"Shall I?" he asked while offering his hand for her. She looked at his hand bondering if she really was ready for this. After all that had happened in the past three years she was going back to him and she didn't know if she really could get her head around it. That they were there now. But she took his hand anyway.

He gave her a little smile and let her in the end of the corridor, taking a hold of the door handle.

"Ready for movies?" he asked but she felt speechless under his observing gaze so she just nodded her head. He opened the door and they were met with an empty theater. She gasped when she saw the candles in the middle of the tier and he noticed her reaction.

"Too romantic for a first date?" his face looked sincerely concerned and she hadn't known he could act so well. She had seen him acting in some stupid tv talk shows and back then she wasn't really impressed about his talents but now he surprised her. But she didn't show it to him and instead played along and shook her head.

"Not at all. I'm just really touched that you've made the effort," she told while looking in his eyes. When he smirked at her she turned her eyes on the floor to hide her imaginary blushing. Two can play.

Harry quided her in the middle of the seats where he had placed some popcorn and wine for them. When they had settled on their seats she turned to look at him questioningly and he winked at her before snapping his fingers in the air with a smirk on his face. She couldn't help but let out a laugh when the screen came alive and the lights dimmed. He had probably planned all of this earlier.

The sound of the movie weren't really loud so they could talk during it. Ofcourse Harry had decided on some cheesy rom-com but Alison acted unaware of his favourite movies and kept making questions about them. He had poured a glass of red wine for both of them and they were sharing a big bowl of popcorn.

Alison couldn't remember much of their actual first date. She couldn't really believe that Harry had wanted to get to know her better after their one night stand and after she had been trying to push him away for so many times. She thought it might be because no one had ever really wanted to stay with her and when someone actually did she was afraid they'd still leave her. She looked at the man sitting next to her now and wondered how in hell they had gotten here after all. They were like two magnets that couldn't be separated even after so many tries.

"What are you thinking?" he asked when he noticed her stare. She almost told him but then thought better of it because she didn't want to ruin their first date. This was a fresh start and she wouldn't be pushing him away anymore.

"Just about how relaxed I feel here. This is nice," she might've lied about what she had been thinking but she didn't lie about what she said. Everything between them had always felt natural. Like they were ment to be. And now she blamed the wine for making her so emotional so she shook the thoughts off her head and turned to look at what was happening on the screen.

After the movie ended they just sat there for a while, talking and enjoying their wine. She hadn't paid much attention on the movie because she was glancing at him all the time but he was excited to talk about the actors. But she didn't really mind because she loved listening to him and looking at his lips when they were moving.

Harry was interrupted when Alison's stomach made a loud noice. He stopped in mid sentence and she blushed bright red.

"Someone's hungry," he stated.

"Just... hadn't had much to eat today," she smiled.

"And here I am blabbering about stupid things when you're in need for proper food. You should've said something!" he sighed and smiled at her. They both got up, her feet a little unsteady after drinking so much wine on empty stomach so he helped her to walk. He guided them outside of the building, the sun blinding them after being in the dim lights of the theater.

They walked for a while and she was surprised when no one really recognized him. Apparently this wasn't the most crowded area of the city so the streets were quit empty. Just a few people looked at him twice but no one stopped for a photo. They walked in a comfortable silence, his hand still in hers.

"That looks like a nice place," he said, pointing at a fancy looking restaurant. She agreed with him so they crossed the road and headed towards the place. But a smell of a little hod dog stall made her turn her head and it didn't go unnoticed by him.

"Or then we could just grab hod dogs. It would be much quicker," he stated, smirking at her and making her blush again.

He bought them both hod dogs and they sat down on a little bench surrounded by trees. It was quite warm as it was the start of June. He took his suit jacket off before they started eating their food. It didn't take much time for her to finish her food and he laughed at her for gobbling.

"You have something in there," he said while looking at her mouth. She was about to wipe it away but he took her wrist. "Let me," he said, taking a napkin and wiping the end of her mouth. Her lips curved into a smile and he laughed with his dimples on full display. The day had been such a cliche but maybe it was something they both needed right now.

"This has been really nice," Alison told Harry when they were walking down the road.

"I really appreciate your effort," she added, trying to be as polite as she thought she'd be on a first date.

"I'm really glad you came," he told, taking her hand in his and giving her a goofy smile. They stopped at the end of the road just to look at each other for a while.

"I'm afraid I have to go now. I've got some things to take care of," his smile changed into a little frown which Alison found cute. "But I'll call you a taxi before that," he added.

They chatted for a while and when the taxi came they said their good byes. Harry was careful not to cross any lines so he gave Alison a kiss just in her cheek. When she got inside of the car she waved at him as long as she could see him even though she knew that she was going to see him later that day at the arena.

When he was out of the sight Alison sighed out and concertrated on looking at the beautiful city. But her mind wandered back to the man she had once fell in love with. She promised herself to do everything that she could to make it work this time.

Notes