What just happened? 

Did you kiss me? 

Cause that's a place we've never been until now 

And I don't know how it's gonna be after this 

Do we pretend these feelings don't exist at all 

Or do we fall?

Scarlett’s POV

Harry hasn’t talked to me since we left their last interview. I couldn’t believe I had said what I did, and after mulling over my words for the past thirty-something hours, I realized I don’t think I got my meaning across.

“Girls like me don’t date the Harry Styles’ of the world.”

I came off as a complete bitch without even trying.

What I had meant and what came out were two different things and I don’t think I was going to get a chance to explain myself to Harry. Two words missing and all of the meaning was lost.

“Girls like me don’t get to date the Harry Styles’ of the world.”

It’s not that I didn’t like Harry. Most of the time, I did. When we actually got along, when we were sitting around, just talking, I had come to like him quite a bit actually. But I had to not only be realistic, but professional. This was my job, my foot in the door. Dating Harry meant that not only would I risk losing everything I worked so hard for, but when the inevitable happened and we broke up, I would still have to see him.

And not only that, but who was I even? I was just a girl from the Village and he was a world famous pop star. He needed to be with the Kendall Jenners and let me stick to my Xanders. That was just the way the world works.

“So there is someone back here. I thought I heard someone talking to themselves.” I turned around to be greeted by a gorgeous blonde and when she smiled, I knew immediately who she was.

“Sorry about that. I didn’t realize I was talking out loud,” I shook my head and stood up from my spot on the floor. The boys were off in hair and makeup, getting ready for the Britain X-Factor finale, so I was closed off in one of the empty dressing rooms, needing to be alone with my thoughts for some time. “You must be Gemma. You and Harry have the same smile.”

Way to sound like a creep.

Thankfully, Gemma simply laughed and looked down at my extended hand, declining a handshake and going straight for a hug. “Sorry, you just looked like you could use one. You must be Scarlett. Harry’s mentioned you a bit and I’m actually quite impressed by his description of you.” I felt my cheeks darken at the mention of Harry talking about me and averted my gaze, not too keen on the idea of discussing Harry with his sister.

“So, what seems to be the dilemma? You’re back here talking to yourself, something’s got to be troubling ya.” I looked at Gemma for a moment, debating on how much of this I should share with her. Even with her warm and welcoming demeanor, saying “I made out with your brother, causing us to cheat on our significant others, and then rejected him. Oh and I still plan on rejecting him but in a much nicer way,” just didn’t seem like the best route.

“I um, well. I’ve upset someone, and I’m just trying to find the best way to go about apologizing. I didn’t mean for what I said to come off that way,” I explained as vaguely as possible. I didn’t know for sure, but she and Harry were probably close, and I wasn’t about to pour my heart out to a complete stranger.

Running my hand through my hair, which I had curled without any help from Harry, I must add, I let out a sigh. I had to talk to him. I wanted to before they performed, but I didn’t want it to mess up anything.

“Well you’ve gotta go apologize, love. Sounds like you’re mighty sorry for what you did and I’m this person will understand. Now come on, it’s almost time for them to head out.” Gemma took my hand and dragged me out of the dressing room to where the boys and their entire entourage were waiting.

Harry was still avoiding eye contact with me, so unless I could master telepathy any time soon, there would be no way I could signal him that I wanted to talk without drawing attention to ourselves.

Moments later, I got the brilliant idea to give each of the boys a hug, telling them to break a leg out there. One by one, I hugged and whispered words of encouragement, until I got to Harry. He couldn’t decline it or everyone would start to wonder if something happened between us, so instead, he forced a smile and outstretched his arms towards me.

“Thanks, Scarlett,” he enthused, though I saw right through his fake excitement. Our hugged lingered a bit longer than the others, but I managed to ask him to meet with me later so we could talk. As we pulled away, his lips formed a thin line and he nodded, leaving me relieved, if only for a few seconds. He agreed to talk, now I just had to hope he would accept my apology.

As everyone prepared to watch from either backstage or in the audience, I looked on and watched Harry scoop Lux into his arms. I couldn’t understand how sometimes he could be so crass, and others, he was the sweetest guy. Lux pushed Harry’s face and he bit her fingers, earning a laugh from me, alerting them to my staring.

“Alright love, you should go watch with Scarlett, and I’ll be back for you soon,” he told the toddler as they walked over towards me. Lux practically jumped from Harry’s arms to mine and I couldn’t help but laugh at her enthusiasm. She was a riot, and as long as Harry liked you, she did too.

Harry gave me a small nod and I sighed, wishing I could talk to him now, but I knew it was for the best. Instead, I turned to Lou, wondering if she would be okay with Lux and I watching from the audience. They were used to seeing the boys, so half the time they watched from backstage, but I enjoyed seeing them in their element. The way Liam would do his little dance, and Harry and Niall always seemed like they were sharing their own private joke onstage.

After getting the okay, I carried Lux out to where Gemma was sitting and waited for the boys to be announced. It was insane, I thought my ear drums were going to burst from all of the screaming girls. Lou had already taken the liberty of putting ear plugs in for Lux so I just had to deal with it.

“Scarlett, this is me mum and step dad,” I think I heard Gemma say. She was motioning towards a couple standing beside her. I waved at them, wishing my voice was loud enough to be heard over the screams and vowed to give them a proper greeting afterwards.

The whole time the boys sang, Lux and I danced along with them. I hadn’t realized until I looked up at the big screen that Harry had been wearing an earing and every time he moved, it dangled in his earlobe. Even Gemma got a good laugh out of that.

Once the song ended, the five of us made our way backstage and Lux immediately jumped out of my arm and ran to find her mom. It was quiet enough that I felt as though I could introduce myself to Harry’s mom.

“I’m so sorry about earlier, I hope I didn’t come off as being rude, I just didn’t know if I could scream louder than the girls out there. I’m Scarlett, I’ve been working for Caroline for the past few weeks now,” I said, holding my hand out to the two of them. Just like her daughter earlier, she ignored my hand and went straight for the hug.

“Don’t embarrass her, mum,” I could hear Harry from behind me. He walked over to us, earring dangling and all, and gave the man a small hug before hugging his mom tight.

“Harry, you’re going to break all of my bones. I was just about to introduce myself to Scarlett,” she scolded, though I could tell by her smile that she was happy to see her son.

“Mum and Robin, Scarlett. Scar, mom and Robin.”

His mother and I shot him the same look and I rolled my eyes. “Anne, you can call me Anne,” she added, touching my shoulder lightly. Harry snickered to himself and unwrapped his arms from around Anne’s body and stood beside me, placing his hand on the small of my back.

“Alright, that’s enough with the introductions, I believe Scarlett had something she wanted to tell me earlier,” he rushed and led me away from his family before I got a chance to protest.

Harry led me into an empty dressing room and locked the door behind us, making me wonder what had gotten into his head. The last time we had the doors locked, he backed me into a wall and got us into all of this mess. Not that I minded kissing him, I just couldn’t. For my job. Right.

“Harry, I’m sorry,” I blurted out. Smooth.

He raised a brow and looked at me beside himself with amusement. He got a kick out of seeing me flustered around him.

“I realize what I said came out wrong. I didn’t mean I didn’t want to be with you, I meant guys like you don’t usually want to be with me,” I continued. Saying this out loud made even less sense. How could I say that if he obviously wanted to be with me?

“I mean, I know Louis and Eleanor. And Liam and Sophia. They’re both great couples. But….I don’t know. And I work here. Us dating would compromise everything Harry. There’s just so many reasons why we shouldn’t do this.” I looked over at Harry after my rambling and noticed he seemed deep in thought. All I could do was hope he understood where I was coming from.

“I get it, you’re scared. And there’s no guarantee that we’ll last, but you have to admit, there’s something between us. I’m not crazy for thinking that, am I?” he finally said, motioning for me to join him. I shook my head, sitting down beside him; he wasn’t crazy.

“Harry, there’s no denying that I’m attracted to you, even with your earring,” I teased, “but I have a boyfriend who I love and a job I worked hard to get. Under different circumstances, I’d be willing to give this a try. But I would hate for anyone to think I got to where I did by sleeping my way to the top.” Harry nodded, understanding where I was coming from.

“Oh, but how lovely it would be if you did sleep your way to the top,” he whispered, his nose rubbing against my neck. I shivered, hating the effect he had on me. We couldn’t keep finding ourselves in these positions.

“H-Harry,” I stammered, making no motion to move away from him. His fingers found my chin and he turned my head towards him, lifting it lightly. “I know we have to stop, but, just one last kiss before we go back to being just friends,” he spoke softly and pressed his lips to my own.

It was over as quickly as it started, but it was for the best. Harry and I could never go past the point of friendship.

“Just know, the day you stop working for us, Xander or no Xander, I’m taking you on a date, Scarlett Hawthorn,” he joked as he stood up, taking my hand in his. We hadn’t been in there for long, but I was sure people were beginning to wonder where we were.

“Come on, you, let’s get out there before anyone starts to worry,” I laughed, rolling my eyes at him. Harry kept my hand in his as he unlocked the door. The color drained from his face once he saw who was on the other side. She wasn’t supposed to be here. She was supposed to have gone back to the states yesterday.

“Kendall?” he asked, his voice filled with confusion.

Notes

I'm so excited to see that I've been getting more and more views per chapter every chapter! Thanks so much guys. Now if I could only get more votes and comments too! I'd love any feedback, good or bad. xx