Cassie's POV:

It was Thursday morning. Two days until the show. Fuck. Even before my alarm forced me to get out of bed, I was already awake thinking these thoughts. I was getting nervous. What if I'm not funny enough? Dear god...

Harry besides me stirred when I shifted to turn off the alarm, and slung his arm over to draw me in close to his chest.

“Don't get up, Cass,” he murmured softly into my hair. I nudged him into the ribs with my elbow, which made him huff slightly.

“You have to get up, too, Harry. You're supposed to come to the rehearsal today, remember?” I said to him while getting up. Ouch! My whole lower back region hurt like hell. I must've slept a bit uncomfortably. Probably the stress. And the fact that Harry always takes over more than two thirds of the bed. I got up and made my way to the bathroom when someone knocked on my door. I opened it and it revealed Liam in the hallway, looking a bit worried.

“Good morning, Cassie, uhm... sorry to disturb you so early, but have you seen Harry? I wanted to wake him up, but he's not in his room, and his cell is dead, apparently,” he talked really fast, meaning that he was nervous. I smiled at him and opened the door wider, so that he could see the bed.

“He's right here,” I said softly. Liam's eyes widened slightly. The others hadn't really noticed that we had shared a bed a few times now.

“Oh... I see. Is he up? We have to leave in like... 20 minutes,” he said.

“He was already, but you better go check again,” I said while walking into the bathroom. I brushed my teeth, fixed my hair and put on a bit of make-up before I went back again. Liam was till trying to get Harry out of bed. He looked at me desperately.

“I think I'll need to get the cavalry, he won't move,” he exclaimed. I laughed at him.

“I got this,” I said and jumped on top of Harry. He grunted a bit, but didn't move. I bent down to his ear. “Harry, darling,” I cooed “if you get out of bed now, I'll give you a blowjob,” I whispered seductively. It only took about one second before I was flung off the bed and Harry basically jumped out of it in all his boxers-wearing glory. He grinned at me from ear to ear.

“Jeez, what did you say to him?” Liam looked surprised. I rubbed my bum, which had taken the force of my fall and he helped me up.

“I'm getting lucky today!” Harry sang happily while he vanished into his room, whistling joyfully. Liam cocked an eyebrow at me.

“You guys are a thing?” he asked. I looked at him straight for a moment before bursting out in laughter.

“No, we're not. I just had to get him out of bed, didn't I?” I beamed at him. He laughed lightly before his expression became a bit more serious.

“That's funny, but you know, you shouldn't toy with his feelings. When Harry falls, he falls hard,” he warned me. I put my hand on his shoulder and looked at him with a more serious expression.

“I love Harry, Liam, I really do, but he and I both know that this relationship is just a platonic one. We've talked about it, and I'm sure he accepts it as much as I do. We just... get along really well, and he's sort of... there for me right now,” I told him. Liam smiled.

“Alright, if you say so. You should maybe get dressed now,” he said, gesturing to my current outfit, which only consisted of my panties and a sleeping shirt.

“Oh, right, I'll see you in a bit,” I laughed as he left my room. I picked out my outfit and packed my bag, meeting the rest of the boys in the living room 5 minutes later. Even though it was brutally early, they were already goofing around. I grabbed a quick cup of coffee from the kitchen before ushering them all into the elevator. We were gonna take cabs, but what I didn't think through was the huge amount of paparazzi and fans outside the building. We basically had to fight our way through the crowd. Harry was right behind me, and when it got intense, he put both his arms around me protectively, sheltering me from the rest of the world. We ended up alone in a cab, and I was hoping the rest of the boys would make it trough as well.

“That was crazy,” he sighed and slumped down next to me.

“I know. Must be because of Ellen,” I groaned and massaged my lower back. It was still so stiff.

“Are you in pain?” he asked critically from beside me.

“A bit, I think I slept wrong,” I answered, still trying to get the tension out of my muscles. Suddenly, I felt his big hands brushing away mine.

“Let me,” he instructed, and when I tried to shift, he held me in place. I stopped resistance when his thumb hit a particularly tender spot and I swiftly groaned in pain before it felt better the next moment. I sighed contently and let his hands work their magic.

“Feeling better?” he asked and I just nodded frantically. He laughed and pulled me against his chest, holding me in his arms. I stroked over his right arm absent-mindedly while looking out the window. It was a nice late summer day in New York, not too hot, but also not too cold.

“You know I was kidding when I promised you that blowjob?” I then said, feeling the need to set things right. He laughed into my hair.

“I figured. But waking up to these words was better than waking up to Liam's 'Harry, you bugger, wake up, we're gonna be late',” he said and I grinned.

We stayed silent for the rest of the drive, which lasted for about 15 more minutes. There were also some fans and paps outside the studio, but they had a fence and security and we were up relatively fast. I greeted everyone and after the rest of the boys had arrived, we sat down on the big conference table to brainstorm for our sketch with Seth and Fred. In the end, we came up with a really good one, and it hadn't even taken us that long.

After that, we grabbed some lunch, and I tried really hard not to get involved in the little food fight the boys had going on. All of them except Niall, of course. Food was much too valuable for him to throw around with.

I was pleased with the day until it came to rehearsing. The boys were just... boys, really. Goofing around and doing mischief all day long. I tried my best to do the rest of my sketches as well, but they would always interrupt or try to get me out of focus by doing silly faces or gestures. Even Liam joined in on their mischief.


Harry's POV:

I was watching Cassie practising her opening monologue, for once staying still when she said something about university and her title. Turning to Liam, I asked “She has a title?”

“Yeah, she even took me to one of her lectures. She's really good at it,” he answered. I gave him a surprised look.

“When was that?” I asked, astonished.

“When she introduced Behati and me. It was a lecture on war poetry, that's what she majored in,” he explained. War poetry? Wow... how... unusual, I guess. I watched in awe for the rest of the monologue.

“Hey, Harry, get over here!” Louis then screamed from across the studio and I followed him into the costume department. Uh-oh. I smiled happily when I remembered Cassie and mine little adventure here last night, but when I saw Zayn and Niall, who were dressed up like middle-aged women, I burst out in laughter. “We're getting dressed up and then we'll go outside,” Louis explained his plan to me.

“Fantastic,” I grinned and grabbed the nearest wig and dress. 30 minutes later, all 5 of us looked like absolutely authentic elderly ladies. When we passed Cassie, she cried tears.

“I have to take a picture of this, hold on!” she said in between fits of giggles and we posed for her before leaving. I gave her a small peck on the cheek when I passed her.

“See you later, now get back to work, you lazy ass,” I grinned and she huffed in fake shock and slapped my bum, hard. It was... quite a nice sensation.


Liam's POV:

We roamed through Manhattan for the next two hours, getting noticed quite easily, and entertaining loads of people. It was so much fun actually doing something again after we'd been more or less cooped up for the last two weeks. Plus, it took my mind off my date with Behati tonight. We had spent a lot of time together, and tonight, I wanted to ask her to make us official. To say I was nervous would be a massive understatement. She was a supermodel, after all.

“Hot dogs!” Niall's scream got me out of my thoughts and I laughed when he darted to the guy selling it. He actually looked shocked at the sight of an elderly lady running towards his hot dogs, but when he saw that it was actually a young lad, his smile spread and he gave us all free hot dogs after. Fans were following us around all the time, and we had loads of fun.

When we arrived back at the studio, Cassie was also just finishing up her rehearsals. She smiled at us, getting off the stage.

“Guys, I wanna introduce you to someone,” she said and we followed her to the back. She stopped behind a tall guy, who was just talking to a stage assistant and tapped him on the shoulder. When he turned around, I saw that it was Paolo Nutini. “This is Paolo, old friend of mine and brilliant musician,” she said and we all shook hands. He was really friendly. We chatted for a bit before Cassie excused herself to get ready to head home. About 15 minutes later, we all left. I asked Cassie to share a cab with me, because I wanted to ask her about Behati.

“So, you know that Behati and I have a date tonight?” I started off once we were alone.

“No, I don't, I haven't talked to her in a few days now,” Cassie replied.

“Well, we've been spending a lot of time together and I really like her,” I confessed and she smiled at me encouragingly.

“I think she likes you too, Liam,” she stated the obvious.

“Right. So, do you think if I ask her to officially be my girlfriend tonight, will she say yes?” I asked. Her smile widened even more.

“Absolutely. There's a reason why I introduced you, and that's because she needs a man like you in her life, someone who treats her right. And I think she'll be overjoyed, Liam.” I smiled gladly and she squeezed my hand. “Don't be nervous,” she said “You'll do great.”


Cassie's POV:

After we got home, I got settled in the living room, scribbling down some thoughts in my notebook and enjoying the boys' company. Liam left at around 8, looking dashing. I gave him two thumbs up and an encouraging grin when he passed. Afterwards, Niall, Demi, Harry, Louis and I watched a movie. Rachel was out with friends and Zayn was in his room, skyping. Once again, I fell asleep and woke up when Harry softly shook me. The living room had gone dark and the others were just vanishing into their rooms.

“Time for bed, sleepy,” he murmured and we got up. I went into the kitchen to get a glass of water and noticed some noises from the hallway. Harry, who was behind me, looked at me curiously and we peeked around the corner just to see Liam and Behati in a heated embrace, making out like there was no tomorrow. They were slowly making their way towards his room, loosing pieces of clothing along the way. After the door slammed shut behind them, Harry and I looked at each other and giggled.

“Looks like she said yes,” I stated and for some reason, we high-fived.

“So, who are you going to hook me up with?” Harry asked cheekily and leaned against the kitchen counter. I raised a brow at him.

“What do you mean, Styles?”

“Well, you introduced Liam and Behati and Louis and Rachel. So, who's in store for me?” he replied. I swallowed and tried to play cool. Somehow, the thought of him with another woman had upset me slightly. I wasn't ready to share him right now, even though we were just friends.

“Maybe these were all coincidences?” I teased and started walking towards my room.

“Nah, I think I know you well enough now. You planned all that,” he said, close to my ear. I opened my door and turned around, a cheeky grin on my face.



“You have no evidence,” I said and slammed the door in his face. Giggling to myself, I got changed and got into bed. Rachel wasn't home yet, but I was pretty sure once she was, she wouldn't be sharing with me anyways. Most of her stuff was already in Louis' room.

I tried to fall asleep, but my mind was wandering, and somehow, it felt like something was missing. I tossed and turned around in my bed for at least 40 minutes before the door opened slowly. Expecting Rachel, I sat up and already had a snide remark on my lips when I made out Harry's silhouette against the light in the hallway. He quickly hurried over and got under the sheets.

“What are you doing, Harry?” I asked him, slightly surprised. He shushed me and pulled me down into the bed again. Slinging his huge arms around me, he began spooning me.

“Couldn't sleep, felt lonely,” he exclaimed and nuzzled my neck. I sighed softly, but didn't resist his affections. After all, I had trouble sleeping as well.

“It's not healthy doing this,” I stated after a short while.

“Why?” he asked back.

“We're getting far too attached to each other,” I reasoned.

“I don't care. I want this,” he said simple and I couldn't help but smile. I wanted it, too.

Notes

fun fact: I actually wrote the elderly ladies scene back in December, way before I knew that the boys actually did this... how funny is that?

and thanks for the lovely comments, you guys! you really make my day - all day, every day :D