Fame

"It is my greatest pleasure to introduce a man who clearly needs no introduction, a very great singer - who is celebrating his twentieth birthday today!" A man announces.

"Actually, my birthday was-" I begin, but the countless reporters, photographers, and the flashes of cameras drown me out.

I do my best to pose properly and give winsome looks to the camera although it's not nine o'clock yet, which is the time I'm actually awake. But even if I had just gotten hit by a bus, I would look fine; I always look good. Besides, the paparazzi have no mercy, in any situation, they will whip out their cameras and capture every detail, even if you're on the brink of death.

I just flew from home to some state in America, that I should remember the name of but I can't quite put my finger on it-

"Harry, is it true that you like sleeping completely naked?" One shrimpy reporter asks, breaking my train of thought.

"I don't like it, I live for it!" I reply instantly and grin, displaying my well-known, dimpled smile.

"S'true that you're dating Kendall Jenner?"

"She's an amazing girl and we're friends! But no, not dating."

"But you have been reportedly been seen with each other," one presses.

"We did date but we're friends now," I say and begin to grow annoyed with their poking into my personal relationship but I guess it's a packaged deal. I wanted fame and I got it and everything that comes with it.

"Harry, is it true that right after you broke things off with Kendall, you immediately got close with Allison Mosshart?"

"What? I don't remember-"

"Harold! Come on! We need to leave!" Shouts Louis from the door. Ignoring the reporters continuous questions, I walk as steadily as I can over to Louis.

"You okay?" Louis asks as we walk out of the building. Before I can respond, the security guards lead us through the double doors of the building into freezing cold temperature, past the fans, and into the black SUV. Once I clickednmy seat belt into place and I could feel my frozen fingertips again, I give Louis a weird look.

"What would be wrong with me? I'm completely fine." I flash him a sincere smile to match my optimistic tone.

"It's just . . . never mind," Louis says dismissively and peers out the window silently.

I sigh in relief, letting my face droop down into exhaustion, free of Louis's interrogation. My acting must be getting better.

I join the staring club, looking out the window as well, immediately greeted by screaming girls banging on the windows. Their eyes wild and desperate, some of them full of tears, but they all have the same inhumane characteristics - a striking resemblance to some animals I've seen at the zoo.

Fans come in all shapes and sizes, with dedication levels varying from .003% to 278%. The fans are amazing - they're the reason why we're here, but sometimes I can't help but think they're throwing their lives away.

We're not even that good of singers (or dancers) and yet we have the most enormous fan base. But you can't diminish fame, at least not completely. And once you get a taste of it, you only want more.

"HARRY!" Louis screams in my ear.

"What the hell was that for?" I protest and push Louis away from me, rubbing my ringing ears.

"I said how did the press conference go?"

"Oh, sorry, I didn't hear you."

"I know," Louis says, rolling his eyes.

"Uh, it went good," I mumble.

"Really? And when has a press conference ever been good?" Louis raises an eyebrow, disbelievingly.

"Well, this one was good," I snap defensively.

"They didn't talk about Kendall?" I wave aside Louis's question easily.

"No, the most annoying thing they did was say my birthday was today."

"But this is cool! You can celebrate your birthday twice!"

"I know, but yesterday wasn't enough . . . I miss them so much." I think longingly of the day before, it was as close as you can get to perfect.

"You'll see Gemma and Anne soon," Louis assures me. I smooth out the wrinkles in the leather seat, giving me something to do and focus on.

"I know, it's just the tour and....just everything is so overwhelming."

"It is," Louis admits. He gives me a bitter smile and pauses; this is one of those times I believe Louis is actually 22. "But it's our lives, let's make the best of it." And with that inspirational speech, Louis pats my head, as if I'm a child that needs to be taught a lesson and opens the car door. When he leaves, I can hear the roar of the girls increase and see him waving to the fans through the open door. Several of them scream 'Where's Harry?' and I hope that Louis doesn't tell them. But who am I fooling? They know I'm in here. They always know where I am.

I quickly shut the door, wanting to have some alone time to sort through my jumbled thoughts.

"Did I do the right thing?" I ask myself and run my hands through my curls.

"Of course I did, Kendall wanted to get serious and I didn't feel anything anymore for her. How am I supposed to spend the rest of my life with someone I don't love? It was good at first but then, things went downhill." I nod to myself, halfheartedly agreeing with my words.

All I want to do is lie down and take a long nap in this car, hidden away from all the fans and press. But I can hear them chanting my name outside. If I don't get out soon, they would soon try to get into the car. Why are they even out in this cold? It's sub-zero!

I groan and open the door, the shrieks and screams rising to a detrimental level and I'm pretty sure if there was a glass somewhere around here, they would've shattered it. I manage to smile and wave as I walk as quickly as possible to the hotel's Porte-cochère.

Ignoring the grand entrance, I unlock the door on the side and run up the fire escape, hoping to avoid any fans in the main lobby. At the seventh flight, I begin to regret my choice seeing that I was staying in the penthouse on the fourteenth floor.

Deciding to take a quick detour, I sit down on one of the cool concrete stairs. I close my eyes, and lean my sweaty forehead against the wall, letting the cold seep through.

I groan when I hear a soft whistling noise below, signaling that someone has opened the door downstairs and entered the fire escape. I pray that it isn't a teenage girl. I really need a break.

I hear the small, repetitive taps of shoes hitting the stairs. They probably aren't going as far as the seventh floor, I reason with myself when I debate weather to run away or not. They won't see me. Nevertheless, the sounds kept getting louder and I can feel myself getting more anxious by the second.

I grunt loudly when I try getting up quickly, hitting my head hard against the railing. Well I guess I should've seen that coming since I was trying to stand up with my eyes closed.

My eyelids flicker and I set my hand on the wall, trying to steady myself with my head spinning. I hear a small gasp and I try looking up but the dizziness in my head conflicts with my vision and the world around me begins to sway.

"Are you okay?" I hear a feminine voice say. I reach up to touch my forehead, slightly wincing when my fingers brush the growing bruise on my head.

"Don't . . . feel . . . so good. . . I - I think I need to lie down now." With that, I collapse on the stairs and black out.

*******

It feels like my forehead has it's own heartbeat it's throbbing so much. I try rolling over on my stomach to groan into my pillow but then blood rushes into the enormous growth on my head; I probably would've screamed in pain if I hadn't bit down so hard on my tongue.

"Is he awake? I think I saw him move!" I vaguely hear a thick Irish accent say. I hear the other boys rush to my side, they're footsteps overwhelming my ears with the alarming amount of noise.

"Yes Niall, I am awake," I say, still keeping my eyes closed.

"How are you feeling?" Liam asks, concern etched into his voice. I raise my hand, and wave it in the direction of his voice, motioning that I'm fine.

"Don't worry, I'm fine Liam." I give him a thumbs up and then drop my hand exhaustedly back onto the bed.

"Liam's here," Zayn snickers. My hand lifts, is directed to my right, and settles on what I think is Liam's shoulder.

"Well you did pass out," Louis notes.

"I hit my head!" I protest.

"You're just lucky that Luna iced it straight away, or else the bump on your head would be the size of a football," Niall says.

"Who's Luna?" I ask, even though I already knew the answer. Silence blankets the room and I begin to counting down the seconds.

"Lads?" I say and open my eyes at thirty seconds. I exhale loudly in relief when I find myself in the hotel room, other than the dreaded hospital. I suppose hitting your head isn't bad enough to go to the hospital.

I return my attention back onto the boys who are exchanging glances and moving their eyes awkwardly to nothing in particular.

"She's like any other fan, pretty average," Zayn says and shrugs, apparently unlike Liam, Louis, and Niall, he is unfazed by Luna.

"Except she's super hot!" Blurts Niall. I couldn't help but snicker, out of everything he could've said, he chose 'hot'. "What?" He mutters defensively and turns bright red. "It's true," Liam nods agreeingly.

"There's no doubt that she's gorgeous but she also-" starts Liam.

"Oh yes, absolutely breathtaking! Ravishing! Dazzling in fact! Practically a saint!" Louis teases and ruffles Noall's hair.

"Shut up," Niall mumbles and turns even more red.

"She's also seems very interested in you," Liam finishes. I swear it was like the pain in my head increased.

"Typical fan," Zayn mutters.

"So she's a fan? I'm surprised she didn't rape me in my sleep," I say sarcastically.

"Wh-what now?" Stutters a soft voice. All the boys turn around to see who's speaking. I lean forward a bit and rub my eyes, focusing them on the girl.

Immediately, my impression of her softens, she looks like a lost puppy. The first thing I noticed about her was her eyes are a haunting ice-blue. She has curly brown hair that seems to have gold flecks whenever she steps into the light. She has a drop-dead-gorgeous-body, not too skinny, not to fat, not to mention she also had curves that made you just want run your hands up and down her body. And she was standing at an incredible 5' 9", looking like she's taller than poor Louis.

Everyone spun around to see her, with her hands tightly clutching multiple bulging paper bags close to her chest, labeled with a strange name at the bottom. Niall sniffs the air, as do I, detecting a very familiar aroma.

"Hello," I say and give the girl a pained smile. She looks like she's going to say something but Niall beats her to it.

"What did you bring?" Niall asks suspiciously. Tacos, tacos, tacos, I pray. Please, please God, I beg. I stare longingly at the bag, having visions of myself tearing the bag to sheds before devouring glorious tacos.

"It's C-Chipotle," she says nervously and sets the bags on the coffee table. We all surround her, hungrily, even though we had no idea what's in the bags, it smells so heavenly.

Even I, despite the sharp pains of my head, manage to drag myself from the surprisingly comfortable bed. My mouth is actually watering, I could hear Niall's stomach growl and saw the others lick their lips.

"What's Chipotle?" We all ask in unison. She begins taking silver tins out of the plastic bag and lining them in rows on the table.

"It-It's kind of like a f-fast food restaurant, but instead it makes burritos, t-tacos, and burrito bowls." I look up toward the ceiling after she said tacos and give thanks to The Lord.

"So, what's all this?" Asks Zayn as she continues to bring out endless silver tins from the bag.

"Th-There's rice, chicken, corn, b-beans, lettuce, beef- well there's a lot." We watch her movements like hawks, desperately wanting to lift the tops of the silver tins.

"You c-can all sit down on the couch and I-I'll serve you your food," Luna says. We walk around the table and sit on the couch. Surprisingly, we all fit. Perhaps it was because we hadn't had breakfast and currently, we're skinny enough. She walks to the other side of the table to face us.

"I will g-give you you're food by al-alphabetical order, first names."

"Yes!" I shout and punch a fist in the air.

"This is bullshit," Zayn hisses and directs a deadly look to Luna.

"H-Harry, d-do you want a taco, burrito, or b-burrito bowl?"

"Taco," I say immediately.

"O-Okay," she opens up the biggest container that contains huge tortilla shells, these strange oval shaped bowls, and hard taco shells.

"What d-do you want on it?" She asks and begins unveiling the rest of the silver tins. I tell her what I want (making sure that she put extra sour cream on my taco) and then begin carnivorously eating the small taco.

She serves the rest of us our choices and then starts making her own. Louis and I both choose tacos and the rest of the boys had the most enormous burritos. None of us chose the "burrito bowl." I watch as she picks up one of the oval bowls and begins scooping ingredients into the bowl.

"So what's a burrito bowl?" Asks Niall with his mouth full.

"S-Same thing as a b-burrito but it d-doesn't have the tortilla."

"Do you eat it with your hands?" Asks Liam.

"Um fork or . . . " she reaches inside the bag again and pulls out five bags that are labeled "chips." "You c-can scoop it with chips." She takes one of the bags, rips the top part of the bag off, easily grabs a chip, scoops up some of the stuff in her bowl with the chip, and eats it.

"Can I have a burrito bowl?" Louis asks, who has already eaten three tacos.

"S-Sure," she pauses and looks up at me, as I'm finishing my fourth taco. "Harry, do you want one as well?" She asks kindly. Aw, she stopped stuttering, it was cute.

"No thank you," I say politely and continue to eat my taco. I don't want to give up a taco, my favorite food.

"Actually, could I please have a burrito bowl as well?" Liam politely asks.

"Sure, would you like me to wrap up your burrito?" She points to his existing burrito that's only half eaten. Liam hands his burrito to her and she begins to wrap it up in some gold tin foil.

Soon enough, all the boys trade their normal meals for the burrito bowl; even Zayn.

"So what did you do to get Paul to let you in?" Asks Zayn. I lean in, wanting to hear, it takes a lot to convince him that you're not just another sly, crazed fan.

"I'm your assistant for the week."

"You're our what?" I ask.

"It was going to be Annie but since I found Harry and took care of him, Ms. Sutton said I c-could the a-assistant." I can't help but smile, even though it didn't make any sense; the stuttering is adorable.

"No need to be nervous around us love," Liam says kindly and pats her hand. Her cheeks grow red at the contact and she withdraws her hands from the table, settling them in her lap. Huh. I wonder what would happen if someone actually touched her.

"You're Luna right?" I ask, she blushes even deeper.

"Y-yes."

"Like Luna Lovegood?" I raise my eyebrow.

"Yes," as if the Harry Potter character was her saving grace, her face lights up and she smiles wildly. Wow. She looks different when she smiles. She doesn't look as shy as before, she looks beautiful. I shake my head to clear my thoughts. I look up to see everyone giving me weird looks.

Shit, I quickly take a huge bite of my taco.

"So how long will you be our assistant?" Niall asks.

"As long as you guys are staying here in Detroit."

"We're leaving tomorrow," Niall says sadly.

"Actually we're leaving in a week," says Paul. Everyone turns to face him, standing at the door with his huge muscular arms crossed.

"What happened?" Zayn asks.

"All the flights got canceled because it started snowing too heavily and the streets are too icy to drive."

"But we've already preformed the two concerts here, what are we going to do?" Asks Liam.

"Who cares! We have a week off!" Shouts Louis. I grinned, if the roads are too icy to drive than the paps won't be able to get to us! One week free of them!

"Actually, Harry here, has been offered a small part in a film," says Paul, patting my shoulder.

"I have?" I look up at Paul confusedly.

"You only have to act out one scene. Since it's a small part and decent pay, I said you would be happy to do it. You'll film about five blocks from here."

"Did Simon say it was okay?" I ask.

"Simon was the one who persuaded me to do it."

"What do I have to do?" Paul smirks.

"I'm sure all your fans will appreciate that your doing a sex scene." Immediately, all the guys double over with laughter.

"Not exactly how I pictured my acting career to begin but I'll take it!" I say cheekily.

"The real question is, who's going to be the lucky lady?" Ask Louis.

"Oh there will be ten mile long line for the casting director," says Niall.

"Imagine if the girl was ugly!" Laughs Zayn.

"Shut up," I groan and cross my arms.

"Aww, it's okay Harold, we'll save you from having fake sex with an unattractive girl," Louis says and comes over to hug me from behind.

"Get off me!" I shout and shove his arms away from my shoulders.

"I don't understand, why would Simon want Harry to do a sex scene?" Liam inquires.

"For a more mature look of the band."

"What's the movie about?" I ask.

"Two eighteen year olds, Sarah and Cole have been enemies since middle school and hate each other for unknown reasons. Sarah has been crushing over Charlie and Cole has been pining over Emily since freshmen year. One night, all four teenagers are invited to the same party. Sarah and Cole are both pumped up by their friends and search for their crushes to tell them their feelings. They are both directed to the same room where they find Charlie and Emily having sex. Both heartbroken, they get drunk and end up sleeping together. When they wake up in the morning, they freak out and awkwardly leave the house. At school, Sarah tries to confront Cole about what happened but Cole avoids her. Sarah continues to try to talk to Cole for two more days until she gives up, heartbroken, thinking no one loves her. When prom arrives, Sarah and Cole both take their dream dates (not seen on screen) but when the make eye contact with each other, Sarah breaks down and runs out of the gym. Cole runs after her and admits his feelings for her, the movie ends with a kiss."

"So basically a romantic comedy?" Asks Liam.

"Yeah, typical chick flick," says Paul.

"Do I even have any lines?" I ask.

"Yeah, they're 'God you're so hot' and 'Right there baby!'" Teases Louis. I pushed him and turn red.

"Actually, those might be your lines!" Laughs Paul.

"Harry has his scene down, he's had plenty of rehearsal too!" Says Zayn. Everyone rolls on the floor with laughter, except Luna who's quietly eating her burrito bowl. I glare at the boys first before sitting next to her.

"So," I say and helped myself to some chips, "tell me a bit about yourself," she gulped.

"W-well, I work here," she fiddles with her Detroit crew neck, not making eye contact with me.

"And what's a pretty girl like you working here?"

"I don't have any where else to go," Luna whispered. I bit my lip, thinking shit , bad topoic.

"You said you worked here right?" I ask gently, Luna nods.

"Then how come your not wearing your work clothes?" I ask, trying to stray from the previous topic. Luna stands up and head towards the door; I hurriedly follow her.

"If you prefer I wear the maid's outfit, I have it in-"

"No! No! It's fine, I was just wondering," I quickly grab her hand before she can even touch the door knob and pull her towards me.

"Oh!" she says when I had yank her into me, causing it to look like we're halfheartedly hugging. I could feel her heartbeat accelerate through her chest, so I smiled at her.

"Are you frightened of me Luna?" I ask. She quickly shakes her head.

"No," she says.

"Good, because I like you," I give her another smile and step back, turning my attention onto the boys who had gone back to eating. I squeeze back in my spot on the couch between Louis and Niall and devour my fifth taco.

"By the way Harry, happy birthday," Paul says as he helps himself to some chips and guacamole. "No Harry Potter quote intended," he adds (I could of sworn I saw Luna grin) and I groan. It is NOT my birthday today!

"Stop saying it's my birthday! It was yesterday!"

"Yeah come on Paul, you know how much the birthday boy hates the different time zones," Louis says and pokes my cheeks. I clenched my teeth, fighting the urge to slap Louis's hands away.

Normally, I like it when Louis pokes with my cheeks, it's makes me laugh. But not today, not when my head hurts as if someone has hit me with a hammer.

"So Ms. Sutton said you're our assistant," Paul says to Luna. She nods.

"I can serve all of you or if only one or two of you need me-"

"I need you," I say and turn to Paul. "Can Luna be my personal assistant? She can come with me to the movie set and help me figure out my way around here." Paul turns to Luna.

"Would you be okay with letting Mr. Styles here ordering you around? None of the other boys will need your help and if they come to the movie set with Harry they'll most likely set it on fire. You'll have to watch him 24/7. He can be quite bossy and he sometimes has mood swings."

"Not to mention he'll endlessly flirt with you!" Louis adds. I elbow him in the ribs. We all turn to Luna who looks like she's struggling to form coherent words.

"S-sure. T-that'd be fine." I grin, stand up from the couch, make my way to the Luna, and loop my arm around hers.

"Good, I'm sure we'll be great friends."

Notes

I have been working on this story forever! I just keep editing this chapter and never got the chance to post it as early as I would've liked to. Anyways, I really hope you like this! Please comment and tell me what you think! I'm really excited about this!
-Rosemary