“Emma!” I squealed as I embraced my long lost best friend. Since she would be staying at Niall’s, I made his little ass sit at home while I picked her up from the airport.

“Nice sign - as if I wouldn’t be able to spot you.” She joked, looking at my huge ‘EMMA I’M OVER HERE’ sign.

We giggled as we locked arms and headed out to the car. The paparazzi interaction had increased as my tour with the boys continued here in London, yet it was still very little. It was nice compared to what I went through in America.

Emma and I caught up on the ride to Niall’s. All of the boys were waiting there to meet her. She was only expecting Niall so she’d probably die if she knew about the other boys.

“So, tell me about this whole Niall thing. I mean I know you’re into each other, but give me details.” I prodded. Emma blushed.

You’ve never blushed a day in your life! What is this madness!?

“Well, I really really have a thing for him, Leah. I mean I know I haven’t met him in person yet, but we’ve Skyped, texted, and shared endless phone calls. I feel like I’ve known him all my life. His humor, his laugh, his protectiveness, his caring side, his body – oh shit, Leah, his body.”

“Ew, he’s like my brother. You’re practically my sister. Let me at least get used to this whole thing before you start talking sex, okay?” I grinned, poking her in the arm. “But, speaking of sex…”

“No you didn’t. LEAH! Tell me all the details. How was it? OH MY GOD YOU HAD SEX WITH HARRY STYLES!?” Emma tried to take in the news while I bent over from laughing at her reaction. I filled her in on all the details as the car came to a halt in front of Niall’s place.

“Holy shit, this is nice.” Emma gawked at Niall’s home. It was indeed one of the nicest houses I’d been to. We climbed out of the car, and headed inside.

“Hellloooooo!” I called out. We heard what sounded like a herd of elephants running upstairs and soon enough, all five boys came stumbling down the stairs, with Niall in the lead.

“Sorry love, Niall was just letting us check out his new tv.” Harry whispered, kissing my head, as he looped his arm around my waist. We turned our attention to Emma and the rest of the boys.

“I had no clue I’d be meeting all of you!” Emma shrieked as the boys all introduced themselves. Niall went last as he took her hand and pulled her in for a tight hug. He kissed her forehead and quietly welcomed her to his home.

“Well mate, we’re going to let you two get settled in. It was nice meeting you, Emma!” Liam interrupted the moment to make an exit.

Zayn and Louis followed behind, saying their goodbyes. I looked to Harry to see what he wanted to do. I obviously wanted to stay here and continue to catch up with Emma, but I knew she and Niall probably wanted their space. Harry nodded and I knew it was his signal that he thought we should leave, too.

“Em, I’ll be seeing you tomorrow, right?” I went over to hug her.

“Of course! I’ll be at the arena all day so we’ll have plenty of time to get into mischief!” She laughed and returned the hug.

“Don’t worry, Leah, I’ll keep her safe.” Niall reassured me as he hugged me.

“You’d better!” I smirked.

“And Emma, you better make time for me tomorrow because I need to hear some embarrassing stories about Leah. Deal?” Harry hugged Emma goodbye, and I spun around as soon as I heard his comment.

“Deal!” Emma high-fived him as I shot them both a dirty look. We all laughed as Harry and I headed out to the Range Rover.

“Harry, I know Niall’s a great guy, but is he a good boyfriend?” I asked Harry as we laid in bed that night.

All I could think about was my best friend. I didn’t want her to be hurt. I loved her and Niall both and I just hoped that them being together would turn out to be a good thing for the both of them.

“Well, I’ve never dated him, but I hear he’s a pleasant bloke to snog every now and again.” Harry looked down at me and grinned, but noticed how concerned I was and tilted my chin up so that I was looking at him.

“Don’t worry, baby. They seemed like they were so enamored today and it was only their first time meeting in person. They’re both good, fun people. They’ll be good for one another.” He stroked my hair as he reassured me.

“I know. I just want them to be happy.” I confessed as I traced Harry’s chest tattoos with my finger. I loved laying my head on his chest. I felt so protected and loved.

“That’s one of the things I admire about you. You want everyone to be happy. You place everyone’s happiness above your own.” He leaned down and kissed my lips.

“I love you.” I whispered, completely enjoying our intimate moment.

“Love you, baby.” I heard Harry whisper as I drifted off to sleep, completely content and happy in his big, muscular embrace.

-------------------

It was Friday, the day of our show and Emma and Niall had been acting like lovesick puppies all day. I loved seeing them so happy, but deep down I was jealous that I had barely been able to have a decent conversation with my best friend, whom I missed dearly. It had put me in quite a sour mood. Harry had noticed and had tried to stay out of my way most of the morning. He’d asked if I wanted to talk, but I’d declined a little too rudely. I just needed my best girlfriend and she was too busy up in Niall’s hula hoop to even act like she’d originally planned to visit because of me.

The boys and all of us girlfriends were sitting in the lounge. I was scrolling through Twitter on my phone to avoid having to talk to anyone. Eleanor and Perrie were flipping through a magazine together while Danielle and Emma made small talk. Emma sat in Niall’s lap and Niall and Liam had their own conversation going. Harry, Louis, and Zayn were playing FIFA.

Eleanor, Perrie, and I had been group texting and I felt like they were two people I could completely rely on. In fact, now that Emma was stuck up Niall’s butt, Eleanor had pretty much taken over the best friend role in my life. She’d call me every day just to ask about tour and how the boys were. I was glad the girls had finally made it to a show.

At first, Danielle and Emma’s small talk didn’t bother me at all. Danielle still hadn’t said another word to me since the quadruple date, but I didn’t really care. El and Perrie had made me feel plenty welcome. But the longer we sat in the lounge, the more it started to irritate me. Danielle and Emma had just met this morning and I’d already seen them swap numbers, and even talk about Danielle visiting Emma at school. They’d gone to Starbucks earlier for coffee and now they were giggling. I wanted to throw something and hit them both in the head to maybe knock some sense into them. But it wasn’t until they’d lowered their voices to hushed whispers, and I saw Danielle glance in my direction, that I lost it.

“Is there a problem, Danielle?” I spat, standing up from my seat. Everyone in the room jerked their attention to me. Louis even paused the video game.

“You’ve maybe spoken two words to me the whole time that I’ve known you. But Emma gets here and you act like you’ve known her for years. You won’t even act civil towards me! You just stick your nose up and act like you’re better than me. What did I do to you to make you despise me so much?!” My voice had risen to a yell.

“And you – Emma – what the fuck is going on with you?! You’re supposed to be my best friend! You have barely spoken to me either. Didn’t you originally plan to visit to see me? Hell if it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t even know any of these people!”

“Don’t yell at her!” Danielle rose from her seat. “Maybe if you wouldn’t come waltzing in here like you’re somebody and fuck with Harry’s feelings and Zayn and Perrie’s relationship, people wouldn’t talk behind your back! You’re so caught up in what you want that you don’t even take a second to think how your little stunt in LA affected our whole group and how dare you tell the story at lunch the other day?! Did you not consider how Perrie might feel?”

“First off, you have no say in mine and Emma’s relationship! Secondly, Perrie told me everything was fine and that she had no problem with me. She forgave me. Thirdly, I told the story because I wanted it to be clear to all of you that it was a drunken accident and that I was sorry! Fourthly, I was scared shitless to be around all of you because I know how important your group is to all of you. And fifthly, what the hell are you talking about? I didn’t fuck with Harry’s feelings! We’re together and I love him! How is that fucking with his feelings?!” I lost it.

I wanted to hit her. But I had to keep reminding myself to keep it classy.

“Well maybe you shouldn’t get so shit faced that you kiss other people’s boyfriends! Drinking isn’t a good habit and being too drunk is not an excuse! I’m embarrassed for you! Do you know how trashy it sounds when you have to admit that you kissed your boyfriend’s best friend – who has a girlfriend – because you got too drunk?! Pfft… I feel bad for you honey. And you’re right, I have no say in your relationship with Emma, but maybe you need to think about all you’ve done before you go pointing fingers at her about not speaking to one another. And you fucked with Harry’s feelings before you were together and with the whole Zayn thing. And we all know the day that you fuck with his feelings again will be soon. Probably when they go off on their European tour and leave you behind.” Danielle wagged her finger at me.

“You are selfish. The only reason you got with Harry is because you were hired for this tour! Everyone thinks that so don’t act like this isn’t all a publicity stunt. Your name isn’t as big as his, and then you jump on this tour and start messing with his head so that your fan base expands and your name gets out there. Just leave him alone! He’s Harry for God’s sake! He’s not the kind of person you screw over!”

“Danielle, that's enough! Leah, let’s go!” Harry had me by the arm, leading me out of the room. I turned back and through my tears, I saw Emma comforting Danielle.

Notes