Niall's view:
“Have you seen my J’s?” I screamed downstairs.
“They’re down here!” Someone yelled. I started running down there and ran into Harry.
“Hey watch it!” He snapped. He gave me an apologetic look because he didn’t mean to get so mean. Then he went back to tapping away on his phone. That boy never puts his phone down and he usually only gets mean when he's talking to someone important. I slipped on my J’s and then patted my body for my phone. I left it in my room and ran back up. Harry was already in his room and the door was shut. Louis was with El on a morning date before they had to go on business for a month. Liam was waiting for me in the car. I was frantically gathering things like my phone and shoes. Liam and I had a day at the studio to record some things for an up and coming album. He wanted to get there early because he was thinking if we got done early we could have time to actually do nothing. We are technically on vacation right now. Except Liam and I always work on vacations. When we work on vacations the other boys are able to have regular lives, and then when they need to work everything seems more fun because Liam and I already worked out the kinks. I guess that’s what you get for working in a group and not solo but I wouldn’t change that for anything. I flew into the car and Liam pulled out.
“We have three hours of work and then its break with an hour or more of work then it's free time.” Liam smiled.
“Perfect. What songs do you want to work on?” I asked him as I got buckled.
“You are going to record the acoustics for Best Song Ever and Diana. Then I'm going to sing my parts for them with a few extra notes we can either place where Zayn would sing or leave them as me. That’s the whole of the first three hours then its break. After that the next hour is going to be us going over some things for our competition show.” Liam was a planner. He planned everything and everyone usually followed it knowing it was a good idea.
“Well, it sounds good!” We already made it to the studio. The thing about L.A. is that everything is actually pretty close. Where ever you are working is chosen by where you will spend ninety-nine percent of your time. The layout was made that way for a reason and when you are the one in it, it becomes helpful. We got out of the car and went into the studio. Liam was taken one way and I was led the other. I grabbed a guitar and did what I did best.
“Horan, that’s great.”
“Anything you think we need to redo?” I asked.
“No, you can come out and listen if you like.”
“Yeah” I set down the guitar and walked out. He started playing the track and I loved it. I sounded great. With the rest of the guys singing on it, there was no doubt in my mind that this song was going to be a hit.
“So, there’s that.” He said stopping the track.
“Could I record something for myself?” I asked.
“Is it going on the album?” He asked skeptical.
“Well, no. It's just something I wrote and want to lay down so I have it for myself.” I said shyly.
“Horan, you know we aren’t allowed to do that.” He said.
“But…” I was acting childish but I was really excited about it.
“You know I can't resist helping you out.” He sighed and scratched the sound board. Everything was on zero and ready to go. I walked in the studio and picked up the guitar again. I got ready, drank some water, cleared my throat, and looked at Mr. Conner’s. He nodded and I began strumming. The chords were coming out and I was ready to sing but Liam came in the room and I stopped. They exchanged words and then he left again.
“Sorry Horan, it's your break.” He said after pushing the button to speak.
“After break we are doing this.” I said setting down the guitar. I came out of the booth and he continued to play with the few chords he had.
“I think I'm just going to play around with this and see what seems right to get a feel on what the rest should sound like. Oh, and bring me back some Burger King.” He ordered.
“Okay, will do boss.” I said opening the door. Liam had taken the car so I had to walk. That’s always risky but when we are on vacation our body guards think it is vacation for them too. That’s understandable because we usually stay indoors and sleep but we always need some protection. As I was walking I felt the cold breeze. It seemed to have dropped a few degrees. A few girls saw me and screamed to get my attention. I gave them a smile and a wave. I saw enough people taking pictures and freaking out. I wasn’t going anywhere in particular but I did stop at a coffee shop on the corner. When I walked in everything seemed to stop. Conversations halted and the silence was enough to kill someone. “Hi.” I said to everyone. People realized the awkwardness they caused and then returned to their previous conversations or started new ones about me. “I'll take a Grande latte.” I said pulling out my wallet.
“Here you go.” The girl at the front said. I took my cup and exited getting stares like no other. Even though I'm in L.A. where famous people are at all the time I still manage to get people star struck. I started walking to the Burger King a few blocks down for Conner’s. He has been managing sound and helping for a long time with us and we thank him all the time by buying him useless things like a mug with our faces on it or Burger King; he appreciates us nonetheless. I went to take a drink of my cup and saw a phone number written on the side. I shook my head and smiled. This would happen.
I had just finished ordering at Burger King and had turned around to walk out the door backwards since I was just that lazy. I turned a sharp left to go down the sidewalk when in a blur I ran into someone, dropped my bag, and hit the building wall.
“Oh my goodness, I’m so sorry I didn’t...“ I stopped apologizing to this stranger when I realized it wasn’t a stranger at all. As I looked up I recognized a soft round face and messy blonde hair. “Claire...” She froze in her position of leaning down to pick up my bag of food. I shyly bent down to pick it up instead and we both stood up together, I stared at her eyes as I rolled up my bag and then coughed as I looked away.
“Niall...hi, it’s uh, nice to see you...again.” I just about puked with excitement at the fact that she remembered my name and that she was happy to see me.
“Yeah, it’s nice to see you too. What, uh, what are you up to?” I was so awkward, why wasn’t I just being normal and easy-going like I usually am around everyone else.
“Um, actually I was on my way to meet up with someone for lunch.” She turned really red. Oh great, it’s probably a date or something. That’s just fantastically awkward. “Oh cool. Well, I’m sorry we couldn’t stop and chat longer. I’m heading back to the studio to finish some album recordings and such.” I folded and unfolded the paper on the bag as I slowly moved around her and backed away.
“Yeah, well we’ll just have to catch up some time I suppose. Have fun...I guess.” I laughed at her uncertainty as I smiled, waved, and turned around down the sidewalk. I was at a loss of all thought and feeling and my whole body was numb with the jitters. I ran a few feet and jumped up in the air, clicking my heels together and continued jogging until I reached a busy street and stopped so I didn’t draw too much attention to myself.
There isn’t anything interesting about my life. People assume it's this big thing but I don’t do a whole lot on vacation or down days. Yeah we get to tour and sing on a stage but that’s only one fourth of the time. Right now nothing is happening. Soon we will have the rustle and bustle of a competition show but until this weekend that isn’t starting, and even then that is low maintenance for One Direction.
“Hey, Niall Horan…” Someone called. I looked around and didn’t see anyone I knew walking the streets beside me. The streets are always packed unless it's super early or super late, which happens to be relatively the same time. “…Niall!” Someone called again. This time I heard them clearer and knew who it was.
“Justin.” I said as he reached me.
“What are you doing?” He asked.
“I'm going back to the studio to work on some music. What are you doing?” I asked him to be polite.
“Selena wanted to walk to her rehearsal and I went with her. What are you doing later?” He asked me.
“I’m not doing anything.” I said plainly.
“Well I was thinking you and I could play video games and eat, like old times?” He asked.
“That would be great.” I said with a smile. I bet now I could easily get some more information about Claire out of him.
“What time should I come over?” He asked.
“Any time after… three.” I said and took a sip of coffee.
“Yeah I'll be there.” He was about to walk a different way but I stopped him with my hand.
“Do you have rehearsal with Claire?” I asked shocked he doesn’t.
“No, she canceled because she made plans with someone.” He sounded disappointed.
“Did she mention who?” I was treading on uneasy ground but Justin didn’t seem fazed.
“No, I would assume its Alana; her new best friend. I'm glad she has one.”
“Why do you say that?” I asked. We were standing in everyone’s way but no one said anything to us.
“Don’t tell anyone but she’s really lonely. Her grandma is coming to stay with her but she’s really sick, and is about to die. No one knows so don’t tell because she would hate for word to get out about her family problems. All I know is she needs true friends.” He looked sympathetic.
“Well I hope you are there for her and she gets what she is looking for.” I tried to sound as less creepy as I could.
“I'm sure she wouldn’t mind hearing people are there for her.” He winked at me.
“I hardly know her. If I knew her better I would. Trust me.” Trust me. I would be at her doorstep everyday giving her everything she could ever want. Anything she could ever ask for, anything that she would ever need. I would provide for her as fast as I could, to the best of my ability. Is that weird? That’s so weird, I take it back. I would at least give her some comfort.
“I know you would. You are always there for anyone who needs it. Maybe sometime we could all hang out.”
“Well the after party of the premier of our show was when I was planning on talking to her.” I smiled.
“Isn’t that for the people that are on the show?”
“Yeah, it’s going to be insanely awesome.”
“What makes you so sure she’ll be there?” He asked giving me a quizzical look.
“I just have a feeling. I can't explain it at all.” I chuckled.
“Good luck with that Horan. I'll see you at three.” He smiled and left. I finished walking the rest of the way and noticed Zayn’s car was now at the studio. I walked in and found everyone in the room I was recording in.
“Hey.” Zayn said with his phone in hand.
“Why are you here?” I asked. I wanted to record this song but I can't with everyone here. It was obviously about Claire and I wasn’t going to let anyone know that.
“Harry wanted to come by and make sure you guys were doing ok.” He said.
“Harry?” I asked.
“Yeah, Harry Styles.” He laughed at himself but didn’t look at me, just his phone.
“If he wanted to check on Liam and I where is he?” I asked looking around the room. They followed my actions and I knew from this morning and now something was up.
“Are you thinking what I'm thinking?” Liam asked in general.
“Harry likes someone.” Zayn said.
“Well she better not get in the way of our recording.” Conner’s said.
“Well Niall can continue recording in here. Zayn, you and I will be down the hall.” Liam instructed and everyone started to do the full swing of getting around. Soon it was just Conner’s and I.
“So this song… does it have a title or are you just now making it?” He asked.
“It's titled “Don’t forget Where You Belong”.” I said picking up the guitar again.
“It sounds personal.” He chuckled. I blushed because I know how personal it is.
“Let’s just pick it up where we left off.” I continued to play the guitar as he pushed buttons and moved dials. I was so into the song I felt every emotion bleeding out of my body. The recording was going so well I didn’t see Louis pop in the back.
“Great job, come get some water.” Conner’s said. When I saw Louis I was in for it.
“That’s a great song. Did you write it?” He asked knowing I did.
“Yeah I did.” I looked down blushing.
“It was about her.” He stated.
“Was it that obvious?” I asked.
“Yeah it was, completely.” He said avoiding me.
“Don’t tell the guys.” I started pleading.
“It's a great song. At some point we are probably going to record it. But as for now, you have my word.” He stood up and walked in the booth. He situated himself and Conner’s said I was free to go. I walked out and felt the cool air again. I wanted to know what happened to Harry if he was the one that wanted to see us. I pulled out my phone and text him where he was. He said he was on a date. I asked who the girl was and he replied a smiley face. This couldn’t be good. I got a cab and told the driver to go to the store. I might as well get some snacks for Justin and me. A few fruit snacks, Hershey bars, and sodas later I was home. Justin wasn’t here yet and it was almost four o'clock. I had time to lounge around and do nothing before Justin got here and we did nothing together. Somewhere around 4.30 p.m. there was a knock on the door. He was here.
Claire’s view:
“I had a great time tonight.” I smiled.
“Me too, I'm just glad you asked to hang out.” Harry looked at his feet.
“Why would you say that?” I asked him. We were walking home after a long, and when I say long I mean four or five hour, date type thing.
“Well I thought I might have creeped you out last night.” He admitted.
“You did.” I said. He shot me a worried look. “But I assumed it compensated for my clumsiness.” I laughed and he lightened up.
“Hey I think it’s kind of cute.” He said softly.
“So what do you want to do now?” I asked him. This entire day has been something pretty out there. First I text him hey, then it ended up with us right here sitting by a fountain in the park when the stars are peaking and we have nothing better to do but kiss but neither of us actually did it.
“Since it's around five we could do dinner since we did lunch.” He chuckled.
“Two dates in one day. Isn’t that a bit much?” I laughed seeing the humor but he paused.
“Is this a date?” He asked sounding almost worried.
“Well, I mean, it has date potential but it doesn’t have to be.” I smiled a little bit. I wasn’t ready to really date anyone. I needed to be focused on my fame and not my boyfriend’s fame influencing mine. It seemed logical to just stay clear of guys for the time being but Harry has been so nice and I mean he is definitely someone I could look at a lot.
“Let’s just call it friends hanging out right now. I wouldn’t want anyone to think this is something it's not.” He sounded like he was talking about someone specific.
“That’s perfectly fine with me.” I smiled a genuine smile. I wanted him to know the rejection wasn’t too hurtful.
“So what do ya say for round two?” He asked standing up and offering me his hand. I grabbed it and wrapped around his arm.
“Well, it sounds good to me.” I giggled. We walked to a tiny shack diner and took our own seats.
“So what piano songs can you play?” He asked taking a sip of his water that was set down.
“Anything really, I mean I have been learning for years.” I said looking over the menu.
“And you learned because of JC?” He asked.
“Yeah, he enrolled me in all my educational lessons and gave me as many personal lessons as he could because he saw my talent.” I smiled at the menu.
“Do you even like playing the piano?” He set his menu down and I looked up to give him a dumbfounded look.
“Harry, piano is my life. Why would you ask that?” I asked incredulously.
“Well sometimes people push you into doing something and you don’t even like it but you do it because you are good and they won't let you stop.” He shrugged.
“Sounds like you have experience.” I was basically asking him to tell me how.
“Ok so when I was younger my mum made me try out for football.”
“Like tackle?” I asked.
“No silly. Football over in Europe is equivalent to soccer here. It's just my British ways coming to peak again.” He smirked. He talked weird but he was British so every little slip up was excused.
“Ok.” I said so he could continue.
“My mum pushed me and pushed me to become this football prodigy. I tried for her and I actually got very good.”
“But you didn’t like it.” I stated.
“I hated it. I am still very good but I don’t like to play it as a competitive sport. I dabble around for fun but any other time I decline.” He drank his water.
“Well I'm pretty good at soccer but I never played.” I continued on the conversation.
“Well maybe sometime Zayn, you, and I could see who’s better.” He winked giving me a weird feeling.
“I would be, hands down.” I said and took a drink of my water.
“You say hands down too?” He asked seeming to be shocked at my phrase choice.
“Well of course.” I said quiet again.
“So you have hung out with Zayn?” Harry grunted seeming displeased.
“Yeah, we ran into each other at the music studio and we started talking.” Wait why would he care? “Why? Are you jealous?” I teased. But I stopped when he did turn a bit rosy.
“No, I just know someone who will be.” He said it under his breath and I didn’t want to further this conversation so I stopped it.
“So what are you ordering?” I asked still looking at the menu.
“Probably steak, you can get anything you want. I'm paying.” He smiled cheekily again and then looked at his menu, though; I could see him sneaking glances at me over the top of his menu. I sighed and decided on a salad, only because I was trying to lose some weight. The waitress took our orders and flirted with Harry a lot when she could.
“Do you ever get tired of that?” I asked.
“Do I ever get tired of what?” He looked around the table then at me.
“Of girls hanging on you, like you're with me, now I know we aren’t together, together but if we were she would be flirting with you.” I said hushed so no one would hear.
“Well we could give her a show on our way out.” He said mischievously.
“I have the perfect idea.” I was going to play into this like putty.
“Let’s eat then I should probably get home. Some of the guys know I'm out and they are already going to give me the twenty questions.” He laughed. As if on cue our food was set down and our waitress winked at Harry.
“Eh hem.” I cleared my throat to gain her attention. She looked at me and I waved. She rolled her eyes and left. We ate and laughed. Harry was the second major famous person I would consider hanging around. I mean Justin happened on accident and then Selena and Niall came as a packaged deal but I wouldn’t really hang out with them like I have Justin or Harry. I'm just glad I have friends everywhere that are starting to make themselves known.
“I think it's late enough.” I looked at my phone and realized the time had shifted some hours to make the time 10.00 P.M.
“Yeah, I need to get going.” I stood up and immediately wrapped on his arm. He gave me a look and I winked and nodded in the direction of the waitress staring at us. She looked beyond pissed and ready to flip.
“Let’s go babe.” He said low but loud enough for her to hear. We heard her make a snooty sound and go in the back. Harry paid and I held his hand just to keep the act up in case she was looking. Once we were outside we solemnly regretted holding hands. The paps found us and were everywhere. It didn’t help that neither of us drove so we were stuck walking in this mess. Harry pulled me closer to him because they were inches away from us. He was sheltering me from the flashing lights and the million questions about us dating. “Stay hidden.” He whispered right in my ear. I couldn’t think about if that was more for me or for him but I did what I was told. Soon we lost a great amount of them and started to run to lose the rest. After a few blocks Harry was shot for breath and I was still trying to get him to run. “Claire we lost them.” He said still out of breath.
“Ok.” I said holding him up a tad. “Pop star needs to work out more.” I giggled.
“I'm on vacation. I don’t do much.” He defended.
“So I think it's this way to the house.” I said.
“No, it's this way.” He pointed in the utter most opposite direction.
“Of course you do. I'm going this way.” I started walking towards the way I wanted to go.
“Not without me.” He caught up.
“Depending on how late it is when we get home I mean you could just stay with me.” I offered.
“Yeah, I wouldn’t mind as long as Timberlake doesn’t want to, you know, chop of my head.” He chuckled.
“You will be fine. Justin is starting tour and Jessica is gone.” I smiled.
“So it would be just us?” He winked.
“Slow down. You would be in the guest room.” I playfully pushed him. Justin and I do this kind of thing but we know it's just friends. Harry and I doing this mean something a bit more. Do I like him? I said no guys until fame and now bam! I'm hit and sunk in one shot. Harry is charming and very, very hot. He is not much older than me as where everyone else could be a young parent to me. Harry is 19 and I'm 17. The two year difference only seems bad because I'm not legal. Anyone over 19 I just wouldn’t go for, that is one reason Justin is completely off the table. I just can't bring myself to fall for someone older, or famous. Sorry, Harry I guess we must stay friends.
“Well we made it. I guess you knew the right way after all.” Harry laughed standing in front of the large black gate. I punched in the code.
“Shut up.” I scoffed. We walked up the path and at the door we stopped.
“Do you want me to stay?” He asked uncertain.
“It's up to you. Do you want the twenty questions now or later?” I laughed and unlocked the door. When I walked in I left the door open as an invitation. I looked back to see Harry closing the door and following behind me.
“I can't stay late tomorrow because the guys and I have work but I'm not passing up a night for a party.” He winked.
“I'm going to change into comfy clothes. Do you want some?” I asked going up the stairs.
“I would like that.” He said heading into the living room. I charged up stairs and flew into my closet to throw on a pair of pajama shorts and a t-shirt. It's the only thing I really brought here from home besides a few extra things. I went into Justin’s room and grabbed some sweats he would wear for rehearsal and a large tee shirt. I went down the stairs hot and threw the clothes at him. He was sitting on the couch and stood up when I entered.
“So since you're staying here what are we going to do?” I asked walking into the kitchen. Harry followed me holding the clothes. He was on the side of the island that had the fridge and stove, while I was on the side with the sink and dishwasher. He took off his tight shirt and then started to put the loose one on. I gawked at his body that had tattoos littered around and took notice of the swallows. As I zoned out on his body I didn’t notice he was fully changing in my kitchen until he took his belt out of every loop.
“Like what you see?” He asked while laughing as he unzipped his jeans.
“Erm… Uh…” I stuttered.
“Claire.” He said harsh.
“Yes Harry.” I fully snapped out of it.
“Are you going to watch me?” He raised a brow.
“Are you going to change in my kitchen?” I shot back smart.
“Well duh.” He said biting his lip and ripping off his jeans. I ran to the sliding glass doors and ripped the curtains closed, but not before I saw a nice glimpse of his reflection in the glass.
“Paps could see you! Are you stupid?” I yelled not mad but not too lenient either.
“Look, it's not like they haven’t seen it before.” He joked.
“Yeah, but you’re in my house.” I lead him to my direction of thinking.
“Well when you put it that way.” He walked up to me and picked me up. He gently set me on the counter top. I was now in the position Justin was in when we kissed and Harry was in mine. This was going to end heated.
“Harry.” I whispered.
“Just try.” He whispered on my lips. Even when I was on the counter he was still taller than me. It was sad but I never let my height be a liability.
“I'm too young.” I whispered and put my hands on his chest. I felt the tones on his pecks and I could feel my elbows cave in.
“Just try, please.” He whispered before I felt his lips to mine. The kiss lasted three pecks and then I realized it wasn’t what I wanted.
“Harry.” I said pushing him away. He took two steps back and looked at me.
“I'm taking that as a no.”
“Yes.” I said.
“Yes?” He asked.
“No. It's a no.” I said feeling the pressure.
“I'm glad you tried.” He did look hurt though.
“I'm sorry. I just, dating isn’t… I can't date right now. Not when I'm trying to be famous.” I stuttered out.
“I get it. It's fine. I was the same way when I started out. We all were actually.” He was completely fine with it.
“I need friends right now. Maybe some other time we could talk about it but right now –”
“I get it. Look I do like you. I'm not denying that but I know some other people have taken a liking to you and would get disappointed to hear you kissed Justin Bieber and Harry Styles. It's a good idea to keep this on the down low.” What he said bugged me but I didn’t want to talk about it any further.
“Ok.” That’s all I wanted to say.
“Let’s watch a movie.” Harry said bright.
“Perfect.” I smiled. We walked back into the living room and I settled on the couch.
“What do you want to watch?” Harry asked looking at the DVDs on display.
“Let’s watch something with some action.” I replied. He picked a movie and opened the player. He eyed something then held up a shiny disk. “What's that?”
“This Is Us, the movie about One Direction, my band members and I.” Harry raised a brow looking at me.
“Look, it was Alana. She picked the movie.” I argued defensively.
“Sure. That’s it.” He mocked.
“Hey!” I shouted and threw a pillow at him.
“Did you like it?” He asked sitting on the couch. We were in a cuddly position but after what just happened it wasn’t awkward.
“Yeah, it's nice to know you guys aren’t arrogant jerks.” I said harshly.
“Yeah,” He smiled at me then looked at the screen. When the play menu popped up I saw what movie it was, Real Steel. Good choice in my opinion. We automatically got quiet and weren’t going to say a word until the movie was over. What we didn’t plan on was both of us falling asleep on the couch holding each other.

Notes