Torn

“You didn't know.” I noted, as the situation dawned on me. “You didn't tell him?!” I rounded on Louis and Niall, both of whom shrunk back a little. A heavy hand landed on my shoulder. I whipped my head round, demanding to know who would stop me at such a moment, the security man didn't so much as flinch, my anger shifted, directing itself at him. “Listen buddy. I know your 'precious' boys have to go on stage in a few hours, so don't worry I'm not about to punch them. But believe me. They deserve this and they should know they had it coming.” I spat at him starting to turn back but his hold tightened. I groaned audibly. “Can a girl not get an angry at two idiots for forcing her into a situation in which she is clearly not welcome?!” I asked loudly.

“Of course she can. It's okay Ron, she's good.” A voice answered. The hand on my shoulder released me.

“Thankyou.” I replied curtly, still brooding. I turned to see Tom stood behind Harry's right shoulder, he smiled warmly at me. I smiled a little back, grateful to see him. I looked back towards Harry, waiting for him to move so we could get in, but he stayed rigid in the doorway, a stone cold look still on his face. Louis sighed heavily, placed a hand on his shoulder and pressured him back.

“Buddy she's here, she's staying, Niall and I invited her, you're just going to have to deal with it. Everyone else wants to see her.” Harry sighed loudly, shooting another glare at me before reluctantly moving. Tom came forward and hugged me before I could take a step forward.

“It's good to see you again.” He murmured quietly in ear. I smiled relishing in his smell.

“Good to see you again too.” I replied as we pulled apart, and he led me into the apartment followed by Niall. It took up half of the floor, and looked more like an apartment than a hotel room. Various doors led off the hallway to a mixture of bedrooms and bathrooms. At the end of the hallway it opened opened up into a large lounge, where Liam, Juddy and Danny were relaxing infront of the T.V. As we entered they looked up, Danny jumped up, runing over and pulling me into a hug.

“Roxy!” He cheered loudly, his chest vibrating against mine as he did so. “I didn't expect to see you so soon!” His signature grin appearing as he let me go.

“It seems few did!” I raised my eyebrows at Niall who attempted to give me an innocent look. It wasn't even close to convincing. A loud slam made me jump, I glanced back up the hallway and saw Louis huffing at the door furthest down. When he saw me looking, he simply shrugged and gave me a goofy smile, coming down to join us, as we arranged ourselves on the sofas. Tom led me over to the sofa Danny was occupying. Niall had joined Liam and Juddy, while Louis spread himself out on the final sofa facing us.

“Can I take it you'll be joining us tonight then Roxy?” Liam asked. I hesitated, glancing over at Louis. While he had mentioned they were performing tonight, I hadn't even considered for a moment whether or not I was invited along to that too.

“Of course she'll be joining us. Harry even bought her a dress!” Louis replied exasperatedly. I glanced over his shoulder at the hallway.

“I'm not sure it's the best idea.” I hedged, twisting my necklace in my hand. I sank a little further into the sofa, as I caught Louis' face grow serious again. He could argue all he liked, coming here and going to the awards were two very different things, and I imagined it would be harder to keep my distance from Harry there. Even so Harry couldn't be moody, he needed to concentrate and deserved to enjoy himself. Louis sighed. Loudly.

“Roxy. How many times?! If Harry is going to sulk with little to no good reason, as he is doing, then you are going to have to let him get on with it, and ignore him. I'm pretty certain everyone else would agree to the fact that we want you there. Harry is going to just have to get over himself and deal with it.” Louis stated.

“Louis he deserves to enjoy himself, and clearly my presence is bothering him. I have no right to go to such an event as it is, and I honestly don't mind not doing so. Look, I've come now, is that not enough?” I pleaded with him.

“We've got time before we need to move, let's not worry about it just yet okay? Maybe Harry will be in a better frame of mind by then.” Liam suggested hopefully. I nodded, but I doubted that the situation would've changed by then.

The conversation moved onto previous award ceremonies the two bands had attended and the various antics that they got up to. I had to admit, it did sound fun, but also a little stressful for their management! As they started plotting for tonight I suddenly felt rather nervous about going, and hoped I would be let off. I was certain we'd be kicked out!

Throughout the conversation my eyes travelled to the hallway entrance, as my thoughts drifted to Harry. I had no idea what to say to him, but I got the distinct feeling he wasn't about to come out grovelling in front of all the guys. Loosing face in front of this lot would be very difficult. I had to either go to him, or find a situation where the two of us would be alone. Neither of which would be easy seeing as he didn't want to see me. I sighed silently and returned my attention to the conversation at hand.

“Go to him.” I looked round at Tom, a confused look on my face. “Go and talk to him. I can see you're wanting to. You've been on edge ever since you arrived. Go and smooth things over with Harry. Then you can come back and relax.” He explained softly, a warm smile on his face, his hands lightly squeezing my shoulders. I could feel a slight blush playing on my cheeks.

“Are you sure? I don't want to make things worse.” I hesitated.

“You won't, now go talk to him.” Tom lightly pushed my back, moving my bag from by my feet, out of the way to the side of the sofa. I nodded a little, and stood, sneaking out the room, attempting to go unnoticed, however Louis did catch my eye and gave me an encouraging smile. I weakly smiled back, took a deep breath and headed up to the door that had slammed shut earlier.

Standing outside it, I tried to steel my nerves, rolling back onto my heels, twiddling the cross between my fingers, silently praying. I raised my hand, curling it into a fist and lightly knocked on the door three times. I heard movement from inside and braced myself.

“Liam, just drop...” Harry stopped mid sentence as his eyes landed on me. His face contorted from a tired expression to one of pain.

“Please, can we talk?” I asked, unable to stop the nerves colouring my voice. He nodded shortly and stepped back to let me in. I gave him a sheepish smile and edged into his room.

It wasn't overly fancy. There was a double bed with two bedside tables immediately next to the door. A dresser and chair on the right, a door leading into the ensuite on the left, and a large floor to ceiling window directly opposite the bed. I could see Harry's black overnight bag sticking out from the other side of the dresser underneath a large, full length mirror. There were various items scattered across the dresser, some antiperspirant, some aftershave, a couple of bottles of water and a hairbrush. I sat at the bottom on the edge of the bed. Harry had clearly been lying on the bed from the look of the twisted covers, however, having closed the door, he moved and sat on the chair, facing me but not really looking at me. I sighed silently, squeezing my cross as I took a deep breath and collected my thoughts.

“Harry, I really am sorry about last night. I had no intention of putting you into such a situation. Especially after we'd had such a wonderful afternoon. I can go if you'd rather. I assumed Niall and Louis had okayed me coming over with you. I don't want to cause you any more trouble.” I explained, as quickly as I could. I hoped he had understood, I didn't want to have to re-explain myself. I crossed my arms over my stomach, my legs crossed already, my eyes glued to the floor.

While I awaited his reply a thick silence fell over us. I snuck the odd glance at him, but his face didn't portray much, perhaps a slightly pained look. After a while I gave up waiting. “Harry, please, I'm sorry but I don't know how to make this right, please help me, give me some idea.” I pleaded, looking up at him hopefully. He sighed heavily, his mouth twisting a little, as though torn between what to do.

“We did have a wonderful afternoon.” He agreed, finally looking up at me. I uncrossed myself, to try and look more open, hoping it might encourage him to talk, resting my hands in my lap, resisting the urge to fidget. After another moment of silence, he stood to his feet and came to sit on the bed beside me, leaving a small but definite gap between us. “I wanted the evening to be just as wonderful. I really did. But when that mob started...” He paused, closing his eyes briefly, his features softening into a sad look. When he opened his eyes again, there was a look of fear mixed with loneliness in them. I resisted reaching out and hugging him. He took a deep breath before continuing. “When the mob started, and I saw that realisation hit you, I figured you'd be like the others. I figured whatever friendship that we may have formed at first would be replaced with...with... I don't really know what, but something where I'd have to be careful. Y'know? Watch what I said in case it was leaked or rumours were spread or whatever.” He held my gaze, his eyes intense, as though searching for something within mine. I nodded.

“I know. As much as I can understand at least.” I replied quietly. He nodded and released my gaze. His left hand reached over and gently took my right, placing it into his own lap, as he moved slightly closer.

“It was just this incredible feeling, finding someone who was completely oblivious to who I am. Who wasn't going to just let me have my way because of my job. Someone who would actually say no sometimes. Someone who just wanted to know me.” He sighed, his gaze focused on my hand as his right hand lightly traced my palm and it's lines. His hair had fallen forward, concealing his face. I didn't say anything. I just sat and listened. Mentally kicking myself for having ruined this.

Suddenly Harry looked up at me, his eyes slightly narrowed, his eyebrows furrowed, both his hands enclosed around mine. I was fairly certain the shock of his sudden movement was written all over my face. I felt like a deer in headlights.

“I could hear the conversation in the living room.” He stated plainly. I swallowed, remembering what Louis had said about Harry in regards to the awards. I waited for him to continue.

“You didn't really ask much. You didn't try to see any bedrooms. You just listened really.” I shrugged, not sure how to reply. Harry's lips twisted slightly again as he considered this for a moment. I watched him carefully, not entirely sure what was going through his mind, but feeling hopeful after he had moved to sit beside me, more so when he took a hold of my hand. He held my gaze once more, watching me closely.

“You really aren't a fan are you? You really aren't bothered who we are or what we do for a living.” I shook my head, unable to find my voice after his small revelation. His face softened again, a small smile playing at the edge of his lips.

“Why did you come?” Harry was still keeping a careful eye on me, but he had softened, and the air around us wasn't quite so cold any more. I shrugged once more, but managed to find my voice.

“Niall & Louis asked me. I'd had fun with them yesterday I thought why not? To be honest I didn't know where we were going until we reached the train station. When Louis told me, I figured it'd also be a good opportunity for us to talk, if you were so inclined.” I replied softly, making an effort to keep his gaze. He nodded and pulled me into a hug.

“It should be me who's sorry.” His warm voice reverberated in his chest. “I shouldn't have been so harsh. I just couldn't take the chance.” I nodded against his broad chest, inhaling his musky scent.

“It's okay Harry, I get it. I'm sorry to have put you in such a position.”

We stayed like that for a little while, just holding each other, enjoying the relief that had washed over us as we repaired the damage done. After a while, Harry started to hum, one hand stroking my hair as he did so. I sighed softly at the feeling, a smile spreading over my lips, my eyes starting to get a little heavy, in comparison to the rest of my body, that had felt like a heavy weight had been lifted off of me. However just before I could drop off, a loud knock came at the door and Toby's voice informed Harry it was time to start getting ready for the red carpet. I pulled away from him and moved to stand up, but Harry placed a hand on my arm stopping me.

“Where are you going?”

“You need to get ready, I should leave you guys to it.” I shrugged.

“I thought you were coming? I thought Louis had said you were coming?” Harry gave me a hopeful look. I could feel the blush painting my cheeks.

“I said it was up to you. With everything that had happened, I didn't want to come and be an annoyance for you when you were meant to be enjoying yourself.” I explained, glancing down.

“Roxy.” Harry waited for me to look at him again before he continued. “I would love for you to come to the awards. I would love it even more so if you came as my plus one.” He smiled, taking my hands in his again. By the time he had finished my cheeks were practically alight.

“It would be my pleasure.” I smiled. “As long as you understand that the only appropriate thing I have to wear is that dress you kindly bought me.” I added. Harry simply smiled.

Notes