Follow Your Heart

Nichole sat, staring out the window as their plane touched down in Dublin.

“Stop thinking so much.” Harry said softly in her ear, then kissing her temple.

She smiled and turned to him, “Easy for you to say, you aren’t the one they will be ripping to shreds.”

“You could always get off the plane holding my hand, Nicky. That would blow up the internet,” Niall teased.

“Oh yeah…that would be perfect. What do you think, Harold?” she asked, looking at Harry.

“Um…no. And you, Irish,” Harry tapped his leg with his foot, “quit trying to move in on my girl, for fucks sake.” Niall’s laugh filled the cabin at that and he turned back to Nichole,

“It will be ok, beautiful. It dies down eventually, and you said no more hide and seek, right?” She just nodded and leaned in for a quick kiss as the doors were opened.

They followed Liam and a couple of security guys, making them the last to get off the plane. Nichole stood at the door with her bag over her shoulder, stalling.

“We can just walk off together. I don’t have to hold your hand.”

Harry said nothing, just shook his head, and took her hand and guided her through the door. Most of the travelers weren’t paying attention as they came out of the gate, so it wasn’t too bad. There were a few fans that spotted them, but they were all flanked by security and were kept moving. Once they got outside and headed for the cars waiting to transport them to the hotel, it was a bit crazy. Security moved in tighter around kept them moving through the throngs of shouting fans and paparazzi quickly without too much trouble. Harry wrapped his arm around Nichole’s waist, keeping her close to him, trying to keep them from getting separated. They both heard a couple of rude comments aimed at Nichole and she turned towards the girls that said them, but Harry squeezed her, pulling her along and helping her into the car while the cameras kept flashing away.

As soon as the car pulled away from the curb, she slid over and snuggled into his waiting arms, her body shaking slightly.

“Shh…You alright, beautiful?”

She just nodded, still cuddled into his body, “Just glad it’s over.”

He kissed her head, as his hands slid up and down her back, attempting to sooth her frazzled nerves.

“You handled yourself well, Nicky.” She heard Niall say.

“I almost let my inner redneck out.” She giggled and she could feel Harry’s chuckle in his chest.

“I know. You have to ignore that stuff. As hard as it is, it’s worse to respond to it.” Nichole sighed and looked up at him.

“You’ve met my family, right? Ignoring rudeness is so not in my genetic makeup.”His face broke out in a grin that she could feel hit her right in her core. She clenched her thighs together and leaned into him again, slipping her hand under the hem of his shirt. She could his abs tighten up at her touch and he leaned down and whispered in her ear,

“Down, girl.” and kissed her right behind her ear, giggling at her when she visibly shuddered and groaned.

It didn’t take Niall a second to figure out what was happening and he said,

“Oi! You two keep ya hands to yourself until I get out of this car. Or I swear ta god I’m going to tweet that you are making out in my presence.”

~*~*~*~

Nicole lay curled next to Harry, running her fingers through his curls, in their darkened hotel room. As much as she fought it, lying next to him was so much better than being lonely and waiting for her phone to ring every night. She rested against his chest as he pulled her closer.

“What’s on your mind, beautiful?” He asked, as his lips pressed against her forehead.

“Don’t laugh at me.”

“No promises.” He teased.

“Is it wrong that I got kind of excited to see those pictures of us today?” His face broke out into a wide grin and he started laughing.

“Don’t laugh!” She lightly smacked his chest and turned away from him. He spooned his body around her and draped his arm over her waist.

“Sorry, babes. It is pretty exciting at first, I know.” He started ghosting his lips over her neck and shoulder, his soft lips leaving kisses on her skin.

“It’s just, wow…I’m just this small town girl that no one cared about. And now…because of who I’m sleeping with, it’s a big deal. So weird to me. Even when they say nasty things, it’s still kind of exciting, ya know?” He stopped kissing her and just looked down at her.

“Because of who you are sleeping with?” He said, sitting up, “Really?”

“Harry…baby, you know what I meant. Those people wouldn’t give a shit about me if not for you.” He got out of bed, pulling his boxers back on.

“How about the person that loves you? Or the person you love? You are not someone I am just sleeping with, Nichole.”

“Oh hells bells, Harry. Are you serious right now?” She said, throwing the duvet back and standing up. She picked her panties up and pulled them on, and grabbed his t-shirt, putting it on.
“You know what I meant, for god’s sake.” He leaned against the wall across from her, rubbing his hands over his face and through his hair. She moved directly in front of him and reached out to touch his arm. He flinched away and glared at her. She felt like he’d punched her and his face immediately softened when he saw her reaction, realizing what he’d done.

“Nichole, I’m sorry,” he said as he reached out for her. She turned away from him and grabbed her jeans off the floor and quickly put them back on.

“No, I’m sorry. I’m fucking sorry I even thought this would be ok. What the hell was I thinking? Unprofessional…” She sat on the bed and put her shoes on and started for the door, grabbing her hoodie.

“Where are you going?” he asked, “Are you seriously leaving?”

“Yeah...I need to get the hell away from you before I say something else stupid.” He moved in front of the door, grabbing her arms.

“Nichole, its two am for fucks sake, where are you gonna go?” She was so mad she could feel herself starting to shake, the way she did every time she got into it with Dylan. The tears were coming next and she didn’t want to cry in front of him, again.

“Harry, please get out of my way…”

“No…Nichole, just talk to me. I’m sorry…”

“Harry, get the fuck out of my way!” she shouted. He stopped mid-sentence and moved away from her, his hands held up. She opened the door and started to walk out.

“Nichole, don’t go…please,” he said as she stepped out into the hallway. She stopped for a moment and considered turning around, but she just sighed and shut the door.

~*~*~*~

“H, sit down…pacing a hole in the carpet is not going the help anything.”

After Nichole had been gone for two hours and Harry had blown up her phone with no answer from her, he called Niall. He was now sitting with Harry in their room, while they waited. Harry sat down on the bed, holding his head in his hands.

“If something happens to her, Niall…it’s my fault. I am such an idiot.”

“It’s Dublin, not the bush in Africa…what do you think is going to happen? She’ll be back, stop working yourself up. She’ll be back and you can apologize to her for being an arse.” Right then his phone vibrated. He looked down and it was Nichole.

“Nichole! Babes, where are you?!”

“I don’t know, I’m lost.” Harry heard her sniffling, obviously upset and crying, “I just wanted to go for a walk, and I got turned around. I went into a pub and had a beer but when I came out I didn’t know which way to go. I have been trying to find my way back. I don’t know the name of the hotel…” She started to cry again.

“Shhh, beautiful. Its ok, we’ll get you back here. Just calm down for me, ok?” Harry looked to Niall and mouthed “She’s lost.” He reached for the phone, “Hey, Niall is going to talk to you so we can sort out where you are. I love you.”

“I love you, too.” She sniffled into the phone.

Niall took the phone and started to speak to her. “Hey Nicky…aww love. Its ok, now look around and see if you can see a street sign or something to landmark where you are.”

~*~*~*~

Nichole stood by the door of a corner shop waiting for one of their cars to come get her. She felt like such an idiot. Something simple like knowing the name of the hotel they were staying kept her from being back hours ago. She was certain she walked a mile in the opposite direction before I realized she was lost. She was still so mad at Harry and they were going to need to talk about what happened, but right at that moment, all she wanted was one of his hugs.

The car pulled up in front of the hotel and she could see a few fans and some paps, but she really did not care. Mike came out and opened the door for, obviously to help her into the hotel safely, but she climbed out of the car quickly and ran past everyone, ignoring their shouts, heading inside where she could see Harry and Niall waiting. They’d only been apart four hours but it felt like a life time. She ran into his arms and wrapped herself around him and started crying again. All she could say over and over was “I’m sorry.” He tilted her face up, looking her in the eyes and said,

“Shh..I’m sorry too, beautiful. We’ll talk later, yeah? Right now, you need some rest.” The security team moved them toward the elevators, blocking the three of them the best they could from the photographers, but Nichole couldn’t have cared less. At that moment, she decided to let them take all the pictures they wanted and make up all the bullshit they wanted to. Let the fan girls come for her. She didn’t care as long as she and Harry were okay.

~*~*~*~

Gemma grabbed her phone when the text notification went.

Nicky: As much as I love your brother and as much fun as I am having, I can’t wait to see you tonight. I miss my best friend

Gem: Not having fun with my baby brother?

Nicky: I didn’t say that…had a great time this morning;)

Gem: Ewww…don’t say another thing…just ugh….

Before Nichole and Gemma really had a chance to get used to living together, Nichole was off with Harry while One Direction finished their tour. They still talked and texted all day like they always had and they were both staying pretty busy with work.

All the while, Nichole and Harry were falling deeper into each other. Gemma watched social media and saw all the pictures. It was easy to see how comfortable they were getting with being just seen and photographed together. Other than Harry’s cryptic post after the “Kendall incident,” there was never another comment or confirmation made. Gemma was just happy to see them both so happy together. The fans had started coming around as well. In just a few weeks you could see the turn in opinion. There would always be the girls that hated Nichole, there was nothing that anyone could do about that. Gemma had hate as well, and she was his sister. Not everyone thought she was “the better Styles.” Gemma just loved to see some love for her out there and the desire by most of his fans to just see him happy.

~*~*~*~

All the families had met up in Sheffield for the final concert. It had been a wild ride the last five years and it was far from over, but this was a milestone no one wanted to miss.
Gemma found Nicky in the back area where the guys were getting ready. Dressed in a cute boho dress and fringed boots, she was oblivious to the chaos around her, sitting with her feet up on a low table; her laptop perched in her lap, headphones on, finishing up a skype meeting with administrators of the school in Africa they were working with. She smiled and waved Gemma over as the call was ending.

“Harry? Your sister and I need wine,” she said as she put away her work stuff.

“So does your mum.” Anne said as she entered the room, Robin right behind her. Harry looked at Robin who patted him on the back and said,

“Well, get the women some wine, Harry.” Harry walked out of the room shaking his head, wondering when he became the errand boy for the women in his life.

“Adjusting well to road life, I see.” Gemma teased.

Nichole snorted at her friend, “Adjusted or assimilated into the One Direction collective?”

“Same, girl, same.”

~*~*~*~

“Do you ever get used to this?” Nichole asked Gemma as they were led to their seats with the rest of the families after the opening band was finished. They were being shouted at by the fans trying to get their attention.

“Do I ever get used to people knowing who I am because of who my brother is? No. But I am proud of him. So damn proud. Of course if you tell him I said that, I will deny it.” Nichole laughed at her and said,

“He knows, Gem…he knows. He’s proud of you too, but you didn’t hear that from me.”

Like every night, the show was perfect. The bittersweet mood of everyone was everywhere. The fans so happy but crying at the same time. The families were beaming with pride. The bond they all shared being thrust together as their boys embarked on this wild journey, carrying them all along for the ride, was incredible. It was times like this that Nichole really felt like the outsider. She wasn’t here from the beginning. But, she was never made to feel that way. Everyone accepted her and went out of their way to make her feel welcome from the start. So, though she wasn’t there from the beginning, she was feeling the same sadness and pride for the chapter that was ending for One Direction, but she could also feel the excitement for what was next.

After an amazing show, and a wild conga line started by Liam’s dad, Geoff, that lead all of them around the stage a couple of times, everyone was celebrating the end of the tour and the start of the hiatus with a party at the hotel. Nichole knew pretty much everyone from the tour but most of management she didn’t know and there were others that where there that she’d never met, so she spent most of the night either at Harry’s side being introduced to people, or with Gemma, talking to people she did know.

Nichole decided she needed a break, so she took a walk outside to get away from the craziness for a few minutes. She was standing alone with her drink, relaxing when she heard her name called. She looked around and noticed there was a small group of girls waving at her from across the road. She waved back and taking that as an invite to come over, they ran across the road towards her.

“Hi, Nicky!” one said breathlessly as they came to stop in front of her. She did step back a bit, though they were all giggles and smiles and seemed harmless.

“Hi. Aren’t ya’ll cold out here?” They squealed and giggled at Nichole’s accent saying things like “so cute” “adorable” “love it.”She was getting used to it, but still was a little odd to be “the one with the accent.”

They chatted for a few minutes, Nichole answering questions about the guys and the show and how she missed home. Finally though, she said she should head back in. And one girl asked,

“Nicky, do you think we could come in?”

“No, honey…I can’t do that. Do you know how much trouble I would be in?”

“Oh just for a minute, we’ll be good. We promise.” They all nodded and smiled hopefully.

“No, sorry.”

“Do you think Harry would come out and see us?” Nichole blinked at them, taken aback by how bold they were. She wasn’t sure what to say to that.

“I don’t know if he’s coming out or not…I mean...” She started to stumble over her words, suddenly feeling a bit trapped.

“You can ask him. He’d do it for you.” She pressed on.

“Look, girls…I’m going back in now. If there is something you want me to give the guys, or tell them, I’ll be happy to. But, no, I can’t take you in with me. And I won’t ask them to come out here. They are tired and spending time with family and friends. This was a big night for them.”

“I knew she wouldn’t help us. Bitch.” The one girl spewed . “You don’t deserve him, you know.” Nichole stood there silently, locked in a stare down with her while her friends looked on open mouthed.

“You know, you are probably right. I don’t deserve him. He is kind, and loving, and would do anything for anyone. And he loves you, his fans, more than you know. Even the nasty, mean spirited ones that apparently don’t like seeing him happy. So, now I’m going back inside. You ladies have a good night, ok?”

“Nichole?” She turned, hearing Harry’s voice behind her.

“Oh bloody hell,” one of the other girls muttered quietly. Harry was standing there with Gemma. He started walking towards them and then the squeals and tears started. Gemma was on her phone, obviously calling Mike, because he appeared out of thin air. Nichole was sure she’d never been more thankful to see him in her life. Paps were one thing, rabid fan girls, quite another.Nichole walked towards him and he reached out, his hands running down her arms,

“Are you ok? You scared me when I couldn’t find you.” Nichole couldn’t stop smiling at him. Since Dublin, he’d been so worried she’d get lost again that he made sure she had someone with her if she wanted to go out on her own.

“I’m fine, baby…just needed some air. I made some new friends.” She nodded over her shoulder at the girls that Mike was now keeping at bay.

“Sounded like it.” He teased. “You sure you are ok?”

“Never better. Now go say hi before they rip me limb from limb, ok?” He laughed loudly and pulled her into a hug that she was sure the girls behind them were losing their minds over. He let go and moved towards Mike and the girls saying,

“Everyone having a nice night? Being nice to everyone, right?” Nichole giggled as she walked over to Gemma. She handed Nichole her glass of wine.

“I think you need this more than I do.”Nichole took it gratefully and downed the contents and handed the empty glass back to her.

Notes

Its up, finally...sorry I haven't posted in awhile, life and stuff.

Hope this was worth the wait :)

Remember feedback is love :)