Carly’s POV

I shook my head to their pleas. There was no part of me that wanted to leave the bus.

“Please, it isn't the same knowing you aren’t backstage.” Liam practically begged sitting on the floor next to the couch where I sat.

“Come on, you can hangout with us and then when we’re on stage, you can hangout with the 5SOS boys.” Louis touched my hand gently.

“Please Carly.” Niall sounded the most desperate.

I sighed and looked at them, they all had puppy-dog eyes. What's the point in going if the one person you're really here for cant even look at you? There was no way they were going to take no as an answer so I locked my phone and sat up. I didn't say anything before standing up. I slipped my shoes on, grabbed my purse and walked out behind Liam and in front of Niall. As soon as his feet hit the pavement, Niall had his arm around my shoulders. He pulled me close to his body while I wrapped one of my arms around his waist and tried to look happy.

“Don’t forget to smile.” He mumbled before kissing my cheek.

I nodded and looked up at him with a believable smile as something touched my side. My eyes looked to see Louis walking next to me with Harry on his other side. None of us were happy or okay but we did a good job at faking it. When we walked backstage, we found the 5SOS guys doing a video. Niall let go of me so he could photobomb them. I let my smile fall because I didn't need to seem happy anymore, nobody back here would let any pictures slip.

I found myself walking to the table across the room. My phone made a loud ‘thud’ onto the table when it fell from my hand but I didn't care, it didn't matter. I unlocked it and read the message that I was trying to read before the guys won me over.

From: Haelo

I’m sorry Carly, I wish I could hug you right now but thats impossible. He will come around, he loves you.

I left that text unanswered and found a distracting game on my phone, I hadn’t played any in so long that I was surprised I had any left. I was startled by someone sitting down next to me, snapping me out of the game and back to reality. Tan hands touched mine gently making my eyes snap up to a concerned face. Calum was frowning with a sad look in his eyes.

“Are you okay?” His voice was gentle as he spoke. “I’ve never seen you sit alone when they were back here.” I knew who he was talking about.

I didn't trust my voice so I shrugged as a response. He shook his head and let go of my hands slowly, his expression looked even sadder. I looked at my hands again, not unlocking my phone just starring at them.

“Cal, come look at this!” Michael called Calum’s name from over by the rest of the group.

“I know we aren’t super close but I’m here if you want to talk. I hope you're okay.” He leaned forward and kissed my temple before standing up to walk away.

“Thank you Calum.” That was the first time I’d spoke all day, my voice was a lot weaker than I thought it would be.

He flashed me a smile and turned toward the rest of the group and walked away to them. I rubbed my eyes hoping to rub away some of the pain but it didn't work, it just made me want to sleep. Someone came into my peripheral vision when I pulled my hands away so I turned and saw Zayn standing only a few feet from me. I rolled my eyes and looked at my hands again as he sat down across from me.

“I know you don’t want to talk to me but I need to apologize to you. I only said those things because I was hurt and desperate for someone to care for me and you were the one person who was there for me. I’m so sorry I said anything and did anything, I didn't mean for it to go this far. I definitely didn't mean to mess things up between you and Harry. Please believe me.” He paused seeing tears come to my eyes. “Yea, I miss being with you but I miss you being my friend even more. I’m sorry Carly, if I could take it back I would.”

I nodded and tried to blink away the tears but they were too strong, they escaped from my eyes. Zayn sighed in defeat and ran his fingers through his hair.

“None of what I said to Harry was true, you never did anything wrong or past the friend-boundaries. I haven't talked to him yet but I’m going to tell him the truth. I hate knowing that what I said broke you two up. I cant even express how sorry I am for calling you a whore, you aren’t a whore in any way and you didn't deserve that.” He set his hands down but didn't attempt to look at me.

“I forgive you.” My voice was quiet but I knew he heard me.

“Thank you. I’m going to do what I can to fix this.” His eyes met mine as I wiped my cheeks dry.

I nodded and watched him walk toward the group. He walked up to Harry hesitantly, Harry’s face was hard when they walked away together. I heard 5SOS being announced and they ran out eagerly and started playing. Time seemed to stop until Harry and Zayn came back into sight. Harry looked toward me but shook his head and looked away quickly. My eyes burned again, the tears were uncontrollable now. I got up and walked to the bathroom quickly, trying to get away from everything as fast as possible.

Harry’s POV

I watched Carly run to the bathroom crying, it made my stomach clench. All I wanted to do was go comfort her and take it all back but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. Part of me was mad that she kept it a secret and was always running off to comfort Zayn. I sat down on the floor next to Louis and rested my head on his shoulder.

“What’s wrong?” He asked quietly.

“None of what Zayn was true, he just told me the truth.” I told him and he looked at me.

“Then why are you sitting here instead of going to take care of Carly? You do know that she’s crying because of this right?” He sounded protective of her, like an older brother.

“I know but why’d she keep it from me? I think there’s something else going on.” I admitted, lifting my head to meet his eyes.

“Harry, that girl loves you and nobody else. Zayn and her are just friends, nothing more. I get why you're mad but I know for a fact that you're all she wants.” He was right but I couldn’t do it.

Notes

I love reading your comments, they're all so amazing. I'm glad you like the story, I love writing it. Keep telling me your opinions!! I'll update tomorrow after school :( first day back.

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