Always the Bestfriend

“2 minutes til curtain boys.”

Harry was busy nit picking on a loose thread on the sleeve of his floral red suit, but when he heard the 2 minute warning from the X Factor staff he was suddenly very aware of the cold air from the AC that hit the nape of his neck, the sound of Louis cracking his knuckles and his own labored breathing. It felt like all his senses were dialed to an eleven. After years of performing and touring, being back at the X Factor with the boys brought back the memories of how only 5 years ago all of them were in the same show preparing to go on stage for the first time ever as a band. The memories brought with them a wave of nostalgia, and nerves as well.

He was nervous. All of them were. This was going to be their last performance as a band for a while, and at the place where it all started. It was for sure going to be an emotional night. Suddenly there was a knock on the door, and all of their heads whipped towards its direction.

It was Y/N. She was wearing a white flowing dress that looked so dainty and soft on her. At the sight of Y/N Harry’s heart felt like it started to beat faster and slower at the same time. He watched as Y/N made her way and hugged each of his bandmates, first Niall then Liam then Louis and pretty soon she was making her way to him. As soon as Y/N was in his arms all the nerves went away, all he could think about then was of how she smelt of vanilla and honey and how good it felt to have Y/N wrap her arms around him tightly.

“Feeling okay, bub?” Y/N asks.

“Better now that you’re here.” Harry replies, and this earns him a smile from Y/N that made his heart do little somersaults.

After all this time, Harry and Y/N still hadn’t talked about what they really were to each other. There were so many things going on in their lives that it felt like it was never the right time. After Y/N and Niall called it quits, it gave Harry hope that maybe finally he and his best friend would finally find their way to each other.

But two years have gone by and they still didn’t, not that they weren’t hanging out and talking all the time. Truth be told they were closer than they had ever been before, they spent every moment the could together.

Harry would fly out to Y/N on his days off and so would Y/N on hers. They’d spend holidays together or with each other’s families. They’d do the most mundane things together like going on walks at the park of Harry’s home town or going grocery shopping but it’d always feel like it was something special.

Harry remembers one particular evening when they made their way to the local grocery store. They had split up, he was going to get the potato crisps and Y/N was going to pick out the ice cream for their routine movie night. Harry had gotten the bag of chips, and was now looking for Y/N down the aisles of frozen dairy products when he saw her just standing there under the grocery’s slightly yellowing light, just a hint of cold breeze hitting her face from the open freezer that held the ice cream.

“Everything alright love?” He asked.

“Yup! Just thinking whether we should get the Chunky Monkey or Cookie Dough?”

Harry’s heart swelled at the sight. The little scrunches on Y/N’s forehead, the way she was biting her lips and how seriously she was taking the matter of ice cream flavor picking.

“How about we get both, princess?” He smiled.

Y/N’s face lit up, she smiled sheepishly and got both flavours and made her way to the cashier.
Harry just laughed quietly to himself after he realized how even times like these made him realize how much he loved this girl.

It was always like this, special moments held between them but neither of them brought up the question of whether they should take things to the next level already. Partly because both of them knew how it would hurt Niall if they took it too fast, too soon. Despite Niall’s genuine encouragements, Harry didn’t want to do that to his best friend so he waited. But also partly because Harry and Y/N weren’t in a hurry at all, it was unspoken but both of them knew. Both of them knew they were it for each other.

“Alright, time to go on stage boys.” Liam says.

It had been a great performance so far, they sang songs from MITAM and all four of them just wanted to drag on the show because they weren’t quite ready for everything to end just yet. But finally it was time for their last song - History. A video montage of the past 5 years played while they sang, and it made all four of the boys emotional. And when it was finally over all Harry could feel was an overwhelming sense of gratitude. He was thankful for everything that happened in his life and most of all thankful for the 3 boys he was in a group hug with.

After their thank you-s, Harry ran off stage right into Y/N’s arms lifted her into a hug and for the first time ever he kissed the girl he’d been inlove with since he was sixteen.

Notes