Harry's pov

Thud. Thud. Thud.

I tossed around a little at the banging, squinting my eyes, "Who is it?" I groaned.

The handle wobbled and turned, creaking the bedroom door open. Emma stepped in with a sheepish look on her face, avoiding eye contact.

"Hi," she whispered.

I huffed in annoyance, my chest rising and falling slowly. Pausing for a minute, I let myself wake up and take note of the throbbing in my head. A hangover.

"What happened last night?" I tried to say neutrally, even though the way my eyebrows furrowed together suspiciously seemed to imply what I was thinking anyways.

Emma waved her hands in dismissal, shaking her head at 100 miles an hour, "nothing..." She urgently searched for the right words, "like that."

I nodded, staring at the bed sheets, "good."

I could see her nodding her head in agreement from the corner of my eye and turned to face her, "Well?" I asked, gesturing around my room as if to ask her why she was there.

She crossed her arms over her chest and leaned against the door frame, "It's 3 in the afternoon, Harry. I came to see if you were okay after your fun little 'one-man show' last night."

I scoffed, "Oh that's real cute, Emma. Real cute. You act like I was enjoying myself! You think I wanted to waste my night contemplating how the hell I got into this mess with you?"

Bitterly, she shifted her gaze to the floor, "Yeah well I didn't seem to be much of a burden to you last night," she murmured under her breath.

"I thought you said nothing happened," I snapped, startling Emma by responding to what she thought I didn't hear.

She sighed, biting down onto her lip in the short lasting silence.

Before speaking, she pinched the bridge of her nose and then looked up to face me again, "I stopped anything from happening, Harry. You were so drunk you barely remembered who I was— I was just some chick who walked in on you drinking your feelings away and then rescued you from disaster."

I looked away momentarily, staring at the wall as my memory jogged slightly. Way to go, h.

"So I tried to—"

"Make a move? Yes..." she responded quietly, shuffling around on her feet uncomfortably, "...I won't get into it but just try not to freak out. You weren't..." she trailed off again, "too horrible."

I nodded again, mulling everything over in my head repeatedly.

"Can I please have some time alone? My head is throbbing and I just, I need some space right now," I mumbled, staring at the floor beyond the foot of my bed.

Hearing a soft "sure" pass her lips and the door click shut again, I flopped back onto my pillow, my hands covering my face in shame and disbelief.

Well, I obviously made a fool of myself. There may not have been a lot that went down between us, but the embarrassment on Emma's face made it obvious enough that it wasn't something her or I could just magically forget.

What was really bothering me, though, was the fact that - besides the new tension that Emma and I would inevitably share - I felt a weird sort of calmness about the sudden circumstances...

As if the honest truth was that I didn't have any legitimate regrets about anything.

—

Niall's pov

2 pm, and there I was, sitting in a crammed office beside Taylor with so many other things that I'd rather be doing going through my mind. Management had called us both in the morning to meet at their headquarters by 2, and we both still had no clue what it was about.

Taylor looked at me with a confused expression, probably wondering the same thing  I was as I smiled and shrugged in response.

In came Rebecca Watson, who worked above Emma and Taylor at Modest. I swear that woman constantly looked angry— even her smiles were forced. She slammed the door behind her as she came in and sat at her desk in front of us.

"I am very disappointed in the both of you. What are these?" She seethed, placing a photograph on the table in front of us. Both Taylor and I's eyes widened when we saw the picture facing us. The damn paparazzi had caught us kissing!

Taylor blushed and looked down at the page before answering, "Rebecca it's not what you think I-"

"It's exactly what I think! You are supposed to be helping Niall's reputation; not shoving your tongue down his throat!" She yelled.

"Woah, woah, woah, don't scream at her... we both contributed to it," I argued, trying to take some of the blame.

"Okay, so you're both to blame— who cares!Nothing matters right now besides a solution," she sighed, looking back and forth between Taylor and I, "We have come up with a simple plan to resolve this issue that will hopefully make this blow over quickly in the media. We're letting you off with a warning this time, so don't make us regret it. Niall, we've hired an actress to go out with you in public in order to draw the attention of you relationship status elsewhere for as long as it is proven necessary."

As soon as the new 'protocol' left her mouth, I wasn't at all for the idea; I hadn't had much luck in my dating life so far, what good would a fake relationship do for me?

Just as I was about to protest, Taylor spoke up instead— but not with the answer I expected or wanted, "I think that's a good idea actually."

I sent her a confused look, but she just stared ahead at Rebecca with a small smile.

"Great. We will set you up with a date for later tonight then, Niall. Be sure to check your emails for a schedule of future dates and other details. The meeting is concluded, you two may go home one at a time now. We can't risk you both being spotted together again so soon after this situation," Rebecca warned, taking the possible outcomes into consideration.

With that, she got up and walked out of the office, sending us a final curt nod before leaving.

So I'm not allowed to control my own love life either now?

"Taylor, we don't have to go through with this, you know. You can quit your job and I can support us and we can be happy together. The boys and I will be touring again soon and—"

With a small laugh and shake of her head, Taylor stopped me mid sentence, "Don't be ridiculous, Niall, I don't want to be your charity case. I need to provide for myself."

Then, slinging her bag over her shoulder, she sent me a small pitiful smile before leaving the building and heading home.

Were we ever on the same page?

Tossing my head back in exhaustion, I murmured to myself in the silence,"See ya later then... I guess."