Chapter 41 ~ Harry

Hannah and I are the first ones to leave, not because we’re exhausted or because it’s too late, but because I know this is too much for Hannah for one night. She did great, she talked to everyone and she seemed to have a great time. She laughed a lot and she didn’t doubt much when Mila asked her if she wanted to come with her, Zayn, Moni, Ed and I to a car saloon. Mila and Moni are so excited about that and they are dragging their boyfriends with them, and they assumed Hannah would love to join them as well.

I’m sure if it had been another thing and not cars, Hannah wouldn’t have accepted.

I know the ginger girl really tried today, but I still could see how at unease she seemed when someone was too close to her. Even if it was Ed, her idol, she looked uncomfortable. Only when I was next to her she seemed to relax. I know she likes my friends, but she still needs time to get used to having them around. However, I’m sure she will make it. The lads and the girls really like her already, I could see it in their eyes when they looked at Hannah. They accepted her, even Louis who tried to look all indifferent to all women in the house. I saw him smiling at us before he realised I had caught him staring. He can try and say that I’m making a mistake, that I shouldn’t trust Hannah, but I know him. I know he is happy for me. He knows this is what I’ve wanted for so long and I finally have it.

But I’m still worried for him.

During our little party, he only talked to the lads. He avoided even Alex and I’ve noticed he doesn’t call her wife anymore. And that was their game, something that never stopped being funny among them. Even when Moni tries to convince him to help her on a prank, he doesn’t want to be near her. And she is making an effort! I’ve heard she is in prank rehab thingy. Not sure how that works yet.

It’s been a couple of weeks since Louis and Eleanor broke up and he doesn’t show any improvement. He is as bitter as the day he told us about it. I saw Eleanor the other day at Starbucks and she is fine, but when she saw me, her expression changed and I could see how worried she is for Louis. Perhaps she doesn’t love him anymore, but she still cares about him and how he is taking all this. She told me she has tried to talk to him, to explain things better, but he doesn’t let her.

“You okay?” I hear Hannah asking and next I feel her hand taking mine, our fingers tangling immediately.

I take a glimpse at her for a few seconds before focusing on the road again. I’ve learnt that if I’m with Hannah, I have to be a better driver, even more if it’s snowing. “Yes, I’m fine. I was just thinking,” I answer with a smile that, I hope, will put her at ease.

“About Louis, am I right?” She inquires next and I open my eyes in surprise. “I know you’re worried. Have you talked to him?”

I sigh, remembering all the occasions when I’ve tried talking to him about it, but he doesn’t say much. He snaps pretty quickly and just tells me that all women are the same and that he’s better off now so I shouldn’t worry. But I can’t help it. This is not the Louis we all know and love.

“Yes, but he doesn’t want to talk about it. He wasn’t like this, you know?” I tell Hannah and I know she is paying full attention. I know I can tell her anything. “He was this extremely energetic lad, always making jokes and having people laughing. You couldn’t be bored if he was around and he didn’t mind making a fool of himself just to have a good time.”

“Doesn’t seem like that now,” she comments and I sigh again, squeezing her hand.

“No. He is bitter all the time, snapping at the smallest thing and avoiding all women. Can you imagine how hard that is with fans? A high percentage of our fans are girls and he doesn’t want to touch them. And he doesn’t seem to move on and I’m worried,” I confess and for a few seconds no one says anything.

“Some people need more time to heal, Harry. I’m sure he’ll come to term with this and will go back to his old self. You just have to be patient with him,” she tells me and I know she talks from experience. I know I can be patient, I’ve been since I met her. “Maybe he’ll meet someone who’ll push him until he can’t avoid this anymore and he’ll face it and get over it.”

When I look at her she is smiling brightly and I know she means I’m the one who pushed her until she faced what was hurting her. And still, she is still working on that but she doesn’t avoid it anymore and if she did it, Louis also can do it.

“You’re right. Maybe Kay will be the one,” I tease, remembering how the blonde looked for him during the party, just to annoy him a little bit.

Hannah laughs lightly. “I think he’ll kill her first. When I saw him with the knife I was scared.” It’s my turn to laugh, recalling that scene when we were eating and Kay said something about carrots and Louis grabbed the knife tighter. For a moment, I also thought he was going to murder her. “By the way, why does Louis hate carrots so much?”

I can’t help it but chuckle when I hear her question. “Well, when we started we used to do these video diaries for the X-Factor and Louis used to be ultra random during those videos, so once when they asked us what things we liked in women, he said he liked women who ate carrots. You can’t imagine how much we laughed that he said that on a video that will be forever on the Internet. Anyways, after that, fans got obsessed with carrots and for some reason assumed Louis liked carrots when he said he liked women who ate carrots. He never talked about himself. They got dressed as carrots, gave him carrots, threw carrots at him. At the beginning he played along, with the fans and with us. It was a joke and we all found that funny… until it wasn’t anymore. It got to the point where he can’t see carrots anymore without wanting to stab someone with the vegetable.”

“Are you for real?” She asks, holding back her laughter.

“You can see the videos on YouTube,” is my answer and this time she actually laughs.

“I think I would’ve liked to meet that random Louis.” She is going to say something else, but then her phone goes off. She takes it off of her purse and checks it. I want to know what it is, because she laughs.

“What’s it?” I ask, curiosity driving me crazy already.

“Oh, it’s just Zayn sending me pictures of Ed,” she answers offhandedly and I’m about to lose control of the car out of the surprise.

“What?! Why is he sending you pictures? When did you give him your number?” I demand, trying to see what picture Zayn sent.

“Oh, when you went to the toilet Zayn and Niall approached me. Zayn asked me for my number, telling me we should become best friends and that I should tell him when we were on dates so he could send me amazing pictures. I never thought he was going to send me pictures of Ed,” she laughs still looking at the picture. “Aw, he looks adorable here.”

That fucker. He is getting his revenge, I know it. He is doing the same thing I did when he started going out with Mila. This is his payback, but what does Niall plan to do?

“Did Niall tell you something?” I ask through gritted teeth, not knowing what to expect from the Irish one.

“Not really. He just said he was happy we’re together. That now you’ll know what it feels like. I’m not sure what he meant,” she answers and panic rises in my soul.

What does he mean? What is he planning? I don’t bug him and Alex like I do Zayn and Mila, so I don’t know what to expect. The only thing he has complained about is my timing but I don’t––

Oh shit.

So that’s what he is planning, to interrupt when Hannah and I are alone like I did when he was with Alex. But that wasn’t my intention! I never did it on purpose and he will. That bastard leprechaun!

“Something wrong?” Hannah asks a bit confused.

“I’m gonna tell Moni Zayn is sending pictures of her boyfriend to other girls,” I state and Hannah bursts out laughing.

“You all have a very special relationship, don’t you?” I look at her for a second just to give her a smile.

“They are my second family. I can’t see my life without them anymore,” I confess and her smile is so heart-warming and honest.

“They are all really nice. I’m glad I got to meet them,” Hannah says with her thumb stroking my skin softly. “Thank you for inviting me, Harry.”

“I’m even happier that you came with me. Everyone loved you and I’m sure they can’t wait to see you again. I’m warning you already, they’re gonna invite you to everything we plan together. They may not invite me but they will ask you to come.”

She laughs but I’m not joking. I know Moni adores her already and Phebs really liked her too. Probably, out of all the group, Hannah is the most similar to her in personality. Mila really likes her too, I saw that by the way she smiled at her so brightly. Alex and Belle accepted her immediately, Belle specially likes Hannah’s hair. I heard her many times complimenting my girlfriend’s ginger hair. And for the lads… well, the only one who worries me is Louis, but I honestly hope he’ll move on and fully accept her.

“I had a great time.” For some reason, those words mean so much to me. That she had a great time with my friends is really important.

“I’m glad you did,” I tell her as I keep driving.

Sooner than I’d like it, we’re in front of her house and I know it’s time to say goodbye, for now. I won’t see her as I’ll be really busy these following days as we’re finishing with the album, getting ready to release it and them promo starts: magazines, photoshoot sessions, interviews, trips around the globe and the tour.

This time we’ve stood up for ourselves. This is our third album, we’re older, we have a solid fan base and we know we don’t have to kill ourselves to keep our fans with us. They are loyal; they will be with us until the end. That’s why we decided to take it easier this time with the tour. Not so many dates, not so close one to another. I mean, we won’t have two gigs in one day. We’ll have more breaks to see our families and we’re even looking for charities to support during this European tour we will do this summer. It was hard, but management accepted our terms and this is just a proof of how much we’ve grown.

Also, it’s because we got threatened. All the girls told us that if we let management exploit us again like they’ve been doing since we started, we would never see them again. Yes, all of them agreed on that. They say it’s because they care about us and our health and we can’t go on like that forever. We’re old enough to make our opinions count.

I’m excited for what it comes for us this rest of the year. It will be a great summer and in this occasion, I will have someone with me. Someone I’ll be able to bring to where I am so she can be with me, someone I’ll miss and who will be waiting for me at home. This summer, this tour I’ll have Hannah with me and only because of that, I know it’s going to be the best tour of them all. I’m sure we’re going to enjoy it even more than the other ones because, for the first time, we’ll have time to enjoy it and not only work.

Yes, I’m really excited.

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Bel, xx