mia

  "What did your band mate want?" I asked once Harry had gotten off the phone. To give him some privacy, Cat and I chilled in the back of the van. She snuggled up next to me on the futon while we watched Hell's Kitchen and watched Gordon Ramsay make fun of all the horrible chefs that were on the show.

  "He's going to meet up with us in Texas, in two days." Harry smiled. "I told him he could stay in the bus with us and he's going to tag along when we go to NASA." 

  "Oh, cool." I said. "He seems like a ni- wait. Did you just say NASA?" 

  Harry froze and his face turned a light shade of pink. He smacked himself on the forehead before chanting "stupid, stupid!" at himself while I gazed on, wearing a confused expression on my face. Frustrated with himself, he ran his long, bony fingers through his hair and finally looked at me.

  "It was supposed to be a surprised." He explained. "Since we couldn't go to Air & Space that day in D.C, I was planning on surprising you by taking you to NASA. We shot a music video there about a year ago and I got special permission to bring you there, but now it's kind of ruined."

  "Ruined?" I asked. "Ruined!? Are you kidding? Harry, we're going to NASA! Oh my gosh, I'm going to NASA. You're crazy! I could kiss you right now!"

  "You should." Harry chuckled sheepishly. Without even giving it much thought, I grabbed his face and kissed him. He stumbled backwards, not expecting it, and laughed as he kissed me back with equally as much passion. It wasn't one of those sensual, romantic kisses; it was one of those spur-of-the-moment kisses when you are so overwhelmed with happiness that it's the only thing you can think to do.

  "This is crazy. I'm going to NASA." I repeated. "This is so much better than Air & Space! Do you think they'll let us in a real aircraft? Do you think we'll get to meet one of the astronauts?" I babbled on and on, giddy with excitement.

  "I'm sure you'll get to do all that and more." Harry promised, kissing my forehead. "I just want to see you happy and I knew that this would make you happy. I'm sorry that the surprise factor didn't work out, although I think I'm glad you know now so that you can calm down in time for when we actually arrive." 

  "Thank you, thank you, thank you." I smiled, throwing my arms around him in a tight embrace. He hugged me back, his long hair tickling my face. His hugs were truly the best- he held you for such a long time and in an extremely comfortable and cozy position as well. "Seriously, I owe you one. Way more than one. Like, a billion."

  "You can start by letting me kiss you more often." Harry teased. "Then maybe one day you won't owe me anymore." 

  "Deal." I giggled. "You're a good kisser, anyways."

  "You're not so bad yourself. I was a bit surprised, actually, you're a lot better than I'd imagined. Not that I'd imagined that before... but, erm, yeah... I sort of did." Harry's face turned back into the pink shade that it was only moments prior.

  "Well now you can do it whenever you want, so you don't have to imagine." I teased.

  A few seconds went by before the space between our bodies was closed and we were kissing on the futon. I had completely forgotten about Cat and Gordon Ramsay- letting all my thoughts disappear at the first taste of his lips. He took it slower this time, wanting to let me know that this was more meaningful than some of the kisses that we had exchanged before. His rough hand traced the outline of my jaw back and forth as we laid on the futon, neither one of us letting go as we continued to make out.

  "Harry, what the hell man?" A small voice said. Both of us froze.

  "Oh, shit." Harry realized, snaking his hand into his pocket and pulling out his phone. "Louis, is this you? I think I accidentally may have butt-dialed you." 

  "Are you hooking up with your assistant?" Louis asked. "Oh God, this is brilliant. But seriously mate, I could have gone the rest of my life without hearing the sound affects of whatever that was. Are you using protection?"

  "Louis!" Harry nearly shouted. "We're not- we don't-"

  "Save it, save it." Louis chuckled. "I'll see you both in two days, yeah? Be safe, we don't need another baby daddy in the band." I could hear him laugh some more on the other line as my face grew hot with embarrassment.

  Harry hung up the phone, then gave me a sheepish look. I groaned and hid my face in his shirt, wanting to hide from everything and everyone. Louis Tomlinson had just heard me intensely make out with his best friend. This one had to go down as one of the most embarrassing moments of my life.

  "That was awkward." Harry finally spoke up.

  "You still haven't told him that I'm not really your assistant?" I asked. "We're going to have a lot of explaining to do when we meet up with him in Texas, that's for sure." 

  "I didn't think anything of it." He scratched the back of his neck. "But I do think we will have some explaining to do, yeah. Don't worry about it, alright? I can smooth talk myself out of anything."

  "Oh yeah? If I'm remembering things correctly, only a few days ago you attempted to 'smooth talk' us out of getting arrested and we spent the night in a jail cell." I recalled. 

  "That wasn't exactly one of my proudest moments." Harry countered. "I'll explain it all to him before we meet face-to-face, so it isn't awkward for you." 

  "Gee, thanks." I said. "Hey, can I borrow your computer? I'm gonna check some emails before I head to bed, if you don't mind." Asking for things, even if it was just borrowing, was never my strong suit. It always made me feel needy. 

  "Of course." Harry insisted. "I think I'll take a shower before bed, tomorrow I'd like to drive most of the day and I think you would much rather me not being so smelly." I crinkled my nose at him and gave him a shove before snatching the laptop off of the desk.

  My inbox was flooded with emails- as I had assumed. They were mostly associated with the family company (since I owned a branch), or ads from things I signed up for that I never should have, or angry messages from family members that I hadn't spoken to in a long time. Without giving it much thought, I deleted most of them.

  There was one from my father and one from Matthew that I decided to open. My curiosity would have gotten the better of me if I didn't go ahead and read them now, anyway. Matthew's email contained information on the company decline and how his family company had been affected, also by my "rash and irresponsible behavior" and I deleted it with a yawn.

  Assuming that the email from my father would entail the same sort of information, I clicked on it with a bored expression. 

  Mia, 

  Your departure has left both the Miles and Roden companies at risk. Not only are we losing profits, but the Miles company is substantially losing profits as well. 

  Yawn.

  Since you have so far failed at returning to the family, I have no other choice than to pull out the big guns. I will save that for later while you enjoy whoring around with the country with  rich men, however, because my priority at the moment is solely on the company. If you come back and end this scandal, no one will have to get hurt. If not- both you and that boy will pay a heavy price. We have just as much dirt on him as we do you.

  His threats were alarming. Not because he had dirt on me- because I knew he did, but because there was a potential that he knew things about Harry as well. The last thing that I wanted was to get Harry involved in such a complicated mess and if he ended up hurt by this I would never be able to forgive myself. Harry had done nothing wrong and had no indecent bone in his body; it was simply unfair to throw him into all of this. 

  For now, since I am still being caught up with more and more news about the scandal between the companies and with your little love affair, I ask that you stay out of the tabloids until you hear further from me. Any negative press will result in exclusive photos of lover boy sent out around the world. Who knew Harry Styles drugged young women's drinks for sport? 

  Attached to the email was a file. I didn't even have to look at it- I already knew what it would be. The night that Harry's friend, Dan, had tried to drug me at the party- somehow my father had photos of it. And all it would take would be one snap of a camera of Harry holding the pills to ruin his entire career. My whole body felt ignited with fire; a hot, angry flame.

  Suddenly, Harry emerged from the bathroom. He wore his boxers and a towel over his head, holding his t-shirt in his hand that was now extended toward me. 

  "Ready for bed, love?" 

  I wanted to cry. I felt completely pinned; somehow my father was watching my every move and now Harry could potentially have to pay the price. I had to make sure that no media spotted us or else it would turn sour for us both. I also knew that Harry had to be aware of this as well so he knew to be cautious.

  "I'm exhausted." Harry frowned, rubbing his eye. I would tell Harry, but I would wait until morning. I knew that there was no way that I would be getting a good nights rest, but he should be granted at least that. It wasn't his fault that my father was doing such a cruel thing, and we were at least guaranteed safety in the bus overnight.

  "Yeah, I'm ready." 

  Cat followed us lazily into the back of the bus, climbing up into bed and securing her spot by Harry's pillow before we had even reached the bed. He chuckled and scooped her up into his arms as he collapsed on top of the covers, while she meowed at him in annoyance. I smiled briefly at them as I cuddled under the covers. 

  "You good? You seem a bit quiet." Harry asked. 

  "Just tired." I fake yawned. "It's been a long day." 

  "All we've done is drive today." He laughed. "And all you've done is sit in the passenger seat and eat all of our Cheetos." 

  "And it was very strenuous." I shot back, trying to use my wit to divert his attention. He shook his head and pulled my body into his, molding together like the perfect puzzle pieces (with Cat literally on top of his head- her absolute favorite spot to sleep on). 

  "Night," Harry whispered into my ear.

  "Goodnight."

  Harry fell asleep within minutes. As for me, sleep was not going to come on so easily. My mind was swarmed with horrific possibilities- what if my father chose to expose Harry and I? Harry's career was on the line, all because of me. It made me feel extremely guilty.

  There was always the possibility that I could go back to my family. Do what would be best for Harry and his reputation. But I couldn't leave Harry. I was in too deep already, leaving Harry would be heartbreaking not only for me but the both of us. There had to be some other way to get my family and Matthew off our backs without Harry and I having to pay a price for it. 

  That night, I didn't sleep a wink. 

  a/n:

  anybody else hate mia's parents? i dooo!

  thanks for reading, have a great day & stay safe!

  xoxo, 

  delilah