Harry's POV

I watched as she walked away and had every intention of going after her but was immediately stopped by someone grabbing onto my arm.

"Don't. She'll come around. Just give her some space,"I turn to see Lily smiling softly at me.

I sat back down at the booth and ran my hands through my hair in frustration.

"Fucking hell."

"That was kind of messed up," Lily stated.

"Yeah mate,"I glanced at Zayn.

I groaned,"You heard that?"

They shrugged.

"Kind of hard not to"

I tug at my hair in frustration.

"I didn't mean it like that. I just-urgh!"

I look up when I notice the waiter approaching our booth, pizza in hand.

"Bloody hell, what happened?!" he says exasperatedly.

I hear Lily blow out a sigh,"Where is she?"

Am I missing something? Do they know each other?

"Back in the kitchen,"he points over his shoulder,"stabbing away at the salad so hard I feel sorry for it," he pauses then says more quietly,"she's writing..."

What is going on?

Lily's eyebrows shoot up in surprise,"Now?" the waiter nods,"What time does she go on?"

He checks the watch on his hand,"in about 30."

I'm so engrossed in their conversation that I don't realise when he places the pizza on the table or when Liam and Niall start stuffing their faces.

I feel like there is something going on, something big, that I just don't know about. I find that I don't know a lot of things these days but I have this feeling in my gut that I should know.

I realise that I miss the last part of the conversation as the waiter walks away.

Zayn and I exchange confused glances.

"You messed up," I turn to face Lily at the sound of her voice with a deadpanned expression.

Don't I know this already?

"I'm quite aware thanks. I just....so many things have been happening lately and I..." I pause not knowing how to explain myself.

"My Mia never liked salad. Frankly she despised it. Anything without meat was a no. And now....now she eats it because she wants to?" I concede but it comes out like a question.

She smiles sympathetically and says,"I think we can both agree that the Mia you knew is slighty, just slightly modified."

I frown at her words knowing that she's right and I just didn't want to believe it.

I thought that once I was able to find her again then things would go back to normal. How they were before. Mia and Harry. Harry and Mia.

The Chronicles of Harold and Squeaky..

But change is inevitable. It happens. It's been four years...

But jeez I didn't expect it to change that much. There are times when we're together that just amazes me how easily we could fall back onto the playful banter and teasing and messing around that makes me think,

'Wow I basically grew up with this girl. I know her inside out just like she knows me and it's like nothing's changed'

But then there are moments like these when I feel like I don't know her at all. Like she's a mystery to me.

"That doesn't mean that she's not the same person, she just chooses to keep it behind closed doors and hide away the key," Lily shrugs," but I know that if anyone can find that key, you can."

I gulp slightly, a feeling of nervousness in the pit of my stomach.

"That's a lot of pressure to put on someone,"I chuckle slightly to diffuse the heaviness that started to envelope our conversation.

I am nervous about the fact that this girl whom I've just met, is putting her trust in me.

But I am a man willing to rise to the challenge.

I know something is off with Mia and I need to get to the root of problem or at least scratch the surface.

But I know that my best friend is in there. My Mia is still in there and I plan on getting her back.

"I don't think so Harry. I think that you're going to try your hardest because you care about her too much to let her slip through the cracks. Am I right?"she lifts an eyebrow at me.

I look down trying to hide the blush threatening to creep up my neck.

Am I that obvious?

"Don't worry about what happened today. She always gets so nervous before she goes on stage that she can't keep anything down so she eats something light, like salad,"she explains and I nod my head in understanding but abruptly stop when I take in her words properly.

And it seems as if I'm not the only one.

"Did you just say on stage?"Zayn slowly asks.

"Yeah,"she simply says as if it was the most obvious thing in the world,"she started singing here every Thursday to help Antonio with customers and she never stopped."

"Mia sings?!" I exclaimed same time Zayn asked sounding confused,"Who's Antonio?"

Now she looks at us confused.

"The man who just gave you pizza? He owns the place?"

"Of course Mia sings! Where have you been living? Under a rock?"

Clearly....

I don't get to question further when the man, who I now know is Antonio, appears on the stage at the front of the restaurant and taps the mic to get everyone's attention.

"Good evening all, hope everyone is having a good time! It's now that time on Thursday so grab a seat and enjoy the show. Cheers!"

As he exits the stage, I take this time to look around the restaurant and my eyes bug out when I see how crowded the place has gotten.

It was practically empty when we got here and now there is not a seat in sight and there are people standing against the walls and in front the entrance.

"Crazy huh?" Lily says smiling when she sees the expression on my face.

"They all come to see her. It's amazing to watch how they saw her once and it's like they keep coming back, can't get enough." I know the feeling.

Cheers and chants echoe around the room when a redheaded girl holding an electric guitar walks onto the stage and a boy with dark makeup around his eyes and spikey hair sits behind a drum set. Not too long after, another girl with long black hair emerges holding a bass guitar and walks to the opposite side of the stage. All of them wear wide smiles as they wave at the crowd and then wait for them to get silent.

The redhead starts off first. From the sound emitting from her playing and the fast strumming of her fingers against the strings, I can instantly tell that this is going to be some sort of rock song.

In the background, you can hear a faint voice singing but the mysterious singer has yet to make an appearance.

I find myself being just like the audience,sitting at the edge of the seat, waiting in anticipation.

However, she doesn't keep us waiting long as she soons comes out from behind the stage as what I'm guessing is the first verse begins.

My jaw nearly hits the floor at who I see.

She sings! And bloody hell, she's amazing!

Just like the audience, I'm instantly drawn to the sound of her voice.

She slowly walks to the front of the stage, mic in hand held closely to her lips. A smile that could light up the room appears when the audience goes into an uproar.

Insecure
In her skin
Like a puppet, a girl on a string

Broke away
Learned to fly

As if she can sense my eyes on her, she turns to face me from her position on the stage as she sings,

If you want her back gotta let her shine

It was in that moment, when I took in the words she just sang, that this song, this song, was written for me, to me.

Fuck.

So it looks like the joke's on you
'Cause the girl that you thought you knew

She's so gone
That's so over now
She's so gone
You won't find her around
You can look but you won't see
The girl I used to be
'Cause she's
She's so gone

I think the chorus of the song sticks out to me the most. Sticks out like a sore thumb. She truly believes that her old self is gone but if I've learnt anything in my 20 years of life, is that I'm one hell of a stubborn person and I refuse to believe that my best friend isn't in there somewhere.

Here I am
This is me
And I'm stronger than you ever thought I'd be

She turns her whole attention to me now. With one hand on her hip, an eyebrow raised, she gestures to herself and sings,

Are you shocked?
Are you mad?
That you're missing out on who I really am

Now it looks like the joke's on you
'Cause the girl that you thought you knew

As the chorus comes back again, she moves her attention away from me and towards the crowd.

She runs off the stage, high-fiving persons as she goes. The crowd parts like the Red Sea as she passes through but from where our seats are and how short she is, I lose her in between.

She's so gone
That's so over now
She's so gone
You won't find her around
You can look but you won't see
The girl I used to be
'Cause she's
She's so gone away
Like history
She's so gone
Baby, this is me, yeah

All of a sudden, Mia appears on top of a table in the middle of the crowd. A smile evident on her face as she sings her heart out to the crowd, who's cheering and dancing around her.

She's so gone
That's so over now
She's so gone
You won't find her around
You can look but you won't see
The girl I used to be
'Cause she's
She's so gone
She's so gone

You can look but you won't see
The girl I used to be
'Cause she's
She's so gone

So long
She's so gone
Gone, gone, gone

By the time the music starts fading out, she is back on the stage and she sends me one last glance before she disappears behind the stage.

I sit back in the booth in astonishment. I have absolutely no words. I never pegged Mia as the musical type. I mean, I did but just not in that aspect.

Am I making sense?

Her voice though. Absolutely breathtaking. Her high notes are reached to perfection and it's sweet and pillowy. It's so strong and I imagine powerful and flawless topped with a boatload of vocal confidence.

I would've never known that she had such a gift. I want to hear more. I want to explore what else she can do with such a talent.

How could she have not told me?

Finally snapping out of it, I turn to the rest of the table who seems to have had the same reaction as me.

"I'm trying to figure how such pipes could fit into that small human being," Louis says staring into space.

"I know right" Lily pipes in with a small smile on her face.

"Aren't you used to it?" Zayn asked confused.

"Used to it? Everytime she opens her mouth, it's like the first time. Complete and utter surprise" she passionately responds.

Liam nods his head in her direction,"I can attest to that!"

I snap my head towards him,"You knew?!"

His eyes widen and he raises his hands in surrender,"Oi mate! I was sworn to secrecy"

I can't help the flood gates of jealousy that threatens to burst open at him knowing her little secret before me.

"Well I want to hear it again. It's so catchy! Please tell me where I can find it," Niall whines wiping the sides of his mouth.

Lily looks at him with furrowed brows.

"Um, you can't find the song Niall"

He looks at her inquisitively,"Why not?"

"Well for one, it's Mia's song so you'd have to ask her for it. And two, she doesn't have a copy because this is the first time she herself is hearing it as well as you"

A silence surrounds the table as we all turn to look at her confused.

"She literally just wrote this song" she elaborates.

"Like just now? As in right before she performed it?" Louis inquires in surprise.

I want to ask questions too but I can't get my brain to cooperate with my mouth. I feel like my brain is going into overdrive at everything happening at the moment.

Mia wants to be friends again.

I've been a wuss and haven't called her yet.

Coincidently ending up at the same restaurant as her. As if my stress levels aren't high enough when it comes to this girl.

Inadvertently offended her. Now she probably hates me and regrets ever agreeing to be friends again. I don't know what to expect from her anymore so instinctively I think the negative.

She storms off to what I now know is the kitchen, apparently stabbing away at a salad.

Now I find out.....SHE SINGS!
She's a closet singer, well not anymore, but she's a bloody good one at that.

I'm jealous because Liam found out before me. How? I'll find out later.

"Well....not the entire song" she starts "the band have been rehearsing for some time now but it looks like somebody" she flicks her eyes over to me "gave her some inspiration. So she changed the lyrics but as far as I know the music stayed the same"

As if I needed anymore confirmation that the song was for me.

Why does this kind of shit happen to me?

"Well this was lovely but we have to leave, like now" Zayn stands up first checking the watch on his wrist.

"That time already" Louis whines.

"It was wonderful to meet you Lily. Send our goodbyes to Mia as well and tell her that we very much enjoyed the show" Liam politely says giving her a hug as he exits the booth.

"Will do"she responds with a smile.

The others exchange hugs and goodbyes with her as well until they all exit the booth while I remain rooted in my spot.

"Coming Haz? Can't leave you behind in London"

"I'll be there in a second" I look up at them and they nod saying they'll wait for me in the van.

I turn to Lily and say urgently,"Okay. I don't have much time, but I need to talk to her. Can you tell me where she is?"

With a raised eyebrow and a tilt of her head she says,"Mia? She left a while ago. In fact, she left as soon as she came off the stage. She texted me, see?"

She shows me the simple text message on her phone that makes me feel like shit.

I can just call her. I have her number.

No! That's a dick move! You need to do this in person.

"Don't sweat it Harry. I have a feeling that you'll be seeing her very soon" she says enigmatically.

I watch her puzzled,"What do you mean?"

She then stands up, probably to exit the booth and turns to me with a smirk,

"You'll see" and then she left.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We're just finished loading the last of our stuff into the bus. I've been in a funk ever since we left Antonio's and I've tried my best to not let it affect those around me but I think the others have caught wind of it.

"Cheer up mate! Just like Lily said, nothing to worry about" Niall says cheerfully slinging an arm around my shoulder.

"Yes but-"

"No buts, that's for pooping. Just call her then" Louis cuts me off.

I let out a deep sigh at the mixed feelings I have about calling her.

As I'm about to pull my phone out of my back pocket, the door to the crew's bus opens and Paul, our tour manager, steps out, his eyes glued to the clipboard in the hands.

"Paul!" we all shout excitedly as he approaches us.

"I trust that you've behaved yourselves during your little time off" he says seriously.

"Oh sod off Paul! Do you always have a stick up your bum?" Louis asks jokingly.

"I think Paul needs to get laid mates" I pipe in momentarily forgetting the phone in my hand and joining in the playful banter.

We've always been close to Paul. Especially Louis. He's our 'tour dad'. It's nice to be able to joke around a bit to forget about the stress of touring and what better way than to annoy the living crap out of Paul.

"Brilliant idea. I say we set up a blind date" Niall suggests.

Paul lightly chuckles and shakes his head.

"I don't have time for this right now. I'm looking a Liliana and a Mia. Have you heard about or seem them?" he asks looking at the clipboard again.

I feel my eyes widen at the two familiar names.

It can't be the same girls, can it?

"Why?" I ask.

"They're taking over for Lou and Lottie for a bit. Don't worry it's just temporary" he explains.

"Lux still sick?" Liam inquires.

He nods,"Very much so"

Suddenly, someone yells from behind us.

"Found'em!"

"Hey! Sorry we're late, got stuck in traffic" a voice wheezes out, sounding out of breath behind me.

I turn around and I feel my eyes widen in shock at the brunette girl hunched over trying to catch her breath.

My shock remains and I feel my heart rate pick up at the sight of the curly haired girl beside her, rubbing her back.

As she's distracted, I take this time to properly look at her. Her voluminous ringlets were left out and it reaches just past her shoulders. She's wearing black skinny jeans with an army green tank top, topped with a black leather jacket and ankle boots.

She looked bad ass....and fit.

I look back up and lock eyes with her beautiful brown ones.

"Surprise?"