The Gambler

Strands of blonde hair clung to her neck as she stood atop the stage, the bright lights were zoned in on her and only her as thousands of screaming fans waited for her to open her mouth. She gave the piano player a nod of her head and opened her mouth to sing. The first line of the song was met with silence before the piano kicked in and suddenly every single girl and boy burst into cheers and applause as they recognized the song. She moved from her spot as she sang along, looking into the audience as she walked down the runway designed specifically for the tour.

When she reached the center, the chorus began and she began to jump around and sing becoming lost in the beat of the song and the sound of her fans singing the lyrics back to her. She looked to her dancers and saw all of them dancing along to the music or at this part, jumping around wildly, interacting with the audience.

Before Elle knew it, it came time for the last chorus of the song. As she began to sing the first line, the beat thumped wildly and she watched in delight as the confetti machines on the sides of the stage irrupted, as well as the various machines in the stands. The net of balloons and streamers were released and the audience sang and danced along harder than ever before. She jumped around the stage with her dancers and put her all into the song. The lights flashed on an off, creating a rave-like effect. The song ended, her voice carrying out, “I LOVE YOU LA!”

The lights were cut out, the screams of the crowd were deafening as she was suddenly being ushered off stage. Her security team were huddled around her suddenly and she was immediately ushered to the green room.

Her first solo headlining tour show had gone off without a hitch. Everyone and everything had worked out perfectly. Elle sat happily in her dressing room, changed out of her costume for the night with her makeup artist, Anna and her stylist, Audrey by her side. They were busy packing up their things while Elle decided to check her phone. Tons of text messages were pouring in, congratulating her about the show or wishing her luck from before the show. Her attention was captured when she read Zayn’s name on the screen. Opening the text, she read it and smiled.

Wanted to be the first to wish you good luck, just to piss off Harry.

She laughed and hit the back button to read through more of the messages. Her latest one, was of course from Harry. Opening it with anxiousness, she took a deep breath before she read the message.

Good luck tonight! Though you don’t need it, I know you’ll be amazing. I wish I could be there, but I guess I’ll just have to settle for lurking through online photos to see how it went. Call me after the show? Best wishes!

Elle smiled at his formality in his texts, most people opted to use short forms or abbreviations, yet here he was forming full sentences like he was writing a letter.

After her birthday, she hadn’t seen him in person. That had been exactly 3 weeks ago and despite their efforts, they had yet to even talk on the phone in that time. Elle felt bad about it, but also knew that in the weirdest way, Harry understood why they hadn’t been able to. She used to feel bad about going weeks without talking to her mom, mainly because her mom ended up staying at home with her brother doing nothing all day. But she knew that Harry definitely had his own life, his own adventures and things he needed to do and that made Elle feel a lot better.

Her fingers swiped across the keypad quickly.

Just got off stage! You’re the first person I’ve texted back, so feel special. :P I’ll call you when I get back to the hotel.

Once the message sent, she turned the phone off and stood up, eager to get out of the venue and jump into her warm hotel bed. Things with Harry were strange. While they hadn’t talked since that night, they hadn’t discussed their kiss. Instead every goodnight text was sent with some stupid heart emoji, each good morning text too. Elle couldn’t really criticize it either as she found her stomach flipping with the single mention of him.

Thanks to social media outlets, photos had been posted online of the pair on stage during the Happy Birthday song from her party and immediately she saw an influx of tweets and texts asking her about her relationship with him. Neither of them commented on what was going on, mainly because they didn’t know what was going on. Elle was going to be on tour until December and Harry was just starting to rise to superstar fame. How were they supposed to start any sort of relationship with the distance they would have to spend apart?

Elle’s bodyguards: Jack, Ray, Ed and Frank were suddenly at her door, ready to bring her to the car. She hadn’t even had time to change, so instead, she opted to wrap a long coat around her waist that her stylist had left behind for her to change into. Within seconds, she was being rushed out of the back door of the theater. The flashes of cameras were blinding, the yells of her fans deafening. She smiled and waved as she walked, but kept her head down. Elle was clutching onto Ray’s back so tightly that she was sure she would leave a mark.

Once she reached the car, Ray jumped in the backseat and she soon followed. Ed hopped in on her other side while Frank and Jack got into the front. Before long, Frank was speeding down the road away from the chaos that always happened whenever she went somewhere.

“Thanks guys, not too bad tonight, right?” She asked the men with a quick chuckle.

The four men had become her closest father figures and she trusted her life with them constantly. While each man had a family at home, they each considered her their daughter.

Ray ruffled her hair from beside her and shook his head, “I swear your fans are getting crazier and crazier every year.”

“I like the way they call you the big teddy bear.” Ed joked.

The car let out loud laughs as Ray shook his head. Ray was a large black man who had more muscles than Elle had ever seen on a person. Ed was an equally as strong white man who was an ex-marine. Frank and Jack were black twins who had both trained with the army before creating their own security company. The four men had been with her since the beginning and she wouldn’t trade them for the world.

Fifteen minutes later, she arrived at her hotel. They escorted her to her suite, complementary of the hotel and sat in the lounging front area while Elle made her way down the hallway.

It wasn’t until she was in her room that she felt fully safe. As she flopped on her bed, she really realized just how lonely tour life was going to become. Her previous tours had all been tiny, co-headliners or opening acts so there was constantly someone around. This time around, she had two opening acts who travelled on their own bus with their own hotel rooms. Jenna and Casey, her two best friends, were set to join her when she arrived in Detroit for her concerts in July. So for the next month, she was going to be spending a lot of time alone. She pulled off her coat and picked up her phone out of the pocket deciding to call Harry.

“I gotta say, after watching some totally illegally posted videos on twitter, you my darling, are an amazing performer.” Harry’s smooth voice rang out when he picked up the phone.

Elle laughed and sighed, “Thank you.”

“How did it go?” Harry asked and she could hear him shuffling around.

Elle chuckled before sitting up to begin taking off her killer boots, “It was perfect. I sincerely hope all of the shows are like that because that’s how awesome it was. All of the fans were singing along the whole time and the dancers were in sync and there were no mishaps. Where are you guys right now? I feel like I have no idea what’s happening in your life.”

Harry laughed, “We just played the first show in Connecticut last night. We’re playing in Virginia tomorrow, I think.”

“That’s exciting,” Elle grinned, “Look at us, both on our first headlining tour of the states.”

“Pure insanity.” Harry agreed before letting out a sigh, “Would it be crazy of me to already ask you to come see our show?”

Elle’s face flushed and she bit her lip before replying with a grin, “Maybe. But, luckily for you, I like crazy.”

“Wait, are you admitting to liking me?” Harry teased.

Elle let out a loud laugh and laid back down on the bed, “I will admit to nothing. But you’re on the east coast and I’m on the west, so please, enlighten me on when our tours will match up.”

“I’ve had Paul take a look, actually.” Harry replied and she could hear him moving papers around.

“Did a little digging, did you?” Elle teased.

Harry moaned in response before he exclaimed, “A ha! I found it. Ok, so it looks like we’re not meeting up anytime soon. But! On the 29th, we’ve got a show in Toronto with another one on the 31st. You’ve got a show on the 29th in Phoenix with nothing on the 30th or 31st. Do you think you’d fancy a trip to the great north?”

Elle laughed, “You’ve really done your research.”

“Of course.” Harry agreed.

Elle was silent for a moment, weighing her options. The 30th was in exactly one week away and while she knew she shouldn’t agree to going to see him so early on, she couldn’t help herself. Letting out a tiny sigh and throwing her hands up on there she replied, “Why the hell not, right?”

“Really?” Harry asked, excitement evident in his voice.

Elle nodded though he couldn’t see her, “Yeah.”

They were quiet for a minute and Elle bit her lip in apprehension of what she was about to say. She was going to ask him about the kiss and what it meant. For all she knew, he could have just been using her. For what she wasn’t sure, but even in the back of her mind it sounded ridiculous. Harry seemed to have genuine feelings for her, or at least that’s what she thought.

“Harry?” Elle asked with her voice trailing off.

“Yeah?” He replied back quietly.

Elle took a deep breath, “About my birthday. I just, I was wondering what that meant to you?”

“What what meant to me?” Harry asked.

Elle crinkled her nose, “Oh come on, you know.”

“No I don’t.” Harry replied and a tiny laugh escaped his lips.

It was then that Elle realized he was joking around with her and she let out a scoff, “I hate you, Styles.”

“No you don’t.” Harry replied with another laugh before he became serious, “I think that I would like to spend as much time with you as I possibly can because I like your laugh and your smile and your stories and your everything. And I really like kissing you.”

“But what about the promise you made me that day in New York?” Elle asked with a smirk on her face.

Harry sighed, “I think that the best promises made are the ones that are meant to be broken. And I’d say by you making the moves on me at your birthday, that you agree.”

“Hey, I’m not the one who played the damn Temper Trap, asked me to dance and gave me an amazing birthday gift. You seduced me into that kiss!” Elle exclaimed.

Harry’s loud laugh met her ears and she smiled softly at the sound, “I admit that I may have coerced you into it, but the point is: you wanted to kiss me. And I wanted to kiss you. So we kissed. How do you feel about kissing me again?”

“I suppose I could stomach it.” Elle replied with a chuckle as Harry scoffed at her.

“Well now I don’t want you to come.” Harry joked.

The pair carried on talking and poking fun at one another for longer than expected, opting to use FaceTime on their Macbooks rather than the phone. It wasn’t until three hours later when either realized just how long they had been talking for.

“I have a show again tomorrow. I shouldn’t be up still. And neither should you.” Elle yawned and stretched her arms above her head.

Harry stared as her body stretched, his eyes trailing over just below her breasts, the skin of her torso tightening. Before she could notice, his eyes wandered back to her face and he smiled lazily, “But I’m enjoying this too much.”

“Shut up,” Elle laughed before laying back down on her side mirroring Harry, “9 days from now, we’ll be able to see each other. I should probably get Michael to sort out a hotel room.”

“Why don’t you just stay with me?” Harry asked. His tone was so laidback, his eyes drooping lightly that he didn’t see Elle tense at his suggestion. She stared at him, a sense of panic washing over her. She was positive his implications were innocent enough, but her mind immediately settled on one thought. Sharing a bed with Harry was possibly the last thing she’d be ok with.

They had shared a kiss three weeks ago, yet now here he was asking her to sleep beside him for two nights? Her guard was immediately back up despite all of the work Harry had done to tear it down.

“Elle?” Harry’s voice rang out and her gaze snapped back to the screen. He was staring at her with his eyebrows furrowed. Sensing her panic, Harry sighed, “I didn’t mean like that. I just meant, you could just stay with me. I could sleep on the floor if you’re uncomfortable with it. It just seems like a hassle to book another room.”

Elle calmed down and let out a tiny breath, “I’m sorry I’m a total freak.”

“You’re not a freak!” Harry laughed and looked at her with complete sincerity, “Don’t even worry about that, ok? Just come to Toronto and we’ll work everything out when you get here. I’ll even let you have my room and I’ll sleep in Louis’ if it bothers you that mu-”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Elle scolded, “Honestly, sharing a hotel room will be fine. I trust you enough not to attack me while I’m sleeping, I guess.”

The way she was smirking at him made him less tense and he smiled at her, “Don’t be too sure.”

“Whatever,” Elle rolled her eyes, “I’m just weird, don’t worry. I’ll see you in nine days then?”

“Nine days.” Harry replied with a nod of his head.

Elle grinned, “Well I’m going to bed now, I’ll see you then.”

“Night.” Harry replied with a warm smile.

Elle made a funny face at him, “Goodnight.”

They signed off then and Elle rolled onto her back and stared up at the ceiling. She overreacted at his proposition and felt like a total idiot. It wasn’t like she was afraid of being with him, just the thought made her face flush. They weren’t even boyfriend and girlfriend at this point. He was just being nice and she had to admit that he was right. It would be much easier to just share a room for two nights than go through all of the trouble of getting a room. A room she probably wouldn’t end up staying in for very long anyways.

Deciding to distract her mind, she picked up her iPhone and opened Twitter. After composing a tweet thanking the crowd from tonight, she refreshed the page to see a new tweet on the screen that made her heart flutter and easing her mind for the rest of the night.

Harry_Styles Nine days.