My Little Bird

Rolling over to a cold, empty right side of the bed wasn't something she was expecting when she woke up the next afternoon, but as soon as the smell of bacon hit her nostrils, she grinned to herself and threw Harry's duvet off her body to get up and investigate. She wasted no time in hurrying down the stairs and when she reached the first floor, she could hear him singing softly to himself from the kitchen.

She walked down the hallway and through the living room, stopping just outside the kitchen when she spotted him standing with his back to her, not a single stitch of clothing on whatsoever. She leaned her shoulder against the door frame, crossing her arms over her chest as she watched him amused. She could heard the oil crackling in the skillet and she knew that it was pretty brave of him to get so close to it when he had no clothes to protect him if it spattered. "Isn't that a little bit dangerous?"

Harry turned, looking over his shoulder, and he smiled when he saw her standing there in the very same state of undress as he was. He let his eyes wander for a few moments before he finally met her eyes. "Well, good afternoon."

"What exactly are you doing?"

"Since I fucked up dinner last night, I thought I'd try and surprise you with a nice fry up that I know I can make." It was already past two in the afternoon but apparently in England it was still acceptable to eat breakfast at any time during the day, just like at home.

"Very brave of you to do so in the nude."

He chuckled. "Isn't it? But I thought you might appreciate the view."

"You thought right." She moved fully into the room and walked up behind him, slipping her arms around his waist and hugging him to her chest, her forehead resting in the dip between his shoulder blades. A shiver rippled through his body when her warm breath hit his skin and he spun around immediately, backing her up against the counter opposite the stove as his hands slid up to her neck, cradling it gently as he captured her lips with his. She only allowed him to kiss her for a few seconds before she pulled away from him, though she couldn't get far since he had trapped her. "Better not start that again. Don't want to burn any more food."

Harry rolled his eyes, briefly turning his back to her just long enough to turn off the burner and remove the skillet from it, setting it on one of the cool burners. He then turned back to her with a smirk, his large hands seizing her hips as he pushed her against the counter and pressed his lips to her neck. The marks he already made had only become darker and more noticeable because he always took his time at the spots that drove her crazy.

She reached up to wrap her arms around his neck, immediately tangling her fingers in his messy curls and he let out a low growl when she gave them a slight tug in order to pull his mouth away from her skin. His lips found hers again as his hands slid down to to the backs of her thighs, lifting her off the floor and setting her on the counter top before moving to run up and down her sides. She smiled into his mouth, pulling back to look at him as her legs curled around his body, the backs of her knees resting against his hips. "This isn't exactly sanitary."

"I couldn't care less," he replied, leaning forward to peck her lips once more before he let his hand travel down between them. Her eyes immediately fluttered shut as she sighed softly and bit down hard on her bottom lip; he was definitely skilled with his fingers, which wasn't really a surprise. His other hand rested against the small of her back to keep her from moving around too much as she gasped and squirmed under him.

She leaned forward to place feather light kisses from his tightly clenched jaw all the way down his neck to the birds on each side of his chest, just below his collarbones. The sound of the front door opening didn't really register in her head with all the pleasure overload that her brain was experiencing but the voice that came a few moments after that sure snapped her out of it.

"Whoa, Jesus!"

Harry immediately jerked his hand away and turned his head to look behind him at the owner of the voice, unable to face them fully in his current state. Niall had quickly slapped his hands over his eyes and turned his back to them when he caught a glimpse of his friend's bare backside and Asher ducked her head, burying her face in Harry's chest in attempts to hide herself. His arms went around her back, covering her even more. She was thankful that Harry had been the one with his back to the door because his much larger body was shielding her from their friend's eyes. "In the kitchen, mate? Really?"

"Shut up, Niall," he groaned. "You should learn to knock. We were kind of in the middle of something here."

"Obviously," he snorted. "What the hell? I go home for a week and you two start shaggin'?"

Harry exhaled loudly, giving Asher an apologetic look before addressing his friend. "Could you just go to the loo or something for a minute while we find some clothes?"

"Sure, mate. But then I want an explanation." Niall turned to head down the hallway to the first floor bathroom and as soon as she heard the door shut, Asher hopped down from the counter and made a beeline for the staircase. Once she was safely back in the bedroom, she exhaled heavily in relief and picked up Harry's shirt, tugging it on over her head before going back downstairs.

When she returned to the kitchen, Niall was leaning against the counter on the opposite side from where they had been, his arms crossed over his chest and an amused look on his face. Harry was standing in front of the stove, now wearing the black joggers that he had brought down for Asher to borrow the night before as he put the previously abandoned bacon onto a plate.

"So?" Niall finally asked, looking between his two friends. "When did this happen?"

Asher groaned as she rubbed her hands over her face, which was flushed with embarrassment. "After the wedding Saturday night."

He was trying to hold back a grin but he was failing miserably. "Finally made the move then, eh mate? I reckon Payno owes me fifty quid."

Harry shot his friend a glare while Asher just looked at him confused. "What are you talking about?"

"Well we knew Harry fancied ya so we took bets on how long it would take him to make his move once him and Abby broke up. I had two weeks. At least it didn't take a whole month like Liam thought!"

"Fuck you," Harry grumbled under his breath.

Asher just smiled and walked over to him, sliding her arm around his bare back and leaning into his side. "You fancied me?" she teased, looking up at him. Of course she knew that to an extent; he admitted that he had wanted to kiss her for quite awhile, but she didn't know for exactly how long.

Niall snorted. "Practically since ya got here."

Her smile widened as Harry's arm tightened around her shoulders and she stood up on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek. "About two weeks in, I think," he finally muttered. "The night you told me about your tattoos, though I didn't know it at the time. That's when it started."

That was the first time he felt like there might be something more there. It was around then when all those articles about her had first started being published and he had been angry at seeing them, feeling the overwhelming desire to protect her from it all. A few short days after that, she had gone out on a date with Olly and he had strangely felt jealous though he wasn't sure why at the time. He'd even felt that same twinge when he saw the photos of her day out with his own friend Liam. Abby coming back had thrown a temporary wrench into things.

"So is that it then? Are you two a couple?"

Harry and Asher exchanged unsure looks. Obviously they hadn't had a serious talk about it and the night before had only been the first date but they both knew they wanted to. Finally he nodded his head at Niall, brushing his fingertips across her shoulder. "Yeah, mate." She gave him a surprised look but he just smiled down at her. "If that's okay with you."

Asher broke out into a grin and shrugged lightly. "I guess that might be alright." She wrapped her other arm around his front to give him a proper hug as she buried her face in his chest, and he slid both arms around her body in return but he looked at Niall with a deep frown on his face. He knew that he had to tell her. It wasn't fair for her to not know exactly who she would be dating.

Niall's phone rang in his pocket and he quickly retrieved it, only briefly glancing down at the screen before his eyes met Asher's. "Come on, we gotta go."

"Go where?"

"Eleanor wants ya," he replied, waving his phone at her. "She said ya need to come home and get ready."

"Get ready for what?"

Niall looked confused. "For goin' out tonight."

"Since when are we going out tonight? I was not aware of this."

"How do you not know this? We're all goin' out for Eleanor's birthday since we won't be able to this weekend."

"Why not?"

His eyes momentarily shifted to Harry before looking back at her. "We're havin' a lads weekend," he lied easily. Well, technically it wasn't a lie because all the lads would be there, but the truth was they were going to be holed up in the studio for a couple of days, working on some new materials. Plus, they knew the clubs were of course much busier on the weekends so it was better for them to go out on a weekday anyway.

Asher put her hand on her hip. "That's dumb. You shouldn't have planned something for then since you knew when her birthday was."

"Couldn't be helped, love," Niall shrugged. "Now come on."

Harry's grip tightened around her again. "Why does she have to go right now? It's only a quarter past three."

"Ya know how them girls are, takin' forever to get ready."

"Hey, I take offense to that!" Niall only chuckled in response while she leaned up to kiss Harry's cheek and he begrudgingly dropped his arms to let her go. "Just let me get my clothes."

"Meet ya in the car."

She nodded before disappearing down the hallway to where the dryer was and she pulled out the clothes she'd been wearing the night before, quickly slipping them on and then tying a rubber band around her hair, pulling it back into a knot at the base of her neck before going back to the kitchen.

Harry was leaning against the counter, chewing on the side of his index finger but when she reentered the room, his gaze snapped to her and he stood up straight, nervously rubbing his hands together as she walked over to him. She wrapped her arms around his body for a moment before letting him go and giving him a quick peck on the lips. "Sorry I have to go," she said softly.

"Ash," he started, his green eyes filled with worry as he looked down at her. "Look, there's something I need to say."

"Now? But I have to go," she reminded him, motioning toward the window where they could both see Niall's car parked outside, waiting.

"I should have told you a long time ago but-"

A loud honk interrupted him and he groaned in frustration while Asher just sent him an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry," she said again. "I'll see you tonight."

It was insanely difficult to walk away from him when he was standing there wearing nothing but a pair of joggers slung very low on his hips and a pitiful frown on his face, but she knew Niall was only going to get more annoying the longer he had to wait for her. She quickly slid her feet into her sandals on her way out of Harry's flat and jogged out to Niall's car, sliding into the leather passenger seat and buckling her seatbelt.

She had been expecting him to tease her as soon as she got into the car with him, but instead he stayed silent, keeping his eyes on the road and both hands on the steering wheel. He did have a small smirk on his face when she looked over at him, causing her to roll her eyes. "Stop looking so smug, would you?"

"Do the rest of 'em know about this?"

"Nope. Just Lou and Eleanor."

"Wait a minute, she sent me over there to get you knowin' that was gonna be goin' on? Oh, that's just mean." Asher chuckled and shook her head, pulling her right leg up under her while Niall grinned. "So how long have you liked him?"

"I don't know really. I can't pick a particular moment when it started, but the day Abby broke up with him, he came over to see me and-.....I don't know, I felt something. I didn't know he did too. I actually felt guilty for thinking it because he'd just gotten dumped. And he got dumped because of me." She paused as another thought came to her mind and she laughed at herself, making him glance over at her curiously. "I mean, I've always thought he was dead sexy, but all of you are so I can't really go by that."

Niall laughed loudly, wagging his eyebrows at her. "You're dead sexy too, Ash."

"Shut up and take me home, you idiot," she said, rolling her eyes.

He didn't hang around when they finally reached her cousin's flat, telling her he had something important to do before they went out. Eleanor was waiting to pounce as soon as she came in the door and she dragged Asher over to the sofa, making her sit and then flopping down next to her with a wide grin. "So? How'd it go? Obviously well since you didn't come home."

Asher shook her head, already feeling her face flushing red. It was incredibly inconvenient that she blushed so easily. "It did go well actually. And it was going well again just now until you sent Niall in. Thank God that eyeful he got was of Harry's bare ass instead of mine."

Eleanor gasped, slapping her hand over her mouth and laughing out loud. "Oh my God, Ash! He walked in on you two?"

"Well, I mean, it wasn't like he came barging into the bedroom or anything. We were, um, in the kitchen."

"Jesus! In the middle of the day where anyone could just walk in?"

"We weren't really expecting anyone to come over," she grumbled, shooting her cousin a look.

"I'm sorry," Eleanor said, laughing again. "How was I supposed to know you two were still going at it?"

Asher grabbed one of the throw pillows from next to her and hit Eleanor with it, but she just squealed and threw her hands up in defense. She dropped the pillow after getting a few hits in and sighed heavily, leaning back against the sofa. "P.S. we're officially together."

"What?!" Eleanor literally came out of her seat, her eyes widened as she looked down at her cousin in surprise. Out of everything she'd said so far, this was the most shocking. "You're together? As in, like.....a couple?"

Asher laughed, nodding her head. "Don't sound so surprised."

"I just-....." Eleanor cut herself off, deciding against saying any more since Harry obviously hadn't told her anything. She didn't know what he was thinking by declaring them an official couple before he told her the truth but she smiled and shook her head then leaned down to wrap her arms around Asher. "I'm happy for you two. You make a great pair."

Asher smiled in return, standing up from the sofa and walking over to the stairs before turning back to look at her. "So what do you have for me to wear tonight?" Eleanor grinned in response and jumped up, following her cousin up the stairs to her expansive closet.

+

It was extremely dark as Asher followed Louis and Eleanor down the everlasting hallway, keeping a hold on the back of Louis's navy blue blazer. Just when she thought it would never end, the couple in front of her stopped and Louis opened a door, illuminating all three of them. Now that she could actually see where she was going, she let go and trailed two steps behind them as they walked through the main area of the club, Louis waving to a few people he knew as they passed by. Since it was only just past eight, the main level wasn't too packed yet.

He led the girls up a flight of stairs and into the VIP room where they found that some of their friends had already arrived. The walls were painted black, and the dim lighting in the room was bluish, giving it the club atmosphere. There was a plush black leather sofa that wrapped halfway around the room and a small bar in the corner, a short blonde woman standing behind it with a smile as she set a pint down in front of Niall. The other half of the room was void of all furniture and it appeared to be the dancing area. There was music playing in the background, not so loud that she couldn't hear herself think, but loud enough that she'd have to speak up a bit when she went to talk to her friends.

She wondered how their group had gotten a private room at a place this nice as she went over to where Zayn and Perrie were sitting on the sofa talking to Niall, who stood in front of them drinking his beer. Both Zayn and Perrie gave her knowing smirks when she reached them and she rolled her eyes, giving Niall a quick punch to the arm.

"What the hell was that for?" he whined, rubbing the now sore spot.

"For opening your big mouth. Did you tell everybody already?"

He flashed her a grin, backing away a few steps before he answered. "Not Payno and Sophia. But that's cause they're not here yet."

"You're an ass," she huffed, shooting him a glare before turning to the couple watching them in amusement. "What exactly did he tell you?"

"Just the good stuff," Zayn replied, giving her a cheeky grin. "Kitchen, eh?"

"Oh my God," she groaned. "Really, Niall? You told them about the eyeful you got of Harry's bare ass, but you didn't tell them the actual important stuff?"

"Oh yeah," Niall said, pointing at her as he addressed the other two. "They're a proper couple now."

Zayn's eyebrows shot up in surprise but he said nothing; Perrie, on the other hand, squealed and hopped up from her seat, wrapping Asher in a tight hug. "That's so great! You two are adorable together really. Now we can double!"

Asher chuckled as the blonde let her go to return to her seat next to Zayn. "Sounds like fun."

"Speakin' of, your loverboy has arrived," Niall announced, causing everyone to turn as Harry walked into the room, adjusting the collar of his black button up. A smile immediately hit his lips when he saw her at the other end of the sofa and he moved over to her, his arms encircling her body as he pulled her close into him, her back flush against his chest.

"Hi," he said softly into her ear before kissing her cheek. She smiled, leaning her head back against his shoulder so that she could see his face. "Hi."

"Oh my God, it's been ten seconds and I already can't handle the cuteness," Perrie laughed.

Harry let go of her and changed positions, pulling her into his side instead and sliding his arm around her waist. "Guess everyone knows then," he said loudly, giving Niall a pointed look.

"Knows what?" a voice called out from behind them. Asher turned to see that Liam had arrived, his hand linked with Sophia's as she stood next to him, a soft smile on her face."That you owe me fifty quid," Niall answered him smugly.

Liam immediately frowned at the news that he'd lost the bet, but then it seemed to register what that meant and his eyes snapped toward the new couple as he walked closer to them. "You two? Really?"

"Really," Harry confirmed with a grin, the indentions in his cheeks becoming more pronounced.

He stared at his friend unsurely for a moment before breaking out into a huge grin and wrapping Harry in an unexpected hug. "Congrats, mate. She's a good one."

Harry chuckled as he clapped Liam on the back. "I know, mate. I know."

He moved on to Asher next, hugging her tightly and giving her a kiss on the cheek. "I'm happy for you, babe. It's good to see he finally made his move, even if I did lose fifty pounds over it."

She grinned, shaking her head. "Thanks, Liam. Sorry you lost the bet." Sophia also leaned in to give her a quick hug and congratulate her while Harry and Liam excused themselves to go and get some drinks from the bar in the corner.

Drinking was never a good idea when it came to Asher because she was entirely too much of a lightweight. Just a few drinks would make her head spin until she didn't know which way was up. It didn't matter how frequently she did it, her body never built up any sort of tolerance for it so that she could gradually drink more and more.

It was safe to say that after six lemon drops, she was drunk. She spent over half the night dancing with the other girls until she was too dizzy to stand up properly. Harry had just laughed and helped her to the sofa before going to get her a glass of water. He sat down with her, stroking her hair as she leaned her head on his shoulder and after sitting down for awhile, rehydrating herself, and not drinking anymore alcohol, she was beginning to feel more normal. She still felt a bit wobbly and her vision was still slightly blurred, but she didn't feel sick and she wasn't slurring her words so she was improving. There was constantly someone sitting on the sofa next to them talking to Asher while Harry just held her close to him, listening to her tipsy giggling with that dimpled grin on his face.

It was around one in the morning when Liam rushed over to them where they sat in the corner of the sofa, holding out his phone to Harry with an apologetic look on his face. He nodded his head toward the door and Harry understood the hint, untangling himself from Asher's arms and taking the phone from Liam's hand before going over to the corner of the room by the door.

Asher's eyes felt heavy with sleepiness as she watched him put the phone to his ear and say something but then his whole face fell and he glanced over at her, looking stricken. He talked for a few more minutes while Eleanor came over to the sofa where she was sitting and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Lou and I are heading out now."

"Alright. I'll see you back at home."

Eleanor nodded, but then she looked down at her lap guiltily. "I'm sorry, Ash."

"For what?"

"You'll see soon enough." She sighed heavily and gave her cousin's hand a quick squeeze before getting up and going back over to where Louis was waiting for her. They slipped past Harry out the door just as he finally pulled the phone away from his ear and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. He walked back over to her, handing Liam his phone back on the way, and when he reached her, he held out his hand for her to take.

"Ready to go?"

She only yawned in response as she took his hand and let him pull her up, holding his other hand out in front of her just in case she needed to be steadied. She did well descending the stairs in her heels and they walked back through the main room. She wasn't sure if it was just her being paranoid or if the tons of people who had arrived while they were upstairs were all staring at her and Harry.

The dark hallway was more difficult to navigate in her still half drunk state, but Harry held on to her tightly as he led the way. Just before they reached the end, he suddenly stopped and rounded on her, grabbing her by the shoulders and ducking his head to look at her. "Do you trust me, Asher?"

Her blue eyes stared directly into his green ones and she blinked in confusion. "Of course I do. Why?"

He let go of her to rake his hands through his hair, visibly stressed. "Look, I promise I'll explain everything when we get back to Eleanor's. But right now I just need you to do exactly as I say."

"What the hell are you talking about? What's going on?"

"Just keep your head down, stay with me, and don't let go of my hand, okay?" He grabbed her hand in his and laced their fingers together, taking a deep breath before finally pushing the door open and stepping out, not giving her any more time to question him.

The flashes going off in every direction were blindingly bright and she was seeing spots within seconds of following Harry out the door. Her hazy mind was thoroughly confused as to what was happening and why there were cameras everywhere, but she did her best to keep up with his pace in her heels as his fingers tightened around hers. She did what he'd said and kept her head down, her eyes staying focused on his ugly black boots one step ahead of her as she tried her hardest not to trip.

The sounds of camera shutters were almost drowned out completely by the shouting coming from the scores of middle aged men closing in around them. It was hard to concentrate with all the noise surrounding her, but she distinctly heard them calling after Harry by name and when she glanced up at his face, which she could only see half of, his jaw was clenched tightly and his mouth curled downward into a deep frown. It was all becoming too much and Asher felt completely overwhelmed as she realized that there was obviously something major that he hadn't told her.

"Harry, what do you have to say about the cheating rumors?"

"Is this your new girlfriend, Harry? Are you two official?"

"What does Eleanor have to say about your relationship?"

"Asher, did you know about Harry's relationship with Abby Prentiss?"

Her head snapped over to her right as she looked for the person who had directly addressed her, but he was lost somewhere in the sea of strangers and camera flashes. It seemed that they were all getting closer and she started to feel claustrophobic as she gripped Harry's hand harder than she already was. The photographers were close enough that she could feel the sequins on her sleeve getting caught as she brushed past them. She ducked her head down again and closed her eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath as she let Harry pull her along.

"Alright, back up now. Back up! Give 'em some room!"

Her eyes popped open at the loud Irish voice that came from somewhere up ahead of them but slowly the crowd around them pushed back and made a narrow pathway straight to a black SUV. It felt like an eternity before they finally reached it, Harry letting go of her hand to let her slide into the back seat first and she climbed in carefully, considering how short her dress was and how unsteady she still was on her feet. Harry slid in right next to her and the door slammed shut, the deafening noise reducing significantly once they were separated from the crowds.

She looked over at him briefly and caught the pleading, guilty look in his eyes but she just shook her head and turned to look out her window instead. The cameras were still flashing from all directions now that they had completely surrounded the SUV. A large man opened the driver's door and climbed in, immediately starting the vehicle and beeping the horn as he motioned for the men in front of them to move out of the way so that they could leave. Eventually the photographers cleared out, letting them pull out of the parking lot and onto the street into traffic.

"Ya alright, Harry?" the man driving asked, looking at the boy in his rear view mirror. He was the one with the Irish accent she'd heard clearing the way for them. Apparently Harry had security-slash-drivers as well.

"Fine, Paul," he muttered, glancing over at the girl next to him. She was staring out the window watching the city pass by, now feeling completely sober and alert after the rush of adrenalin she'd just had. He reached out to take her hand where it rested on the leather seat between them but she jerked it away, placing it in her lap as she shook her head without looking at him.

"Don't."

He nodded sadly and swallowed hard, his Adam's apple bobbing as he pushed his fingers roughly through his hair before leaning forward to rest his elbows on his thighs, his face dropping into his hands. He had never wanted her to find out like this. His guilt had gotten the best of him and he'd tried to blurt it out before she left his flat earlier in the day, but he hadn't succeeded and now she had found out the truth in the worst possible way.

Paul pulled over in front of Eleanor's flat and Asher had already swung her door open before the car had even stopped completely, quickly hopping out and hurrying up the steps. Thankfully Louis and Eleanor had returned just a few minutes before so the door was already unlocked, allowing her to go right in and slam the door shut in Harry's face. She heard it open again behind her but she kept on walking, ignoring Eleanor's calls and Harry's pleas to let him explain as she ran up the staircase to her room. She slammed that door shut too and collapsed onto her bed to unfasten the straps of her heels, kicking them off with enough force that they hit the wall with a thud.

The door slowly opened and Harry slipped into the room, his head bowed in shame as he shut it back, leaning against it. She glared at him, her body visibly shaking with all the anger she was feeling inside. "What do you want?" she finally spat.

"I'm sorry," he croaked pitifully. "I never wanted you to find out this way."

"Find out what exactly? That you're apparently famous? That I'm supposed to be dating someone who didn't even tell me the truth about who he is? That I almost just got trampled by paparazzi who were hurling out questions about me? How do they even know who I am?!" She was starting to breathe heavily, feeling the panic settling into her system and she pushed her hands through her hair, her fingers grasping it as she closed her eyes and tried to take a deep breath. "I'm just-.....God, I'm so overwhelmed!" She rubbed her hands over her blurry eyes, not caring about smearing her mascara.

"Did you ever watch American Idol?"

Asher's hands dropped to her lap as she looked at him dubiously, wondering why he was posing such a random, off topic question to her. "A long time ago. What does that have to do with anything?"

He moved further into the room cautiously. "Do you remember the judges? There was one really brutal English guy."

"Vaguely. What are you getting at, Harry?"

"His name is Simon Cowell. He has another show here called The X Factor, sort of like American Idol; it's a singing competition. The lads and I all auditioned as solo artists and we didn't make it that far, but then Simon put us together as a group and we ended up finishing third on the show. Things just kind of blew up from there. Simon signed us to his record label and we immediately started recording our first album then went on tour."

She just blinked, taking in the information he had given her, and after a moment she licked over her lips and turned her gaze back to him. "So it's all of you then?"

Harry nodded slowly. "The five of us."

Asher shook her head, letting out a heavy sigh. "You've all pretended to be my friends all this time but you were keeping something this huge from me."

"We weren't pretending, Asher. And everything that's happened between you and me? It's real. It's all real."

"How am I supposed to believe you? I feel like everything I know about you is a lie. This is a huge part of your life and you couldn't tell me! I don't even know who you are. Who any of you are!"

"We're the same people, Ash. You know us. You know me. I'm the same guy. Please," he pleaded, his voice full of desperation, as he knelt down in front of her and took her hands in his. "Please don't hate us for this. Don't hate me."

Asher tugged her hands out of his grip and crossed her arms over her chest, looking away from his face as she shook her head. "I think you should leave."

"No, Ash, just let me-"

"Harry!" she shouted, interrupting him and his eyes snapped up to her face. She sunk her teeth into her trembling bottom lip as her bleary, bloodshot eyes met his. "Please just go," she whispered and then the last piece of her facade crumbled as she finally broke down. The thick tears she'd been holding back slipped down her splotchy cheeks as she bowed her head, sniffling and she covered her face with her hands, not wanting him to see her anymore.

He slowly stood up straight, backing away from her. A few salty tears dripped onto his own cheeks before he sniffled and shook his head, turning to leave like she'd asked. He shut the door quietly behind him and headed back down the stairs, finding Louis and Eleanor on the sofa waiting on edge. They both looked up questioningly when he reached the bottom of the stairs and he shook his head sadly in response, though the tears in his eyes and the frown on his face were enough of an answer.

Harry walked past them, wiping his wet cheeks with the sleeve of his shirt, and he left the flat, shutting the door behind him without a word.