Any Other Heart

The next day in Glasglow was a day off, except it wasn’t really because the boys had press all day. Luckily for me though, I didn’t have a thing I had to do. I tried to get Lou to let me help her and Caroline but she insisted they didn’t need the help. “Rest, love! You’ve been brilliant so far, just take the day and relax, all right?”

I couldn’t argue with that. I thought about going back to bed, because due to my new sleeping schedule I had woken up entirely too early, but I was restless. I decided to go over to Louis’s room to see if he wanted to get breakfast with me before the day got too crazy.

I knocked on his door right across the hall and waited. When Harry appeared, I smiled. “Is Lou awake? I was going to go grab breakfast and see if he wanted to come.”

He shook his head before stepping out into the hall and closing the door. “He is, but he’s doing a phone interview right now. Just started, unfortunately.”

I frowned. Well, there went my plans. “Oh. Well, nevermind then.”

I was going to head back to my room, but Harry stopped me. “Where are you going?”

“Erm, to my room?”

He laughed and nodded his head in the direction of the lift. “Come on then,” he said when I didn’t follow.

We got in the lift and stood in silence, waiting for it to take us downstairs. “What are we doing?” I asked him then, still confused.

Harry laughed. “Going to breakfast. Isn’t that what you were going to do?”

“Oh,” was all I said. Brilliant conversationalist, I was.

When we got into the lobby, I started to head towards the restaurant that was attached to the hotel when Harry stopped me. “Where are you going?” he asked, looking genuinely confused.

“To eat?”

He smiled and shook his head. “Not here we aren’t. Come on. We only have about twenty minutes before someone will come after me and ruin it.”

I had no idea what he was talking about, but I followed anyways. Thankfully I was wearing my leather jacket, and I had stuffed my beanie on top of my head to avoid the terrible hair day that was probably going to occur, because it was snowing when we stepped outside. There were a group of fans waiting outside, so I let Harry take a few minutes to sign and take pictures, which satisfied the girls to no end. I smiled at them and then we hurried off down the sidewalk.

“You’re really good to them,” I commented. I knew the boys loved their fans, but knowing that and seeing it first hand were two different things.

He shrugged, stuffing his hands into his own leather jacket. “The least I can do, yeah? I mean... it’s bloody freezing out, and there they are, waiting just so they can maybe catch a glimpse of us or, if they’re lucky, snag a picture or two.”

“Guess if it wasn’t for them, you wouldn’t have much, yeah?”

He nodded. “Exactly. If it weren’t for them, we wouldn’t be here, so what’s a picture or two out of my day?”

I couldn’t help but smile at that, because he was completely serious. I knew Harry wasn’t some diva pop star, because I just knew that wasn’t him. But hearing him so humble talking about the fans, well... it was sweet.

“Aren’t you going to get in trouble?” I asked as we walked down the sidewalk. “I mean... shouldn’t you have told Paul where we were going?”

He shrugged again. “I have a phone. They’ll call if they need to.”

We kept walking, and even though it was incredibly cold out, I loved every minute of it. Snow in the winter had always been my favorite part of the season. I suppose I was one of the rare few who really enjoyed England’s colder climate. “I love snow,” I said quietly as we walked.

“Me too,” Harry said, surprising me. “Winter’s my favorite time of year.”

“Yes!” I couldn’t hide my enthusiasm. Not many people shared this sentiment, so finding someone who did was refreshing.

It was merely a bonus that it was Harry, I told myself.

“Snow is my favorite,” I continued. “I love that first snow of the season, when you first wake up and look outside and it looks like you’ve been transported to an entirely different world. Everything’s so...” I trailed off, trying to find the word.

“Calm?” Harry added.

I nodded happily. “Yes! Calm and quiet and peaceful. I love that.”

“It’s kind of romantic, yeah?” he added after a few moments of silence.

“Oh, absolutely. A walk in the snow at night? That would be, like... the perfect date.” It wasn’t until the words were out of my mouth that I thought about what I said, what we were discussing. I looked down at my feet as I felt my entire face heat up in embarrassment. Were we really discussing our perfect date ideas? Bloody hell.

We ended up at Tribeca Cafe, which was small and cosy and perfect. We got seated at a corner towards the back, tucked away from the rest of the restaurant. I ordered hot chocolate and a stack of pancakes with melted butter and Nutella and Harry ordered a cup of tea and french toast.

While we waited for our food, I couldn’t help but gush over the cafe. “This place is brilliant, Harry! How’d you find it?”

He smiled and shrugged. “Luck, I guess.”

I sipped my hot chocolate then, because I wasn’t sure of what else to say. I felt self-conscious suddenly and I hated it. This was the effect Harry had on me--this was the consequence of my crush. “So... what do you have to do today?”

“Press. I think we have a bunch of radio interviews to do, maybe some phone ones.”

“It’s your day off and you don’t even get to spend it how you like,” I said, frowning slightly. “That doesn’t seem fair.”

He laughed and shrugged. “Maybe not, but we’re the ones who get to follow our dreams, so I really don’t have room to complain.”

I could understand that perfectly, so I nodded. “Suppose I do understand that.”

He smiled, sitting back in his chair. “How are things going, anyways? Is this everything you could have hoped for? Everything you expected?”

Was it? Well, I didn’t think I’d be sitting in a cosy cafe with Harry, eating breakfast after having just walked in the snow while we discussed our perfect dates. So no, that wasn’t something I expected. Was it perfect? Absolutely.

I smiled and nodded my head enthusiastically. “You have no idea. I honestly can’t thank you enough for this, Haz. I mean... Really.”

He grinned, his dimples appearing, which made the butterflies in my stomach flutter. “You deserve it, Mia. I knew you’d do great, I’m just glad you got the chance.”

Our food arrived shortly after, and we continued to chat while we ate. We were hurried though because Liam called during to inform us that Paul was looking for Harry and wasn’t happy.

When we were walking back to the hotel, Harry was in no rush whatsoever. “Aren’t you going to get in trouble?”

He laughed. “Probably, but I figure I haven’t yet on this tour and we’re already several shows in. I’m off my game.”

He winked then and I felt the entire colony of butterflies take off in my stomach.

When we got back to the hotel, Harry told the fans he’d be out later so we could get inside quickly. We went to the lift and climbed inside and waited.

“Thanks for breakfast,” I said. “It wouldn’t have been as fun had I gone alone.”

Harry laughed. “You have five mates surrounding you at almost all times. You never have to do anything alone, Mia, just come to us, yeah?”

I smiled widely at his open invitation and nodded. I couldn’t help but think it was a start, if nothing else.

As soon as we got off at our floor, the boys had to hurry off to the radio station for their interviews. Louis gave me a funny look when he saw Harry and I get off the elevator, so I held up my phone and pointed at him to try and get across that I’d text him later. When they left, I went back to my room, completely buzzing.

My phone was still in my hand as I sat on my bed when it started to vibrate. I checked the screen and saw my brother’s name flashing across it, so I answered immediately. “Matt! Hi!”

“Momma Mia, where have you been? I’ve been trying to get ahold of you, but it’s like you’re on tour with a world famous boy band or something.”

I laughed and fell back against my bed. “Sorry. It’s been crazy. How are things at uni?”

“Fine. Exams and the like, but it’s fine. Mum’s good, Papa’s good. Everyone’s good,” he told me, even though I hadn’t asked.

I sighed. “She won’t even talk to me, Matt. I don’t know what I’m supposed to do.”

“You’re supposed to live your life, Mia. She’ll get over it. She’s just...”

“Being mum?”

He laughed, but agreed. We chatted for a little while, just catching up, which was nice but it just made me feel homesick. My brother and I were only two years apart and we were incredibly close. When he went off to uni, it had been rough, but I at least saw him on the weekends when he would come home. Now that I was on tour, I wouldn’t see him for two months or so, and that was just too weird to think about.

“So things are going good?” he asked towards the end of our call.

“Brilliant. I can’t even explain it, Matt. I know mum’s mad, and I know she thinks this is ridiculous, but... I’m so happy that I’m getting the chance to do this. I want to do this for the rest of my life.”

“Then don’t worry about mum, Mia. I’ll... take care of it, yeah? But listen, I gotta go. Call me soon.”

“I will. Love you!”

“Love you too, little sister.”

When we hung up, I sighed. Talking to my brother was nice, but now I missed home even more. Suddenly, I remembered Loren’s promise to call me. Figuring I had nothing better to do, I dialed her number. She probably just forgot, I told myself as I waited for her to answer.

It rang several times before going to voicemail. I frowned, but left a message. “Hi slag. You said you’d call me today, but you didn’t, and therefore I’m starting to sift through the applicants for a new best mate.” I smiled, almost hearing her laughter now. “Call me when you get this, I’m off for the rest of the day.”

When I hung up, I shoved my phone in my pocket and curled up on the bed. I was suddenly feeling the effects of waking up early and before I knew it, sleep took over my body.