Over Again

**Marie's POV**

I stayed with Perrie for the next week or so. She said she didn't mind. She was out at work with Jesy, Leigh-Ann and Jade for most of the time, and I tided up for her. I couldn't bear to leave the house after the awards' night. It was painful. I was scared to bump into Harry in the street. Several times, when Zayn had come around, Harry had gone along with him, so I just hid away upstairs. Harry attempted to talk, but I just couldn't do it.

I had just finished tidying up and I sat on the sofa, switching the television to Two and a Half Men. I sat laughing at the American comedy when I heard the key in the front door open it and the shuffle of footsteps. Perrie entered the living room and shut the door behind her.

"Hi Perrie!" I smiled.

"Zayn's here.... And so's Harry..." She announced quietly.

"My time to scuttle off... Say hi to Zayn for me," I made for the stairs but she held onto my wrist and pulled me back.

"You have to talk to him! You can't run from him forever!" She hissed. I could tell she didn't want the others to hear.

"It's my decision when I talk to him!"

"Are you two still together?" She asked. I paused in thought. Neither of us had confirmed breaking up, but we hadn't spoken in almost two weeks. I dragged my eyes to Perrie's and she raised her eyebrows.

"I don't know," I shrugged.

"Don't you think you should find out?" She questioned.

"Perrie, I-" but I was cut off by the lounge door opening and a voice sounding.

"Zayn's gone to the shop to get some-" Harry broke off when he saw me. He turned a deep shade of red. As did I. "Hello, Marie," he scuffed his shoes on the floor and stared at them. His eyes flicked up towards me but back to the floor again. I looked all around the room. Anywhere but him.

"Hi," I replied simply, in a higher pitched voice than intended. After an awkward silence, Perrie cleared her throat.

"I'm going to catch up with Zayn at the shop." I went to hiss at her and pull her back, but before I had the chance, she had disappeared through the door.

An awkward silence fell over the room. I cleared my throat and walked back over to the sofa, right past Harry. I crossed my legs and leaned back into the seat, continuing to watch the television. Two and a Half Men had finished, and The Big Bang Theory had begun. I saw out of the corner of my eye, Harry come an sit on the couch next to me. We sat at opposite ends, awkwardly.

"So, uhm, how have you been?" He broke the silence. I blushed again at the fact I was being addressed by him again.

"What do you think?" I asked sarcastically. He looked down into his lap. I could see the guilt in his eyes.

"Marie, I love you," he sighed, bringing his head up and his eyes to meet mine.

"Oh, don't start this again," I rolled my eyes and slammed my head back into the seat.

"No, listen to me. I always knew I loved you, but I underestimated just how much. I've missed your morning voice. I've missed your eyes. I've missed your laugh. I've missed your need for hugs every ten seconds! I've missed the feel of you in my arms. I've missed that weight on the other side if the bed, helping me keep it warm!" He rambled. He had turned to face me and he had taken both of my hands in his. "I've missed the way our hands perfectly entwine. I've missed the way you can't leave the house with out a coffee. I've missed the way that you smile at the comments my fans put! I've missed your smile. I've missed you!"

He seemed to be desperate to show me how much he loved me. I had tears welling in my eyes at every word he said. He had a tear drop to his nose but he brushed it off. I closed my eyes and bit my lip, knowing I was falling for him again. I felt a warm tenderness press itself to my lips and the passion and love behind it. It was loving, caring, tender... Everything our kisses had been and more. He pulled back with tears brimming in his eyes, that reflected the tears is my own ones.

"Most of all I've missed that sweet taste of your lips when they touch mine," he finished.

"Harry?" I said after a while, biting my lip. He looked up at the sound of me uttering his name. "I love you, too."

A smile that broke out from sadness to pure happiness stretched across his tear stained cheeks. He spread his arms wide and took me into them, pulling me into his chest. I grabbed his t shirt and nestled my head into his chest. How I had missed holding him, and he holding me like that. It was perfect.

"But... Harry... I don't know if I can do this..." I whispered. He pulled back and looked sadly down at me.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"There's going to be hate. There's going to be more incidents like that. There's going to be all sorts of crap that I don't think that I can put up with. It's not fair on me," I shook my head, hating what I was saying but knew it was true.

"We can over come that! Come on, Marie, don't end it again!"

"Paul offered me a job a few weeks ago," I announced, attempting to change the subject.

"And what job was that?"

"Helping you guys on your and playing the keyboard to your songs. Not sure if I should accept or not."

"Accept!" Harry said eagerly.

"But I don't know if I can! After all this?"

"Marie, do you want to be mine. My girlfriend?"

I paused. "I want to, but I can't," I looked down as a tear drop fell from my eye.

Harry coughed and drew a breath. "Just because you can't be my girl, doesn't mean you can't take up a job I know you'd enjoy."

"But, Harry, that means being around you more often!"

"Just because we're no longer together doesn't mean we can't still be friends."

Hearing Harry say that we weren't together anymore tore my heart more than I had expected. I literally felt that I could choke. I loved him too much for my health. This was probably ago of thing.

"I guess you're right," I said finally. "I'll call Paul and take the job."

I stood and left the room to find my phone. As soon as I was in the room Perrie was letting me stay in, I sat down on the bed and cried my eyes out. It made everything better, and everything worse. I had lost him. I had lost my dad, my mum never spoke to me (we'd never had a close relationship), and now I'd lost the only man who I had ever loved more than anything.

Paul had offered me the job after my dads funeral when he heard me play. I hadn't responded and he said to leave it because he knew of all the pressure after my dad had passed. He offered again about two weeks ago, but I hadn't told anyone. I didn't get round o tell Harry after all that had happened. The tour was just over six months. I would be spending almost every waking hour with Harry and the boys. It was going to kill me. But like Harry said - just because we weren't an item, didn't mean we couldn't be friends. I picked up my phone after a minute of collecting myself and dialled Paul's number.

"Hello?" Came a rough voice that sounded as though he was in a rush.

"Sorry, Paul, is this a bad time?" I asked timidly.

"Oh. Marie, no it's not. Did you want anything?"

"Only to see if that offer's still open?"

"Yes! Of course it is!" I could practically hear his smile through the phone.

"Well, I'd like to do it," I smiled, even though he couldn't see it.

"Fantastic! Want to be around your boyfriend and his mates, eh?"

"Oh, um, he's not my boyfriend anymore..." I faltered.

"Oh dear, I'm sorry, Marie," I herd his apologetic tone and knew he felt guilty.

"No! It's fine! We're still friends! Anyway, I'll see you at rehearsals. Bye!"

"Bye."

I hung up and flopped back onto my bed and closed my eyes. Oh God. My life was shit at that moment. Well, I'd better get on with life and get out of here.

I walked down stairs and back into the lounge. Harry was still on the sofa. He was sitting hunched over with his face buried in his hands. I sat next to him and patted his knee.

"You all right?" I asked.

"You seem to be," he replied.

"Putting on a brave face is better than sulking," I shrugged. "Don't beat yourself up about it. We've tried it twice, and it hasn't worked. It's just not meant to be. I know what is meant to be, though."

"What?" Harry asked, as if eager for assurance.

"You and I being best friends. As close as anything. Lets just have 'feeling boundaries' this time. Yeah?"

He smiled faintly. "Yeah."

He gave me a quick hug and we pulled away.

**Harry's POV**

"So, are you coming on tour with us?"I asked.

I wanted her to come with us with all my heart. I didn't want to be without her for a single day! We weren't together and it killed me. We had almost made the year mark, but it had crumbled. I knew that she wouldn't go back to loving me again because that was the second time that I'd hurt her, even though I had promised her that I never would. It had never been intentional, but after all this, I knew it would be cruel for me to make her fall for me again, just for her to suffer more heartache. I guess it wasn't meant to be, and that it probably was time for me to move on.

"Yeah," she smiled.

Yes! I thought. That smile.... Stop it, Harry, you're not helping matters!

"Cool! We start touring the UK in two weeks! Rehearsals start in two days."

"That soon? I can't wait! Should be interesting!" She grinned. I couldn't help but smile at her. She was cute. I didn't stop the thoughts any more. There was no point. If I was to get over her, there would be no point in forcing away thoughts. I just let them come naturally. Just let myself know what I thought of her and leave it at that.

Zayn and Perrie soon returned from the shop that they went to with pop corn, ice cream and Pepsi. They also bought The Woman in Black on DVD. Excellent. Marie was terrified of horror films! I knew that it wouldn't be the same as a boyfriend-girlfriend relationship, but I could make it the same as what we were before we started dating.

I explained to Zayn and Perrie about what Marie and I had decided. Zayn nodded his head in understanding, but Perrie looked so upset! I wondered why she was so upset? She seemed relieved that we were still friends, though.

Zayn and Perrie claimed the sofa to curl up on. I sat in one arm chair and Marie the other. Marie looked apprehensive that they were putting on the horror film but smiled with a pot of Ben 'n' Jerry's Phish Food ice cream, a bag of Haribo's and a bag of popcorn as well as a can of Pepsi. That's what we all had. None of us had eaten dinner because we knew that we were going to feast that night. The film began and Marie watched intently. I jumped a few times and started to worry about Marie, because if I was jumping, she would have been pissing herself. I looked up to her around half way through the film and she had her knees drawn into her chest, staring at the television with an empty pot of ice cream on the floor in front of her and the popcorn open on the arm of the chair. She seemed terrified, but I couldn't really do much.

Another fifteen minutes went by of the film.

"Shit!" I hissed when a particular part if the film happened. I heard a little squeal. I looked over at Perrie, thinking it had come from her, but it hadn't. She had her face buried into Zayn who was stroking her head. He shook his head at me, telling me it wasn't Perrie who had squeaked. I turned to face Maire, and found her hugging her knees, with her face nestled into them and popcorn spilt on the floor. I stared at her petrified form and decided to go and comfort her.

I stood and then sat on the arm of the chair, placing my arm around her and rubbing her back. She looked up at me and buried her face in my stomach. God, she was scared. I leaned over to her and whispered in her ear.

"Want to come and live with me again? Come and stay with me? There's spare rooms, we don't have to share one. You can have the room that's a bit smaller than the one we shared, with the on suite and the mini balcony thing over the back garden," I offered. She nodded her head. Yes! I thought. She collected her stuff and thanked Perrie for helping her out. We made our way back home and moved a of her belongings into her 'new room'. I knew it would be strange for both of us to be sleeping alone when we were in the same house as each other, but at least we were in the same house as each other. At least I'd be able to sleep well for the first time in over a week.