Between The Lines

“I don’t know what to choose!” Niall complained, staring at the menu in front of him with thinking expression plastered on his face. “There is too much to decide from”

“Niall quit your complaining about for once” Liam told the blonde, who remained silent after the comment.

As promised, Harper took the group out for a much needed escape from their suite. She could tell they were thankful, all bored of seeing the interior of where they were staying. Staring at her own menu, she too couldn’t decide. Niall did have a point.

“I think I’m going to have the chocolate pancakes” She announced, placing her menu back down on the polished wooden table.

“There are chocolate pancakes?!” Niall exclaimed.

After much deliberation, the boys all decided on their meals and the group finally placed their orders to the waitress, who looked rather annoyed at how long they took. Louis, Zayn and Liam all slipped into a nonchalant conversation about the release of their new single and show tonight, while Niall and Harry were both on their phones, most likely tweeting. They had a rehearsal to fine tune their performance, to make sure it was absolutely perfect by this evening. So a filling breakfast was a good start to the day.

While waiting for the food, Harper couldn’t help but think how glad she was that it was Friday. Her week had started off rather slow, but thanks to the boys of One Direction that didn’t last long. It had certainly taken an eventful turn.

“A penny for your thoughts Miss Harper?” Harry’s smooth voice interrupted her thoughts.

“they are worth more than a penny Mr Styles” Two could play at this game. Her voice was laced with a hint of flirtation just to match his.

“Ah touché” Harry said defeated “I underestimated you, you’re good”

“Why thank you Harry, your flattery is very much appreciated”

“Would you two like the rest of us to leave so we aren’t interrupting your flirting session?” Niall spoke coldly.

Everyone looked at Niall baffled by his outburst; it was unlike him to say something like that. He was usually so carefree that most things did bother him, and if it did he was rather good at ignoring it. Harper didn’t know what to say to the Irishman, and neither did any of his friends. Thankfully the waitress bringing their breakfast suppressed any argument that could have started.

No one spoke whilst they consumed their food, still confused as to what brought on Niall’s comment and unsure of what conversation to bring up. Harry, however thought the situation was amusing having an inkling as to why Niall was suddenly grumpy. He couldn’t help the smug grin that appeared on his face.

As soon as Niall had finished his food, he stood up from the table. Ignoring the looks from everyone, he shot Harry a glare then proceeded to leave the restaurant in an angry huff.

“He’s rather cheerful this morning” Harry commented.

“Does anyone know why?” Harper asked.

“I’ll have a word with him later” Liam told the group. If anyone can talk some sense into anyone and figure out what was bothering them, it was Liam.

“We best be getting to your rehearsals now” Harper told them “It’s going to be a big day”

The boys were quickly swept up by the choreographer and production team to prepare for the show this evening. They were to go over placement onstage, moves, rehearse the songs and much more stuff that Harper couldn’t keep up with. She was sure that if she was in their place, exhaustion would have taken over by now.

“Alright boys let’s go over little things” Someone from the many staff that were around announced.
Tonight the boys would be playing their much loved single Live While We’re Young, but also for the first time live, Little Things. It was a much slower song from what Harper knew, but she was yet to hear it. Taking a seat in the front row seating, she watched as they all nodded and took their places on stage.

“Your hand fits in mine like it’s made just for me” Zayn began as the lights dimmed. The aim was to create a mellow feel to the room during the song. The boys were seated on musical equipment crates and the stage was only lit up by a few lights scattered in a circle around the boys and two guitar players.

It was when Niall brought the microphone to his lips, did Harper become for captivated. There’s was something about the blonde’s voice that could silence a whole room.

“You'll never love yourself half as much as I love you” Niall’s voice was laced with his Irish accent as he sang. His gaze caught Harper’s. His eyes never leaving hers as he sang his part of the song. It was Harper who finally looked away, a small blush creeping up her neck as her cheeks grew heated.

“Alright let’s take a break for lunch and resume in an hour”
Relief crossed the boys faces as each member left the stage, all tired of having to rehearse. They loved performing, it was their dreams, but rehearsals weren’t all that fun.

Keeping to his word earlier, Liam was going to find out why Niall was suddenly acting weird. Like usual, he was lively during their songs, but he returned to acting like he was at breakfast. Liam found the blonde perched in the corner of the green room staring at his phone, aimlessly scrolling through his twitter feed.

“So I’m going to get straight to the point” Liam began “What’s got you all wired up?”
“Leave it be” Niall mumbled, not looking up at his band mate.

“Not until you explain yourself, is it Harry? All Liam wanted was answers, and Niall was just being stubborn. “Or even Harper?”

Something flashed across Niall’s face once the girl’s name left Liam’s lips “Just drop it Liam”. That’s when Liam realised what was bothering his friend.

“You fancy her, don’t you?”

Niall looked up at Liam and sighed, there was no point trying to hide it from him now. He nodded his head slowly, unsure of what to say exactly.

“Every single time I like a girl, Harry has to go and ruin it by shamelessly flirting with her. There’s no point even bothering with me when all they ever see if Harry”

“In Harry’s defence, I’m sure he doesn’t know that you like her”. Niall shot Liam a look.

“It doesn’t matter now anyway” Niall sighed.

“Tell Harper how you feel then, there’s no point sulking over something if you don’t have reason to. You’ll never know, perhaps she feels the same”.

Harper retreated behind the wall as Liam proceeded out of the green room following his conversation with Niall. Her thoughts were reeling at what she had just overheard. She shouldn’t have eavesdropped, but she was curious as to know why Niall had acted so out of character. Niall had just confessed that he had feelings for her, but did she feel the same?

Harper Quinn was many things. A perfectionist, a flirter, a realist and a heartbreaker, but there was one thing she was not and that was a lover. That was just not her at all.