Still the One

The alarm clock goes off bright and early. I’ve grown used to it at this point. Whether it was me going to Glamour or Harry heading to set, always so early. I groan lightly as Harry silences his alarm and sits up in bed. ‘Do you think that you’ll manage without me for the day?’ Harry wonders from across the room while he tossed his essentials down into his brown, leather duffle bag. His back was turned to me but thanks to the tone of his voice, I knew a grin was forming on his face.

‘Are you doubting me, Styles?’ I stifle out an amused laugh as I sit up in bed to get a better look at him. ‘I’m a big girl who is more than capable of managing when left to my own devices. You should know that by now.’

‘I could never doubt you, Libby White.’ He speaks lowly as he makes his way across the large hotel room. ‘Alright, I better get going. I love you, baby.’

‘I love you.’ I murmur just before he presses his lips to mine, allowing them to linger for a few long seconds, ‘See you later.’ I chime, already missing the feeling of contact.

‘See you. Call me if you need anything today, okay? I mean absolutely anything. Do not hesitate to call even if it’s just to talk.’ Harry urges throwing his duffle bag over his shoulder and grabbing his phone from the nearby nightstand.

‘Okay, bye babe.’ I wave as he slips out of the door, giving me a small smile as he went.

For about twenty minutes, I toss and turn wildly in the bed. I could see a thin sliver of sun shining through the window. Against my better judgement, I unplug my phone from its charger and bring it to my eyes. I purse my lips while rubbing my eyes with the back of my wrist. Don’t do it, Libby. Do not do it. Before bed last night, Harry and I decided to make a pact to not actively seek any story that may be circling around about me or our relationship. It would just do more harm than good. I couldn’t help myself. It was like a weakness of mine. At times like these, I wish I had Harry’s self-control. I hated how I always let myself become consumed with other people’s opinions. I just needed to know. I slowly force myself to type my name on Google before hitting the news tab and impatiently wait while it loads. Daily Mail. I figured that they would be the first to run a story, with or without facts.

Libby White: STAR Student?!

The headline was taunting me with its bright, bold letters. I could swear the simple line of words were laughing at me. Actually, daring me to read on. Of course, they had to use some ancient picture of me at some club. I had on this tight mini dress with tinted red eyes from alcohol. However, for Mr. Jacobs they managed to find a very professional looking employee head shot. It wasn’t fair. It felt like everyone was placing all of the blame on me. Jacobs’ slimy hands were spotless while mine were stained with red.

‘Good morning, Miss. Libby.’ Tom smiles warmly as I open the door, after hearing three short knocks against the thick wood. ‘I just wanted to check in with you to see if you had any adventurous plans to explore another overly crowded part of the city.’ Tom taunts rocking back and forth on the heel of his combat boots.

‘No, but thank you Tom. I think that I’m just going to lay low for the day and watch some TV.’

‘Alright, I’ll be right across the hall if you decide to change your mind.’

‘Thanks Tom.’ With that I close the door and flop back down into the bed.

Harry’s Point of View

While I’m waiting to be called on set, my phone lets out its usual loud chime. A school boy smile instantly forms on my face as I pull the phone from my pocket to study the screen. So, it wasn’t Libby. I try to mask the annoyance and disappointment in my voice as I use my thumb to swipe the screen. ‘Hello?’

‘Harry, how’s it going over in France?’ Chris, my publicist inquires on the other line. Great. I should’ve been anticipating a call from Chris. He only calls when there’s some outrageous story out. Which is probably once a month. Even though, I never publicly come out about a story; he still tells me what they’re saying in the media. ‘Just thought I would let you in on this Daily Mail story.’ Of course.

‘Let me guess, it’s about Libby, right?’ I scoff, tossing aside the thick script that rested on my lap.

‘Yeah, Daily Mail really went for the jugular with this one. It’s something about Libby being with her English professor. I thought about emailing it to you but the stuff they imply isn’t even worth passing on. He sighs into the phone and I knew that it had to be pretty bad. ‘Don’t waste your time reading it.’

‘No, hang on.’ I mutter, dying to see just exactly what they had to say. I type quicker than I ever have before and watch as the screen slowly loads. I wish I would’ve gone with Chris’ advice. I could actually feel the rage piercing through my veins the more I read. I wasn’t letting anyone get away with this. ‘Chris, I need you to hear me right now. Really hear me. I want to make them pay for this. A defamation suit. Anything. It’s something that I should’ve done ages ago but this is too far. They’re implying that she got preferential treatment in the class by sleeping with her professor. Whatever I need to do to pursue this, I’ll do it. Call George and you two come up with a plan. I need all the options by tomorrow morning Chris.’

‘Harry…’ He drags out my name before an awkward silence waves over us. I could tell that he was hesitant. I was half-expecting him to say that it wasn’t worth it or that I’m overreacting.

‘No.’ I unexpectedly snap as there’s a light knock on my trailer door, ‘I need this Chris. I’m tired of sitting by letting them create these false narratives. Please, do it.’ I don’t wait for his response before hanging up the phone and walking over to the door.

‘You’re needed on set, Harry.’ One of the usual set interns informs me while patiently waiting in the gravel outside of the trailer.

‘Alright, I will be right out. Thank you.’ I nod turning back to my phone. Libby and I had this deal to not willingly go out and look for any story but I’m guessing that I’m not the only one of us who broke that deal.

Please do not let that shit story consume you. Knowing you, you’ve read and reread it a dozen times over. You worked your ass off in that class and for your degree, they can’t take that from you. Tonight, we’re going to go out and have great time. Going on set now, I’ll check back in as soon as I get a break. I love you. – Harry.

I couldn’t wait for a response as I’m shuffled out onto set. Thank God we weren’t in water today. My entire body felt sore this morning as I made myself get out of bed. I practically throw all of my things down into my duffle bag and rush out to the SVU. I wave to the fans as the driver pulls away from the curb. I needed to get to the hotel and wash this day off of me. I’m not sure where Libby and I would spend our night but as long as it got her mind off things, I’m fine. ‘Lib.’ I call out, already pulling my sweatshirt over my head, ‘I’m back!’

‘Right here.’ She beams from the bed, covering herself with the white sheets. ‘I’ve spent an unhealthy number of hours watching Friends reruns. How was your day?’

‘It was good but it is definitely better now.’

‘You are so cheesy.’ She scrunches up her nose in that cute way she always does when she laughs, ‘it’s almost sickening.’

‘Ha ha.’ I kick out of my shoes to jump into the bed with her, ‘so, what do you want to do for dinner? I’m sure we could find something amazing right down the street.’

‘I don’t think I’m really in the mood to go out tonight.’ Libby confesses, not bothering to face me. ‘Would it be so terrible we just ordered room service and sat in bed all night?’ She wonders as she crawls onto my lap and makes herself comfortable, ‘doesn’t that sound good?’

‘Whatever you want.’ I agree with a short nod, ‘We can stay in, if that’s genuinely what you want.’ I reply, resting my head on her back, ‘but Lib, I can’t help but wonder if you’re slightly reverting back to how it used to be when we first got together.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘Okay, remember when we were first starting out? Well, there was some wild conspiracy theory about you being paid to be in a relationship with me. I’m pretty sure everyone found out every single detail about you within a day. You didn’t want to go out anymore because you thought it would just make whatever story about you even worse so we just hid away in our flats.’ I explain, stroking her back ever so often as I talked. ‘I think that we’ve worked too hard to be going back to old ways, right?’

‘I guess I would be lying if I said that the Daily Mail thing didn’t bother me or that it kind of ruined today more than it should’ve.’ Libby finally replies after a few moments of silence. I’m thinking she was taking time to process what I just said. ‘I just think that it would be best to let this die down for at least twenty-four hours. I’m not sure that we could even enjoy a night out with paparazzi following behind shouting questions about Jacobs.’

‘Okay, I understand.’ I press my lips to her temple as I loosen my grip on her waist. ‘I’ll just take a quick shower and then we can decide on what to eat.’

‘Thank you.’ She offers me a weak smile while rolling off of my lap.

‘You never need to.’ I insist before heading to the other room to turn the shower on.

I lean against the counter and open my emails to see a recent one from Chris as well as my lawyer George. George questions if I’m sure I want to pursue this.

One hundred percent.