Still the One

‘Harry?’ I call out glancing around the empty hotel room. ‘Harry are you in here?’ my voice bounces off the walls getting no response.

I finally manage to retrieve my phone from the tiny clutch I drug around with me tonight.

In the room. Where are you? – Libby.

I wait for a few long minutes but a reply never comes. After changing clothes I climb into the large, cold, vacant bed. It was three in the morning when I finally went to bed without Harry. The next morning Harry was sound asleep beside me griping his pillow as he always did.

‘Good morning.’ I mutter rolling out of the bed leaving him there to sleep before the first stadium show tonight.

Perrie and I decided to go get breakfast out by the pool before things got crazy.

‘So you don’t know when he came in?’ Perrie wonders, her snowish blonde hair piled at the top of her head.

‘Haven’t got the slightest idea.’ I shake my head as the pulp-free orange juice is placed in front of me.

‘Just ask him.’ She states quickly biting a warm piece of crispy bacon.

‘I was this morning. He was in a deep sleep unfortunately. He usually notices when I get out of the bed but this morning he didn’t move an inch.’

‘Harry being the Harry that we know so well he probably just hung out with Preston and all of his middle-aged friends.’

‘That actually wouldn’t surprise me.’

‘So Zayn’s taking me out after the show tonight,’ Perrie speaks with an oncoming crooked smile, ‘he’s being quite secretive about it.’

‘Isn’t Zayn always a bit secretive?’ I laugh c covering my mouth to shield the bits of waffle.

‘True but he usually just falls out right after the shows at the start of the tour.’

‘Hang on, where is Zayn anyway?’

‘Nursing his hangover before we have to go to the stadium.’

I finish my breakfast then part ways with Perrie. As I’m walking through the lobby I notice the mass of people outside. Posters and signs held high in the hands of screaming fans. When I enter the room Harry is sitting across the bed. He had his white iPhone headphones shoved into his ears as he laced the bright Nike trainers on his feet.

‘There she is.’ He smiles standing to his feet, ‘I didn’t hear you leave this morning.’

I didn’t hear you come in. Was what I wanted to say. ‘Yeah I went for breakfast with Perrie out by the pool.’ I go with instead returning his tight embrace.

‘Well leave your lunch slot open for me. I’m going to the gym.’

‘I will,’ I nod silently, ‘have a good workout.’

‘See you soon.’ He presses his lips to my forehead as he pushes me into his chest once again, ‘I have my phone on if you need anything.’

‘Alright.’ I call as he walks out the door.

It wasn’t long after Harry leaves when Niall comes into the room. He sits down on the edge of the bed immediately picking up the remote control.

‘Hey Lizard, is Harry around?’ he wonders holding his phone in his palms securely.

Niall and I happened to be the closest when it came to my friendship with the boys with the exception of Harry. When Harry and I would be in some sort of stupid argument Niall was always the mediator. He could read Harry like an open book and I was the same. Niall and I spent a many night laughing at some poorly written action movie when he would come over Harry’s place. The thing about Niall is that I am fully aware when he’s feeling anxious about something. So it wasn’t hard to see that he was keeping something on his phone away from my eyes deliberately.

‘No, he’s actually at the gym. You just missed him.’ I reply and he rises to his feet. ‘Hold on, what is it?’

‘Just wanted to go over a few decisions for the show tonight before rehearsals.’ Niall says keeping his eyes at the wooden door in front of him, ‘I’ll go down to the gym to ask him.’

‘Maybe I could be of assistance. How can I help?’

‘It’s really just boring tour stuff. It wouldn’t interest you at all.’

‘Are you aware you are talking to the same girl who sat in Liam’s place with the five of you for four hours while you bickered over the set list?’

‘Yeah you really did come in handy with that but this is really quick and Harry’s the best guy to ask.’ Niall says still not giving me direct eye contact so I decide to stop interrogating him.

‘Alright, I’ll just see you later.’

‘Alright. See you.’ Niall couldn’t get out of the room fast enough.

I decide to do a bit of my very own investigating. I take the stairwell down to the gym and walk in not too long after Niall did. I could see that he was talking to Harry about something on his phone but I couldn’t decipher the exact words. I hear Niall say “the Mirror” as in the sleazy tabloid back home. Harry refers to whatever it is a “shit” shaking his head clearly annoyed. I heard enough of the conversation to go back to my room and search Google. I find the Mirror’s latest stories to see Harry front and center.

“I Slept with Harry Styles”

It was some story about some girl saying how her and Harry had some sort of vile encounter last night. God they work quickly. The girl goes onto tell about how Harry snuck away from his soppily drunk girlfriend aka me to meet with her. She said how bought her a drink then invited himself to her hotel room. They ended up hooking up then Harry dragged himself from the room in the wee hours of the morning repeatedly saying how much he fun he had.

‘Bullshit.’ I laugh shaking my head and exiting out of the article.

I’ve lost count of how many times girls came out of the woodworks claiming how they slept with Harry with not even an ounce of evidence. No pictures, no witnesses, no videos. She wasn’t the first and probably wouldn’t be the last. The part where Harry says, “he had fun” had to be the most ridiculous part of the entire article. That was something I couldn’t imagine Harry say in a million years after hooking up with anyone.

‘I’m back,’ Harry announces as he drops his duffle bag near the suitcases, ‘let me change and we’ll go get something to eat.’

I watch as Harry pulls his shirt from over his head revealing his tattoos. His toned muscles grow more and more evident as he moves around. I walk over to him and wrap my arms around his strong, damp frame from behind.

‘I love you.’

‘I love you babe.’ He stiffs out a small laugh, ‘do you like the view?’

‘The view’s incredible.’

Harry turns in my grasp and lifts me into his arms. I wrap my legs around his torso using my fingers as comb running through his curls.

‘Maybe we can just order something.’ He mutters pressing his lips to mine. ‘Now I’m really hungry.’ Harry grins pulling my closer to his bare body under the sheets.

‘Nothing sounds better than that but you need to get ready to go to the stadium.’

‘Right, let me shower. I’m sure there’s food at the stadium that we can eat.’

‘Okay.’

Harry goes to take a shower leaving the door open as he usually does.

‘Did you see that story in the Mirror today?’ I question curiously.

‘What was that?’ he shouts back over the running water.

‘I just asked if you saw the story in the Mirror today.’ I repeat standing in the doorway.

‘Yeah I did, absolute rubbish.’ He groans, ‘It’s sickening how people can lie and sell it to others for a profit. I never laid eyes on the girl.’

‘Who was she?’

‘I don’t know. I just know the only girl I talked to besides you was probably Perrie. That’s it.’

‘Where were you last night?’

‘I was with you.’ He states plainly slightly turning off the water, ‘remember?’

‘Right. It’s just that I didn’t see you come in last night and I went to bed pretty late.’

As Harry opens his mouth to talk my phone lets out a loud chime. It was a text from Danielle with a photo attachment.

Are you and Harry aware of the lies going around right now? – Danielle.

It was a screenshotted photo of yet another article by the Mirror. It was a follow-up story to the one I saw a few hours ago. This time there were photos attached. Six of them to exact. They were pictures of Harry and some dark-haired girl sitting at some table with some other people talking. One of the pictures included Harry and her posing. I stare at the picture knowing that I was bound to burn holes right through my phone. The way her arms were placed around him securely. That’s the way that I hold him.

‘You still there?’ Harry asks cutting into my thoughts.

He couldn’t have then did the same thing with me today. I felt like the breakfast I ate this morning was suddenly starting to come back up. Harry pokes his head out of the shower; his wet dark curls sticking to his forehead.

‘What’s the matter?’ he wonders wiping his eyes from his dripping hair.

It was like my lips had been sown shut like in one of those terribly made movies that made you do gruesome things to stay alive. I couldn’t talk. I didn’t know what to say and how to say it. It felt like all of the words that circled around continuously in my brain were now nothing more than a soggy pile of mush.

‘What’s going on?’ Harry frowns cutting off the water and quickly stepping out of the shower.

He grabs one of those complimentary fluffy towels and wraps it around his waist. He bends his long arms around me pulling me extremely close to him and getting my clothes wet in the process.

‘Libby you are scaring the shit out of me right now. Talk to me.’

‘I really have to go.’

‘Wait, what? What just happened here?’

‘Nothing. I’ll see you at the show.’ With that I file out of the hotel room leaving Harry behind.