Stay with Me

A happy sigh falls from his lips when the sign to buckle the seatbelt turns on again. His leg bounces up and down nervously while his eyes look over the small houses. “You alright, mate?” Louis asks his best friend, gently patting the curly headed boy’s leg.

“Yeah, just excited to see Elly again. Haven’t heard from her in nearly a month, I’m so proud she’s doing it all on her own.” He gushes, thinking about the beautiful brunette he’s grown so fond of.

“You really fancy her, aye?” Louis chuckles, looking at Harry with a proud smile. He wants nothing more than his best friend to be happy and although Elizabeth wasn’t what he approved of at first, he – along with the three other men – saw both her and Harry change when accompanied by one another.

Harry smiles, showing off his dimples and shiny white teeth. He carefully moves his head up and down. “She’s just an amazing person. She’s incredibly strong. I can’t wait to hug her again.” Harry laughs, dropping his head to try and hide his rose coloured cheeks from his friend.

“Try to stay calm for another fifteen minutes, you’ll make the plane end on it’s own with that leg.” Liam notes, pushing down on Harry’s leg to keep it down.

Harry throws his friends a cheeky grin as to apologise. Harry then looks back to his right, leaning his elbow on the armrest and his chin in his hand as he stares out at the misty sky. There’s not much to see, except for the fact that the clouds are forming a nice looking bed right now. “She loves extreme weather conditions… I bet she’ll love the fact that there’s so much snow.” Harry mumbles as the plane lowers through the clouds, more to himself than anything but Louis catches up on it chuckling lightly as he nudges his best friend.

“Soon, Harry… soon. Don’t forget to say hi to your mum first.” He laughs, causing Harry to roll his eyes but smile as well.

Harry never expected for his life to take such a turn when he first laid eyes on Elizabeth. She stood out among the crowd because of the pained expression on her face. Out of all the teenage girls having the time of their lives, she was nothing like it. She seemed upset and angry, but squeezed the leg of the small girl in her neck once every five minutes just to throw a quick smile in her direction. Harry remembered it all, he had carefully watched the two for quite a while because something about them kept pulling him in.

Harry never liked to see anyone unhappy, let alone his fans… but he’d never seen anything like Elizabeth. Her face didn’t show much emotion, she just seemed empty – but she was far from.

As Harry got to know her better he realised that she was a bundle of emotions, but not the good kind. She had problems, she was hopeless but she tried to stay strong for the sake of saving someone else’s life… and when she told him that, he knew he had to save hers first.

It took him seven months, but then it finally happened… the call he had been waiting on so long.

A smile plays on his lips when the photo of the two of them pops up on his screen, informing him about an incoming call from Elizabeth. “Hey Elly!” He chuckles, wiping the sweat off his face quickly.

“Hey… can you do something for me?” She giggles, sounding a bit distracted.

“Sure, what is it, babe?” He asks, carefully awaiting her answer. Elly usually doesn’t ask him for anything, she doesn’t even ask him to be there for her – he just always is.

“Press your phone to your cheek real good… please?” Her innocent voice continues, throwing Harry off a bit.

Still confused about what’s going on he presses his phone harder against his cheek. “Don’t you dare scream now…” He warns her, already pulling a pained face at the thought of it.

She shuffles her phone around a bit, pressing her lips hard against the speaker and ending it with a ‘mwah’ sound. “Just wanted to kiss your cheek again… and since you’re not here, I had to find another way to do so.”

Harry chuckles, a smile creeping onto his face spreading from ear to ear. “You’re adorable. I’ll be home in two and a half weeks. I’ll bring you a Christmas present or two…”

A sigh falls from her lips as she shakes her head. “Harry… don’t. I don’t have the money to buy you anything. I don’t want anything from you.” She protests, knowing all too well that she won’t be around for that to happen anymore.

She wanted to make her last conversation with Harry perfect, so he’d know that he never did anything wrong. So he’d never have to blame himself for her departure.

“I want to. Your presence is enough for me, Elly. You know that. You’re important to me, you’re like family.” He gushes, running his fingers through his sweaty hair.

“I have to go. Thank you for being the most amazing friend I’ve had in a while. I’ll always remember you, Harry. I love you.” She ends the conversation before Harry can manage to answer her.

She looks around at the apartment, squeezing the duffle bag in her hand. Her heart drops a bit as she lays the keys down next to the note she left on the table. “I’m sorry…” She mumbles, stepping out the door and closing it behind her.

As the plane is still coming to a still, Harry’s already up on his feet waiting impatiently to get off the plane. “Calm down, you won’t get to her any sooner.” Zayn laughs, looking up at his friend who’s now smiling from ear to ear.

“I don’t care. I feel closer to her already knowing we’re finally in the same country… Hell, in the same city again!” He exclaims, throwing his hand in the air before punching the headrest excitedly causing the four other men to laugh at him.

This is easily the most nervous he’s felt since going on the X-Factor for his first audition. The one thing these two situations have in common is that they could both change his life forever. He’s going to tell Elly he likes her, he wants to have more than just a friendship between them and whatever she says will change everything.

His heart is beating rapidly against his ribcage as he steps off of the plane, immediately being hit with the cold in Heathrow airport. “Don’t drop your stuff with those sweaty hands.” Louis laughs, squeezing his best friend’s arm a bit.



Harry smiles widely as his mum wraps her arms tightly around his torso, her warm tears creeping through the fabric of his thin shirt. “Hey mum…” He chuckles, patting her back lightly as he waves at Eleanor who’s waiting patiently for Louis to greet his mum first. “Where’s Elly?” Harry then asks his mum once he notices she’s not in eyesight.

“Oh, honey, I don’ know. I haven’t heard from her, nor have I seen her.” Anne apologizes, stroking Harry’s cheek with her thumb. “I missed you so much… Christmas will go by way too fast, that I know for sure.” She tells her son, biting back tears as she does so.

“I know, mum. I’ve missed you too.” Harry chuckles, trying to hold back tears as well. “I love you… can we drive by my apartment first? Maybe Elly’s there.” Anne laughs, rubbing her son’s arm as she nods.

“I’m glad to see you so excited to see someone, Harry.” Anne smiles as she grabs a hold of Harry’s luggage. “I’ll see all of you the 29th, okay?” Anne confirms with the other four men as she heads off to her car with her beloved son.

“Are you glad to be back home, honey? God, I can’t believe you’re going to be gone again for nearly a year soon.”



He looks to his right, proudly smiling at his mum as he pushes open the door to his apartment. “Elly… I’m back!” He calls out as he steps inside, dropping his bag next to him.

The smile on the young man’s face is quickly replaced by a look of worry as he notices the dusty smell in his apartment and the dust collected on the photographs. “Ella?” He calls out, a tone of worry audible in his shaky voice.

“No…” He mumbles, feeling his heart rate speed up in his chest as he runs into the bedroom. “You told me you quit…” Harry mumbles to himself as he pushes the door open, afraid to find a lifeless body behind it. As he carefully peaks his head in to find a nicely made bed a sigh of relief falls from his lips, but his heartbeat isn’t slowing down nor is the shaking of his hands.

“Harry…” He spins around quickly to find his mum holding a note, a sad smile covering her face as she hands it to her son. “I’m sorry.”

An intense pain is sent through his chest, almost as if his heart has splintered and is now cutting into his lungs, as his oxygen seems to be cutting off. His breaths become shorter and heavy as tears blur his vision. “She left me, didn’t she?”