Best Friends Means...

"Your cooking is amazing. I'm glad you're coming on tour with us!" Niall said as he put his empty breakfast plate in the sink, making my stomach sink. I had no idea if I'd even be going along on tour now with what happened last night.

"Thanks. My mum taught me well." I said, quietly cleaning the pots and pans.

"You don't have to do that. Cleaning lady comes on Monday."

"Niall, I'm not leaving your sink full of my dirty dishes for someone else to clean up."

"Fine! I'm going to go shower. The extra bathroom is on the left of the hallway. Should have some towels."

"I'm going to go out to my car and see if I can find some clothes in my car." I said, walking out of Niall's flat, making sure to leave the door unlocked as I quietly shut the door. It was cooler this morning, and I was thankful for the sweat pants Niall had loaned me. I unlocked my car and rummaged around, finding a pair of jeans and a black v-neck. It would do for today, seeing that we probably wouldn't be leaving the house. When I walked back into Niall's flat, he was on the phone and was holding up a finger for me to be quiet.

"Yeah. I'm feeling a bit under the weather today, actually. I'll probably just take it easy at the house. Nah, it's fine. I don't need anything, Harry." I took a deep breath and sat on the kitchen counter as Niall continued the conversation with Harry. When he got off the phone, he made his way over to me, running a hand through his disheveled blonde hair.

"Did he say anything?"

Shaking his head, Niall opened his mouth to speak, but then closed it once before speaking again. "Nope. Wanted to go to lunch in a few hours, which is a bit weird. He usually asks Louis or Liam to lunch. He did mention you had called Liam last night but not him, which he thought was off."

"Well since you all went to a party, I figured Liam would be the only sober one out of all of you, so I called him first."

"Makes sense. He didn't say anything about Kendall, though. I didn't even know she was there at the party."

"He called her 'some girl' when he was texting me in the cab last night, so he even knew in his drunken state that he needed to hide who she was."

"Why didn't he tell the cab to drop her off first?"

I looked down at my hands in my lap, and shrugged. "Not sure. He told me she told the cab a different address."

"Are you positive it was Kendall?" Niall leaned back against the counter opposite of me and crossed his arms.

"I mean, I don't know who else it could have been. It looked just like her." I bit my lip and looked around the kitchen, trying not to cry. "I just don't get why he'd do this, Niall. He told me he didn't even like her. At fashion week, she was all over him and he looked miserable. He's never been this type of guy, especially to someone he cares about. This isn't right..." I trailed off, letting the tears fall freely from my eyes. Niall stepped in between my legs and pulled me into a hug, rubbing my back. "I'm sorry I came to you about this, I just didn't have anywhere else to go."

"It's really not a problem, love." Niall squeezed me a little harder. "It's not right, at all. I think you should call him and tell him."

"But I don't want to screw it up."

Niall pulled back and looked me in the eyes, pushing a piece of hair out of my face and tucking it behind my ear. "How would you screw this up? You're not the one who messed up. Harry did." I let out a big sniffle as Niall grabbed a napkin for me and he wiped my face. "Call him. I'll stay right here with you if you want me to."

"Yeah." I said, hopping off the counter and retrieving my phone from Niall's room. When I came back out, he was chewing on his lip and looking at his phone with a strange expression on his face. I selected to call Harry's number as I watched Niall pace around the room.

"Morning, love!" Harry happily answered.

"Hey." I said back, trying not to sound too upset but I knew he'd recognize my tone immediately.

"What's wrong? Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, it's fine." Niall shot me a look and I took a deep breath. "No, it's not, Harry."

"What happened? Is it your mom? Do you want me to come there? I can leave now and be there in two hours..."

"I-I'm in London. My mom and I got into a huge fight yesterday so I left early."

"Where are you now?" His voice sound worried.

I looked up at Niall and paused for a few moments before I answered. "Niall's."

"What? Why didn't you come over here?! What happened with you two?"

"Why don't you tell me what happened with you and Kendall last night?" Silence on the other line. Complete and total silence. He had no idea that I had seen them, that anyone had, and I had caught him in his story.

"I can explain."

"Really? Because I sure hope so."

"Can I come over there and talk to you?" Niall heard Harry on the other line and he nodded his head at me.

"Yeah, that's fine."

"I'll be over in a minute." And Harry hung up the phone. I threw my phone onto Niall's countertop and buried my face in my hands and started crying again. I felt Niall's arms wrap around me again.

"It'll be fine." He kissed the top of my head and I started shaking my head in protest.

"No it won't. He didn't even deny her being over there like I thought he would."

"Would you have rather him lied about it?" I shook my head. "That's what I thought. I'll get in the shower once he's over here so you two can talk. Or would you rather-"

"You can shower." Niall nodded and left me alone in the kitchen. I nervously paced around the living room, waiting for Harry to get there. I didn't notice him until he was standing almost in front of me. "Hey."

"Hey, listen. I don't know what you saw but-"

"But it wasn't what it looked like? Because I saw her in your lap and your hands in her hair. How do you explain that, Harry? And you were drunk? Do you even know what happened?"

"I wasn't belligerent last night. She wasn't straddling my lap. You should have said something when you walked in. We were waiting for a cab to come pick her up, she was crying and upset because of something with her parents. I couldn't just let her cry."

"No, but you could have sent her off to her hotel!" I raised my voice, stepping closer to Harry. "I thought you said she gave them her address?"

"She did. But they dropped me off first, and she got out of the cab and followed me in. She was crying and I wanted to make she was alright before she went back to her hotel."

"But I saw you turn the porch light off and then you turned your bedroom light off..."

"You assumed. I turned the porch light off so she could see the cab pulling up outside. I went to bed, I couldn't stay up any longer. I got up about 30 minutes later because I felt sick and I remembered I hadn't texted you goodnight yet, so I did."

Harry's eyes looked sad, and he couldn't quit running his hands through his hair. His clothes were wrinkled, and he looked like a mess. "How am I supposed to believe you? You should have told me."

"And you should have made yourself known. I would have kicked her out on my stoop had I known you were standing there watching me calm her down."

"It just didn't look like that, Harry. It looked like-"

"Yeah, I'm sure it looked like something else. To someone who was spying on me."

"I wasn't spying! I was trying to surprise you. I fought with my mum and-"

"Wait, what? You two never fight." Harry took a step closer to me and put his hands on my biceps, pulling me into him. "What happened?"

"Her new boyfriend..."

"She's dating someone? Is she ready for that?"

"She wants to marry him, Harry. He's a fucking lunatic. He's got her turned into this... This drone. He's so controlling. She does everything he asks her to. They're not in love, and she wants to spend the rest of her life with him. She wants a companion so I think she's just settling for him. He's horrible. He was so mean to me, he made me cry. He's just-"

"Sounds like a git."

"Yeah, he is." I took a deep breath, feeling myself calm down again. "Nice way to avoid the subject, by the way."

"You two haven't killed each other?" Niall appeared in the living room wearing a pair of black jeans and a t-shirt. Harry and I shook our heads.

"Nah, just a misunderstanding. Still feeling under the weather?" Harry asked, walking around the flat, inspecting some pictures.

"Nope! I was just trying to keep her a secret." Niall pointed and winked at me, causing me to smile. "So we can all go to lunch if you'd like."

Rubbing my full belly, I shook my head. "I'm still stuffed from breakfast but I'll come along if you want me to."

"Sure!" Harry said. "Let's go ahead and head back, I'm sure you wanna shower and get out of your pajamas."

"Actually, these sweats are more comfortable than yours, Haz... I may keep them."

"Those are my favorite!" Niall yelled at me and I threw my hands up.

"I'm gonna go get my charger and we can leave." I made my way back to Niall's room to retrieve my charger. I looked around before walking out but apparently I had been followed because I ran right into someone as I turned around.

"Why is your stuff in here?" Harry asked me, his voice stern and his eyebrows furrowed.

"Because Niall let me sleep in here. He said his bed was more comfy." I pushed past Harry before he asked me any more questions. "Thanks for everything, Niall." I squeezed the kind hearted Irish boy into my arms and he returned the hug with a kiss on the cheek.

"We'll see you later." Harry said as we walked out of his flat, my clothes and keys in my hands. "I'll just meet you at the house." Harry walked past me and climbed up into his Range Rover, speeding out of the lot before I could even turn my car on.

I got stopped by a traffic light, and by the time I made it to Harry's, he was already inside of the house. I figured he would have at least waited on me... I slowly opened the door to find Harry standing in the kitchen, he had thrown his flannel button up aside and only had on a white wife beater with his dark denim pants. His hands were leaning on the kitchen counter and I could see him taking deep breaths.

"Did you two sleep together last night?" I slowly walked further into the kitchen and didn't say anything. "Did you?" He was gritting his teeth as he waited on my reply.

"Yeah. We did. I was upset and he was-"

"Seriously? Elle." Harry didn't even have to look up at me for me to know that he was pissed off. I knew his eyes would almost be black.

"Seriously, Harry. He was comforting me just like you were comforting Kendall."

"Just go shower." I walked over to help comfort Harry, but he stood up to face me before I could reach him. "I said, go shower." His voice was stern, making me shrink as small as I possibly could. His eyes were as dark as a forest at night time, and his face was turning red.

"Haz, calm down." I reached out and touched his arm, feeling his tan muscles tense at my touch. "You have no idea how upset I was last night. Niall did nothing except make sure I felt alright. He was just caring about me." Harry was breathing through his nose, his nostrils flaring. I couldn't tell if he was calming himself down or becoming more riled up. "It's not anything to be this upset over..."

"Not anything to be upset over?! You cuddled him in his bed last night. I'm not even mad at you, I'm mad at him!" His voice was at a yell now and I instantly felt like crying again.

"Fuck, Harry. I asked him to come sleep with me. I didn't know what happened last night with you and her and I-"

"You should have fucking ASKED ME, ANNABELLE. I would have told you that it was nothing. It's just a big fucking deal to me that you ran to him for comfort last night and not me, alright?"

"It's a big fucking deal to me that you and Kendall were cuddling on your couch last night took after you lied to me-"

"I DIDN'T LIE. Please, read the texts from last night and tell me where I lied." Harry's hands were on his hips and he was impatiently tapping his foot. I stood my ground for a few moments, staring back at him before I turned onto my heels to walk to the bathroom. "Don't fucking walk away from this, Elle." His hand grabbed my arm so tightly I knew I'd be bruised the next day, but the look in his deep green eyes told me he didn't care.

"Let go of me." I pulled away from his grip, but he was too strong. "Harry! Please let go of me." I was crying again, my eyes burning from the amount that I had cried in the last 12 hours. My cheeks were raw, and my body was tired. I slapped Harry's chest and he grabbed my free hand, pulling me into a hug- the last thing I wanted from the bastard right now.

"I'm never letting you go, Elle." We stood there, him hugging my shaking, crying body, and me trying to calm down for a few minutes. I finally gave in and loosely wrapped my arms around his torso. His body temperature was higher and I knew he was still mad, but trying to hide it. "I'm sorry." Was all he said as he kissed the top of my head, and I swore I felt a tear drop onto my hair. I couldn't speak through my boo-hoo crying. Harry walked us backwards to one of the barstool sand he sat down, and pulled me to stand between his legs. "Princess, look at me."

I shook my head, burrowing further into his chest. "No. I don't want to."

"Why? Am I that hideous to look at?" He joked, trying to lighten the mood. "I'm really sorry. What I did was fucked up, and I should have told you, not even come in the house with her. But I was drunk, and I'm too kind to turn her down- even if I can't stand her. Niall was being nice, and innocent, and I understand that. I just... Don't do that again, alright? I don't want you depending on anyone else but me. Next time you have a problem with me, come to me about it." I nodded, listening to everything he was saying. His eyes were slowly returning to their bright green, and his grip on me was loosening.

"I'm sorry, too. I shouldn't have done that. I was just in a horrible state of mind after seeing my mother like that. All I wanted was you, and you weren't even there for me." I opened my mouth to speak again, but Harry silenced me with a kiss. Slow, and full of passion.

Pulling back, he looked into my eyes. "I don't ever want to hear you say that I wasn't there for you ever again, alright?"

I smiled up at him and pecked him on the lips. "Deal. And I want you to not be mad at Niall. He's the sweetest out of all of you, and you know it. He's like a little ball of sunshine. He was just being a gentleman."

"I know, and I'm glad he was there for you. I'm sorry I got so mad."

"Stop apologizing." I had always known Harry had a temper on him. Ever since we were little, his face would turn as red as fire at the smallest discrepancy between us. Whether it was "you stole that chip I wanted!", or something more serious like this. But he never scared me. He intimidated the hell out of me, but I was never scared of him. I knew he'd never do anything to physically hurt me or anyone else. Not seeing Harry over the last three years, I guess his temper had only gotten worse and I didn't even want to think about whether he had acted on it.

"Go shower. You smell like Niall." He kissed me on the top of the head and sent me off to the bathroom.

"So I smell like Nando's?"

"Precisely." I heard Harry shout back as I shut the door to the bathroom.

---

Lunch with Niall was as normal as normal could be. Harry was playing footsie with me across the table, grinning at me when I'd kick his ankle away. Harry paid for all of our meals and we stood up to leave.

"What are you two doing today?" Niall asked me.

I shrugged. "It's up to him. I feel like we haven't done anything."

"Wanna go to the park? Just lay around and talk?" Harry suggested and Niall decided he'd go hang out with some of his friends. Harry grabbed my hand into his and intertwined our fingers. Each time he did this, I realized how perfect our hands were for each others. His large hands protecting my smaller ones.

I laid down in the grass, feeling the warmth of it against my back and Harry followed suit, using his hands to support his neck.

"You should call your mum. She's got my mum all worried." Harry spoke. "But not now, this is too perfect. This weather, we never have it. It's like all is right in the world."

"Because it is. You and I are right, and everything else will just fall into place. I can't let my mom worry me anymore. If she's going to be dumb enough and date this fool, then let her be. She doesn't even know how to speak for herself anymore, Haz. I noticed it happening earlier, her being so hesitant about anything. But now I know why. She's been hiding me from him for a while."

I looked over at Harry and he had dozed off, half asleep, he looked at me, "Just give her a few days. Let her bother my mum a few more. Gives the two of them something to gossip about."

I laughed, and laid my head on Harry's chest, not worried about our open cuddling. Harry's body was the perfect pillow for mine. No matter where I lay, I was comfortable immediately. His shoulder was the perfect platform for me to rest my head on. His chest, the perfect place for me to catch a nap on. His arms were my protectors from the outside world.

"What are you thinking about, princess?"

"You. How just... Perfect you really are, and how blind I've been all these years. I love you so much, Harry. I'm so glad I have you. I've never felt so at home, or at peace, or just... happy with someone like I do with you. Even though last night was a fuck up on both of our ends, I'm just really happy that we are better now."

I felt my phone buzzing in my pocket, and as if on cue, it was my mother.

"Hello?" I asked, curious as to what she wanted to say to me.

"Hi, Annabelle. I'm just really sorry about the other night. Rob is... harsh. He comes off a lot stronger than he really is."

"Yeah, I kind of got that. Where is he now? How are you able to talk on the phone without him up your ass?" Harry laughed at my harshness, but I didn't.

"Watch it, Elle. He's in London for a job. He'll be back tomorrow."

"Great, I hope I don't see him. Guess I'll go back into hiding."

"You won't run in to him, Elle. What are the chances? Anyway, I'm really sorry about what happened and how it ended between the two of us."

"Do you really think I'm going to forgive you for that, mum? For the way he talked to me? HE needs to be the coward who apologizes. Not you. Don't do all of his dirty work for him like he's making you. Mom, I really don't like him. He's not the one for you."

"He's not dad, but sweetie-"

"Don't you DARE compare this monster to dad, mum. That's a fucking insult to dad." I felt myself shaking with anger, and Harry's arms wrapped around me to calm me down. "Until you've broken up with him, I don't want you to call me again."

"But what if you need money? I've been wiring you money."

"Harry's got money, mum."

"So that's why you're with him. I get it." Harry took the phone from my ear, he must have heard her on the other line.

"She's not with me because I have money. She's with me because she loves me, and I love her, and we've been in love since we were kids we were just too blind to see it. I told her if she ever needed help financially, I'd be there for her. Even if we weren't dating, it still goes the same for her. Don't you ever say that about your own daughter ever again."

I looked around as Harry continued talking on the phone and then I saw them. The paps. Standing right out in the open, taking pictures of this that was happening. I tapped Harry on the shoulder and pointed over to them and he nodded. He ended the conversation with my mum just as the paps were running over to catch up to us.

"Shit, Harry. How are we going to get away?"

"Cab. I'll run ahead and get a cab, you come as quick as you can." I nodded as Harry's long legs ran leaps ahead of me to get to the street.

I jogged the last few steps as I found Harry holding open a door of a cab he was already seated in. I heard the questions and the cameras clicking as the flock approached us. As I climbed in, I slammed the door. But not before I saw the face I unfortunately recognized entirely too well, banging on the window.

It was Rob.