Best Friends Means...

Two weeks. It had been a full two and a half weeks Harry had been on tour. It had also been two weeks since I last talked to him. After three days, I gave up on hearing from him. He had left me once, obviously he was okay with leaving me again. I had been staying at his house, which he knew, because he had groceries sent by weekly. I was going stir crazy. The only times I went out were with Eleanor, and even then we didn't do anything exciting. The one time we decided to go out to a club, we were bombarded with paps asking why we weren't with the band on tour since we were just hanging out in London. The boys started their tour off in Manchester, and were moving onto Ireland now. I had talked to Niall regularly, and occasionally Liam, and Louis asked about me all the time through Eleanor. We were all perplexed at Harry's behavior. Apparently he hadn't had one of his mood outbursts yet, and for two weeks, that was an awfully long time.

still nothing? the text from Niall buzzed in my hand.
nope.
he'll come around soon enough. Liam had a talk with him earlier today and I think he said he convinced haz to text you.
he shouldn't have to be convinced...
:/

I groaned at Niall's lack of response and continued my daily walk down the street to Eleanor's. Niall was the only one of the four boys who knew the entire story. Harry had driven to his house after he showed up at Eleanor's two weeks ago and told him about everything. Being Irish, we both knew we could trust Niall to keep a secret and not blab or anyone.

My phone buzzed as an unfamiliar number showed up on my screen.

"Hello?"

"'Ello love!" I recognized the deep Irish voice as Paul.

"Paul! How's everything?"

"Good, good. Listen, I hate to do this and meddle, but... I've been told by a little bird why Harry has been not himself lately." If by good moods and no hissy, five year old tantrums. Then no, he's not been himself. "Why don't you fly out here for a few days and see him? Surprise him?"

"He hasn't even talked to me. Why are you trying to surprise him anyway? You're just their tour manager..."

"But these boys are like my own. I'm starting to worry about him. I know it would cheer him up. Just think about it and text me back on this number if you want me to. There's a flight that leaves tonight I can get you on. You'd make it just in time for the show."

"I'll think about it." I looked down at my new watch that read 11 AM. "When do I need to let you know by?"

"You've got about three hours. That should give you enough time to pack, yeah?"

I laughed, "I haven't agreed yet, Paul."

"I'll see you later! They go on at 8, flight is at 5!" I said my goodbye to Paul as I knocked on Eleanor's door.

"Ready?" I nodded as Eleanor and I walked down the street to our favorite brunch spot. "Just got off the phone with Louis. He said hi."

"Same to him. Paul just called me, actually."

"Oh yeah? What did he say?"

"Asked if I wanted to fly out and surprise Harry. Told him I'd think about it."

"You really should go. I don't think phones are a mean of fixing this problem between you two, do you?"

"Probably not the best. But I'm just... I'm worried."

"About what, love? You have nothing to lose. You're not at fault here. He's being a selfish bastard, like most boys. He's got a lot going on in that curly head of his."

"Yeah, I'm sure he does but he never tells me what's bothering him until it builds up and he blows up on me. I can't believe what he's turned into."

"Tell him how you feel. I can't change him, neither can you. He's the only person who can change himself and maybe he's had some time to think about what losing you would really be like. I think you should go, but that's just me."

I hummed a response as we were seated at our favorite window seat at the quaint restaurant. I didn't have much to say as we ate, as I weighed out the pros and cons of going to see Harry. What damage would it do if I went?

___

just landed! I sent the text to Niall after my phone booted back up. He replied a few minutes later with a smiley face as I grabbed my carry on off the top bin of the airplane and made my way off the plane. I had decided to only tell Niall about my arrival, knowing the rest of them couldn't keep a secret to save their lives.

I saw Paul's large body waiting for me near the exit of the airport. I dropped my bags as he pulled me up into a hug. "Glad you decided to come."

"Yeah, me too. Thanks for doing all this."

"It's really no problem at all." He smiled at me as he grabbed my bags and we walked out to the big black SUV. "Backseat!"

"Ooh, I've got a driver!" I said as Paul got into the passenger seat and I opened my door to be greeted by a grinning blonde haired boy.

"Surprise!"

"Niall!" I flung myself over the center console of the back seat and squeezed him to death. "Thanks for coming to get me."

"Actually, I just came to get food. They're all freaking out because I'm not back yet and we go on in 45 minutes." I pouted. "I came to see you, too!" I laughed as we chatted, and he handed me a Coke that he had picked up at the corner store.

We arrived at the venue with 25 minutes to spare. I watched as Niall entered the room the boys were in. I took a few steps back and bumped into Paul, who looked down at me and nudged me in the right direction. I took a deep breath. "Paul, I can't." My chest felt like it was collapsing, and my stomach was unsettled. I had an entire colony of butterflies flying around in my stomach and I felt like I was going to puke.

"Wanna wait until after the show?" I nodded, and he led me to a room adjacent to the boys. I snacked on a banana, and sent a text to Niall.

cold feet. I'll see you after the show. :(

I watched as he read the text but didn't reply. Minutes felt like hours as I heard the parade of boys make their way to the stage. I could hear the music as it started and Paul popped his head in to tell me if I wanted to come watch from the side, I could. I followed him down the long hallway that got louder and louder as we walked down it.

I heard Harry's voice over everyone else's. He sounded raspy, almost hoarse, and it was making my knees weak as we reached the wings of the huge stage. I stood back, hoping not to be seen by him and cause a reaction. My face was beaming as I watched him hop around stage. He was waving at the fans, constantly thanking them every chance he could get, and his smile could have lit up the entire arena. I knew they'd have a small five minute break but I didn't know when it would be. I wasn't really paying attention until I was tackled by a sweaty body. Muscles were picking me up and swinging me around in a circle and I felt a wet kiss on my cheek.

"What are you doing here?! Harry!" Liam finally placed me down on the ground as the rest of the boys came over to me. Harry kept a distance from me, and just shot me a look. I watched as Caroline handed Harry his change of clothes, and he turned his back to me to change shirts. His black shirt moved up, exposing his back. His muscles had grown dominant over the last two weeks, and his spine was more visible. I had never seen his back look so skinny before. I walked over to him as he fixed his white t-shirt and placed his in-ear speakers back in his ears.

"Hey." I reached out to touch his arm, but he retracted, almost like a snake.

"What are you doing here?"

"P-Paul called me and told me I should surprise you."

"He should have asked me." He took a giant swig of his water bottle and stood, staring straightforward at the stage.

"And I shouldn't have come." I felt tears brimming up on my eyes as I walked away from him. I felt a gust of wind as he passed by me, pulling Paul aside to talk to him. "I shouldn't have come, Liam."

I squeezed my arms around Liam's body. "Yeah, you should have. We need you to be here for him. For all of us. He'll get over himself."

"Two weeks wasn't enough time to get over himself?" Liam rubbed my back as I pulled back from crying into his chest. "Glad you've got on black tonight."

"It wouldn't matter anyway." He kissed my forehead as he walked away, the stage hands were calling them all back to their spots to return back on stage after a quick wardrobe change. I watched from the side for the rest of the convert and during the last song, Paul escorted me back to their room to wait for them to come back.

I heard a knock on the door and I peeped up over the red leather couch I was lying on. "Yeah?" The door slowly opened and Harry's curly head popped in. "Oh. I didn't know this was your room. I can leave. I thought everyone came back here, but-"

"No, it's fine. Stay." Harry locked the door once he was inside and immediately rid himself of his sweaty shirt. I watched as he sprayed some fresh deodorant and then sat down on the couch, leaning a foot of space between us. "Have a nice flight?" God, this was awkward.

"Yeah, fine, I guess." He nodded. "You were... Amazing tonight. I don't think I've ever seen you look that happy before. You're so talented. I'm so proud of you."

"Thanks." Harry said, not looking me in the eyes. He stood up and went to go grab another bottle of water. I watched him as he slowly paced around. I observed his body from a distance. His hip bones were jutting out more than usual, and his forearms were frail and veiny. He had dark circles under his eyes like he hadn't slept in... Two weeks. I wanted to cry at the sight of him. He looked pitiful. His eyes weren't as green as I remember them being, like the color had been sucked out of them.

He stopped and stared at himself in the mirror that was set up in his changing room. I quietly got up and wrapped my arms around him from behind. He jumped at my touch but I slowly felt his body relax. His hands grabbed my arms and unwrapped them from his waist, and he turned around to face me, placing his arms around me. He squeezed my body as I melted into his warm, sweaty torso. I didn't even care how sweaty he was, or how I erupted into a sobbing mess of tears at his motion. He ran his hands through my hair and rubbed my lower back as he let me cry into his chest.

"I'm so sorry." Was all he said, and it made me cry even harder. "I'm so, so, so sorry, princess."

And that's really all he needed to say. I could feel it in the thumping of his chest that he truly meant that he was sorry.

Harry's P.O.V.
I held her body tightly to mine as I fought back tears of my own, feeling the broken girl collapse into my lap. I hadn't slept soundly in two weeks. All I could think about was how I had turned into such an ass wipe for no apparent reason. I knew I had broken Elle's heart, but more importantly I had lost the friendship of my best friend.

"I know I've been shit to you. I didn't deserve you in the first place. I told you I'd take care of you, and love you, and treat you like the princess that you are, but I didn't, Elle. And I'm so sorry. You don't deserve someone as shitty as me." She continued crying as I spoke. I heard her sniff one more time before she pulled away from my chest and looked up at me. Her eyes were as red as the couch we were now seated on.

"But Harry, you're still all that I want." I placed my hand on the back of her head and let her head fall back into her spot between my shoulder and neck and allowed her to cry some more, feeling myself let go. I wiped the tears from my eyes and let out a quiet sob.

"But you shouldn't want me. God, I've treated you so horribly."

"I don't want anyone else, Harry. I'm willing to work things out with you if you're willing to put some effort into us. I'm not one of those girls you can just boss around and control me, and you're going to have to accept that."

"I know."

"And you're going to have to get over yourself. I have never seen you like this before. Being so... Argumentative towards me all of the time. And I don't like it. I'll forgive you and let the past be if you'll try and let me know what's wrong. Something has to be wrong, Harry."

"It is. I wasn't used to you being back in my life, Elle." I paused as I thought about what to say. "I was mad because you lied to me about rehab."

"I didn't lie-"

"You didn't tell me about it. I know we already fixed this problem but it still hurts me that you didn't tell me about what was going on with you. And honestly, I'm upset that you're still upset about Jack. He was shitty to you, Elle. And I was too. And when I looked in your eyes, sometimes... I could just tell that you weren't there in the moment. You were worried about him too much. And I worry that you weren't over him, that you still wanted him. I could see that you were still thinking about him"

Elle shook her head and contorted her eyebrows. "You've lost your mind, Harry. I don't want him. I want you."

"Say that all you want, but I can't help but think in the back of my mind what if you still want him?"

"He's gone now." I watched as she traced the tattoos on my chest and I rested my head backwards on the couch.

"I know." I took a deep breath and exhaled, trying to calm myself down. "I just don't want to lose you to someone else."

"The only way you're going to lose me is if you continue being whoever you were just being for the last few weeks."

"I don't handle change very well at all. And I don't handle seeing you upset. Because I want you to be happy, and I want to be the one who's making you happy."

"Harry, you are the one who makes me happy. You're the one for me, and I know it." She spoke smoothly and without hesitation as she laid on my chest. Her tears had stopped falling and her breathing had calmed down. I picked my head up to look down at her. Her eyelashes were long and resting on her cheeks as she looked down. "I lied earlier."

"About what?"

"I'm really glad I decided to come." I felt her cheeks turn from a frown into a smile as she looked up at me. I placed a kiss on her forehead and pulled her closer into my body.

"Me too. I promise on my life that I'll work on being the man you deserve."

___

Elle's P.O.V.

"Pssst. Pssst."

I grumbled and rolled over, the hotel bed still completely enveloped my body.

"Wake up!" Liam was poking both Harry and I, trying to wake us up.

"I don't wanna move." Harry grumbled from beside me and I fumbled around with the sheets to cover myself up as much as possible.

"Come on, we've got a day off and Niall wants us to go explore his country with him."

"Of course he does." Harry's voice was thick with sleep and I wanted to pounce on him with each word he spoke. "This is the first good night of sleep I've had in weeks. Can't I just sleep all day?"

"Suit yourself. What about you?" I felt a finger poke my side and I let out a grumble.

"I'll see where you guys are later. I don't want to sleep quite all day, but a few more hours wouldn't hurt."

"Poor Niall is going to be heartbroken." Liam muttered as he walked out of our room. I was confused as to how Liam even got in our room, but I pushed the thought aside. Harry's warm body scooted as close to mine as humanly possible.

"God, I've missed you." He opened his sleepy eyes and the green of them stared back at me. Overnight, they had returned to their usual green state and I found myself holding my breath at how bright they had become. Harry placed a soft kiss on my cheek and wrapped his arms around me.

"Harry, if I were any closer to you, I would be in you."

"You want me to be in you?" He mumbled into my neck as he bit and kissed all of my spots. "Alright, then."

His voice was low, barely audible, and sounded like he had smoked a pack of cigarettes it was so raspy this morning. I knew it was because of the crying he had done last night but it was making him irresistible. He thrust his hips into the side of my leg, forcing me to feel his morning hardness. My head immediately responded by craning backwards into the soft pillow, opening up more area for Harry to kiss. He took this as an opportunity to straddle me, kissing every exposed inch of my upper body.

"You're beautiful."

"Your voice right now, Harry. God, you're so sexy." I felt him smirk as he kissed my earlobe and took it between his teeth.

"What about my voice, love?" I dug my nails into his back, and let out a moan as he continued rasping sweet nothings into my ear.

"Touch me, Harry. Please."

"Like this?" Harry had moved to the side, and I felt his hand palming me through my lace panties. "I wonder how many of these I have ruined."

"Well, you bought this pair. So ruin away." I chuckled, but immediately stopped as I felt Harry pop one of the string sides as he ripped them off of me.

"Shouldn't have challenged me like that." He placed a kiss to my cheek as he disappeared under the duvet, leaving a trail of kisses down my body. I felt him blowing cool air to my center before he kissed his lips to where I was actually aching for him to touch. My hands gripped the sheets as he did what he did best. My mind was going wild, unable to see Harry pleasing me. It had been two weeks since I had been touched or touched myself and I has been used to almost every day.

"Harry, please." I could feel my legs already trembling as he gripped my hips to hold me still, as he thrusted two fingers into me without warning. "I want your cock, right now."

"If you want my cock, you've got to come for me." He worked his thumb in a circle as he continued pumping his fingers in and out of me. I quickly unravelled at his command and as I was coming down from my high, he emerged from underneath the duvet. "You're perfect."

He kissed my lips, letting me taste myself. "And I taste good on your lips." I kissed back harder this time, rolling myself on top of him. I steadied myself over his head and lowered myself to meet his hips. He let out the sexiest groan I've ever heard as I rolled my hips back and forth, riding him slowly. "I've missed you filling me up like this." I leaned down and kissed his neck, being careful not to bite too hard and leave marks, remembering that he would be playing a show within the next day.

"And I've missed how tight you are." His large hands splayed across my hips as he guided me on how quickly to move. "I've wanked almost every day, twice a day, and I'm still about to lose it in a minute if you don't stop riding me like this right now."

I steadied myself on his chest and kept working my hips as I watched him close his eyes tightly, trying not to focus on what was happening. "Harry, I want you to come. Right now."

"Fuck, Elle. I don't want to." Harry slowed my movements down but I fought against him, trying to make him finish inside of me while I was on top.

"I'll let you come all day long in this bed." Before I could even finish myself, Harry's hips were thrusting upwards and he was grunting, filling my insides up with his warm liquid. I collapsed on top of him as he slowly pulled himself out. Our legs found their proper places, entangled in each other's and the sheets, and our hands did the same, finding their resting spot on top of Harry's chest. "How much weight have you lost?" I asked, noticing his ribs being visible.

Harry shrugged, "dunno. I have an appointment with the nutritionist this week to see what's going on. I've had no appetite lately so I just haven't been eating."

"And you've been working out?" He nodded as I bit my lip in concern. "Haz, you need to eat. You won't build any muscle if you don't eat."

"I was getting sick everytime I ate. The gym is where I've been channelling my anger. I already feel my appetite coming back knowing that you're not mad at me."

"Honestly, I could never be mad at you." He was absentmindedly rubbing circles into the small of my back as we laid in bed, "so don't ever worry about that again." He hummed in response.

There were no more awkward moments of silence between the two of us the rest of the morning and into the early part of the afternoon. We just laid there and talked, happy to be back in each other's arms for now.

"Hey Elle?" Harry's voice made me jump out of the doze of sleep I was in.

"Yeah, Harry?" I repositioned in the bed and watched the tv as I waited for Harry to speak again.

"I love you."

"I love you more, my prince." Harry placed a kiss on the top of my head as we both fell back asleep.