Oh Brother

The apology

Niall Horan

I did as Zayn had asked and went into his dressing room. I saw Harper asleep on the sofa and felt a pang of jealousy in the pit of my stomach. Why couldn't she be that close with me? Then it all hit me. Zayn had chosen to not do the concert to comfort Harper. Why didn't she come to me? I thought we were on good terms now. 

I brushed all the negative and unwanted thoughts to the side and went and sat by Harper on the sofa. I brushed her hair out of her face and it was damp. I felt her cheeks which were also damp and slightly hot. Why had my beautiful Harp been crying? Was it because of me? Had somebody hurt her? Was she upset by what Liam had said? Did Harry hurt her? I swear to god if he did- Harper began to toss and turn in her sleep. I looked down and her and she was frowning. She had beads of sweat forming on her head. Her hands flew up in front of her as she began muttering things. 

I grabbed one of her hands and kept it in mine while I pushed the other back down to her side. "Harry..." She muttered. I sighed. I wasn't going to storm off this time though because Harper was upset and I needed to get over myself. She wasn't even mine. "No!" She whispered. I looked down at her, trying to read her lips. "Your girlfriend..." She trailed off before continuing to wiggle around in her sleep. "Don't... kiss... me." She mumbled subconsciously. I thought I had heard things so I brushed it off. "Don't kiss me!" She shouted before bolting upright on the sofa. "Woah, darling, are you alright?" I asked as she burst into tears.

I opened my arms instinctively. She practically threw herself into them and cried onto my shoulder as I stroked her hair. "What happened?" I whispered to her as I continued to stroke her hair. "I can't tell you." She whispered back. "Why not?" I asked. "You'll be mad." She said quietly. "What if I promise you I won't be?" I asked. "You won't be able to keep it." She replied. I'm not going to lie, I actually got kind of nervous. I pushed her away by her shoulder so I could look into her eyes. I tucked some loose pieces of hair behind her ear. "You can tell me anything." I reassured. "Harry kissed me." She blurted out. "Where?" I asked protectively. She cried harder. "Lips." She whispered. "How many times?" I asked. "Four." 

My heart literally shattered. "He's got a girlfriend!" I shouted. "Niall, you promised." Harper winced at my sudden aggression and I softened instantly. "Sorry baby. He has a girlfriend, you know that, right?" I asked. "I do now, thanks to Louis. But I didn't, I would never do that to anyone!" She exclaimed her voice cracking as the tears came faster. I quickly wiped them away and unwrapped her arms from around me as I stood up. "Where are you going?" She asked. "Harry's dressing room." I stated. "Niall, you promised!" She shouted defensively. "Don't worry, I'm not going to do anything." I protested. "Then I'm coming." She stated blankly. "No, Harp-" But I was interrupted. "Why not if you aren't going to do anything?" She asked innocently. I sighed in frustration and mumbled a single 'fine'. We walked side by side on the way to his dressing room and she grabbed my hand out of nowhere and intertwined our fingers. I obviously didn't mind and smiled like an idiot and she noticed, making her giggle and me blush.

We reached Harry's dressing room and I knocked. He came to the door and opened it for me to come in as Harper was hidden behind me. I walked through and then he saw Harper being dragged by me, my hand in hers. She was clearly nervous as she was biting her bottom lip and every now and again, squeezing my hand. "Harper, babe, I-" Harry began. "Save it." I said. "I know you and Stacy aren't an actual thing but why didn't you tell her?" I growled. He stared at me blankly and she squeezed my hand, signalling she was nervous. "Poor girl, woke up in tears from a nightmare she had about you!" I shouted. Harry seemed to wince but he didn't say anything.

"Why aren't you answering back?" I shouted at him. He nodded his head towards Harper and I knew what he meant. He meant if she wasn't here, he would have been. "Harper, honey, can you go and wait in the hallway?" Harry asked and I clenched my jaw. How dare he? "No, anything you can say to each other, you can say in front of me." She reasoned and I smiled a proud smile. Harry's fists tightened. "Ok, but that wasn't the sensible option sweetheart." He said passive-aggressively. "Stop calling her pet names! She's mine!" I shouted and instantly regretted it. Harper's hand slipped out of mine and Harry's jaw dropped. "What? You didn't think to tell me that!" Harry shouted at Harper.