HYSTERIA

FORTY FIVE - HEART OF GLASS

HEART OF GLASS - BLONDIE

"Once I had a love, and it was divine, soon found out I was losing my mind."

HARRY STYLES

The air in the backroom of Glass Hearts is thick with tension, a stark contrast to the lively chatter and clinking glasses spilling from the bar. I lean against the wall, arms crossed, trying to drown out the noise of Niall and Louis bickering.

"I'm telling you, we can't just fucking wing it," Louis insists, running a hand through his hair, clearly exasperated. "We've got a fucking setlist to figure out, and you two are acting like this is just another night."

I groan, "We'll start with some song we always do, Pour Some Sugar on Me or some shit, people love that song. We'll get requests; we always do."

"We got a show to play Harry, people are counting on us." Niall rolls his eyes, irritation etched on his face.

"People?" I scoff. "What about me? What about what I want?" The words come out sharper than I intended, but I can't help it. The weight of everything—the mess with Ariel, the constant strain of being in this band—feels unbearable.

"Can you just not make it about yourself for one goddamn night?" Louis bickers.

"Fuckin' hell guys, let's just get through this show and we can figure our shit out afterwards, don't throw it all away." Niall says, trying to keep things civil.

I can feel the anger bubbling beneath the surface. "Throw it all away? You think I'm the one doing that? I'm the only one trying to figure my life out here. You two act like it's business as usual when everything is falling apart."

"Only one trying to figure out your life? Yeah, sure Styles." Niall scoffs.

Louis steps forward, his voice rising. "What the hell is that supposed to mean? You're just going to bail because things got tough?"

"That's not what I said!" I fire back. "I'm done pretending everything's fine. I can't keep doing this."

"The fuck are you saying then?" Louis asks, his eyes narrowing, the tension thickening.

I take a breath, feeling the words rush out before I can stop them. "I'm fucking leaving."

"The band?" Niall says, as if I wasn't clear enough.

"Yeah, fuck this. I'm done after this."

"You can't be serious," Niall snaps. "After all these years of hard work you're just gonna throw it away?"

"I can't keep doing this, it's not worth it anymore."

"And you think leaving is the answer?" Louis shouts, his hand running over his face, struggling to contain his frustration.

"I don't know what the answer is!" I shout, the anger spilling over. "But I know I can't be here anymore. Not with everything going on."

Niall finally finds his voice, but it's quiet and tense. "Harry... this is our last fucking show. Just give it one more night."

I pause, weighing his words. "Fine," I mutter, the bitterness lacing my words. "I'll do the show. But this is it."

"We'll figure it out," Niall assures me, though I can see the worry in his eyes, the unspoken fear of losing everything.

I nod, knowing deep down this is just a temporary band-aid over a gaping wound. We might get through tonight, but after that, I can't see how any of this continues.