The Opening Act (H.S) {Completed - Editing}

Moments of Panic & Distance

Harry takes some of my hair and moves it across my shoulder and I smile at him. He scoots closer and hides his face in my neck. I freeze as his lips gently kiss under my jawline and my mind starts racing, along with my heart. He was drunk and didn't know what he was doing, right? Or was he sobering up already?

"Hey," he whispers and I feel his hand slip under the edge of my shirt. "Can I tell you a secret?"

By the way his words slur it's confirmed that he's still quite drunk. I whisper a small yes in response and I feel Harry's lips stretch into a smile against the skin of my neck.

"I'm falling in love with you."

I lay there still for who knows how long until I know he's asleep. My mind races and my heartbeat is noticibly quicker. I carefully get out of the bed and triple check that he's not awake before I slip out the door and down the hall to where Lacey is sleeping. I run in and jump on the bed and she rises in a panic. "What the hell?!"

I cover her mouth and her eyes widen. "Hush, I just got Harry to fall asleep," I whisper.

"What's wrong?"

I sit criss cross and cover my face with my hands. "He said he loved me," I mumble.

"What? Uncover your face I can't hear you."

I start taking deep breaths and I look up at her. "He said he was falling in love with me."

"Oh my god," her eyes widen.

"But he's still so drunk and I don't know. He was like, kissing my neck and he was so close and he was all smiley and giggly. God, Lacey what do I do?!"

"First of all breathe because you're practically hyperventilating. Second of all, you need to think about-"

"What if he wasn't talking about me?" I interrupt. "What if he thought he was talking to Nadine or something? He's been hanging out with her a lot and she's a model and-"

Oh yay, the denial is back.

"Honey, I can assure you he knew who he was talking to you. I have no doubt in my mind. He's totally into you and you've just been so oblivious to it. Knowing you, it's been a weird mixture of being oblivious and being in complete denial that he likes you. Does he walk around holding hands with Nadine? No. Does he constantly kiss Nadine's forehead? No. Does he always call and check up on Nadine? Maybe a few times, but not at the rate he calls you. He doesn't even look at her like he looks at you. I've seen it. Every time he looks at you there's so much affection and love in his eyes. It's like you're his entire world, Ava. It's effing magical."

"But what if I'm not ready to be his world?" I whisper. I'm honestly so scared by all of this. He's such a great friend to me and I don't want to lose that if something happens later on. That's why I've had so much denial about the fact that he feels the way he does and that I feel the way that I do.

"Then he'll wait for you. I know he will. But you need to really think about whether or not the feelings are mutual. Do you have feelings for him?"

I sigh and look down at my hands. "Yeah," I mutter after a minute. I knew I liked him, but I guess I've never realized how much until just now. I wanted to be his. But the thought of that is also terrifying.

She takes my hands in hers and smiles. "He'll wait. I promise. And trust me, he won't even remember what he said in the morning. So go back in there or he'll think you left and that he screwed something up when he wakes up."

I nod and give her a hug. "Thank you."

"Anytime, now go get some sleep."

I smile and go back down the hall. I sneak back into Harrys room and get under the covers. I find myself keeping distance between us as I try to fall asleep, but eventually I give up and curl up to his side.

It's around ten when I wake up and Harry is still out. I go into the kitchen and get some pain killers and water, then I go back into the bedroom and set them down on the nightstand. I kneel down next to the bed and just watch him sleep for a second. He's so handsome.

I run my hand through his long hair and brush it out of his eyes. He stirs a little and mumbles something incoherent as he buries his face in his pillow. I laugh quietly and my hand falls down to cup his cheek.

"Harry," I sing song. "It's time to wake up."

"Don't wanna," he mumbles.

"How's your head?"

"Ouch," is all he says and I can't help but laugh a little.

"Come on, sit up and I have pain killers for you."

He groans over-dramatically and I smile as he sits up. His hands rake over his face and he looks at me as they drop to his lap. "I'm sorry I drank so much last night. I must've been a handful."

I avoid his eyes and stand up, clearing my throat. "It was fine once you got in the car. Now take these. Are you going to be in the mood for Disney again today?"

He nods and swallows down the pills with the water. "Yeah. Just need to get some food and coffee in my system. Let me shower and we can go out for breakfast."

//

The entire day we were in Disneyland and California Adventure, I couldn't walk close to Harry. I could tell he didn't remember saying it, because he would have brought it up. He seemed confused by the fact that I wouldn't hold his hand.

He kept buying me things too. He bought me an ice cream, the proceeded to buy a ton of stuff that I had wanted when I wasn't with him. It's like he was trying to buy my affection. I told him to stop and after the fourth bag of gifts, he listened.

I tried to keep it off my mind and focus on the last day in 'The Happiest Place on Earth.' It's going to be awhile before I'm back in Southern California and I'm honestly going to miss it so much.

LA just has this feeling about it that's so energetic. I don't know if it's just me who thinks that, but I don't care. I'd love to see more places in California too. I've always wanted to just tour the state.

I was so sad when we were leaving Disneyland. I may have even cried a tiny bit. I've had so much fun here with Harry and I didn't want it to end. But my mom needed me home by seven because technically, I should have been in school all day. Tomorrow was back to reality.

Harry drove me to the airport and the entire car ride was silent. I didn't like it and neither did he. For once, we had nothing to say to each other.

He walked me into the airport and I let him hold my hand while we waited for my flight to be called. He acted like he was going to say something a few times, and around the fifth try he finally spoke up.

"Did I do something wrong, Ave?"

I shake my head and try a smile. "No, you didn't do anything wrong. I'm just tired and sad to be leaving, I guess."

He nods. "I don't know when I'll see you again. Tour schedule isn't very flexible. But I promise the boys and I will keep in touch. Just don't forget to keep working on your music, okay? Don't give up on it."

"Never," I whisper. "I could never give up on my music. Why would you think I would?"

"I don't think that. I just know how important it is. I'm also really proud of you. For working on your music so hard. And uh, I don't want you to think that your hard work is going unnoticed, I suppose."

"Thanks," I mumble.

He nods and smiles. His smile falters at my flight is called and I'm the first one to stand.

Our goodbye is similar to the last one. This time, I'm leaving with a clouded brain.

And when I get home, I rant to my mom. She always gives me the best advice. It's strange this time though, because now my dad is home and he most likely listened to the entire conversation through the wall.

My mom tells me similar things to what Lacey said. She told me to be patient and to focus on my career and school for right now. And maybe if Harry and I still feel the same after tour, everything will fall into place. I can only hope she's right.