forever&always

~CHAPTER 43~

~EMILY'S POV~

"That'll be 5 dollars miss."

"Here you go. And keep the change."

I rummaged through my purse to find a 10 dollar bill and handed it over to the driver. I didn't have time to receive change and besides- a 5 dollar tip isn't exactly a bad thing. I quickly thanked the driver as he drove off into the distance. I hurried into the hotel building as the door man opened it for me. I was careful to not he noticed by the fans who were camped outside the hotel for days. Giving him a quick smile, I rushed over to the elevators. It took several minute more like several years for the elevator to finally ding and come down. I climbed inside and quickly pressed the number 10 a couple of times before the elevator finally started to move. The little boy standing next to me shot me a funny look and I just gave him an awkward smile.

***

"C'mon. C'mon. Keys. Where the hel- ahh. There we go."

I had to dig through my purse for a few minutes and found it on the way bottom. I tapped the key card on the security lock of the hotel door and it clicked open. I slowly swung the door open and peeked my head inside. Harry wasn't in the living room- from what I could see. I slowly took a few steps inside and closed the door behind me. Looking around, the TV was still on and bags of chips laid on the floor with crumbs everywhere.

"Ew. Disgusting. The boys have some serious cleaning up to do around here."

While stepping over the messes that the boys had created, I just rolled my eyes and ended up stepping up in a few puddles which seemed to be- chocolate pudding? It was this brown, muddy, gooey, mystery substance that looked and smelled like crap. How long has that been sitting there? It looked like it's growing a fungus. Gross. I held my nose and pinched it. to keep out the unpleasant smell. My voice trembled a bit as I called out for Harry.

"Harry..? You in here?"

"..."

"Harry? Hello? Anyone here?"

"..."

There wasn't anybody in here. My voice echoed around the room. Maybe Harry had going outside? Where could he possibly be? I started making my way to the front door again when I thought I heard a bed creak. I stopped on the middle of my steps and turned my head around slowly. I listened carefully for the creaking noises of the bed again and assumed that it was coming from the bedroom. I quickly turned started walking towards the opposite direction and grabbed a lamp- just in case. A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do. I held the lamp close to my face as I trudged towards the bedroom.

"You got this Em. Don't be scared."

I slowly turned the knob to the bedroom and immediately swung it open. The door smashed into the wall- causing a few things to clatter onto the floor. Bags of chips, CD cases, deodorants, you name it. It was then I saw a familiar curly-haired boy's head bobbing up and down on the bed. I instantly started to lower the lamp onto the cabinet and settled my handbag on the floor. The room was neat and tidied up unlike the other rooms in the hotel. The curly-haired boy shuffled around the bed a couple of times before covering his entire face with the blankets. Harry.

"Harry? Babe? What's wrong?"

"..."

"Harry?"

Something was wrong. I hurried over to the bed and sat down on the corner. Harry was facing away from me with the blankets huddled beside him. I couldn't get a clear look at his face because he tried to avoid making eye contact with me. I attempted a few times to pull the blanket away from him but it was no use. After a few more attempts, I could tell that Harry was upset. He was never the type to cry. In fact, I've never even actually seen him show any tears before. But for the first time today, he seemed to be crying just a bit. Something was seriously wrong. I scooted my way towards him more and tried to tear the blanket off of him. Finally, I was fed up. As I was getting ready to stand up, I said to him.

"If you aren't gonna tell me what's going on, I'll be on my way. I can't help you if you don't tell me Harry. I guess I'll be on my way then."

I sighed out loud and bit the insides of my lips. It was frustrating to see Harry like this since he wasn't telling me anything. How can I help him if I don't even know the problem? I stared at his back for a couple more minutes then decided that it was time to leave. As I was about to stand up, Harry suddenly threw his arms around my waist and buried his face into my stomach. He had a tight hold on me and refused to let me go. I was taken a bit aback- it was then when I felt wet droplets of tears on my clothes. I heard him sniffle his nose a bit and he would bury his head into my clothes a but further. I didn't know why Harry was acting like this but he was really upset. I gently started to stroke Harry's hair and calm him down and he muffled into my sweater.

"Don't.. Don't leave me.."

"I'm not going anywhere.. Harry.. What happened? Why are you so upset? Did something happen?"

"Stay with me.. Please.."

"Harry..?"

I gently grazed my thumb over his cheeks in soothing circles. His arms were still sprawled around me, like a little child refusing to let go of his mom. Harry still had his face away from mine and I held him close to me. He latched onto me and refused to let me go. We stayed like that for quiet a long time. Maybe an hour? An hour and a half at least? Eventually, Harry fell asleep in my arms. I felt him gently snore and was off to dreamland. After making sure that he was fully asleep, I turned his head towards me. His eyes were a bit swollen and puffy- with his cheeks red. Tucking his messy curls back into place, I wondered what made Harry so upset. I cradled his face into my arms and tucked him inside the sheets. Even when he was asleep, he held my hand very tightly. I whispered to him.

"What happened Harry? I've never seen you like this before.."

His head rested on my lap and he used it as a pillow. Watching Harry sleep was interesting. Harry would sometimes mutter my name in his sleep and all of a sudden hug me tightly around the waist. I stroked his curls the whole time as a soothing gesture. He seemed to like it because every time I stopped, Harry would frown in his sleep. From the corner of my eyes. I noticed that Harry's laptop was on the corner of the bed. It was still on and I carefully lowered Harry's head onto the pillow. He didn't seem to like it but he eventually got comfortable with it. I muttered to myself.

"First time seeing Harry Styles cry.."

Then, I reached for the laptop. I was a bit bored low and decided to surf the Internet until Harry woke up. I opened the laptop to find something surprising. I didn't realize what Harry was looking at first until I scrolled down. I instantly gasped a bit before closing it right back again. It was slammed shut. My thoughts started running through my mind. Of course. No wonder Harry was so upset. No wonder why he cried in my arms. This all made sense. I felt his little pinging go off in my chest that felt heart-wrenching. My throat was all clammed up and my eyes slowly trailed over to Harry on the bed. A whisper fell between my lips.

"Oh Harry.."