No Choice || H.S.

Chapter 20

Harry's P.O.V

I ran a hand through my hair. "Well, the management made me do it." I said and Tahira rolled her eyes at me.

"I'm not talking about why you disguised yourself, Harry. You and I both know that."

I just gulped a bit and went to sit beside where her head lay, but on the floor so we were eye-to-eye level with each other.

"Fine, I'll tell you. But you have to promise not to tell any of the boys, okay?" I said and she nodded.

"Promise."

"But I want you to tell me something after I tell you my story. Deal?" She nodded again.

"Deal."

I sighed and leaned my back against the couch she was on so I didn't have to see her face, and I began my tale.

"The first year as a band, we were unbelievably popular in the country. You know that right?" I said and she whispered. "Yes."

"Well, the management had this idea to see who was the publics most favourite by voting on Facebook and Twitter. They had this crazy decision that whoever won, they'd be chosen as the bands bad boy/womaniser so they could gain even more popularity with a sudden change in attitude."

"You came first?" Tahira asked and I shook my head.

"Ironically, I came last on both accounts. Niall won by getting seventy-five percent of the votes." I heard her gasp.

"Then how come...?"

"I became the bad boy?" I asked and saw her nod from the corner of my eye.

"I had something to discuss with Simon so I was visiting the office when I heard the board talking about giving Niall a call for it. They had a full length discussion that if he didn't agree, he would get fired so that he doesn't have another option for it."

"Oh, Harry..." I shook my head.

"He was our little leprechaun. Even if he was older than me. Always cheerful, always happy. I knew that this would ruin him if the board got ahold of him."

"So you decided to take his place?" I nodded.

"I figured since I was the least liked, might as well go for it." I looked at her and saw her on the brink of tears. I shook my head a bit smiling at her.

"I didn't tell you this so you could cry. It's fine. I'm fine." I said and she sat up.

"Are you really?"

"I found you again, didn't I?" I asked a bit cheekily and she laughed.

"Did anyone else know about it?" She asked and I nodded.

"Only Paul. That's why he was never that harsh on me privately. In front of the boys, it was a whole another story... You should know something else, too." I said and she nodded for me to continue. 

"I never slept with any of those women." I confessed and I could tell she was, to say the least, shocked.

"But all those pictures and articles of you..." I shook my head.

"When I heard the board, I knew I had to act quickly so I hired a private PR team for myself which no one knew about. I had asked them to get girls from escort agencies or just girls or women who needed money to support their families or themselves. They had to sign an NDA before I took them out publicly. They knew the rules, get photos taken with me, go to my house then we'd either watch TV or play scrabble or something. I didn't even kiss any one of them on the cheek. Well, there was one exception. I insisted that I have her in my bed the whole night to cuddle with her. She was the cutest five year old I had ever seen." I laughed as Tahira lightly hit me on the head with a cushion.

"She was ones daughter?" I shook my head.

"Niece, actually. Her dad had died in a car accident while her mum was in a coma. Her aunt needed money to pay those hospital bills and I decided to help her."

"What about those drunk episodes?" I looked at her and her eyes widened.

"You payed them as well!?" I nodded and chuckled at her shocked face.

"I never got so drunk that I lost control of my actions, Tahira. They all were actors on hire."

"You were the only one." I said after a few minutes and she looked down.

"Only one to what?"

"To notice how quickly I changed in behaviour. Not even Louis noticed. They all just said it was a rebellion for coming last in the votes at first."

"Of course I noticed, Harry. I knew about us since I was a few months near fifteen. It was around the time you changed. I decided if I was promised to someone I wanted to know if he was worth it."

"And what's the verdict?" I asked and she smiled.

"At first, it was a big fat no. But now, it's a big fat worth it." I smiled brightly at her and she blushed.

"Now, it's my turn." I said and rubbed my hands together while she groaned.

"Okay, first question. How did you know it was me?" She blushed brighter.

"I had a suspicion, when you said you're Harry's best friend. I decided to check online and saw that Harry disappeared the same time that 'Marcel' arrived here. So, I clicked a photo of you while you weren't paying attention and sent it to a friend who's a massive fan of yours back in India. She just confirmed my suspicion but I told her not to tell anyone else so you don't have to worry about that."

I raised an eyebrow at her. "Did you stalk me online?" I asked and when she blushed even more, I cracked up.

"You did!? Oh man! That's classic!" I laughed and she just hit me with the cushion again.

"Stop it, Harry!" I rubbed my head and quickly sobered up.

"Ouch. Violent woman." I muttered but we both ended up laughing again.

"But in all honesty, Tahira, the boys can't know anything about all this. Especially Niall."

She nodded quickly but froze once her eyes landed on someone and she quickly paled. I followed her gaze and I felt my blood turn cold. There stood the boys and our parents. But what hit me the most were the dropped flowers on the ground.

At the feet of a crying Niall.

———————————————————————————————————————————

AN: Expected or not? Comment, Vote and Follow :) p.s. I nominated the story for the wattys so please vote and share this story with your friends!