You Are All I Need To Get Me Through

Chapter 18

Hannah turned to walk away, before abruptly stopping and turning back to Paul, brow furrowed.

"Do we really have to do this?" She asked, her anxiousness clearly written on her face.

"Han, we can't hide it from them forever." Paul reasoned. "They'll find out at some point, and it's better that they hear it from us."

"Yeah, yeah, I know." Hannah murmured. "I just wish we could get away for a bit and just be us. Not have to worry about anyone else for a bit."

"Me too. And we will, I promise." Paul smiled, running his hands down her arms before letting out a sigh. "But it'll have to wait until after the tour. And after we've told them. I'm just as nervous about this as you are. But we have to do it. We can't keep hiding from them."

"I know. I don't want to keep hiding. I want to be able to be with you properly. I just... I'm just worried." Hannah said, catching her lip between her teeth. Paul pulled her towards him. Smiling softly, she wrapped her arms around his neck, resting her head on his shoulder.

Paul bent his head down, pressing his lips to her head and speaking softly into the hair behind her ear. "Me too. But we're in this together, and we'll get through it together."

"Guys?! What's going on? What's taking you so long?!"

Paul and Hannah jumped apart to see Jon at the kitchen door. They quickly put some distance between them as Paul picked up the drinks tray.

"Umm, sorry. We just got chatting about the tour and I got a bit nervous. Paul was just calming me down." Hannah told him, letting out a nervous laugh.

"Ooookay then. Well, Simon's just arrived, so you need to come back in now. He wants to have a chat with all of us." Jon told them, turning on his heel and heading back out. Neither Paul nor Hannah saw the smirk on his face.

With Jon out of the room, Hannah and Paul turned back to each other, wide eyed. Paul let out a breath he didn't even know he'd been holding, shaking his head.

"That was too close. Simon's ruined our chance today, but we need to do this a.s.a.p. We can't keep creeping around." Paul whispered.

"Okay." Hannah sighed. "Come on, we better get going."

They headed back into the living room, and whilst Paul went around handing out the drinks, Hannah took up her original spot on the sofa. As Simon stood there and lectured them about something or another, Hannah was lost in her own thoughts, just nodding every now and then to feign interest.

Paul was right, she thought. They couldn't put it off any longer. Sat there with Paul so close, all she wanted to do was cuddle up to him, feel his arms around her. But she knew that couldn't happen until the others knew about them. It was only when the rest of the band started saying goodbye to Simon that Hannah snapped out of it.

"Bye Simon!" She called out, hoping no one would notice she was a bit late, or that she hadn't been paying a blind bit of notice. After Simon had left, she sat there for a little while longer before deciding she needed to get away. "If you don't mind guys, I think I'm gonna head upstairs. Read through the scripts or something."

The rest of the band bid her goodnight and she headed up to her room. She had a bath and changed into her pyjamas before heading into the lounge area to watch some tv. An hour later, she heard a door go and the Paul appeared, moving to sit down next to her.

"You feeling alright?" He asked, as she cuddled up to him, wriggling herself under his arm.

"Yeah, just needed to get away from everything." She smiled, splaying her hand across Paul's chest before drawing small circles with her fingers.

"Shall I go then?" Paul chuckled, making moves to get up. Hannah quickly reacted, grabbing the material of his t-shirt in her fist.

"Definitely not." Hannah grinned, pulling him back down. Paul cuddled her closer and pressed a kiss to the tip of her nose, settling down on the settee. They sat in silence, just enjoying the contact and the calm until Paul decided he should probably go take a shower.

"Your bed tonight?" He asked as he headed into his room, turning back to wink at her, a cheeky smirk on his face.

"Yup." Hannah grinned back. "I'll be waiting!"

With no interest in what was on the tv now she no longer had Paul to cuddle up to, Hannah headed back to her room, turning everything off and closing up the wardrobe doors as she went. She had just sat down on her bed, replying to a text from her sister, when there was a knock at her bedroom door.

As much as Hannah didn't want to get up, she felt guilty about the possibility of ignoring her visitor and crossed the room to find out who was there. Opening the door just enough, she found Jon stood on the other side.

"Hey Han. Any chance we can have a chat?" Jon asked, grinning brightly at his friend.

"Uh, yeah, sure. But I was on my way to bed so..." Hannah replied, trailing off and hoping Jon would get the message and wouldn't stay long.

"Understood." Jon nodded. "I won't keep you up too long."

Hannah opened the door right up and Jon immediately went over to her bed. He jumped onto it, sitting cross-legged right in the centre. Hannah shut the door and went to join her youngest colleague. She settled herself on the bed, leaning back against the headboard. Looking over at Jon, she tried to work out from his expression what he wanted to talk about. She didn't have to wait long to find out.

"What's going on with you and Paul then?" Jon blurted out, watching Hannah's reaction carefully. But to her credit, Hannah managed to keep a straight face, even managing to look a little puzzled.

"What d'you mean?" She asked, struggling to keep her hands on the bed, not wanting to give anything away with her nervous habits.

"Oh, come on Han. You know exactly what I mean." Jon cajoled, giving her a look that said he thought he had one over on her. Getting no response from Hannah, other than a frown, Jon ploughed on. "Earlier, in the kitchen. When I came in, you were cuddling. And it looked like more than just a cuddle between friends."

"I told you!" Hannah insisted. "We were just chatting about the tour. My nerves got the better of me and Paul was just helping me to calm down a bit."

In the background, Hannah heard the shower turn off and decided to try and get rid of Jon as quickly as possible.

"Look, nothing is going on. I'm really tired Jon. Can we just finish this in the morning?!" Hannah ground out, getting slightly irritated and agitated.

"Okay, you obviously don't want to discuss it right now, I'll leave you in peace." Jon chuckled, not wanting to upset Hannah any further. He was just about to get up when they heard the bathroom door open and both he and Hannah looked over in the direction of the noise.

Paul sauntered in, still naked from his shower. He had his towel over his head, drying his hair, completely oblivious to who he'd just walked in on.

"So, do I need my pyjamas? Or can I just come as I am?" He chuckled, giving a little wiggle of his hips for good measure.