All You Need Is Love: A Harry Styles/One Direction Fanfiction

Chapter 77

Breathe.

Just breathe.

The escalating sounds of screaming made it harder for my heart to calm down, though. I'd never known it to beat so fast in my entire life. It was beating with both excitement and nervousness.

The blackness swarming around me only made the whole atmosphere even tenser and made me clench my fists together, urging to just get on stage. It was what I loved doing the most, after all.

All of a sudden the band began to play, and the crowd erupted into completely fortissimo cheers, swarming around the entire building and bolting throughout my ears. I turned my head to the right and met eyes with Ali, who was standing on a podium next to me.

"Good luck," I said to her, knowing that it would be the last chance that we would have to speak.

"You too," she smiled. "And I don't just mean for dancing."

I nodded, turning my head back to the closed door in front of me. On the other side of that door: twenty thousand people. Jesus. But I knew exactly what Ali meant: it wasn't just my dance skills that were going to be watched, it was my behaviour around Harry, as well. I hadn't even thought of how I was going to act around him. After what had just happened ten minutes ago, I knew that I was definitely going to be a lot more comfortable around him. But anything could happen on stage. Just about anything. I didn't have the chance to think anymore because the introduction to 'Live While We're Young' began and I knew it was happening. Now.

The door in front of me shot open as the beat for the first verse kicked in and I ran onto the stage with the other dancers. The boys were already there, singing to the...crowd. Oh my god. I couldn't believe it. I'd been to concerts tons of times and knew how massive arenas were but standing here - on the stage itself - it gave me a sudden rush and I smiled, looking at Ali before joining in with what would be the beginning of plenty of dancing. I danced like I never had before...and I knew that I was giving it 110% effort, probably even more. The choreography was flowing naturally and I didn't even have to think about where to action next because I knew the dance inside out. I knew every dance inside out, so I had absolutely nothing to worry about. I didn't need to stress. I could enjoy this once in a lifetime opportunity.

All of the dancers ran forward to where the boys were standing, and formed a huddle around them as they sang the chorus. I bent down and found myself standing next to Harry  as I gestured the taught hand movements. The audience was going insane. I didn't blame them; I had seen one direction live too, and they were completely indescribable. But this was different; it was more; it was Madison Square Garden.

I ran away with the other girls as the second verse began and we danced through it effortlessly, the boys singing phenomenally. The song passed by in no time and as it came to an end I stood with Ali in a final position and Harry closed the song as we all froze. I had been too busy dancing and so hasn't been able to concentrate on him, but now that I had a second, I just watched as he stood there perfectly, making the crowd go wild. He was an amazing performer. They all were.

The song ended and screams responded, never dying down. I sat down on the left podium where planned, as the boys were now going to introduce the concert.

"Hello New York!"

More screams. I noticed the other girls being handed water and as I looked down to backstage I found the same woman from before standing there, holding out a water bottle in my direction. She threw it up to me and I caught it, mouthing a 'thanks' to her. I then took a quick sip and set it aside before admiring the sight in front of me. I widened my eyes and raised my eyebrows as I noticed that a block of girls next to where I was sitting didn't have their eyes on the boys; they had their eyes on me. And yet they were still screaming, and flashes from their cameras were pointing in my direction. Holy crap. I hadn't expected that. I didn't know what to do so awkwardly waved, making them go even madder. That was...nice. It reminded me of how I had often been treated back in England, which made me smile. After all of the negative publicity and false accusations that had happened here in New York, that one gesture from those group of girls had reminded me that a lot of the fans were really lovely. And it eased me. My eyes found my four girl best friends too, practically right in front of me, as they were sat next to the stage. They cheered in my direction and I sent them a thumbs up, completely happy that they were here.