No Control | Holding Me Ransom (Book 2)

44 - You Might Have Moved On

I hadn't heard from Harry by Thursday, but I sneaked a peek at his Twitter and saw he had been tweeting something about angels earlier in the week, and then had posted a picture of the view from the window of their private jet on the way to Glasgow on Wednesday on instagram. I sent him a text on Thursday night as I was going to bed, asking how the shows had gone, and if he was looking forward to a couple of days off. I didn't get a reply until late Friday morning, that said he was in Holmes Chapel and would be going to his step-brother Mike's birthday party that weekend. I was disappointed I wouldn't be seeing him, but I was glad he was spending time with his family, and hoped he was relaxing properly.

Sarah texted me in an excited frenzy on Sunday because Harry had been pictured outside a pub near Holmes Chapel, and One Direction had tweeted to confirm they would be releasing the names of their album tracks via snapchat later in the evening. I couldn't resist adding their official account, seeing as this would never traced by the media, and when the videos appeared of them holding sheets of paper revealing the new song titles I felt more than just a flutter of excitement. I texted Harry before I could even contemplate playing it cool.

To: Harry: Really excited to hear the album! Good luck for the show tonight, hope it goes well x

From: Harry: Thanks, I can't wait for you to hear Perfect x

To: Harry: You're really proud of that one aren't you! I can't wait either x

I didn't get a reply after that, and couldn't help my feeling of unease. I wanted to see Harry so badly, and hoped that we would be able to have a conversation about us, if the opportunity arose, but I wasn't sure when that would be. I knew he was due back in London on Tuesday and he knew I was free, but he hadn't made any attempt to make an arrangement to see me, and I was getting the vibe that maybe he didn't want to.

I got another message from him late on Monday night.

From: Harry: I think I've broken my foot :(

I rang him immediately, and he picked up after a couple of rings.

"Are you alright?" I gasped before he had time to say anything.

"Yeah, it just hurts," he moaned.

"What have you done?" I asked.

"I dunno," he grumbled. "I was pra... jumping around on stage tonight and I sort of felt something snap. It was agony, but I kept on going and then as soon as we finished they got a doctor to examine me and I've got to go to the hospital to get it x-rayed."

"Bloody hell," I breathed. "What are you going to do about the other shows?"

"I'll be fine," he assured me. "I'll probably just have to wear one of those boot things, like Niall had. I'll know more tomorrow."

"What are your plans over the next few days?" I asked tentatively.

He hesitated. "Not much, really. Got some promo to do. We're in London tomorrow but then I've got a couple of other things on, and then we fly to Dublin on the sixteenth."

"Oh OK," I said quickly, hiding my disappointment. I didn't want to ask if he would be home between the Irish shows. I felt like I was pestering him.

"I gotta go, they want to take me to the clinic now," he sighed. "Sorry."

"It's fine," I laughed, nervously. "Let me know how you get on. I'm around this week, if you're not busy, but it's fine if you are..."

"OK," he said, noncommittally. "Catch up soon, yeah?"

"Yeah," I said, softly, and the line went dead.

I got into bed and stared up at the ceiling, fed up. I wasn't the clingy type, but I felt like something had shifted between us, just when everything had been going well. I couldn't put my finger on it, but Harry had gone from kissing my stomach and giving me intense looks, to backing off entirely. I was mentally kicking myself for not taking the bull by the horns and voicing my feelings in Holmes Chapel, when I had first realised I was feeling differently towards him again. I had the same horrible inkling that I had left it too late and lost him for good.