Unrequited

Chapter 11

Now if there was ever a polite, discreet way to avoid someone, Harry had not been informed of it. After the show I hardly saw him except for the back of his head as he rushed onto the tour bus in the dark. I sighed and trudged onto the other bus wondering if Harry would have invited me with them if he wasn’t being so strange. My heart hurt a little bit which was completely ridiculous. I hardly even knew the boy and here I was, completely obsessed over watching every move he made. Was he thinking about me? Of course he wasn’t thinking about me. And even if he was, he was thinking about how he wished he’d never said he liked spending time with me. I must have started to annoy him. Or maybe he felt awkward about that morning we woke up in my room? Maybe that’s it. 

As I lay in my little bunk on the bus I thought about confronting Harry. Then I realised if his problem was that he found me annoying, going up to him wouldn’t exactly be the best thing to do. It would just make me look like the clingy tour manager’s daughter who really wasn’t even meant to be on this trip. I felt my phone vibrate under my pillow and I brought it out, only to be blinded by the light. My eyes adjusted as I opened the text from an unknown number.

hi charlotte, this is niall:) sorry if youre sleeping. you seemed a bit quiet tonight. u ok? we’re pulling up at a petrol station in 5. come and get some fresh air with us?(: x

I hit the reply button.

hey niall. how did you got my number?? i dont mind of course:) sure. see you then. x

His reply came almost instantly.

your mother gave it to me:) dont worry im not stalking you! x

I figured it wasn’t socially acceptable to go out in my dressing gown and slippers no matter what the time, so I climbed silently down from my bunk, retrieved some sweatpants and a jumper from the storage cupboards in the lounge and got changed in the tiny bathroom. The people on my bus were all asleep after a long day, judging by the lack of lighting - apart from the bus driver Trevor. “Still up, love?” he said as I turned a light on at the front of the bus. 

“Afraid so. Never let a One Direction member have your phone number. They’ll text you at all hours.” He chuckled. I felt a bit sorry for the poor man, having to drive people around at strange hours while they got to sleep in luxury at the back of the bus. Trevor must have been in his fifties. I wondered if he’d done this all his life. “Are you hopping out?” he asked as we parked at the petrol station/cafe/mini supermarket. “Yes, thanks,” I said as he opened the door for me and I stepped out into the biting air. I waited for the boys to hop off their bus and Niall came bounding over to me, pulling me into a one-armed hug. “Did I wake you?” he asked. “Nah, I was technically just lying there. Uhh where’s Harry?” I asked casually as only four boys stepped out of the door. Louis walked up on the other side of me, his hands in his pockets. “He’s in a bit of a mood.”

“Oh so he’s been like that with you too?” I asked as we went through the automatic door into the 27/4 supermarket-like petrol station. We passed the guy at the counter who looked like he was half asleep and wouldn’t have minded if we ran out of the door carrying the contents of the shop in a large trailer without paying. 

“What do you mean?” Louis asked, his eyebrows pulling together.

“I mean he hasn’t really said much to me since Brighton.” I tried not to show my resentment. I hope it worked. I didn’t want it to seem like I cared too much that he was supposedly avoiding me. I wasn’t meant to care.

“Really? I didn’t even notice. No...he’s really only been like this tonight,” said Louis, a little puzzled. 

“Hmm,” nodded Niall. I felt Niall move away, no doubt going insane over the range of food choices. I found myself staring unblinkingly at a packet of chips when Louis put his hand on my shoulder.