Love and Fame (Harry Styles)

Chapter 11

Our single was widely praised and everyone seemed to love it and stream it and buy it once it was released.

I was a bit overwhelmed by it all, but extremely happy too. Finally people paid attention to my music. And to get such positive reviews was great.

The boys decided we should throw a party for everyone involved with our single, as a celebration, and I looked forward to it.

By the time the single was released I had been on tour with the boys for over a month and I finally knew everyone. The party wouldn't be a room filled with strangers, it would be a room filled with friends.

"What's the dress code?" I said the night of the party, and the boys raised their eyebrows as if that was a term they had never heard.

Everyone was packed in the narrow aisle between the bunk beds in the tour bus, trying to change in the crowded space without knocking anyone out in the process.

I had come to the point where I was no longer afraid of wearing just my underwear in front of the boys. Sure, I was a bit uncomfortable whenever Harry's eyes traced my almost naked body, but that was only because it resurrected the subdued feelings I had for him.

"Whatever you feel comfortable in, love," Harry said and yet again the butterflies erupted in my stomach.

Ever since the night Harry had brought me up on the empty stage to show me just how big the arena was, and I had realized that I was falling for him, my feelings had grown even stronger.

And it was terrible.

I didn't want to have feelings for him. It would only break my heart. It already did a little bit.

I tried to stop thinking about him, but I never managed. Because every time he was close to slipping out of my mind, he would appear in person in front of me, dimpled smile and all, and remind me of what I was feeling inside.

"You ready?" Niall offered when I had buttoned my Levi's skinny jeans, and I nodded.

I had decided to go casual. I wasn't the one to dress up. I didn't really have anything to dress up in anyway. So I settled on skinny jeans and a faded concert t-shirt from the time I had seen Travis live with my dad.

We made our way to the celebration party. It was held in the green room of the arena the boys had had their previous show. They would have another show there in the morning.

The room wasn't particularly decorated or anything, but there were plenty of friendly faces and plenty of alcohol - the only two things one really need to make a decent party.

Everyone treated us as if we were the guests of honor, while we had really thrown the party to show the crew that we appriciated what they had done for us. It was a celebration of them, not of us.

Harry, Niall and I made our way to the open bar to pour ourselves drinks. Or really to open three bottles of beer. We weren't really the Sex on the Beach or Martini kind of people.

"Here," Harry said and handed me the beer bottle he had just opened.

I looked at the bottle's label and my eyes popped. Harry had given me a bottle of Kirin - my favorite brand of beer. A Japanese brand that had to be imported from overseas.

"Where did you get this?" I said in disbelief and took a long and grateful sip of the tasteful beer.

"When we saw you live for the first time and grabbed some beers after, you told us that Kirin and Stella were your favorite brands," Harry said with a shrug. "So I made sure to have a couple of bottles of both."

It was such a sweet gesture that I was thrown into another fit of falling in love with Harry Styles, the boy I wasn't supposed to love because he was my colleague and it was wrong.

"That's so sweet, thank you," I said and Harry flashed me his dimpled smile, the one that always sent my heart racing in my chest. "You have the memory of an... elephant? Do they have a good memory?"

The night passed by so quickly and I had so much fun.

I quickly downed a couple of Kirin's and Stella's and felt my cheeks flush and my head spin a little. I wasn't exactly drunk, but I was definitely a little tipsy.

As I was talking to Lou about having a girls night with manicures and pedicures and facials, I noticed Harry staring at me from across the room.

I allowed myself to look at him for a second as Lou explained how she would like to cut my hair if she was ever allowed to.

The sexual tension was sky-high in the intense looks he sent me. And it made me uncomfortable and happy at the same time. Because I had promised myself not to get involved with Harry that way. But I wanted to... I really, really wanted to. And by the looks he sent me, it was pretty obvious that he wanted to too.

I forced myself to look back at Lou as she continued her elaborate explanation of what haircuts would look good on my curly - but, for the occasion, straightened - hair and why.

And then Tom came to steal his girlfriend away from me because it was their first night without Lux for a while, and I was left alone for a second.

Until Harry came to keep me company.

He smiled and offered me another beer. I accepted it as his sparkling green eyes seemed to undress me with his intense look.

My heart fluttered and butterflies erupted in my stomach when he looked at me like that. It made me blush and I was utterly aware that Harry could see the pink in my cheeks.

"Come here, love, I wanna show you something," Harry almost whispered with his seducing voice, and I voluntarily followed him despite the little voice in the back of my mind telling me not to.

Harry took my hand in his and brought me up a flight of stairs. Suddenly I was hit with a gush of cold air. It was extremely refreshing and it cleared my mind a little - but not enough to admit that I really shouldn't be alone with Harry at the moment.

He had brought me to the rooftop of the arena and the view was breathtaking. The darkness was lit up by millions of tiny lights from the city below us. It was like looking at twinkling Christmas lights. So romantic...

For a second I stared at the view, but then I turned to Harry to find him already looking at me. His face turned into a giant smile once our eyes locked together, and I couldn't help but smile too.

He slowly put his hand on my hip and I felt my heart racing again. It was beating so fast and hard that I could hear my own heartbeat thudding in my ears. And it was beating harder and faster still as Harry pulled me even closer, so close that I could feel his breath on my face.

He put a hand on my cheek and I looked up at him with my eyes screaming and begging for him to kiss me. For him to love me.

Please, please, lock your lips to mine and never let me go!

And then he did just that.

His soft lips brushed against mine, gently at first, but as I parted my lips in an invitation he deepened the kiss. It sent vibrations through my entire body as I hungrily kissed him back, standing on my tiptoes to compensate for the height difference.

It felt so wrong and yet so right. We were friends, so we were clearly breaking a barrier by kissing like this, but... I had wanted to for so long. And though I might regret it in the morning, I definitely didn't regret it now.