Love and Fame (Harry Styles)

Chapter 24

Harry and I found ourselves back in his London apartment before New Year's Eve. We were planning to celebrate the new year with the boys.

Christmas with the Styles family had been wonderful. I missed waking up to the cheerful family breakfasts and I missed Anne's homemade cookies. But at least now I knew that Harry's family liked me, and I knew that we would probably go back there soon.

So at the time being I just enjoyed seeing Niall, Liam, Louis and Zayn again. I had missed them a whole lot. A lot more than I had expected to actually. I had grown dependent on them during the months I had travelled with the band.

Harry and I hurried over to Niall's apartment to meet the boys when we arrived back in London. Neither of us could wait for even a second to see our friends again.

"Harry, you don't have to tell us anymore, we know you do it," Louis commented the second the two of us joined the others, and I was confused.

"What are you talking about?"

"If Harry's wearing a hat, it means he's slept with someone the night before," Niall explained and I eyed Harry's beanie.

When Niall mentioned it, I recalled that Harry had been wearing a hat almost everyday since we had started fucking. It made me blush. Everyone knew when we had sex and when we didn't...

I hoped it wasn't common knowledge and that his fan base didn't know as well. That would have been extremely embarrassing.

"Hey, by the way," Louis added in a cheerful greeting, and hugged me tight while I blushed at the new information. "Did you have a nice Christmas?"

"The best," I admitted as the others gave hugs as well. "You?"

"It was great seeing my mum and my sisters again."

"I ate a lot of food," Niall said with a happy grin and I giggled.

"What a surprise."

"What was it like meeting Harry's family?" Liam asked as we gathered in front of Niall's living room flat screen.

"It was awesome," I said and looked at Harry as he flashed me a smile. "I wasn't awkward at all, and I think they all kind of liked me."

"They definitely liked you," Harry said. "I mean, you didn't break anything."

We laughed at the inside joke, and in the end we had to explain it to the other guys because it drove them crazy not to know what we were giggling about.

I knew that telling the rest of the boys would introduce a new era of mocking me about breaking people's expensive china. It would be a recurring joke whenever I were to meet someone new, but I didn't really care.

I was too comfortable with the friendly mocking between me and the guys by now. Everyone were teased equally much by each other and it always seemed to lighten the mood. If my broken china story could lighten the mood sometimes, that was just a good thing.

"Have you heard from management yet?" Niall offered when we were finished laughing, and I shook my head.

"No, why?"

"About continuing the tour or not."

"No, I haven't even though about that since we left America..." I mumbled and looked at Harry with worry in my eyes. "They haven't said anything. When will the tour resume?"

"Not until March," Liam said calmly. "There's still a lot of time, I'm sure they'll contact you."

"What if they don't?" I said, and suddenly I was panicking. "I can't say goodbye to you guys and have you travel around the world without me."

"Relax, I'm almost a hundred percent sure they'll ask you," Zayn said. "Why wouldn't they? The single is doing so well in the charts and everyone loves it. They would be idiots not to bring you along."

"I hope you're right," I mumbled and Harry laced his fingers into mine and squeezed my hand. His gentle touch calmed me down a little.

As night fell, we turned on the TV to watch a movie. Niall and I agreed that we should watch 21 & Over because it had the same writers as The Hangover, and once we had decided, the others weren't allowed to have a say in the matter.

I was sandwiched in between Harry and Niall, and when the movie started, I cuddled up against Harry's strong chest as Niall rested his head on my shoulder. Liam, Louis and Zayn cuddled up too. It was really nice.

What would I do without my boys? I needed them, all of them. And if they were to continue the tour without me, it would break my heart.

"Our New Year's Eve is gonna be like this," Niall said randomly as the crazy events in the movie escalated.

"Why would we want our New Year's Eve to be like that?" I said with arched eyebrows as one of the main characters were thrown out of a second-story window.

"Well, not exactly like that of course," Niall said and rolled his eyes as if I were the hopeless one. "But we're gonna do lots of random stuff and we're not gonna care about anything."

"I'm down with that, just don't throw me out a window," I said and Niall tickled my sides for mocking him.

I was extremely ticklish, but I had managed to hide it from the boys until now. Everyone looked a bit startled when I shrieked, but then I saw a devious look form in their eyes. They knew one of my weak spots now. Dammit.

"You're ticklish?" Harry said in disbelief. "How come I don't know that?"

"Niall, please!" I gasped when he didn't stop tickling me. "Harry, help me!"

"Niall, stop," Harry said calmly and Niall immediately stopped as if someone had pushed a button.

"Why do you listen to him and not me?"

"I saw what his fist can do to a brick wall. Your fist can't hit that hard," Niall said and Harry flexed his hand at the mention of his rage a few weeks back.

"I'm sure I could hit you hard if I wanted to."

"Do you want to?"

"No!" I exclaimed and grabbed Niall by the chin to peck his lips. "You're too adorable. Who would want to hurt a Furby like you?"

"Furby? Where did you get that from?" Niall said and I smiled as Harry started chuckling. "Harry!"

"What? If she had ever bothered to check her Twitter, she would see the photo of you and the Furby on my account," Harry said and reminded me that I actually did have a Twitter account. I hadn't been on it for weeks... "It's not like it's a secret that you look like one."

"I don't look like one!" Niall insisted and Harry laughed even harder.

"They're cute, why does it bother you being compared to them?" I said and Niall shrugged. "It's better than what my brother calls me..."

"What does your brother call you?"

"Leech Blood," I said and everyone arched their eyebrows. "Or just Leech for short."

"What? Why?" everyone said in unison.

"I don't know, you're gonna have to ask him."

"So you're basically saying we'll never know?" Louis said with a look of despair in his eyes.

"Don't worry, love, I can ask him the next time I meet her family," Harry said and looked to me. "Is it Mike or Jonah calling you that?"

"Jonah. He's the one with all the nicknames. According to him, his siblings are named Mike The Bike and Leech Blood."

"But why Leech Blood?" Louis said in exasperation. "It doesn't make any sense."

"I don't know. Maybe he thinks I'm a leech feeding off of my family?" I said and the boys laughed.

"I don't think you're a leech, love," Harry said and I smiled as he pressed his lips against mine.

Yeah, I definitely needed my boys. Management simply had to sign me up for the rest of tour, or I would go into a state of serious depression.