Resolution

Two : Harry

Two : Harry

We came off stage and I was sweating grossly. I grabbed a towel off one of the backstage crew and wiped my face. The boys bounced around behind me, chattering excitedly about the concert. Half of me was thankful to be off stage but the other half wanted to turn around and do one more song for the fans.

Joey, our manager, walked towards us from the other side of the long concrete corridor with Billy, our head of security. “Boys!” Joey cheered. “I have a favour to ask. We have a little girl backstage who was knocked over and almost knocked out by your fans before the show started. Feel like singing one last song to wind down?”

The five of us came to a stop, glancing at each other in question. Billy spoke up opposite us. “I pulled her out of the crowd. She was really banged up and missed the whole show. So how about it boys?”

We all shrugged and Liam spoke on behalf of us. “Yeah, we can do it. We’ve probably missed our time window to get a clean getaway anyway, right?”

“Right! Follow me,” Billy instructed. 

We followed Joey and Billy down the corridor. As I took the bandana out of my hair to re-do it, Joey turned around to address us. "We're bringing in a few other girls who won competitions as well. They'll come maybe ten minutes after you get there. Mingle for a bit then we're out."

"Is there food in the room? I'm super hungry," Niall asked as usual.

Joey rolled his eyes. "No but we'll get some."

We came to a stop outside the door and I was at the back. I drained my water bottle and shook my tired muscles out, conjuring up my award-winning smile. Billy opened up and we went through. On the other side was a large room occupied by a handful people – three medics, a security guard and two girls. 

We shook hands with the medics and security guard before turning to the two girls. One of them was bouncing around like an energizer bunny. Billy gestured to them. "This is Coral and her older sister Saffron."

The first thing I noticed about Coral was the egg sized bump on her forehead as she bounced up and down excitedly, trying to contain her emotions. The second thing I noticed were the eccentric clothes she was wearing. It was surprising for what I guess was a 12 or 13 year old. She was small for her age but it was always rare for young kids to come to concerts with all the screaming teenagers so I assumed she was no younger than 10.

Next to me, Niall beamed at them and said smoothly, "You both have pretty names."

Coral, the little one, grinned ecstatically. "Mommy and Daddy named me Coral because they picked me up from the baby-giver in Australia at a hotel near the Great Barrier Reef and they named Saffron after a spice they found in Greece when they were getting her from the baby-giver there."

The five of us chuckled in a friendly manner but we were all somewhat puzzled over that story coming from someone of her age. I glanced at her sister who was sitting on the sofa, her feet propped up on the table as she held a magazine in her lap. She peered up at us with a tight smile as if she were daring us to judge her sister and see what happened.

It was obvious she was protective for a certain reason so when she looked at me, I nodded and simply said, "Hi. It’s nice to meet you Saffron."

"Uh hey. Thanks for coming here to see my sister," she replied stiffly. I was surprised by her American accent. It wasn’t as rich as most of the ones we came across and it was oddly refreshing ... Even if she sounded uncomfortable.

My gaze on her was broken by her sister. A grin split Coral’s face in content as she bounced up and down. "Harry Styles, you're my future husband!"