Finding Direction

Chapter Three

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"You've changed, Niall."

"Megan, you know I didn't have a choice." I said, reaching out to place my hand on her shoulder. "I had to - the fans, they were -"

"Had to or wanted to?" her words bought a stop in my own. I paused, her eyes searching mine for answers.

"I didn't have a choice." I voiced out, my tone unsure now that her question made thoughts linger in my mind.

I had expected her to start hitting me, cursing me, like always, but nothing came out. Our fights were never like this. Sure we fought about my career, but it always ended with her forgiving me. I had always thought that she was understanding of how hectic my job was.

Now I wasn't so sure.

Knowing that this time things weren't the same, I started to panic, my arms engulfing her against me. "Please Megan, I can sort this out. Just don't leave."

For a while, she had leant against me, both of us savouring the feeling of being in each other arms.

But like all good things, it had to end.

  ➳ extract from 'Recovery'

by wattpad.com author EvaEnchanted

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Harry Styles

Both members of the band struggled to get through the closely packed club, worming their ways though heated bodies. Well, Harry did the struggling while Niall trudged along. Harry tried to look for the rest of his friends, in order to gain help in carrying the intoxicated and thoroughly emotional Niall, out of the club. He had no such luck, however.

He sighed and figured that he was going to do it alone. Harry braced himself for the upcoming torture.

As soon as the cold January wind hit them, so did the flashing lights of camera's. Harry quickly casted his eyes downwards, finding the lights unpleasant.

"Great." Harry muttered bitterly under his breath. "That would look nice on the front page of The Sun tommorow."

There were times when he hated the spotlight, feeling like every time a story was printed; new pictures posted, a part of his life is taken away. Sure, he knew what he was heading towards the day he auditioned for the X Factor. He knew of what being famous would cost him. Of course he did. But that didn't stop him from hating the baggage that came with fame.

Even more so, now that they were the ultimate attention from the intense scrutiny of the public.

And though he couldn't blame their old fans for treating them as if they were the bane of everyone's lives, he couldn't help but thinking how it was all unfair. A slip up was all it took. A tiny slip up and him and his bandmates would be under the glare of publicity again. They've been doing far too many recently though he wasn't one to complain. He had numerous contributions to the pile too.

After all, they were all humans. They made mistakes too, it was only normal to. No matter how much they wanted to hold the weight of the world and fake a smile, they couldn't. Handling all the stress that came with being the world's biggest boyband had taken a toll on them, changing them for the worst.

His body colliding with another bought a stop to Harrys thoughts. 

"Watch were you're going." the man all but snarled in his face.

Harry opened his mouth to retort something back, hating the man's hostility, when he caught a glimpse of a paparazzi hiding behind a car, underneath a heavy shadow. Instead, he bit down on his tongue and managed to mutter out an apology. He didn't want to make a scene and knew they were trying to get a rise from him, trying to evoke him to loose his temper. He couldn't give them that satisfaction.

"So that's all you're gonna do?"

Harry ignored him.

"Hey come back here!" the man shouted.

He turned on his heel, and re positioned Nialls arms on his shoulders. "Come on mate. Just a few more steps."

The man whom he had ignored laughed at the incoherent strings of words Niall tried to say in reply. "You're goin' down you know." This time Harry paused in mid step. "You and the others. It's time get down off your high horse coz your spoilt little asses aren't gonna last long." He smiled maliciously, his rotting front teeth on show. "Apparently, having a pretty face isn't enough. The world is right again."

Harry continued to ignore him, urging Niall to walk faster.

"Are you ready to face the real world, boy?" The man continued to taunt him. "You wouldn't last, I'll tell you that." He scoffed as Niall somehow stumbled hs way out of Harry's grasp and fell down unto the floor.

Harry cursed Niall silently in his mind. Only, the blond boy didn't seem to care, laughing carelessly as Harry brought him to his feet.

He saw the man still eyeing them up, staring at then as though he deemed them pathetic.

Suddenly, Harry had enough. Standing up to his full height, he stared the man down and growled in his face. "Look, I don't know what your problem is but I'm pleading you just leave as alone. We have done nothing to deserve your animosity. You're staring at us like dirt but really, I can't help but your the pathetic one bullying us boys." His tone was as hard as his jawline. His hands were waving around at their own accord, trying to get his point across. "I'm sick of it okay. I'm sick of everyone just sticking their noses up in our life when it clearly is none of their god damn business. You have no fucking idea how it feels when the world is against you. No fucking idea."

His chest was heaving in and out, most of the anger still sizzling in him.

He had cracked.

Normally he had more self control than this. "Okay. You got me. No reason to stay here now." He held the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes as he tried to regain back his calmness. He wondered what the media would make out of that.

"Eight - hundred quid."

Harry's eyes flashed open as he stared at the man incredulously. "What?"

"800 pounds." The man gruffly said. "That's how much they paid me."

As if sensing Harrys surprised gaze at him, he looked up. "Look you're a good kid alright." he reached up hesitantly and placed his hands on Harry's shoulders. "Don't let them get to you." With one last look, he turned and stalked out.

Harry shook himself out of his bewilderment. Had the media really paid that large sum of money just to sell a new story on him?

Shaking his head he continued their way to the car. One thing he was sure of was that they had to be more careful. He was tired of having to be careful with everything that he did. He felt as if he was threading on thin ice.

Harry felt his phone vibrate. He opened. the new text message from Zayn.

'harry cn u bail me out mate. nothing serous promise.'

Resisting the urge to scream and throw the phone away, his mind couldn't stop thinking about what the man had previously said.

Were they really going to go down?