I was rudely awoken by Olly Murs blasting from the front room at a deafening volume. My head throbbed, and my eyes squinted against the light as I ripped the curtain open. I was sliding my glasses over my eyes as I stumbled into the front room to find Harry sitting at his laptop, the music even louder than before.
"Are you fucking kidding me?" I growled.
"Oh hello, sleeping beauty," Harry grinned up at me, not turning the volume down at all.
I gritted my teeth and turned to get a glass of water and two Advil.
"How are you this fine morning?" he smirked when I sat down on the couch next to him.
"Oh, just bloody fantastic," I said sarcastically. I flipped him off and put my hands to my temples.
I wondered where the rest of the boys were. "Want to know something?" Harry murmured after a moment, his lips suddenly brushing my ear. I shivered involuntarily, and he chuckled a little. "You're my best friend too," he finished, staring me straight in the eyes.
Oh God, this could get weird. I glared at him, trying my best to act like I didn't want to kiss every inch of his face at that moment. Ugh, no! Get a hold of yourself! "I hate you," I swallowed, trying to frown at him.
"For some reason, I don't think I believe that," There was that crooked smile I fell in love with.
"And what makes you think you know me so well, Mr. Styles? Hmmm?" I poked him right in the middle of his chest.
He faked being offended, and gave me a cheeky grin, pulling me in with his arms. "I'm so incredibly happy you're here." He rested his head on my shoulder. Even though we were laughing and joking before, I heard the sincerity in what Harry had said, and I kept that with me all day.
Later, in the venue's green room, the boys and I were remembering last night. Very hazily, I might add. I was sitting on the couch between Niall and Harry. Louis had just told Niall what he had done during the impromptu 20 questions. A howl of laughter erupted from the boys.
"Niall, Niall," I gasped, trying to catch my breath. "You fell down next to me, and go, 'what's your favorite color' and I reach out and say 'yellow like your hair!'" he cracked up, and we all fell into each other, collapsing with laughter.
Harry looked over at me and smiled broadly. His eyes seemed to smolder from under his thick eyelashes, and I think my heart short circuited.
"Topher! Stop making eyes for my man!" Louis jokingly sat in between us and obstructed our eye contact. He slung an arm over both of our shoulders, becoming very comfortable in the tight space.
"Lou, you know you're the only one for me!" Harry grabbed the older boy's face with both of his hands and pulled his face to his in a passionate "kiss". I laughed out loud, leaning away from the two boys. "Come on T, you know you want some," Harry wiggled his eyebrows at me, and I giggled.
"Ew, no way." That was a lie.
The boys had to get ready then. I picked their clothes individually, this time actually paying attention to what I was doing. I was in a great mood, something that hasn't happened in quite a while. The rest of the boys left the room to get their hair done after they were all changed.
I stopped at Harry, whose outfit I hadn't picked yet. "Work your magic, boss," he posed in front of me, and I laughed. I tossed him a grey and white striped Polo button-up, and a black blazer with a white hem around the collar. The black jeans he was already wearing would have to do. I threw him a pink bowtie to add some color.
He suddenly pulled the blue t-shirt he was wearing over his head without warning me and I was suddenly stuck in a room alone with a shirtless Harry Styles. Oh my God, I let out a breath, trying to calm myself. I tried to avert my eyes nonchalantly, but he looked so...good.
"Um...I should leave," I stuttered, walking for the door, but he grabbed my wrist. He had put the shirt I picked on, but the buttons weren't done up yet. I tried not to hyperventilate being this close to his bare chest.
"Can I let you in on a little secret?" his breath tickled my face.
"Yeah?" I swallowed.
He was still holding my wrist. The comfortable warmth that spread between us was turning into fire, and I blushed. He noticed and let go.
"I can't tie a bowtie," he fixed his hair awkwardly. "Help me?" I blinked, trying to distract myself from Harry's perfect body.
"Yeah sure," I gestured to his open shirt laughing, "But I think you need to button that first."
"Oh, right," he shook his head, chuckling at himself.
Once the shirt concealed his skin, I could finally think straight. I took the bowtie from his hand, stepping closer to him. I had always been reasonably short, but Harry made me feel like a dwarf. The top of my head stopped just under his chin. The sudden closeness of him and his smell sent butterflies whirlng through my body.
"You're gonna look really stupid for a second," I said, flipping the collar of his shirt up. I willed my fingers not to shake as I wrapped the bowtie around his neck. As I worked on tying it, he squirmed impatiently. "Stop moving, you idiot!" I yelled at him, laughing.
"Your fingers tickle!" he whined. He caught my eye as I was finishing the bow.
"You're cute when you're concentrating." I rolled my eyes and stuck my tongue out at him, finishing with tying the knot.
"There! All done," I flipped the collar of his shirt back down, smoothing it over his neck.
"Thank you." He didn't move, though, and I didn't want him to. He just stared down at me, his eyes meeting mine with the same intensity I had felt two years before in his living room. I backed away, shaking my head.
"No problem," I swallowed again, turning to leave.
He followed me out, and I turned to go back to the bus. "Wait, Taz." I turned at the mention of my old nickname he used for me and Harry had his crooked smile plastered on his face. My heart sputtered, stopped, and beat faster. He got close enough for me to feel his body heat.
"Come watch our performance. You're always running off, and the rest of boys would love it if you did," he stuck his bottom lip out, and gave me puppy dog eyes. "Please?"
I nodded yes. "I mean, with a face like that, how could I say no?" I giggled.
He leaned in to kiss my cheek, and I almost spontaneously exploded with happiness right there. He led the way to the rest of the boys, in a tight, people-filled area backstage. As a part of the act, the boys would start singing, and then suddenly pop out from the ground onto the stage.They were getting directions from Stu. When they saw me, actually watching their performance, they were ecstatic.
As they were given directions on how to do so, Liam gave me a goofy face. He sure didn't say much, but he was the most charming, I thought. The guys got in position. I heard the shrieks of thousands of girls waiting for them to come up out of the ground.
The volume of the screams was ear splitting. For a split second, I wondered about what they would've been doing right now if it wasn't for One Direction.
But then the boys shot up onto the stage. The room was suddenly all filing out to the hall. I
followed suit, until we got to the side of the stage. We could see the boys and the crowd perfectly from this angle. I smiled at how excited the boys were, and how easily the girls fed off of their excitement.
The boys were brilliant, and I knew that, but tonight just assured me. Whenever a song would end, choruses of fans would scream 'I love you' or 'marry me'. It made me laugh and feel young again. Liam seemed to always start the songs, his perfect voice never faltering.
Harry looked over at us standing on the side, and he grinned cheekily. It was his part next.
And then, for the first time, I actually listened to Harry sing. Now don't get me wrong, I had listened to the live preformances on the X Factor, and I knew he was a fantastic singer. But as I stood at the edge of that stage and watched him sing to five thousand screaming girls, his eyes every once and a while would catch mine, I think something changed in my heart, and I think I fully fell in complete and hopeless love with him in that one instant.
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You Still Have All Of My Heart. (Harry Styles)
FanficTopher McCoy Alexandria is broken; Harry Styles just might be the one to fix her.