"Catherine? Hey. Are you alright?" Lori sounded worried as she answered my call. I laughed.
"Hey Lori. Yea, I'm fine. I actually need your help with something." I said. I could hear Lori trying to move and doors opening and closing. She must be at work.
"Yea. What's up kiddo?" She asked, concerned. I smiled into the phone. She was always so worried about me. She was like my mother if she were old enough to be it. She was my only family.
"I was wondering if you could meet me today. I need some help...picking out clothes." I said hesitantly.
"Yea! What's the occasion?" Lori asked. I heard lockers shutting. She must be in the locker room.
"I'm going out with Harry and the guys and I don't really have any nice dinner clothes." I responded, a little embarrassed. I could hear a faint laugh escape her lips.
"Oh Catherine that's great! I'd love to help. What are you doing in 15 minutes? I'm just getting off work now and I'm changing out of my uniform."
"Uh, I can meet up with you at the mall." I offered.
"Ok, I'll you then babe." Lori said before hanging up. I put my phone in my pocket and walked out to the living room where Harry was sitting on the couch with a book.
"You read?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. He stuck out his tongue.
"When you sit here for 2 weeks, the tv isn't really that interesting anymore." Harry confessed with a shrug. I smiled and nodded.
"Ok. I have to run out for a bit. Shouldn't be gone for more than an hour. If you need anything, text me and I'll come back."
"Ok." Harry said, before turning back to his book. I grabbed my jacket and slipped on my shoes before walking out the door. Preston was waiting at the gate and walked towards me.
"I'll be gone for about an hour." I told him, getting into my car. He nodded.
"Have a good time."
"Thanks." I called out, pulling out of the driveway. I drove to the mall and spotted Lori getting out of her car. I parked right next to her.
"Hey babe. You're looking good!" Lori said, giving me a hug. I laughed.
"It's only been a little over a week since I last saw you Lori. Not much has changed." I fought. Lori put her hands on my shoulders.
"That may be so, but in all my years of knowing you Catherine. I've never seen you this happy before." Lori pointed out. I stared down at my feet as we walked into the mall.
~~
"You are going to look great in that outfit, I'm sure of it." Lori said as we walked back to our cars. I smiled and nodded in agreement, happy to have found an outfit that I was comfortable in and actually liked. We got closer to our cars and that when the flashing started.
"Are you and Harry dating? We've seen the boys of One Direction post pictures of you at Harry's house? Are you guys official?"
My eyes widened as they rushed closer.
"I'm his nurse!" I shouted.
"Do you take care of him real good!" One yelled. Lori gasped and put an arm around me. She guided me to my car and helped me get in while yelling at the paparazzi. She looked at me frantic.
"Drive. I'll block them off."
"Thank you." I said as she shut the door. She pushed the paparazzi's away from my car and I pulled away quickly. That was the worst. I drove the rest of the way to Harry's trying to settle down. My heart was pounding. I don't know how they could've known I was in the mall. I pulled up to Harry's place and Preston opened the gate for me. I pulled in and he opened the door for me.
"Are you alright? You look like you've seen a ghost?" Preston said, helping me with my bag.
"I'm fine. Paparazzi got to me at the mall." I explained. Preston apologized and I shrugged it off before walking into the house. I shut the door behind me and walked to my room to put my clothes down.
"Catherine?" I heard Harry yell. I walked out to the living room and he was sitting with his phone. He looked up at me.
"Are you alright?" He asked. I raised an eyebrow.
"Yea. I'm fine."
"Are you sure? Preston just told me about the mall?" Harry asked. I didn't speak.
"I'm sorry that happened to you." He said quietly.
"Does everyone always assume?" I said, shaking my head. Harry looked at me as if I was going to say more.
"How did they even know I was going to the mall?" I asked, still unsure how that worked out. Harry looked down at him phone. I walked closer.
"Harry?" I asked.
"I didn't know they were talking about you, but the fans seem to think there is something going on between us." Harry confessed. I stared at him.
"I think that's my fault. I posted pictures on Instagram and the other fellas have too." He pointed out. He lifted up his phone.
"Someone recognized you from the pictures and must've tweeted about it when you were at the mall." Harry explained. I chewed the inside of my cheek.
"Ok, I guess that makes sense." I responded. Harry stayed quiet and it was awkward so I excused myself and went to my room. I grabbed my laptop and typed in Twitter. I hadn't used my account since I started nursing. I typed my name into the search bar and pictures of my at the mall popped up. I hadn't even noticed people taking my picture and it freaked me out. It seemed like I was all everyone was talking about, no one sure whether Harry and I were dating. I shut my laptop and took a deep breath.
I sat on the bed and stared at the wall. Was this how it was going to be? Would it die down after I stopped taking care of Harry? A sad overwhelming feeling overcame me. A moment of realization struck. I was only here for a few more days before I would have to pack up and head back to the hospital. Harry would go on being a hot shot boyband member and I would go back to being at the hospital and carry on my life, alone. That's what I was comfortable with. That's what I'm used to. I let things get too deep here. But I knew, when it came down to it, Harry would have to leave sooner or later. I layed back on the bed and stared at the ceiling. I shouldn't go tonight. I can't go tonight. It would be too difficult to go back from tonight. Tears burned the back of my eyes and I fought to keep them in. I closed my eyes and tried not to think about my epiphany.
~~
"Catherine! Are you ready to- Why are you wearing pajamas? You're not wearing that to dinner are you?" Louis asked, giving me a once over.
"I'm actually not going to go anymore. I think Harry can handle himself well enough without me." I explained. Louis looked confused.
"We didn't ask you to come just for Harry. We wanted you to come because we like you too and want you to hang out with us." Louis explained. My throat felt dry and I tried to swallow the lump that was forming.
"That's sweet, but I won't be going out tonight." I responded.
"What?" Niall said, appearing next to Louis. Liam popped up next to him.
"You have to come. You said you would!" Liam fought. I bit my cheek.
"I'm sorry. I have to back out now."
"No. No you don't. You are going to come with us if I have to carry you out I will." Liam argued. He pushed me into my room. He spotted the shopping bag from today.
"You bought an outfit to a dinner you weren't going to go to?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. I huffed.
"Get dressed. Now." He said, and walked out of the room, shutting the door behind him. I changed into my outfit, mad at myself for not thinking of a better plan. I stepped out of the room and all the guys were waiting with smiles on their faces.
"You look great Catherine." Louis said. All their heads nodded in agreement. I slipped on my shoes and grabbed my jacket. Zayn pulled the door shut behind us and we piled into the car waiting out front. Preston was in the driver seat and another bodyguard was riding shot gun. We pulled out of the driveway and I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned to look at Harry.
"You ok?" He asked. I nodded and turned away. I wasn't sure how not talking to him was going to help anything, but I didn't know what to do. I knew how this ended. I stopped taking care of him and we stop talking. Like it never happened. We pulled up in front of the restaurant and there were already paparazzi there. The other bodyguard walked around to open the door for us. He helped me out and the other boys stumbled out. I stood back as Liam and Zayn helped Harry out. He walked forward, glancing at me as he past, and entered the restaurant. Louis put a hand on my back and ushered me in away from the flashing lights. How did they know where we would be?
"Sometimes restaurants we make reservations at will tell people that we are coming so they get extra business." Louis said as if reading my mind.
"That must be annoying." I responded. Louis shrugged.
"You get used to it. It comes with fame."
"So no matter where you go, this always happens?" I asked, pointing to all the paparazzi. Louis nodded.
"It's pretty sad to be honest. A bunch of grown men following us around just to get some story that's not real."
"They make up stuff?" I asked, curious. We were sitting at the table now and Zayn's fiancé showed up, greeting everyone. Louis nodded after saying hello.
"Yea, some stuff is nice, but a lot of the time it's made up shit." He said, shaking his head. I stared down at the menu. I didn't want any of that to happen to me. I didn't like attention, especially if it was the bad kind. I didn't realize how long I was staring at the table until Louis shook my shoulder.
"What?" I asked, dazed.
"Do you want something to drink love?" He asked.
"Oh. Just water." I answered. Louis told the waiter and glanced back at me as if to ask if I was ok. I nodded and gave him a little smile and focused back on the menu. I sat through dinner quiet, avoiding the glances Harry was shooting my way. I could feel it every time Harry looked at me. When the food came, Zayn's fiancé, I think her name was Perrie, started talking to me. She asked about my job and thankfully pulled my attention away from Harry for a little bit.
"We should probably get going so we make it to the cinema on time." Liam said, looking at his phone. His girlfriend stood up and he walked out to the cars with her, Zayn and Perrie behind them. Louis and Niall walked over to Harry to help him up. He winced and gasped at he tried to stand up.
"Catherine?" Niall called out. I was trying to zip up my jacket as I looked at him. His face was flushed. I walked over and knelt on the ground next to him.
"Scale of 1 to 10 how's the pain?" I asked. He looked at his knee.
"5." He answered before standing up. I frowned. You don't go white with a 5. He stared at me.
"Can you help me to the car? We are going to be late for the cinema." He said. I could tell he was in pain. Louis walked forward to hold the door and Niall stood behind Harry in case he fell backwards. I walked next to him.
"Why are you acting like you're not in pain?" I asked, quietly. Harry glanced at me and quickly looked away.
"I'm not. It's a 5."
"People don't go white from a 5 Harry. What are you really at?" I asked. He didn't answer.
"Doesn't matter. Let's go."
"No Harry if you are in pain, we need to put your leg up. We can go back to the house."
"Why don't you want to go have a good time?" He asked. Niall heard and walked around to go stand at the doors with Louis. He whispered in Louis' ear, no doubt telling him we were having a fight. We continued walking slowly forward.
"I do-"
"No you don't. You almost didn't come. You barely talked at all at dinner. " He argued. I saw people around us looking at us.
"Can we not talk about this now?" I said quietly. Harry didn't answer and walked a little faster to get to the doors. I followed quietly behind him to the car. I let him get in and walked around to the other side. I felt all the flashes on my back and I tried not to show my face too much. We got to the cinema and Niall got out to help Harry. I didn't go by Harry. I knew he was upset. I didn't want to fight him on it. I stood by Perrie and Liam's girlfriend, who's name I learned was Sophia. They were very nice. Harry was out and we walked into the cinema. I sat in between Liam and Louis. We decided to see Divergent and me and Perrie were excited to see Four in action. We both agreed that we had been crushing on him since we read the books. I glanced over at Harry and saw him wincing down at his knee, trying to move it. I shook my head. When the movie was finished, Niall helped Harry out to the lobby as the rest of us followed behind.
"Well that was fun, but I need to go. " Niall said. Liam and Sophia nodded as they walked away with Niall. Perrie hugged me before her and Zayn walked towards the exit. There were people gathering around us now that they noticed Harry was there. Louis turned to me.
"Are you going to be alright love? I need to get going to but if you need help I can stay." Louis said. I glanced at Harry who was taking pictures with people. I knew that if Louis stayed he'd be dragged into pictures too.
"No. It's ok. You go ahead before they notice you too." I said. He hugged me and walked around the crowd with his hood up. I walked up closer to Harry but far enough away that I was out of the pictures. A girl who seemed to be a few years younger than me walked over to me. She crossed her arms in front of her. I glanced at Harry who was still taking pictures. I looked back at her.
"Can I help you?" I asked, trying not to let my disdain show.
"You aren't good enough for him." She replied. I raised my eyebrows.
"What-"
"He deserves someone way better than you." She muttered. She glared at me. A laughed escaped.
"Oh, someone like you?" I asked her. She looked taken aback. I leaned forward towards.
"Let me tell you something sweetheart. If I were dating him, which I'm not, I wouldn't be offended by what you just said. It would just remind me that I'm such a better person than you give me credit for because I would never say that to anyone." She stood there gaping.
"You don't get to say who is good enough for him. He gets to choose that on his own. And I'm sure after this little incident any chance of you being that person is very slim. Now I'm all about letting people live their dreams, but if you want to get to yours by putting other people down that's not ok." I said. She stood there glaring.
"I was right. You're mean and really don't deserve him if you can't be nice to his fans." She hissed. I smirked and nodded.
"Yea, and you just made yourself look like an idiot. I'm NOT dating Harry. I'm just his nurse. So you can all leave me alone!" I shouted. The girls in the crowd whispered to each other. I looked at Harry and he looked down when our eyes met. I walked forward.
"I'll wait in the front." I said, walking past him. I heard him mutter to the girls around him saying that he had to go. I could hear his crutches hitting the floor as he walked behind me. I spotted Preston in a black SUV parked in front of the cinema. I looked back and saw Harry right behind me. I stopped and waited for him to get closer and I followed him out. There were camera and reporters waiting there. I glared at a few, but focused mainly on Harry. Preston came up and ushered us through the crowd. We got into the car and the entire ride home was quiet.
