Buses & Bunk Beds (Zarry)

Chapter 29

The concert that night was beyond awkward. Louis had explained his injuries away, saying that he'd had a football mishap. He'd also avoided dealing with Harry and me whenever possible, which was how I preferred it anyways. Luckily most of his onstage interactions tended to be with Niall, and him and Liam picked up our slack like the champs they were. All in all, we managed to not speak to each other for the the entire show, which gave me hope that I could keep my promise to Paul and ensure that everything remained civil and professional.

The meet and greet after our performance dashed my hopes a bit though. Everything was going as it usually did, with the fans declaring their love to Harry and fawning over Perrie and me, when I realized that Louis had been staying closer to the Little Mix girls than he usually did. I brushed it off, persuading myself that he was talking to them so that he could stay away from Harry and me, until I noticed that he and Perrie were huddled together whenever they had a break from the fans. I felt a whisper of worry forming in my stomach, knowing that no good could come from them conspiring together.

Harry didn't seem to be aware of any new friendships forming, and I didn't bring my suspicions to his attention, not wanting to add to his stress level. The bus was leaving right after we wrapped up, headed to Tennessee, where we would have a night off to celebrate Harry's birthday before taking care of business with three shows in Nashville. I was more concerned with other business I needed to take care of, specifically making sure that his birthday was perfect.

I knew exactly what I wanted to give him, but I wasn't sure if it would be enough. He'd given me more joy than I could ever have imagined, and I wanted nothing more than to repay the favor by making him as happy as I could. I wasn't even doing it for unselfish reasons. Yes, I wanted to bring a smile to his face more than anything, but seeing that smile would bring me just as much joy as it did him. His contentment filled me with to the brim with happiness, and so I craved it more than he probably did.

I knew I could get him some fancy present, but I didn't want to go that route, considering that he had the means to buy himself anything he wanted. Besides, I wanted to give him something more personal. Something that would show him what he meant to me and how grateful I was that he put up with all my shit.

I swear that ever since I'd first told Harry that I love him I found that I couldn't stop saying it. The floodgates had been opened and an endless stream of sap and romance and all that other crap I never used to believe in had been flowing out of me nonstop. It was truly pathetic how much I enjoyed seeing his face light up whenever I said those three little words, and how much I craved hearing them from him.

There seemed to be no end to the variety of ways in which he said it, and each one elicited a different response from me. I got chills whenever he whispered it in my ear, my stomach felt like it was filled with butterflies when I saw him mouth it to me onstage, fucking him was taken to a whole new level when he moaned it into my mouth, and my whole soul felt lighter when it was the first thing he said to me in the morning, knowing that it was the perfect way for me to start my day.

So I wanted to give him something that would show him that I loved him in yet another way. I'd bought a journal a few cities back, and I'd been filling the bright white pages whenever I had a little time to myself. I'd written some song lyrics and poems that reminded me of Harry in it, but most of the entries were made up of drawings I'd done. Just little cartoon pictures of Harry and me and some of the memories we'd made that were most special to me.

The first one was of us in line for the X Factor auditions, everyone else blurred out, just like they had been that day for me, Harry the only person I could see. The next one was of me holding his hand as he got his first tattoo. He'd been so scared but I'd known that he'd fall in love with getting ink just as I had, and I'd felt so honored that he'd wanted me there with him for that first one.