Harry (His POV) – “Whoa, what’s wrong?” Niall asked, wide-eyed as I burst out the meeting room and stormed straight past him; not even noticing he was there until he spoke. “Nothing,” I grunted at him and he knitted his eyebrows together so I gave him a small smile before he could open his mouth and ask again. “Why are you here?” I asked, relaxing a little as I tried to pretend that I didn’t have a hot rage coursing through my body. “I don’t know,” he bit down on his lower lip. “They called and asked me to come in for a chat… I think it’s because of a drop in sales and popularity…” he lifted his fingers to his mouth and began to nervously chew on his nails. “Oh come on Niall, we’ll be fine,” I attempted to comfort him, giving him a firm pat on the back but he quickly shrugged away from me. “I don’t know mate, I heard Simon’s really worried… all sorts of talk about the consequences of our next album not being as big a hit as the others,” he sighed loudly and ran his fingers through his hair. “I mean I knew this popularity couldn’t last forever but I didn’t think it would be over so soon,” he let out a shaky breath, “I’m not finished living my dream yet you know?” he looked up and me just as the door to the meeting room opened and I huge sense of relief washed over me because I had no idea what I could possibly say to him. “Anyway, I’ll call you later mate okay?” Niall gave me a small smile before walking into the room and all of a sudden my rage was replaced by a far worse feeling. Guilt. I made my way home, my body felt heavy; as if it it was made of lead. I loved Y/N, I was madly in love with her but I couldn’t shake Niall’s words. “I’m not finished living my dream yet.” Was I ready to give everything up for a girl? Even if I was pretty sure she was the girl. I pulled up outside our flat and my heart sunk when I saw Y/N’s car parked outside. I couldn’t go in and pretend everything was okay but I felt nowhere near ready to talk to her about things yet. I struggled with an internal battle for what felt like an eternity; I couldn’t sit in the car forever so I eventually sighed and opened the door, and tried to compose myself and make it look like I was happier than I felt. I put my first foot down on the pavement just as my phone started to ring and my heart sunk even further into my stomach when I saw Niall’s name flashing across my screen. I sighed and pulled myself back into the car and closed the door before answering. “Hello?” I muttered and Niall replied, I could tell immediately by the tone of his voice that the meeting hadn’t gone well. He began to incessantly talk about figures and about how worried he was and about how he didn’t know what we were going to do and the more he talked the more doomed I felt. I would sacrifice my career for Y/N without even thinking twice about it but I couldn’t do this to my friends. I’m 20 years old, I thought to myself. The height of my career is now; I have my entire life to love. If Y/N and I are truly meant to be it doesn’t have to be now. I knew what I needed to do. I hated myself for it but that didn’t change things. “Niall, I have to go,” I mumbled and hung up the phone before he could reply. I forced myself to get out the car and into the flat as quickly as I could so I didn’t have time to change my mind but the second I saw her smiling up at me from the couch in the living room my throat began to close up. “Hi babe, how was the meeting?” she beamed and I opened my mouth to reply but no words came out. “Are you okay?” she knitted her eyebrows together and I tore my eyes away from hers and focused on the wall behind her head. It was so much easier to talk if I didn’t have to look at her. “Y/N, we need to talk,” I muttered, my voice came out small and timid and she sat up and looked at me with wide eyes, filled with concern. I sat myself down on the coffee table so I was sitting directly across from her but I fixed my gaze to the floor. “My managers were talking to me about drops in sales and popularity and stuff,” I mumbled and she reached her hand and placed it on my knee. “Harry,” she muttered, voice filled with sympathy, “it going to be okay, I’m sure they’ve planned exactly how they want to sort it all out,” I glanced up at her and she gave me a small smile. I dropped my gaze back to the floor and took a deep breath, “they think it’s because of you,” I spoke so quietly and she stayed silent for so long after I spoke that I wasn’t even sure she heard me until she let out a small, dry chuckle. “Well that’s ridiculous,” she laughed nervously, “what do they expect you to do? Break up with me?” she laughed again and I forced myself to look up at her, a lump began to form in my throat as I did. “They expect you to break up with me don’t they…” she muttered and I nodded slowly. “Well I hope you told them where to go,” she folded her arms across her chest, “as if you would ever…” she continued to rant but I interrupted her. “Y/N, stop…” I muttered and I reached across and took her hand in mine but she immediately pulled away. “You did tell them you wouldn’t do it, right?” she snapped, all the softness from her tone evaporating immediately. I opened my mouth to reply but nothing came out and her eyes were soon brimming with tears and her mouth was slightly agape. “Oh my God,” she muttered under her breath. “That’s what you meant when you said we needed to talk isn’t it? You’re breaking up with me because your managers told you to?” she glared at me furiously and I still couldn’t find the right words to say and after a few seconds of silence she eventually took a deep breath and stood up. She wiped her eyes quickly and took a deep breath before walking out the room and then out the front door without another word.
