Labels || H.S. [#Wattys2020]

FORTY-THREE

Reagan didn't know what to think. She wasn't naive enough to believe that the band would stay together forever, of course not. Especially considering the fact that the boys had worked the last five years straight with no break. But after Zayn left she just didn't think that their management would like them to take a hiatus, there was just so much at risk. Sure, they made a big enough impact on the market where if they took a year-long break it would be fine, but what if it was longer? What if one of the other boys didn't want to come back?

She felt a thousand thoughts running through her mind and could only imagine what Harry was thinking. All she could see was the conflicted look upon Harry's face and couldn't imagine how the other boys would feel when they heard the news.

"Isn't that...a good thing? Don't you guys need the break?" She pondered out loud.

"Um, yeah." He nodded, putting the paperwork back into the ripped envelope.

"But?"

He shook his head, "I don't...I don't know, Rae."

"But...didn't you ask for a break?"

He shrugged, "We thought it was a long shot to be honest. We're still under contract."

"Oh."

He nodded and turned to the house, "Why don't we go in and talk inside?"

She shrugged, "Well, you already opened his mail."

Harry would have laughed under normal circumstances, but instead he turned and walked towards a flowerpot, grabbed the key that was under it, and opened the front door.

Reagan stood in awe before entering. Were the boys really that trusting that it was that easy to get into their houses? Did Harry, Liam, and Niall do the same? Honestly, maybe not Liam, he seemed to have some sense. But Harry seemed like the typed to just leave the door completely unlocked and opened as he slept. Perhaps that just denoted his trusting nature. Event though it made people label him as naive, he didn't care. He just thought that not all humans were bad, and going around thinking they were was a pretty shitty way to live you life. You had to be nice to get nice back, at least, that was his philosophy.

Maybe that's why it was strange for him to feel so uneasy about the break, to not trust the fact that Modest! had actually taken their side for once. Yeah, he was a pretty trusting guy, but he had a hell of an intuition. And right now, all his gut was telling him was that this hiatus was going to be trouble. He just couldn't believe that even after Zayn left the board gave in and gave them what they asked for. There had to be some reason, but he just couldn't think of one just yet. Of course though, their contract had been five albums in five years. That was always the plan. They were always supposed to have taken a break after the fifth album. But it was supposed to be a break, not an indefinite hiatus. All Harry could think was that somehow this was the beginning of the end. That they weren't forced to sign another contract, that they had no further responsibility, because in fact, One Direction was done. That five years was all that was in them. But Harry didn't want to believe it, he couldn't accept it. Yes, it had been well known in their camp that a long break was on the horizon, and that in that long break they were all free to do as they pleased (which is why he chose to wait for Reagan until after they were done with the album), but they never thought that everything would be left up in the air like this.

He grunted as he walked towards the leather sofa, his thoughts in complete disarray. He was about to plop down when Reagan screamed, "NO!"

He looked up at her in shock, "What!?"

"You're all wet! How are you going to sit on Louis' couch when your clothes are clearly still dripping!?"

Harry shrugged, "This couch has probably seen worse."