I shot a hand from under the covers to answer my incessantly ringing phone. I felt around the table top, not wanting to open my eyes just yet. When I felt my phone, I answered it, still half asleep.

“Hello?” My voice was rough with sleep.

“Darcy! Flip your tv to ITV2!” Lucy squealed into my ear.

“Why? What’s happening?” I asked and sat up. I opened my eyes and winced as the sunlight hit me. Harry opened his eyes and looked at me. The question was clear in his eyes.

“Lucy. She wants me to turn on the tv,” I mouthed to him.

“You and Harry are on it! Just get to the channel!”

I stumbled down the stairs with Harry right behind me. He pulled me onto the couch and I flipped to the channel.

“Harry Styles and Darcy Larson were spotted last night looking very fancy. They didn’t stop for questions,” the lady said. I groaned. Even though we had come out as a couple, we still preferred to keep things as quiet as we could. “We have a few of our own. What were they doing last night? Why didn’t they want to stop for
questions? Are they hiding something from us?”

I shut off the program, unable to watch any more of it.

“Why can’t they just leave us alone?” I mumbled to myself and stood. I headed toward the coffee pot for my first cup of the day.

“Because everyone loves One Direction, and they feel like they need to know everything that goes on in our lives,” Harry replied and hugged me from behind.

“I know, but it’s quite irritating.”

“I know, but you’re handling it like a pro.”

I smiled at him.

“Let’s get ready for that surprise show, yeah?”

He nodded and pulled me upstairs to change.

----

Our van pulled up to the back of the school and let us out. The rest of the team pulled up behind us and began to unload their equipment. Lucy and I stood together while the boys and management worked out what they were going to do.

“I love that they do this. My favourite bands never did,” Lucy said. I nodded in agreement.

“It’s amazing. I would have loved something like this when I was younger.”

“Alright! Let’s get moving people! We don’t want to keep them waiting any longer!” the show manager yelled. We all headed inside. My heart fluttered in excitement. Although I wasn’t going to be performing, I still got excited and nervous for the boys.

We headed into the auditorium and the noise went through the roof. The boys smiled and waved as they made their way to the stage.

“Hey guys, thanks so much for having us!” Liam said.

“We’re really excited to perform for you,” Niall tagged on.

“So let’s get this party started!” Harry yelled. The intro for “What Makes You Beautiful” came on and the house went crazy.

Lucy and I stood backstage watching them. Although it was a small gig, they put their all into it. It was truly amazing to watch.

----

“Thank you so much for your support!” Louis said as they headed offstage. The production team took their microphones and ushered them out to interact with the fans. Harry grabbed my hand, and I saw Niall do the same with Lucy. We followed the others out onto the floor.

A young girl came up to me shyly and tugged my free hand. I looked down and smiled. I crouched down to get to her level.

“Hello, beautiful. What can I do for you?” I asked. She was so precious.

“Can I get an autograph, please?”

“Of course,” I said and stood up and went to give Harry the little notebook she had given me. She tugged on my hand again. “Could you sign it, too?” I was shocked, but pleased.

“Of course, dear. What’s your name?”

“Arielle.”

“Alright, Arielle, let me get Harry to sign this for you, and then we’ll take a picture, yeah?”

She smiled shyly and nodded her head. I couldn’t help but smile back at her. Harry was standing next to me taking a picture with a group of girls. When they left, I handed him the notebook.

“This is Arielle’s,” I said and gestured toward the girl. “Would you sign it?” He nodded his head and crouched down to face her.

“Hello, Arielle. How are you?”

“I’m good,” she answered, looking at her hands.

“Did you like the show?” he asked and scribbled his name on the page next to mine. She nodded.

“Yes. It was really cool. You’re my favourite,” she said.

“That’s because I’m better than all the other lads, yeah? But don’t tell them I said that,” he said with a wink. I burst out laughing and pulled him up.

“Come here,” I said and gestured for her to stand between me and Harry. Her mother snapped the picture, and Arielle waved as they walked off.

“Ohhh, she was so precious!” I exclaimed once they had gone. “I just love children!”

Harry kissed me and pulled me close.

“Well maybe one day, we’ll have a few of our own.”

I pulled away, a bit shocked by his statement.

“Really?” I breathed. He nodded.

“Really.” I looked into his eyes. Our moment was cut short when a few screams were heard nearby. We both turned to look. A few girls were coming our direction.

“Oh my gosh! Harry! Can we get a picture?” the girls asked. I was pushed aside as they scrambled to move around Harry. I was stunned. I felt Harry’s hand grab mine and he pulled me into the picture.

“We don’t want her in this,” one of the girls said. I looked at her in disbelief. I went to untangle my hand from Harry’s, but he stopped me.

“She is either in the picture, or I won’t take one. We are all one big 1D family, so everyone deserves a chance,” he said. I “aww’d” in my head. I’m sure if management found out about that statement, they wouldn’t be too thrilled, but I let that thought go.

“Fine, but only for one. She’s not even that pretty anyway,” I heard a girl mumble under her breath. I posed for the picture, but walked off as soon as it was over. Tears were pricking my eyes but I would not let them see how they had affected me.

“That’s Harry’s girl,” I heard whispers as I walked to the van.

“She’s not that pretty.”

“Why did he choose her?”

“I heard she’s a bitch.”

“He could have done so much better.”

At that I spun around to face the girls that were gossiping about me.

“I can hear every word you are saying about me. I don’t appreciate your nasty words. I am just a human. No, I’m not perfect, but neither are you. Do you really think that bringing me down is going to make Harry or any of the boys love you more than they love their girls? That is some twisted logic if you ask me. All of the girls the boys are with are just normal girls. We are so extremely lucky and are reminded of that every day.”

I spun back around and nearly ran out of the building. I knew that people were going to be coming after me because I hadn’t bothered to keep my voice down. The tears were running down my cheeks as I ran. I crashed through the doors and spotted a secluded spot. I turned my body toward that spot and ran. I couldn’t stop the tears that flowed down my cheeks. I also knew that there was going to be an uproar on twitter and other gossip sites about my outburst, but I was getting sick of all of the negativity surrounding me and the girls.

I crumbled to the floor and pulled my knees to me. The tears soaked the knees of my jeans but I couldn’t be bothered at the moment.

“Darcy? Darcy? Where are you, love?” Liam’s voice came floating around the corner.

“Darcy? Beautiful? What happened?” Harry’s voice was frantic with worry and concern.

“Darcy? Where are you?” Lucy’s voice drifted to my ears. I stuck a hand out from around the corner. I heard their footsteps as they approached. I looked up to find all of the boys and Lucy surrounding me. Harry sat down and wrapped me in his arms, causing the tears to fall thicker and faster. Zayn sat on my other side as Lucy, Niall, Liam, and Louis sat around us.

“What happened, beautiful?” Harry asked. I took a deep breath in an attempt to control my emotions.

“I just heard these girls saying how I didn’t deserve you, and how you could’ve done so much better than me. They don’t like me. They don’t think I’m pretty. They think I’m a terrible person. All of their words were just too much. I kind of went off on them, and ran out here. I’m sorry, but I couldn’t take their harshness anymore.” I sighed and leaned my head on Harry’s shoulder. His arms tightened around me. I saw Louis’s and Liam’s eyes darken at my words.

“They have no right to be saying these things about you! They don’t even know you or Lucy or any of the other girls. This is getting out of hand,” Louis seethed.

“There’s got to be something we can do to stop this madness,” Liam said.

“I’m sorry,” I mumbled again.