Chapter 13: Keeping Secrets and Surprises

Harry’s P.O.V.

I said, “See you later beautiful.” and stole a final goodnight kiss from her.

I knew I couldn’t stay to hear a response from her, or I would never want to leave her side. As I walked to where my bus was parked, my thoughts were consumed by Madeline. Over the short time we’ve known each other, I was surprised at how much I was already able to let myself go and fall for her. I am not one to really believe in love at first sight, but I think I was becoming a firm believer in falling at second. After talking to Mads, I always felt fantastic, like we could do whatever we wanted, as long as we were together. I could tell her anything, I trusted her with my heart, and so soon.

I finally arrived at the bus and climbed on, hoping the other boys would be sleeping. I wanted to tell them, but not right away. I was exhausted and just wanted to keep my promise of dreaming of Mads. Unfortunately, that was not the case.

As soon as I closed the door and turned around, I saw four cheeky grins greeting me.

Lou, the cheekiest of them all, was the first to speak. “Harry, my dear boy, we have been worried sick about you! Just where have you been?!”

They all laughed together knowing exactly, in fact, where I had been. Liam was next to chime, “So Haz, how did it go? I am going to guess pretty great by that smile on your face.”

I hadn’t noticed I was smiling, I knew they would be able to tell. I sat down on the already crowded couch lying across the lads. “Guys, she is completely amazing.”

As the bus began to move, Niall gushed, “Well go on… tell us all about it.”

We were like a bunch of fifteen year old girls. It was the strangest thing I had ever encountered in my life. When I told them about the secret relationship, Lou bashed me on the side of the head.
“Ouch! What was that for?”

He talked into my face, “Well you are doing a pretty shitty job of keeping it under wraps ya twit! You told four people already!”

I cut in, “Lou, calm yourself. I already told her I planned to tell you lot.”

Louis smiled, “Well good then!...but how do you plan to keep it all a secret then?”

Giving him a cheeky grin, “Well I am glad you asked Lou. I am simply not going to tell anyone else, well maybe my family eventually, but I am just going keep my private life, private.”

“Good luck with that mate.” Zayn added in.

I knew it would be difficult, but I was determined. Despite what anyone else thought.

Madeline’s P.O.V.

I woke up from my great slumber in a great mood on June 23rd realizing we were already in Washington D.C. I walked out to breakfast greeting everyone rather cheerily.

As I sat down next to Lola I noticed she was giving me an odd sort of look. “What?” I asked shyly.

“What makes you so happy this morning?” she asked me suspiciously.

The word “secret” flashed through my head quickly before answering, “It’s just a beautiful day today. Also, I am really excited to be in Washington D.C…. I love the history and everything.” She must of accepted my lie because she pressed me know further questioning at that point in time. “Phew” I thought to myself. This was going to be harder than I thought.

After breakfast I started out to my usual job. Lacey happily took her cushy job back in wardrobe, getting to goof around with the guys all during the evening and night. I truly envied her.

At this particular show, we were able to set-up the merchandise stand inside the actual venue, which meant no hot sun beating down on us. I knew it was going to be a good day. Lola came and informed me that I needed to go pick up the rest of the shirts from the bus. When I came back, I was surprised to find a note with my name on it.
It read.

Mads,
I wish I could see you today, but we are all blocked up with interviews and such. I may even get to meet your President!... That’s right, be jealous! ;)
Meet me after the concert when you are done working. I have a sort of surprise planned for you. Don’t forget to catch part of the show tonight! I know you’ve seen it like a billion times, but it means the world to me knowing you’re out there supporting me!
Xx
- Your Secret Boyfriend

I hugged the piece of paper to my chest. Harry was such a romantic. He could have just texted me all that, but instead he took the extra time to make it more personal. I don’t think there is anyone out there as sweet as him.

I was lost in those thoughts when I realized Lola was staring at me, much like this morning.

“What’s wrong with you, Maddie? You act like some love sick puppy dog or something… and what’s with the paper?”

“Oh, it’s nothing. It’s just the t-shirt sizes and prices sheet… I…I thought I lost it, but well, here it is!” I lied.

She rolled her eyes, “Whatever.” and walked away.

I soon came to the conclusion that I was terrible at keeping secrets. I just wanted to be with Harry and my nearly every action gave it away. I just couldn’t wait to see him later.

The crowd of people was later storming through the doors, and I didn’t have the time I wanted to think about Harry. Getting these crazed fans their One Direction merch and off to their seats was a tough job. People were so demanding. After the show started, we organized everything and I was about to head backstage.

Lola stopped me. “Maddie, why don’t you watch the show with us?” she asked as she pointed the other members.

I couldn’t make an excuse this time, so I complied. I didn’t want to make Lola even more suspicious than she already was. We walked up one of the side entrances looking up towards the stage, they were already singing, “Loved You First.” We were all enjoying the show when Lola caught my eyes on a certain curly haired boy.

“Do you have a thing for Harry or something Maddie?” she asked.

I gave her a surprised look and replied, “Me? Oh no. We are just friends. I don’t think of him that way.”

She turned back to listen to the boys before speaking again, “I don’t know why I asked that, sorry. I just figured something had to be going on. After all, he was the one who arranged for you to come on tour.”

She had a point. That must be a pretty clear sign to most people, but to keep the whole of the secret hidden, I just shrugged my shoulders, “Ehh, I guess we sort of hit it off when we first met. We are good friends. We just like to talk to each other. That’s why he invited me to join. Truthfully though, I haven’t even seen any of them too much.” I lied, but Lola nodded her head understanding. Luckily, no other suspicions raised out of her the rest of the show, but I couldn’t help but feel nervous that she was on to me, onto us, and I had a bad feeling she had a big mouth…

The second half of selling went by in a blur. My mind was swiftly changing between Lola’s questioning, to helping customers, to meeting Harry, and back to the customers. It was a never ending cycle. After the crowd cleared, we were able to start putting things away, then I would be off to see Harry.

It was about an hour after their show ended, and we were finally done. I dodged Lola and headed straight for back-stage. As I entered the side door, I noticed it was oddly empty. I thought there should have been crew members tearing down, just like the previous night. Also, there was no sign of Harry. I decided to walk further towards the actual stage. Then I noticed there was faint lighting coming from the middle of the stage.

I walked out in front of the thousands of seats and realized they were lit candles, beautifully spread around a blanket, where Harry was lounging atop of. His gaze was fixed on the seats before him until he saw me walking towards him. “Mads, there you are! I was beginning to worry.” he said as he patted the ground next to him.

I smiled and ran to him. I plopped down right next to him where he greeted me with a peck on the lips. I smiled, “I wouldn’t miss this. Did you do all of this for me?”

He kissed me again, “Of course, Mads. Who else?”

I nudged him with my arm flirtingly, but he didn’t go anywhere. Instead his arm reached behind me grazing my back. I asked, “So what’s going on? Why aren’t people tearing down?”

He replied, “They are just going to do it tomorrow. We have a break tomorrow.” I nodded, “Oh!” He laughed at my surprise. “We do need a break at some point Mads.” He said teasingly. I just laughed.

Next I spoke, “You were amazing tonight.” He shot me a quizzical gaze, “I didn’t even see you.”

I chuckled, “I couldn’t get away. I have a feeling Lola is on to us already, and I couldn’t risk coming backstage again.”

He half smiled, “Ah, I see.” I was then quick to ask, “What’s wrong?”

He pondered his answer briefly before saying, “Mads, I want nothing more than your happiness and safety, but with the same token… I just want to shout to the world that I have this most amazing girl on my side.”

I smiled, “I know. Today has been hard for me too, but I think we can do this, at least for a while.” He nodded his head in agreement.

We were both quiet for a moment before he suddenly stood up and looked down to me before saying, “You know what, I might not be able to tell any real people, but I just need to get it off my chest.” I looked at him with admiration as he stormed towards the front of the stage and cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted, “I’M GOING TO FALL FOR A GIRL NAMED MADELINE COOKE!”

He turned to look at me with the widest grin on his face, to which I returned. He was absolutely the sweetest boy, ever. I immediately ran to his side and shouted to the same imaginary crowd as he did, “AND I’M FALLING FOR A BOY NAMED HARRY!”

We turned to face each other when he said, “I love how you called me Harry, and not Harry Styles. It makes me feel like you’re falling for me…for me.”

Then the gap between us was instantly closed and we were kissing. The passion was practically rising off of us. Our arms were wrapped around each other tightly. I could feel his large hands at the small of my back rubbing up and down my spine. His lips soon slipped down to my neck, sending shivers throughout my body. I couldn’t help it when a quiet gasp escaped my lips to which he responded to with a smirk, while he continued to move his lips between my neck and my lips. The feelings he was giving me were incredible. My hands raised up from his back, to his neck, and then to his face when his lips returned to mine for good. They were a bit chapped from the show, but I didn’t really mind. With every kiss, they deepened filling with more passion than I ever thought I could feel.

When we pulled away my body was numb. I giggled while Harry had to guide me back to his romantic little picnic he prepared for us, because my legs were practically giving out. He handed me a little snack he had in a bag and we chatted while we ate. When we were finished he laid back down to put his head in my lap. He looked up to my face with such concentration when he said, “Mads, this tonight, isn’t really the surprise I had for you.”

I smiled and stroked his hair back from his face, “What do you mean.”

“Well,” he started, “tomorrow is a break for us in-between shows, like I told you earlier. We don’t have any interview planned or anything. So while the crew heads to Philadelphia tomorrow, we are taking a plane to New York tonight, just to sort of relax and have a day in the city tomorrow. I would really love it if you came with me?”

I smiled, but unsurely asked, “What about the paparazzi and other people? Won’t they see us together and make a hay day of it?”

His face grew serious, “We’ll be extra careful. Besides it will be great. You’ll get to meet Zayn and Louis’s girlfriends, Perrie and Eleanor.” I smiled, but that really intimidated me. He must have read my face because he took my hand in his and began to rub my fingers reassuringly and said, “They’re really sweet. They’ll love you.”

I took another moment to ponder the decision. Spending an entire day with Harry would be so great. Although I was unsure about meeting the girls, but Harry was assuring me it would be all alright, even about the paparazzi. I trusted him though. I looked down to his face still resting in my lap and gave him a kiss on the nose before saying, “Alright.”

He smiled and sat up, only to then push me down while he climbed on top of me. His face was so close to mine when he said, “Great. Let’s go then.” as he then blew out all the candles surrounding my head. I closed my eyes, but before I knew it, he was off of me and standing, holding out his hand. I blew out the rest of candles before I grabbed his hand in the dark. We were quickly running with, me tagging along behind him out the stage door.

Once out the door he pushed me in the direction of my bus and whispered, “Grab some things for an overnight trip. Be quick, but not obvious that you are leaving suddenly, and tell anyone suspicious of your actions that you are going home to visit with you family for the concert break. Then meet me back here.” I nodded my headed and pecked his lips before jogging towards the bus.

Harry was the cleverest person on this whole planet. There was no way I would have thought of a lie that simple yet great to hide the fact I was going to New York to spend a day with Harry, my boyfriend.

Notes

Whoooo! This chapter was particularly difficult for me to write because I am still deciding which direction to take it in... I have so many ideas, but I am trying to get the order yet!

Tell me what you think by commenting, voting, and subscribing please! I surely appreciate it! :)
-Jen