Harry’s POV
I watched her face drop. The words had left my mouth as if they fell out. I thought for a second.. should I carry on? I was no fucking good at this sort of thing. Break ups.. deep chats.. emotions.

“What?” She breathed, her face drained of all emotion.
“Look, Annie, Lou told me. I speak to her all the time, she says she’s seen him, at home. Her friends have seen him, too.” I scratched my head awkwardly. “She would have told you but I know you’ve been all over that dickhead all night so I thought I should say something."

Oh fuck. There were tears falling down her cheeks now. I looked around, as if the answer to this situation would be hiding in the bins. Any normal person would have given her a hug, told her loads of reassuring stuff. But I had never been like that.

“Annie, we can leave if you want. We can just leave here and I can tell security to just tell him to fuck off. Send him back.”

She looked at me with so much pain in her eyes that I felt it in my chest, too. It brought back the reason why this whole situation had hit me so badly.

My own Father had cheated on my Mum. As I looked at Annie, I was aware that I hardly knew the girl. But the pain she felt in that moment.. she may as well have been my Mother twelve years ago.

I knew she didn’t know what to do, and there was no point in me keep standing here giving her options. I knew it would all kick off if we went back in there, and I knew the best thing to do would be to get her back to the hotel, call Eleanor to come home, to clean her up and put her to sleep.

I wearily approached her. I took my jacket off, because that seems to make everything better in the bloody films. I put it around her shoulders and she didn’t object. “Come on, Annie."

We got into a car with only a few paparazzi capturing us. It started to worry me when Annie didn’t even speak in the car. She was crying, though. I so wanted to make myself useful, but how? In that situation.. the person in front of you has just had their world torn apart.

I rubbed her back, soothingly. She didn’t acknowledge me. “We’re home, Annie.” I said. She looked through me and nodded.

“Have you got your key?” I asked, when we had arrived at her door. She nodded and just handed me her bag, taking off her heels and holding them in front of her. She had lost four inches, and looked even more pathetic. My heart pulled for her.

I held the door open and she walked in, propping herself onto the sofa. I looked around, wondering what to do next. I had called Eleanor and Louis to come back, and explained what had happened. They had assured me that that guy would be given his marching orders.

I walked over to Annie and handed her a glass of water, sitting next to her.

“I’m so sorry.” Was all I could say.
She looked at me. “Why me? I’m an idiot.”
“Annie, you’re not, he is,” I grimaced and looked down at the floor. “You could do so much better.”
Her eyes snapped shut tightly, tears falling faster. I pulled her into a hug, a hand on her head and a hand around her middle. “Come on. You need to sleep this drink off. It’s making you worse.”

I hoisted her up and guided her over to her bed. “Where are your pyjamas? I’ll get them for you.” She nodded at the neat pile on the chair in front of her. I handed them to her and stood, one hand on my hip. I turned on my heel and walked towards the door.

“Wait,” she croaked “Don’t go.. stay."

I watched as she took her clothes into the bathroom to change. When she came back out, she had tried to remove some of the makeup around her eyes.
“I just can’t be on my own right now…” She sighed.

I nodded, pretending to understand, and I did, deep down. But I had never spent the night with any girl where the relationship wasn’t sexual. I pulled off my boots and clothes. She climbed into bed and turned away from me. I heard her sniffles continue.

Pulling two pillows off of her bed, and the blanket placed at the end, I manoeuvred over to the sofa, and set up a bed. I looked over at her one more time. Is there anything else I could do? I just wanted to give her another hug. I made my way over to her, and crouched down by the side of the bed. “I’ll be right over on the sofa. If he comes in he won’t make it past me.” I made my best attempt at a smile, and to my surprise she did too. She held her hand out.

“Thank-you, Harry. I’m sorry."

I shook my head and gave her hand a reassuring squeeze.

I think that was the night I decided I could never hurt a girl again.

***

Annie’s POV

The brightness of the sun flooding in through the window awoke me, and for a second I had blissfully forgotten about what had happened. But, then, I realised. My heart tugged like it was going to rip at the seams. What a fool. What an idiot I had been.

I looked next to me, no Will. Who was that on the sofa? Harry.. he had brought me home. I twisted my face in confusion at that one.

I knew I would need to get the details of what had happened from Louise, but as soon as Harry said it, it was like it cemented in my mind. I knew something had been up with Will. He was a far cry from the kind, loving boy I had grown up in love with. It all seemed to make sense, as soon as he said that. I sat up and breathed out heavily. As I did so, Harry stirred. I got out of bed and sat on the chair opposite him. He opened one eye, squinting. His body was only clothed in his boxers from what I could see.

“Thank you for telling me.” I said, quietly. Although I wasn’t thankful, I knew it had to be done.

He nodded and reached for his phone.

“Do you know where Will is?” I asked, my voice little more than a whisper.
He scrolled through his phone. “They chucked him out and told him he couldn’t stay at the hotel. Apparently he booked a train back this morning. I think the crew will send over his stuff. I told them he just needed to go as soon as possible.”

Then, I started to cry. Like an idiot. It was almost like I felt sorry for Will.

“Don’t cry, Annie. Come on. You had a lucky escape.”
“You’ve never loved anybody, only used girls. How the hell do you know how it feels?"

I saw his face contort into anger, but just as soon as it did, his his expression gave up.

“Let’s do something today..” He suggested. “We can er.. go round the city. Take your mind off of it.”
I rolled my eyes. “That’s the last thing I want to do, be around everybody.”
“I’m not doing anything all day. Just us two can go.” He said, standing up and gathering his clothes.

I was shocked when the blanket dropped and I saw all those tattoos. I had no idea he had that many. Like anyone would, I had to look over his body and check him out, even in these circumstances.

“We can talk about how I don’t just use girls.” He said, playfully.
I swallowed hard and shrugged. “Whatever, Harry, but if I want to come home let’s just come home.”
“Of course.” He pulled his jeans on and left his shirt unbuttoned. “I’ll go and get ready. Will you be alright..”
“What? Getting dressed? I lost my boyfriend, not my arms. I think I can make it.” I snapped.

Harry’s eyes widened and he left the room, the door clicking shut behind him.

Harry’s POV
As I made my way down the hall, I stopped off at 629, Louis and Eleanor’s room. Eleanor came over in a T-shirt and some shorts, inviting me in. Louis was propped up in the bed with a cup of tea.

“Alright mate, how is it all?” He asked, setting down his cup.

I shook my head and gave him a look that said it all.

“Where did you sleep, Harry?” Eleanor asked quizzically, sitting down on the bed.
“With Annie.” Louis face lit up and I knew what he was going to say. “On the sofa, for God sake. Poor girl was distraught. She didn’t want to be on her own and you two weren’t back yet.”
They both nodded, ashamed for their dirty thoughts.
“He was going mental, mate. He knows you told her.” Louis was sheepish. “He wasn’t letting go of it easily, I’ll tell you that.”
Eleanor nodded in agreement. “He said some horrible things. Like he didn’t care, you can have her, he doesn’t even love her anyway.” She pushed her hair out of her face. “I think she really loved him.”

My back went up at that. How could she love someone like that? Come on, I thought she was an intelligent girl.

“I’m taking her out, today.” I blurted out. “I’ll take her out somewhere amazing and cheer her up and that fucker can look at it all when it’s plastered over tomorrow’s newspapers.”
Louis looked at me, and I could tell what he was thinking. “Is this just a sympathy trip around the city or something else?”
My jaw tightened. Well, Harry. Answer him then.
“I just feel for her. It’s nothing weird."

With that, I left, making my way back to my room to prepare for a depressing day.

Notes

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