For a week Harry was carted around, every time he tried to get a moment with Justice one of the boys, the security team, the stylists, the make-up artists, merch team, or Paul would snag him up and rush him away. It was obnoxiously clear that they weren’t allowed to see each other, even though she had to take pictures. By the time the weekend came, he stopped trying. It was futile. Justice was hurt, but she understood that there wasn’t much to be done.

It was Sunday when she first saw the pained look on his face from across the parking lot. He had been shooting her looks every so often, but this was the first time he looked so devastated. His dark curls hung around his face, a few stray pieces falling in front of his conflicted green eyes with his brow creased; he looked as though he were in physical pain. He looked almost like he was going to cry. Then he stuffed his hands into the pockets of his navy blazer and turned away. Liam dropped a hand on his shoulder, whispering something into the boy’s ear.

Biting her lip, she looked to the ground. It seemed whatever they had was over. They hadn’t said a single word to each other since Vegas. It was hard not talking to him. Before that night they had conversations every day, mostly about silly things, but not talking to him at all made her feel like she didn’t belong. The one boy that she felt truly cared couldn’t even be near her for more than a few moments.

“You alright chica?” Maria asked, dropping an arm over Justice’s shoulder.

“Not really,” she replied looking over at the feisty redhead.

“Is this about Vegas?”

“Kind of,” she whispered.

“What happened that night anyway? Paul’s had his panties in a real bunch since then and he won’t breath a word of why.”

“A fucked up night, drinking, dancing,” Justice said before she caught Paul watching her. “It just all went wrong.”

“What, did you and Hare Bear bone or something?” Maria laughed her hair getting tossed by a breeze.

“Or something,” she mumbled.

“Holy fucking shit! You two banged!” Maria yelled wrapping around Justice in a hug. “Why wasn’t I informed of this sooner?”

“It’s not that important,” Justice told her as they walked into the venue. “I mean it’s a big deal, but I think it’s over.”

“What? But you two were so cute together.”

“Yeah, well Paul’s made it very clear that we can’t be near each other,” Justice explained her tone flat as she pushed a few unruly strands of black hair behind her ear.

“And who is Paul to tell you what you guys can and can’t do?” Maria had a point. He couldn’t tell them not to be together, but he sure as hell was going to try and keep them apart. “It’s your fucking lives.”

“Well, he’s not making it easy to get to Hare,” she snipped, annoyance was a clear factor in her bad mood, but there wasn’t anything anyone could do.

“Leave it to me,” Maria said a devilish glint playing in her eyes. “I’ll get you two locked in a closet for fifteen minutes. Then you’ll figure this shit out.”

“I don’t think fifteen minutes is going to cover it,” Justice mumbled as the girl walked off to merch, a plan clearly formulating in her mind.

When the show ended, Justice headed out to her car to wait for the Merch crew to finish take down and loading. As she stared at the stars above her head, just barely visible in the haze of city lights, she heard footsteps approaching. Her head snapped in the direction of the noise to find Louis grabbing the spot beside her.

“Hey,” he greeted a half-hearted smile on his lips. “How are you holding up?”

“How do you think?” she asked, a hand running over her face. “I miss him Lou. He’s right there, but it feels like he died. Like I’m never going to see him again or hear his voice or feel his touch. I just miss him.”

“He misses you too,” Louis replied, not even trying to put on a smile. “I think this is for the best though. He was worried about you getting death threats from the fans like Eleanor and Danielle have. Maybe this is what was supposed to happen.”

“Louis, this wasn’t supposed to happen,” she murmured as tears formed at the corner of her eyes. “I didn’t even want to be on this tour when I found out about it. I wasn’t supposed to come, I wasn’t supposed to fall for him, I wasn’t supposed to marry him!”

“You were both drunk, it was a mistake,” Louis said trying to console her as she began to sob. “You can’t blame yourself for getting married when you fell for him and were drunk.”

“That’s… That’s not the point Lou,” she sniffled. “The whole situation is a fucking mess and now all I have are memories of him. There’s nothing but silence between us and it’s worse than if he’d died. It’s the kind of silence that’s left when the world ends.”