“One Direction.” Ben said slowly. “Julian’s breaking them up.”

Lara could only stare at him dumbfounded.

“I don’t know why you look so surprised.” Ben said.

She tried to modify her expression, not wanting to give Ben the satisfaction of knowing he had the upper hand with his inside information.

“It’s been coming for a while. Even Golden Boy should have seen it coming.”

“Stop calling him that.” Lara chided.

Ben laughed as he surveyed the appetisers in front of him, before beginning to eat.

“So when is this happening?” Lara asked, trying to sound casual.

“Soon.” Ben told her. “They’re going to announce it as a hiatus and see what happens from there. It will be interesting to see the reaction from everyone…”

“Harry wasn’t expecting this…”

“Well maybe he should have thought about that before he started screwing up-”

“So being with me is screwing up?” Lara spoke without thinking and cringed when she saw Ben smile at her.

“So you are together. Glad to see that you’re finally admitting it.” He said. “I was thinking about Skye actually.”

“What about Skye?” Lara asked uncertainly.

“Well you don’t think that she and Harry were just friends, did you? Fucking around with her did her no favours…” Ben took a deep breath before continuing. “And I don’t want the same thing to happen to you.”

“Ben, when are you going to give up?” Lara sighed.

“I’m being serious. Skye was just like you… she was in love with Harry and he took advantage of that.”

“And how do you know all of this?”

“How do I know? Because she told me.”

Lara looked away, biting her lip as she absorbed all this new information.

“Why are you telling me this?” She finally asked.

“I wanted to see you.” Ben said simply. “I missed you.”

“What’s the real reason?”

Ben smiled and shook his head as he resumed eating. Lara glanced at the door of the restaurant, plotting her escape, when she suddenly locked eyes with a person who had been watching her intently. His blue eyes appraised her and then disapprovingly focussed on Ben who followed her gaze.

“Oh fuck, look who’s here.” Ben said, unable to disguise the hostility in his voice.

Lara lowered her eyes nervously, wishing she could just disappear.

“So what are you going to do now? Are you going run and tell Harry? Or maybe your old friend Louis over there” Ben said, interrupting her thoughts.

“How can you expect me to say anything about meeting you to Harry?” She said angrily.

“You just wanted to put me in an uncomfortable position… and that’s probably the real reason why you’re telling me all this.”

She scraped her chair back, only to see Ben visibly stiffen.

“Where are you going?” He asked, raising his voice enough for the people at the next table to hear and curiously look up.

“To the bathroom.” She said through clenched teeth. Not wanting to cause a scene, Lara headed straight to the bathroom with the intention of finding a discreet exit. But as she walked down the corridor, she heard footsteps behind her. A quick glance over her shoulder confirmed that it was Ben, but before she could say anything, he took her by the arms and gently pinned her up against the wall. She could not help but softly gasp as she looked up into Ben’s coffee brown eyes.

“I meant what I said.” He said lowly. “I’ve missed you Lara. My feelings for you have never changed…”

“Ben, how many times do I have to tell you…”

His lips were so close to her face, she could feel his warm breath. She turned her head her head away from him, only to jump at the sensation of his hand between her legs. She instantly stiffened, unable to move, her body turning to jelly as he practically held her up. A woman walked past, but refused to meet Lara’s panicked eyes, preferring to ignore the couple as she headed into the bathroom.

“Hold still.” Ben whispered in her ear.

She froze as the memory of Ben saying the same words one rainy night, that seemed a lifetime ago. She had been drunk, after a night of doing shots and was drifting off to sleep when she felt Ben crawl into bed with her.

“Hold still.” He had whispered as he climbed on top of her, pinning her arms down. He imprisoned her hands in his, and kissed her. She automatically turned her head to avoid his lips but they managed to find her again.

“Come on Lara… you’re nineteen years old, not fucking five… now hold still.” He rasped.

Lara relaxed her body, and allowed him to continue kissing her. He smiled satisfied, as his grip loosened, his hands moving to her underwear. His coffee coloured eyes were streaked with red and his breath stank of alcohol as his hands clumsily groped her.

“That’s better… now just enjoy it… who knows you might even like it.”

"Why can’t things go back to the way they were?” He murmured against her hair, his hand still between her legs, gently rubbing her, his other hand reaching under her top.

Lara felt the old sense of panic overcome her, the same hopeless feeling that engulfed her every time Ben re-entered her life. He always expected free entry and rein over her, always expecting her to bend to his will. And she had never disappointed him, always giving in to his demands.

But not this time. Taking a deep breath, she mustered all the strength she had as she kneed him in the groin. Ben’s grip on her slackened as he yelled out in pain. Lara wasted no time in rushing down the corridor and through the restaurant, her eyes firmly fastened on the exit.

She swung the door open and was about to cross the road when she heard his voice call out.

“Lara!”

She tearfully looked over her shoulder to see Louis standing outside the restaurant. She paused for a moment, still intent on running away, but unable to tear her eyes away from his now curious blue eyes. She did not move as she watched him slowly approach her though he should proceed with caution.

“Are you okay?” He asked.

“Yes.” She said resolutely, determined not to let Ben bring her down.

“What are you doing hanging out with that dipshit then?”

“Can we just get out of here?” She asked and he nodded.

Before long they were seated in the backseat of a taxi and Lara could finally breathe again.

“Hey are you okay?” He asked soothingly, placing his hand on her leg. Lara instinctively pulled away and he quickly apologised.

“Sorry… I-I didn’t mean to… I just-”

He paused for a few moments before directing the taxi driver to a nearby café. Once they arrived, he noticed Lara grow nervous.

“What if someone sees us?” She asked.

“Don’t worry. They know me here.” He smiled. And sure enough, they were led to a private booth at the back of the café. After ordering a hot chocolate, Lara looked over the table to see Louis watching her.

“Well?” He asked expectantly.

“Oh Louis, I don’t know. I just feel like sometimes I keep making the same mistakes over and over.”

“Why do you keep going back to him?” Louis asked gently. “I know that you’re with Harry now and I know you’re both happy. Why do you keep seeing Ben?”

“It’s not what you think…” She said, unwilling to tell him about Julian’s plan to disband One Direction… not wanting to be more involved than she already was.

“You’re not…” He said hesitantly, his blue eyes narrowing.

“What?”

“Drugs… he’s not baiting you, is he?”

“No… God no. I haven’t touched the stuff in ages. I don’t drink anymore either.” She said.

“Good. I’m glad to hear it.”

“How about you?” She asked and he smiled and averted his gaze. “Louis, are you still…”

“Sometimes.” He said. “Mostly pot… you know how much I hated coke.”

The waitress returned with their order and he waited until she was completely out of earshot before he continued.

“Then was it? What does he have over you?”

“Nothing.” Lara insisted. “He just likes to tell me stuff… he loves the fact that he knows more than I do. He talked about Skye… and how she and Harry were together.”

“What… and you think Ben didn’t want to fuck her too? Who knows what went on there… he was pretty close to her too.” Louis said. “Sure she went with Harry. She thought she was in love with him. Ben’s so sleazy he was probably jealous that he wasn’t getting any of the action. That’s what worries me when I see him with you.”

Lara played with her napkin, unable to reply or even look him in the eye.

“He didn’t try anything did he?” Louis asked gently.

Her eyes filled with hot tears as she bowed her head.

“Son of a bitch.” Louis seethed.

“It’ll never happen again.” Lara said, wiping her tears away. “I’ll never let him do that to me again.”

“You need to tell Julian.” Louis insisted.

“Julian?” Lara said, her eyes widening with fear. “I could never do that. Julian has no idea about Ben and me.”

“Maybe it’s time he did.” Louis said grimly.

X

Lara was quiet that night. So quiet that Harry repeatedly asked if she was okay.

“I’m fine.” She said. “I’m just tired.”

She sprawled on Harry’s bed and felt his weight on the bed next to her only a few seconds later.

“Do you want to watch a movie?” He asked.

“Nah, I think I’m going to have an early night.” She responded.

“Is school getting to you?” He asked.

“Mmm.” Lara said, her face buried in the pillow. She felt Harry’s arms wrap around her, pulling her close to him. She felt his lips press onto the side of her neck and she rolled over
to face him, allowing him to climb on top of her. He smiled as he looked down at her.

“That’s better.” He said, his lips meeting hers, as they engaged in a long kiss. Lara broke it off first, and she saw Harry peering at her curiously.

“What?” Harry asked with a small smile. “What is it?”

“Have you spoken to Julian lately?” She asked.

“Why?”

“I was just wondering. I mean, you’ve been skipping a lot of stuff lately… lots of work stuff and that’s not like you.”

“I’ve just missed out on stupid events… where he wants us to be on show. He knows we hate that shit.”

“Yeah, but don’t you think that maybe you should start… I don’t know… maybe take it a little more seriously?”

“Why?” He asked. “You don’t like having me around?”

“I just don’t want Julian to use it against you in any way.”

He suddenly looked unsure and she knew that she did not want him to ask any more questions. As he opened his mouth to speak, she stifled his words with a deep kiss.

“I’ve been thinking about you all day.” He breathed as he slid off her cotton pyjama bottoms.

“You have?”

“Uh huh…” He said huskily. “I’ve been waiting to do this.”

She closed her eyes, enjoying the sensation of his tongue swirling against hers, his hands roaming over her body as they kissed. As her mind clouded over, she forgot about Ben and she didn’t think about Julian. As Harry made love to her, he managed to drive all of her fear and worries away.

For the moment…

Notes

Wow, it's been far too long.

I hope everyone still reading and I'd love to know what you think, whether you're a new or a long time reader.

Thanks :)