The Assistant

Nora didn’t know if Harry told Claire about what they did with each other, but soon after her impromptu tour visit, it was official – Harry and Claire’s unconfirmed relationship ended. It was splashed all over the media. And the only reason Nora was keeping tabs on the gossip websites was to make sure Claire wasn’t speaking out about Harry cheating on her with another girl. That was the last thing she or her career as One Direction’s assistant needed.

Things were tense in the days that followed the New York shows. Nora spent as little time as she could with anyone from tour to distance herself completely from the situation. But Harry sought her out on more than one occasion to ‘apologize’ for what he did. Frankly, his words meant less than nothing to her and she dodged him every time he neared. Unfortunately, it didn’t stop him from trying over and over again.

After just about everyone loaded off the bus after their show in Virginia, Nora was left in their wake, quickly trying to gather her things so she wasn’t left behind with Harry. But it was nearly impossible to escape him.

“Nora,” she heard his deep voice as he came up behind her while she was shoving the clothes she needed into her backpack instead of lugging her whole suitcase with her.

She didn’t bother answering him or acknowledging him. It had been like that for almost a week and a half, she wasn’t about to give in now.

“Nora, how many times can I apologize? I’m sorry, okay,” Harry sighed as she continued to ignore him. She closed her eyes and shook her head, feeling annoyed.

“I was sincere, okay. It was real with you, Nora. I swear,” he told her, his voice pleading.

“It was real?” She snapped at him, sending him a lasting glare.

“Yes! It was real. It is real, okay,” he said, getting aggravated with her. Nora laughed darkly, shaking her head as she went back to digging through her luggage.

“So you’re just never going to talk to me again?” He asked.

“Well, let’s be honest – do you deserve it?” She spat at him. He growled inwardly, completely frustrated with her.

“Well, let’s be honest here. You just love hating me, don’t you? So I guess I did you a favor then,” Harry spat back at her.

“You did me a favor? Ha! Don’t even spin this around on me, Harry. Don’t fucking do that. I wouldn’t hate you so much if you weren’t a fucking creep, okay. I wouldn’t hate you if you didn’t use people for your own sick pleasure. I don’t even know why I let myself become one of your conquests. I knew you’d do this. You’re a scumbag, Harry. You really are. Claire may be the biggest bitch on the planet, but she didn’t deserve that from you. I didn’t deserve that from you,” Nora yelled at him.

“I know! God! I know! I’m sorry! I’m bloody sorry, Nora!” He yelled, moving quickly toward her.

His sudden movements made her stop what she was doing and stare at him with wide-eyes. It had been a while since they were that close and she wasn’t sure how she felt about it.

“Just… god, Nora. I’m sorry,” he breathed, inches away from her.

She shook her head and took a step back before she got swept up in him. It was too easy and she wasn’t doing herself any favors if she fell for his bullshit again.

“Just stop,” Nora told him evenly.

He took a deep breath and let it out hard. She could tell he was frustrated, but a part of her didn’t care. She grabbed up her backpack and spun on her heels, getting out while she still could.

Nora felt flustered when she got off the bus, so she did everything in her power to get to her hotel room as quickly as possible. In her mad dash, she forgot her laptop on the bus. And pretty much, her whole world was empty if she didn’t have it while she sat alone in her hotel room.

She was already dressed for bed in the only thing she managed to pack for herself to sleep in – a black tube top and black yoga pants. She figured she could just tough it out without her computer for one night, but after turning on the television and only finding infomercial after infomercial she knew she wasn’t going to be able to tolerate not having it.

The night was warm, the moist July air enveloping her skin as she made her way across the parking lot toward their traveling home. She could hear the crickets in the tall grass and the frogs croaking in the nearby pond. She took it all for granted in the hustle and bustle of London. There wasn’t much nature represented through the expansive city blocks, so she took a few moments before she opened the bus door, taking a deep breath in, appreciating Virginia for what it was. To her, the best part about tour was that she was finally getting a chance to see just what America had to offer. And she truly appreciated the experience.

After putting in the security code in the bus door, she climbed aboard, turning on the front lounge lights as she did. She made her way straight for her bunk, finding her laptop right where she left it. As she began shoving it into its bag, the back lounge door whipped open and she stood frozen staring at Harry. He was just as frozen as she was, their eyes stuck on each other.

“What… what are you still doing on here?” She stammered, noticing the half drank beer bottle in his hand.

“I could ask you the same thing,” he breathed lowly, his eyes moving up and down her body.

She felt way too exposed in his presence in just her tube top and yoga pants. Harry’s eyes showed they didn’t mind her choice of bedroom attire. She watched as his tongue pushed through his lips, wetting them in a flash as he set down his beer on the ledge next to the lounge door. She knew what was on his mind and she hated herself for the sheer fact she could feel her body reacting to him within seconds.

Her body was on fire. Her stomach was in her throat. Her eyes were dry from not blinking. Her brain was mush inside of her skull. Though, she did have enough sense in her head to know she should be resisting her animalistic impulses. But she couldn’t find the words to refuse him as he stepped closer to her in the small space. He made every inch of her ache with his presence. Harry didn’t take his eyes off of her for even a moment as he advanced toward her.

“What are you doing here, Nora?” His voice coming out low and sexy.

“I-I…” She stammered, her nerves making her lose control of just about everything, including her dignity.

Harry stood there, looking down on her with all the confidence in the world, even after everything he did. Harry Styles didn’t get nervous – ever. And a part of her flared in anger over that, while the rest of her was melting like a weak little girl under his stare.

Harry moved in as close as close could get without actually touching her, causing her breathing to hitch in her throat.

“Nora…” He breathed against her lips. She didn’t move. She didn’t flinch.

“Push me away,” he whispered provocatively and she instinctively brought her hands up to his chest, but she didn’t deny him.

Nora watched his tongue dart out, once again wetting his lips. And in a split second, his hands gripped onto her hips, pressing their lower halves together. She let out a gasp in response.

She hated him. She truly hated him.

When he finally crashed his lips into hers, she whimpered against his mouth because of the stinging pain in her lips from the force of the kiss. She could taste the beer on his tongue and she tried to focus on that rather than the fact that her body was more than a little exhilarated because of him.

“I hate him. I hate him. I hate him…” It looped through her head as she stood there kissing him, her hands still on his chest, yet they still weren’t pushing him away. She knew—she fucking knew it was a bad idea. What the hell was she doing?

She pushed hard against his chest, her brain finally aligning with her body. The kiss broke quickly and Harry stumbled backwards into the opposite bunks, chuckling darkly.

“Ah, come on, Nor,” he said smirking devilishly at her.

“Fuck you,” she shot at him, her eyes narrowing into the best glare she could muster.

“Well, yeah. I was looking forward to it,” he chuckled.

“You’re not funny,” she snapped, going back to packing up her laptop.

“Why do you even fight it?” He asked, growing serious again as he stepped toward her.

“Because you’re a scumbag. Because you play games and hurt people. Because I loathe you,” she said, narrowing her eyes once again.

“But the sex was so good, Nora,” he said, smirking at her.

“Oh my god,” she growled, trying her best to ignore him like she’d been for days.

“Nora,” Harry said sharply and her eyes snapped to his instantly.

“Fucking tell me how much you hate me. Tell me how big of a prick I am – how much I fucked things up. Just don’t fucking ignore me,” he demanded, gripping onto her arms, with a desperation in his voice that she never heard before.

“You are a prick,” she shot at him.

“I am,” he agreed.

“I do hate you,” she sneered.

“Good,” he nodded.

“And you did fuck everything up,” she finished.

“I know,” he breathed out quietly.

And that’s when she noticed how close they were again. She noticed the lustrous look in his eyes as he looked down into hers.

“Harry,” Nora whispered, her mouth suddenly so dry.

“I fucked up,” he breathed against her lips.

“Harry,” she said again, but he extinguished her words with his lips against hers once again.

And her mind was spiraling. She had no self-control. She wanted him that badly. He knew it and played off of it so well, so fucking well.

The air was thick with lust as he pushed her back against the wall between the bunks and pressed his body against hers, his lips never leaving hers. His rapid heartbeat matched Nora’s beat for beat as their chests pressed together. She knew there was no stopping him now. And with the way her body was purring for him, she knew it was almost impossible to stop herself.

Nora ran her fingers up his neck and buried them into his hair. His hands slid down the length of her back, gripping onto her ass, pulling her into his arms, her legs instinctively wrapping around his waist. The fact that she was ready to let him fuck her on the tour bus, going against everything she promised when she signed the contract with the 1D abstinence clause was not lost on her. She knew she’d never forgive herself, but couldn’t get herself to stop.

He moved them into the back lounge, kicking the door closed with his foot as they continued kissing – the back lounge where they shared their first kiss; the back lounge where the rest of the guys spent all their free time during travel days. They were about to taint the bus in a way that only they could – with over-powering lust and resentment so strong, that it easily could be called an obsession.

Harry dropped Nora down onto the couch in the lounge and her body stiffened at the loss of contact, looking up into his eyes as he stared down at her. His eyes were nearly black with lust and the look in them seemed to be exactly what she felt inside – a hunger that infiltrated long ago and had no plans of leaving. And it screamed so loud within her that her brain didn’t even have a chance of helping her see reason.

As Harry unbuttoned his plaid blue shirt, his necklace – a tiny paper airplane pendant on a silver chain – fell against his tanned skin. Nora just lay there obediently, watching as he pulled the fabric away from his body, his eyes never leaving her until his body came down on top of hers, kissing her again. Nora’s hands grazed up and down his back as their tongues tangled together.

Nora could only persuade herself to stop when she felt her cell phone buzz against her hip, breaking her out of the lust coma she was in. Her cell phone was her one saving grace when it came to Harry, both then and on the 4th of July. She pressed her palms against his bare chest, stopping him.

“Harry,” Nora said, pushing up against his chest as she sat up.

“What?” He asked as he watched her pull her phone out of the waistband of her yoga pants, looking at the screen.

“Grant?” Harry asked bitterly, seeing her ex-boyfriends name displayed across the screen.

Nora took a deep breath, wondering which one she’d rather be dealing with – Harry or Grant. And as her finger swiped across the talk button on the screen, Harry’s eyes flared as he sat up all the way, her legs still up against his hips.

“Grant,” she breathed into the phone, giving Harry a cautious look.

“Nor…” Grant sighed deeply and she knew just by the tone of his voice that she wasn’t prepared to have a conversation with him in the state she was in.

“Y-yeah…” She stammered, not sure what to say.

“Can we talk?” He asked quietly.

“Talk?” She questioned, still looking up at Harry, who was no longer looking at her. But she could see all the muscles in his jaw clenching up.

“Yeah. I mean, I feel like we’re so far away from where we need to be,” he told her, sounding sad and distant.

“Grant…” She breathed, trying to think of the right words to let him down easily, or to somehow stop the conversation before it started.

“Nora…” He sighed again and she shook her head.

“What do you want me to say?” She asked him.

Nora watched as Harry turned his head, looking over at her again, her eyes steady on his.

“Say anything. I just want you to say something,” he said with a little more fire in his words.

Harry leaned in shaking his head lightly, before his fingers came up pulling down her tube top, reminding her that he was the one with her right now. Her breathing hitched into the receiver as she felt the rush of what Harry was doing. She should have been frightened of him, most girls in that situation would have been, but she didn’t find fear in anything that was happening. Every part of it turned her on – the want and the desire in his swift, desperate actions.

“Nora, please…” Grant said sadly into the phone. But she was much too focused on what Harry was doing.

Harry pulled himself off of the couch, pressing her down on her back with his fingers on her shoulders and gripped onto the waist band of her pants, ripping them down her legs, taking her panties with them.

“Grant, I can’t—I can’t talk right now,” Nora said, her voice quivering into the phone.

Harry’s lips turned up into a devious smirk. He had her right where he wanted her.

“Nora,” Grant growled into her ear.

“I’m sorry. I can’t,” she told him, as she pressed the end button, letting the phone clatter to the floor of the lounge.

“Fuck,” she breathed, watching as Harry pushed his dark skinny jeans down his hips. Once he was naked, he crawled back up her body.

“No condom, Nora,” he breathed against her collarbone.

“Fuck,” she said again as his lips moved up the nape of her neck, sending tingles all throughout her body.

“We’ve done it before,” he reminded.

“Uh-huh,” she said, folding under his spell.

When her phone started vibrating loudly against the floor of the tour bus, Harry stopped kissing her neck and looked down at her.

“Are you going to get that?” He asked with a challenge in his eyes.

He knew who it was and he knew she wouldn’t dare answer. Not again. Not when she was with him.

Nora answered his question silently, by reaching up to pull his lips down to hers. Within seconds, he pushed inside of her and she gasped against his mouth. His movements were ragged and hostile at first, causing Nora to keep gasping out, trying to get ahold of herself before she lost it. Then his rhythm evened out, going slower and more sensually.

“He can’t give you this, Nora. He can’t give you what I give you,” Nora heard Harry’s husky voice in her ear.

His little challenges were pointless, yet so arousing. She couldn’t lie and say his confidence didn’t turn her on, because oh god it did. And he’d been right all along. He knew things with Grant were lacking, he called her out on it the day they met. She found him to be a cocky little shit – technically she still found him to be a cocky little shit, but he was a cocky little shit who knew how to fulfill her needs better than anyone else ever did before.

“Is that all you’ve got?” She challenged him, giving him a taste of his own medicine. His head popped up from the crook of her neck, his eyes blazing into hers.

“You want it?” He asked, his voice thick with annoyance.

“Yeah. Give it to me,” she shot back at him.

A guttural growl rumbled through him as he sat up, grabbing her thighs tightly in his hands, rocketing himself in and out, sending her brain into a tailspin as her whole body felt him. He accepted the challenge and was doing an excellent job of fulfilling it. The pleasure raced through her almost immediately and she didn’t know how much more she could take.

“Fuck, Harry,” Nora growled as her hands gripped into the plush cushion of the lounge couch, trying to hold tight.

Her teeth dug deep into the flesh of her bottom lip as her body began to shake with orgasm, doing her best to not scream out like she wanted to.

Once her body stilled, Harry’s rhythm slowed, bringing his body down on top of hers again. He left a hardened kiss on her lips before burying his face in the crook of her neck once again. When she heard him moan against her shoulder blade, his body stilling, she knew he finished as well. His breathing was ragged and hot against her skin, but she didn’t want to push him away. She knew she should, but she didn’t want to.

He was messing with her head, this time without even trying and she could finally feel the annoyance bubbling up inside her again as she lay there thinking about it.

“I hate you,” she breathed loud enough for him to hear it. His body shook slightly before he pulled up and she could see he was laughing.

“I fucking hate you,” Nora said, rolling her eyes as she pushed him further away from her.

“I thought we were past this, Nora,” he told her.

“We’ll never be past this,” she spat at him as she swung her legs over the side of the couch, pulling her tube top back up over her chest.

“Even after that?” He questioned.

“Fucking means nothing, Harry,” she told him with a sneer.

“Fucking means everything, Nora,” he countered with a hardened stare.

“Ugh,” she growled, grabbing her underwear and pants, pulling them on quickly.

“Nothing changes,” Nora snapped, narrowing her eyes at him.

“That’s where you’re wrong, Nora. Everything changes now,” he said with a confident smirk, annoying her further.

Everything in her wanted to argue with him, but she knew the narrow line she once walked with him had now disappeared. The line was no longer blurred, it was just gone. They crossed it and erased it in the same instance.

Everything changes now.

Notes