The Assistant

Harry and Nora were being woken up a few hours later by a startled looking Preston.

“What’s going on?” Harry croaked as he sat up on his couch, running his fingers through his wild hair.

Nora blinked her eyes open, feeling like she was in a daze. What time was it?

“One of the trucks got into a wreck,” Preston told them.

“Wait. One of our trucks?” Harry asked him, looking concerned.

“What truck?” Nora asked, sitting up on her couch.

“One of the trucks carrying the stage equipment,” Preston told her.

“Oh my god. Is everyone okay?” Nora asked, feeling a twinge of fear in her gut.

“Yes, everyone’s okay. Nobody was hurt. But the truck is banged up and we have no idea what the condition of the stage is in,” Preston told them.

“So, what does that mean?” Harry asked, staring up at Preston.

“It means we’re probably going to have to cancel the next show and assess the situation,” Preston told them.

“Oh, no,” Nora breathed, looking over at Harry.

“Wow. Thanks for telling us,” Harry told him.

“Yeah. The rest of the lads are in getting some breakfast. We’re trying to come up with a plan,” Preston told them.

“Alright,” Harry said, nodding his head.

It wasn’t long before Preston ambled back off the bus, leaving Nora and Harry alone together. Nora felt a bit awkward and didn’t really know what to say.

“Terrible,” Harry mumbled under his breath, shaking his head.

“Hmm?” Nora asked, looking up at him.

“I said that’s terrible… the wreck,” he repeated.

“Yeah, but at least nobody was hurt,” Nora reminded him.

“Right,” Harry nodded.

“I wonder if we’re going to stay here for another night,” Nora asked aloud.

“I don’t know,” Harry said, shrugging his shoulders.

“I’d love to see my parent’s again,” she told him.

“Maybe we can,” Harry told her. The ‘we’ in his sentence wasn’t lost on Nora as she cocked her eyebrow at him. We?

“Do you think Paul and Preston would go for that? Staying here another night? Preston said they needed to assess the situation of the wreck…” Nora said, trailing her words off.

“I don’t think we’re all needed for that. The next show is cancelled, Nora. We’re free for a little while,” Harry told her.

“Do you really think it would work?” She asked, feeling an excitement bubble up inside of her, thinking of her parents.

“I don’t see why not,” Harry told her, grabbing his phone to check his messages.

It had been so long since she’d been home. She spent the last four years in London, rarely having the time or money to make it back to North Carolina to visit. It was a big opportunity for her and she was more than a little happy that she had Harry on board with the idea. His vote would go a long way in the decision-making process, she was sure of it.

Nora stood up, letting the blanket fall away from her body as she stretched her arms up in the air. When she looked back at Harry he was staring at her with a smirk on his face.

“What?” She asked him, waiting for something snarky to fall from his lips.

“Nothing,” he told her, shaking his head, but keeping his smirk.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” She asked.

“Can’t I look at my girlfriend?” He asked, his smirk growing sneakier with his words.

“I’m not your girlfriend,” she reminded him.

“You better stop being mean to me or I’m going to fall in love with you, Nora,” Harry told her with a laugh.

“Oh, Lord,” Nora grumbled, rolling her eyes as she walked away from him, dragging her blanket and pillow to her bunk. Harry laughed out loud and she rolled her eyes again. He was so annoying.

As Nora undressed out of her clothes she was wearing, Harry appeared behind her, sliding his hand across her scantily clad backside before she had a chance to re-dress into her clean clothes.

“Jesus, Harry!” She yelped, startled completely by him.

“You can’t just get undressed in front of me and not expect me to touch,” Harry told her, smiling mischievously at her.

“I’m not your property, Harry. I’m not a toy you can play with whenever you feel like it,” she told him.

“But it’s so fun,” Harry groaned, sliding his body flush against hers, the side of the bunk digging into her back.

“Harry,” she hissed, but fighting him off was futile as he trailed kisses up her neck.

His hands slid up her bare torso and over her bra as he continued to move his hot lips across her skin.

“Harry….” She said again, knowing it was wrong. She wasn’t going to fuck him out in the open on the tour bus, whether or not people thought they were in a relationship.

“Mm,” he hummed against her flesh.

“Jesus, just stop,” she said quickly, pressing her palms firmly against his chest to push him away.

Harry let out a laugh, looking at her as his hand dropped down to adjust himself in his trousers.

“I know you’re in your sexual prime right now, but Jesus Christ,” Nora hissed, which caused Harry to laugh again.

“Can’t I get dressed without you pawing at me?” She asked, narrowing her eyes at him.

“By all means,” he chuckled, quirking an eyebrow at her.

“Thank you,” she said, grabbing her fresh t-shirt before slipping it over her head.

Harry walked to his own bunk to grab some clean clothes and dressed quickly. They brushed their teeth in silence and Harry waited for her in the front of the bus while she put her hair up and did her makeup. They were still silent as they walked off the bus and into the hotel to meet up with the rest of the guys for breakfast. Just before turning the corner into the dining room, Harry slipped his hand into Nora’s, intertwining their fingers. All eyes were on them as they walked in and it was the first time Nora felt like their sham of a relationship might actually look genuine.

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Later on that morning, Harry had a quick chat with Paul and Preston about staying in North Carolina for at least another night.

“Nora really wants to spend time with her mum and dad and I really want to make that happen for her,” Harry told them as he stood in their hotel room.

“We’ve got to assess the damage on the wreck, Harry,” Paul told him sternly.

“Yeah, but why would all of us have to go?” Harry questioned and watched as Preston looked over at Paul, shrugging his shoulders.

“We could go and they could stay a while. There’s plenty of people around to mind them,” Preston told Paul.

Paul grumbled to himself, but finally nodded his head. Harry felt a pull of excitement in his stomach knowing he’d gotten his way.

“Where ya gonna stay? Here again? The fans are gonna find ya,” Paul asked him skeptically.

“Nora’s parents have a farm north of here,” Harry told him.

“You’re going to stay on a farm? The lads in One Direction are going to stay on a bloody farm?” Paul chuckled amusingly.

“It’ll be fun. We can camp,” Harry told them. That idea made Paul laugh a bit harder.

“So, we can stay?” Harry asked them.

“If you get the other lads on board, I don’t see the harm,” Preston told him.

“I don’t see why they wouldn’t. If they don’t want to camp, they can just stay on the bus,” Harry told them.

“Are Nora’s mum and dad okay with you taking over their property like that?” Paul asked.

“They were the ones who told me they wished we had more time because they’d have us all over,” Harry told them.

“Alright. Talk to the lads and let us know,” Paul said, shrugging his shoulders.

“On it,” Harry said quickly, dashing for the hotel door. He was gone before the other two could say another word.

Harry went to Nora first to tell her the good news.

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“Hello, love,” Harry said, sliding next to Nora on the couch in Zayn and Liam’s hotel room, quickly kissing the top of her head. Nora sent him a slight glare before she remembered they were in the company of other people and she needed to pretend to actually like Harry.

“Uh, hi,” she said, smiling over at Harry.

“I talked to Paul and Preston,” Harry told her as he tried to hold back a smile.

Nora’s excitement nearly skyrocketed as she read his body language. She quickly turned herself toward Harry as her smile grew tenfold.

“What did they say?” She asked excitedly.

“They told me we could,” Harry said, smiling widely at her.

“No way! Thank you, Harry!” Nora said, wrapping her arms around him in a tight hug.

“They told you, you could what?” Zayn asked curiously.

“Paul and Preston gave us permission to stay in North Carolina for another night,” Harry told them.

“Why?” Liam asked, looking confused.

“So I could spend time with my parents,” Nora said with an ear-to-ear grin.

“Wow,” Liam said, looking at Harry approvingly.

“What? Don’t sound so surprised, Liam,” Harry scoffed at him.

“I am surprised though. You actually did something to benefit someone else besides yourself,” Liam shot at him.

Nora bit her lips together as her eyes went wide, looking over at Harry. She’d never actually heard the boys take a shot at each other like that.

“I’m not a complete dickhead, Liam,” Harry shot at him.

“Yeah. Not a complete dickhead,” Liam scoffed under his breath.

“Okay, okay. That’s enough,” Nora interjected, grabbing onto Harry’s arm when she saw the anger ever-present on his face.

“So, you and Harry are going to visit your parents then?” Louis asked, changing the subject back to the topic at hand.

“Yeah. Actually, I don’t see why you all can’t come. My parents live on a huge farm. They’d love to have everyone. My mom will probably cook a huge feast for us too,” Nora said, inviting them all.

“I’m in,” Niall said immediately and Louis laughed out loud.

“Are you sure?” Liam asked Nora.

“I mean, I’ll have to call them, but just last night they were telling me they wished they could have us all over,” Nora told them.

“Sounds like fun,” Louis told her.

“Where would we sleep? The bus?” Zayn asked.

“I figured either the bus, or we could get like, tents or something and just camp. When’s the last time any of us did that?” Harry told them.

“I’m down,” Niall said.

“I’m in,” Louis agreed.

“Alright,” Liam said.

“Zayn?” Nora asked him.

“Anything for you, love,” Zayn said, smiling sweetly at her.

“Ace,” Harry said, sitting up on the edge of the couch.

“I’m going to go call my parents,” Nora said, getting up from the couch, quickly dialing her mom’s phone number while she walked out into the hallway.

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“Oh, shit. Look at this tent! It can fit like, eight people,” Louis pointed out excitedly as they stood in one of the camping aisles at the Charlotte, North Carolina Gander Mountain.

“Put it in the cart,” Niall told him – none of them actually looking at the price tags of anything.

“What else are we going to need? Sleeping bags, flashlights—” Zayn asked.

“Bug spray,” Harry added.

“Yeah, probably,” Nora agreed.

“What about like, firewood? Can we have a fire?” Louis asked.

“My dad’s already on that, believe me. He told me he had quite a pile of brush and wood to burn,” Nora told them.

“Yes!” Louis said excitedly.

“We should get like, lawn chairs or something,” Zayn offered.

“They’re in the next aisle,” Liam told him, maneuvering a cart passed them all.

Harry wrapped his arm around Nora as they walked after Liam, and all she could do was roll her eyes. She was learning how incredibly hard it was for Harry to keep his god damn hands to himself. And no matter how annoyed it made her, she couldn’t just push him away because she was forced to play a part with him while they were in front of the guys.

In the next aisle, not only did they find lawn chairs, but they also found a couple of girls who were absolutely shell-shocked to see the boys of One Direction walking toward them.

“Ohmygod,” one of the girls gasped.

“Oh, shi—” Nora started to say, but cut herself off as she suddenly wrenched Harry’s arm off her shoulder. It was one thing for the guys to see them joined at the hip, but it was quite another for the outside world to see them.

“Nor-rahh,” Harry said, his voice flirty and playful as he grabbed at her hips and pulled her against him.

“Harry, fucking stop it,” Nora growled lowly at him, pushing him away as she looked over to see the girls’ eyes glued to the two of them.

Harry finally looked up to see the girls watching them and let out a startled “oh”, and Nora realized he hadn’t seen them when they first walked into the aisle.

The girls definitely looked like they were about to lose it. Their expressions and body language were just about at a fever-pitch and Nora cringed, hoping like hell they didn’t read into the way Harry was grabbing at her.

“Ohmygod. Hi,” one of the girls said.

“Hi,” Liam, who was the closest to the girls, greeted them.

“We were just at your concert last night!” The other girl chimed in.

“You were? That’s amazing,” Liam told them.

“You guys were amazing!” She said.

“Thank you. What’s your names?” Liam chuckled, smiling at the girls.

“I’m Hannah,” the brunette said.

“I’m Alice,” the blonde said.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Liam,” he introduced himself and it made Nora bite back a smile. Of course these girls knew who he was. She was certain they knew all of their names and could probably recite details about them that only their mama’s knew.

All the other boys came forward and introduced themselves as well and the girls ended up throwing their arms around all of them one-by-one. It was actually pretty cute.

“Can we… can we get a picture with you?” Hannah asked cautiously.

“Of course,” Harry told her as threw his arm around her with a wide smile. A spark of jealously skated through Nora before she promptly shook it off. Where the fuck did that come from?

“Nora, could you take a picture of us, please?” Harry asked, smiling sweetly at her.

“I’d love to,” Nora said, smiling back at him as Alice held her arm out to her with her cell phone in it.

Nora took a bunch of pictures of the group of them, like it was a meet-and-greet or something. Except the background was a bunch of lawn chairs in a Gander Mountain instead of a black sheet with the One Direction logo on it.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you,” Alice gushed at the boys as Nora handed her cell phone back to her.

“No problem,” Harry told her with a wide, schmoozy grin on his face. God, he was such a wonderful actor.

The five boys stood around with the girls for a little bit, chatting with them. Nora felt a bit out of place, standing next to Harry and Zayn.

“Is this your girlfriend?” Hannah asked Harry boldly. Nora noticed immediately that Alice snapped a picture of her and Harry and it made her incredibly uneasy.

“Oh, uh… we’re just friends,” Harry said, sounding utterly full of shit. Nora grit her teeth together, wanting nothing more than to punch him really fucking hard in the arm.

“This is Nora. She’s actually our tour assistant,” Zayn said, putting his arm loosely around Nora’s shoulder.

“Oh my god. I would kill to have that job! Do you need another assistant? Or like, two more?” Hannah asked, looking wide-eyed and way too excited as she tried to steal Nora’s job.

“We’ve already got our hands full with Nora,” Harry said, bouncing his eyes at Nora.

“Shut up,” Nora laughed out loud and shoved at Harry, wishing she could really make it hurt.

“We should probably finish shopping though,” Liam chimed in.

“Are you guys going camping?” Alice asked them, looking at all the stuff that was put into not only Liam’s cart, but Niall’s cart too.

“Yeah we are,” Louis said excitedly.

“Fun!” Hannah chimed in.

The boys gave the girls hugs again and said goodbye to them as Nora loaded a bunch of lawn chairs into Niall’s cart, just grabbing the first ones she could so they could get the hell out of there.

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.

“Could you have said it any more suggestively?” Nora hissed at Harry as they stood in line waiting to check out.

“What?” He asked her, looking more than a bit confused.

“’We’re just friends’,” Nora said, mocking his words from before.

“I did not say it suggestively,” he chuckled.

“They were taking pictures of us, you know,” Nora told him.

“Who bloody cares? We get our pictures taken everywhere,” Harry told her.

“No. They were taking pictures of us. You and I,” Nora told him.

Harry rolled his eyes and she knew he thought she was blowing the situation out of proportion, but it was okay for the people in their world to think they were in a relationship and definitely not okay for the whole world to think they were in a relationship. She didn’t want to just be another notch on Harry Styles belt, but she knew she already was, whether or not their ‘relationship’ became public.

“You’re an idiot,” Nora scoffed, walking through the line to get away from him. She wasn’t needed anymore – none of the camping stuff was hers. She needed to get some fresh air because she felt like she was being suffocated by Harry’s fucking ego.

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.

Once they pulled into the long driveway at her parent’s farm, Nora couldn’t actually believe how many cars there were parked on the property.

“Did your mum invite the entire neighborhood?” Harry asked as the two of them gazed out the front window of the tour bus.

“No. Not the neighborhood,” Nora said under her breath as she watched her Uncle Bill wave the bus down the driveway.

“Who’s that?” Harry asked.

“My uncle,” Nora said, waving at him through the window. Once they got closer to the house, another one of her Uncle’s, Dean, was there directing the bus driver where to park.

“Oh my god,” Nora breathed when she realized her parent’s invited their entire family to the farm.

“Family reunion?” Harry asked, chuckling lightly.

“You could say that,” Nora said, feeling almost embarrassed.

“How did your mum have enough time to call all these people and get them here? I mean, we didn’t take that long in the camping store,” Harry asked.

“Camping store?” Nora snorted out a laugh.

“What? It’s a camping store, innit?” Harry said, smirking at her.

“Sure,” she snickered as she walked toward the door of the bus when they finally parked.

“Are we here?” Louis asked excitedly.

“We’re here,” Nora told him as she pushed open the door.

“Nora!” She heard more than one person shout at her.

“Hi,” she said apprehensively as she slid on her dark sunglasses.

Kids raced up to her, throwing their arms around her waist – there were literally cousins coming out of the wood work. She did appreciate the little ones though, because she missed them all so much and they’d gotten so big while she was away.

Nora spent the next half hour making the rounds with the band at her side, introducing them all to each and every one of her family members in sight. They were all great sports about it too, which she really appreciated. Nora finally got to catch a breath and find her mother while the boys grabbed their camping gear and followed her Uncle Dean out to a clearing where they could set it up.

“Mom?” Nora called out once she stepped into the house, being bombarded by amazing smells from the kitchen.

She found her mother and a few of her aunts and cousins in the kitchen, working diligently on a massive feast for the evening.

“How on earth—” Nora mumbled, wondering how her mother found the energy and skill to organize such a massive undertaking.

“Nora!” Her mom shrieked excitedly.

“Mom. How? I mean, how did you do all of this?” Nora asked as her mother wrapped her in a hug.

“I’m just so excited!” Her mom said, pulling back to look at her only daughter.

“This is just so… wow. I’m amazed. And a little frightened,” Nora laughed.

“Oh, you,” her mom said, swatting her playfully with the hand towel she had in her hand.

“You really didn’t have to do all of this,” Nora told them all.

“We’re happy to help,” her Aunt Grace told her.

“I sure do appreciate it,” Nora said, feeling a rush of emotions that almost had her tearing up.

Nora took the time to greet each one of her aunts and cousins and assured them that she would introduce them all to the One Direction boys when she had the chance.

As she stepped out of the house a little while later, she was greeted by her father and couldn’t help but feel so happy to be home.

“Darlin’,” her dad said affectionately, opening his arms for her.

“Daddy,” Nora cooed as she wrapped her arms around him for a massive hug.

“Sure glad to have you home, sweetheart. This place misses you,” he told her, leaving a kiss on the top of her head.

“I miss it here too,” Nora said, pulling back from the hug.

“The boys are setting up in the clearing over there,” her dad informed her.

“Okay,” she said, craning her neck to see what they were up to, hoping like hell they weren’t getting into any sort of trouble.

“I wasn’t expecting the whole family,” Nora said, looking up at her dad again.

“You know you’re mother,” he said, giving her a sympathetic look.

“Yes, I do,” she sighed, rolling her eyes.

“She means well,” he told her with a smile.

“I know. And I appreciate it all. I just hope the guys aren’t overwhelmed by it,” Nora sighed, feeling a bit anxious.

“They seem like they’re in good spirits. Though I don’t think a one of ‘em knows how to set up a tent,” her dad snickered, looking over at the guys again as there were tent canvas flying in the wind and tent poles in nearly every single one of their grasps, flailing every which way. Except for Louis – who sat in a lawn chair laughing at the rest of them. Nora couldn’t help but laugh.

“I think I’m going to go see if they need any help,” she told her dad.

“Yeah. Looks like they need it,” he laughed.

“I’m sure,” Nora said.

“Good to have you home, darlin’,” her dad told her again.

“It’s good to be home,” she said, smiling at him sweetly before she strolled over to the guys.

“Need any help?” Nora asked as she walked up, sticking her hands in the back pocket of her jeans.

“These lads know absolutely nothing about putting up a tent,” Louis laughed from his lawn chair as he cracked open a beer.

“Are you supervising?” Nora asked, smirking at him.

“I told them all up front that I will not be helping set up tents,” Louis said with a sneaky smile.

“Smart,” Nora said, walking up to Harry.

“No, it goes in the thingy at the bottom,” Niall told him, trying to explain it without really knowing what he was talking about.

“The thingy? What thingy? There are like, three bloody thingy’s,” Harry said, sounding overly frustrated.

“This thingy,” Nora said, reaching over to grab it. Harry looked over at her with a dead-panned expression, obviously stressed out.

“Here,” she said, grabbing for his side of the tent pole and he obliged immediately, handing it to her. She slipped the pole into the ‘thingy’ and dropped it to the ground.

The tent popped up a bit since Niall had his tent pole in the correct ‘thingy’ as well.

“Easy,” Nora said, smirking at Harry.

“Yeah. Bloody easy,” he seethed and Nora couldn’t help but laugh.

Niall and Harry continued on with their next tent pole while Nora walked over to Zayn and Liam who seemed to be having an easier time then the other two. They were already securing the top rain guard to their already built tent.

“Look at you guys,” Nora said, smiling at them.

“We’re professionals, obviously,” Zayn joked.

“I’m bunking with you lot,” Louis told Zayn and Liam.

“You can sleep right in that fucking chair, Lewis,” Zayn commented, causing Louis to laugh out loud.

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.

As the night progressed, Nora’s anxiety lessened. The guys seemed to fit right in with her family. They all appreciated the home-cooked meal and gushed to all the women about how fantastic it was, which her mother and aunties ate-up like the dinner itself. Nora loved watching Harry running around with all the children, like he was a kid himself. Which he still kind of was. He’d been in the band since he was sixteen-years-old and was forced to grow up too fast. Once the kids finally wore him out, he walked up to Nora with a huge smile on his face and she couldn’t help but smile back.

“This is amazing,” he said, looking happier than she’d ever seen him before.

“Really?” She asked, feeling a bit shocked.

“Yes. It makes me miss home,” he told her, his green eyes so bright with excitement.

“It’s not too overwhelming… you know with every one?” Nora asked apprehensively.

“No. I mean, it was a bit intimidating at first – you know, meeting the girlfriend’s entire family…” he said, smiling playfully at her.

“Harry…” Nora said in a warning tone, but kept the smile on her face. It was just the two of them, he didn’t have to keep up with the charade.

“They’re great, Nora,” he told her and it made her happy.

“You are great with kids,” she told him.

“I love kids,” he said, smiling widely.

“That’s sweet,” she said, smiling up at him.

“You’re sweet,” he said, leaning in to leave a quick peck on her lips and it made Nora’s whole face heat up.

“Harry!” Her cousin’s four-year-old daughter shrieked, running up to them.

“Jasmine!” Harry cooed, hunching down to her level, wiggling his fingers at her, pretending like he was going to get her. She let out a screech and made a beeline in the opposite direction, hoping Harry would chase after her.

“I’ve gotta entertain,” he said, smiling back at Nora.

“Mm-hmm,” she hummed, trying to bite back the wide smile on her face, watching as he quickly chased after the little girl, staying back just far enough to keep it exciting.

Nora’s heart flourished as she watched them. She couldn’t help it. It was extremely endearing.

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As the sun began setting, her father and her uncle’s prepared the massive bonfire, setting it ablaze almost effortlessly. All the guys were in awe of them as they stood there drinking beer with her family.

Nora hadn’t felt this at ease since before One Direction came in to her life. Life on the road was hectic – and everything with Harry just heightened her anxiety.

“Hello, love,” Harry said, stepping up next to her as he wrapped his arm around her shoulder.

“Hi,” she said, her shoulders tensing just a bit as she looked around, wondering what everyone would think about her relationship with this pop star. But nobody was paying them any mind as they stood or sat around the bonfire, lost in conversation with one another. Nora constantly had to remind herself that she and Harry were no longer sneaking around with each other.

“Do you want me to get you something to drink?” Harry asked her, holding up his beer.

“I’m good,” she told him with a smile.

“I’ve got something for you to try,” her Uncle Bill offered as he walked up to them, holding up a mason jar of clear liquid.

“What’s that?” Harry asked, smirking at him.

“Hooch,” Bill told him as he handed the jar to Harry.

“Moonshine,” Nora elaborated.

“Really?” Harry asked, his eyes going wide with excitement.

“It tastes like paint thinner, but it’ll get you drunk,” Nora told him.

“Tastes good,” Bill chimed in.

“Sure, Bill. Only because you’ve drank enough of the stuff to burn off your taste buds,” Nora chided him.

“That might be true,” Bill laughed heartily.

“Go ahead,” Nora told Harry. A second later, Harry handed her his beer and took a big swig of the foul concoction.

“Bloody hell,” Harry hissed as he swallowed.

“Not gonna find nothing like that in Europe,” Bill said proudly.

“No. I don’t think so,” Harry laughed.

“You can have it. I have loads more,” Bill told Harry as he turned and walked off.

“Holy shit,” Harry laughed, looking over at Nora, making a funny face over the moonshine.

“It’s something else. Bill makes it himself,” Nora laughed.

“Are you sure it’s actually consumable,” Harry laughed lightly, causing Nora to laugh out loud.

“I’ve drank it many times,” Nora told him with a wide smile.

“Then you’ll drink some now,” Harry said, holding it up for her.

“Nah,” she said, waving her hand through the air.

“C’mon, Nor. Live a little,” he said, pressuring her. She rolled her eyes and took the mason jar from him, taking a pull of it.

She let out a hiss before puckering her lips together. Harry let out a laugh as she handed it back to him.

“It seems stronger than ever,” she laughed, looking over at the other guys as her Uncle Bill offered them all moonshine too.

“Tonight should be interesting,” Harry laughed, looking over at all the other guys.

“That’s what I’m afraid of,” Nora grumbled under her breath.

“Nora, come here. Bring that boyfriend of yours too,” she heard her Aunt Rebecca call out to her. Nora bit her lip and looked up at Harry who smiled back at her.

“C’mon,” he said, slipping his hand into hers.

The two walked over to a group of her family who were all watching them as they approached.

“So, tell me, when did this happen? Last I heard you had that boyfriend in London. What was his name?” Rebecca asked, watching the two of them.

“Grant,” Harry chimed in and Nora’s head shot in his direction. Why would he even bother to comment? It made Nora feel uneasy.

“Grant, right,” Rebecca yelped.

“Yeah, uh…” Nora stammered, not sure what to say. She felt awkward to say the least.

Harry looked over at Nora, waiting for her to say something.

“Grant and I broke up about the same time I went on tour with the band,” Nora started to explain.

“And then you two happened, huh?” Rebecca asked, pointing her finger between the two of them.

“We did,” Nora said quietly and she felt Harry squeeze her hand, but she didn’t want to look up at him.

She felt guilty for lying to every single person in her family. Things with Harry were a complete sham and it made her feel like a sham too.

“I’m quite smitten with Nora. I don’t know if you can tell,” Harry told Rebecca – and pretty much anyone in the vicinity who was willing to listen as he dropped her hand only to wrap his arm around her shoulder tightly.

Only then was she able to look up at Harry, who was beaming a smile back at her.

“Oh, we can tell. We can definitely tell,” her cousin Heather chimed in.

Nora’s stomach turned – and she wasn’t sure if it was from the situation she was put in or if maybe the shot of moonshine she drank was taking effect.

“She’s absolutely brilliant. I just knew I had to have her the moment I laid eyes on her,” Harry continued, still looking at Nora – looking at her like he meant every word he was saying. Oh, she wanted to puke.

“You’re so cute. Nora, he’s so cute,” Rebecca said, pulling Nora’s focus away from Harry.

“He is,” Nora said quietly, looking at her aunt. She could still feel Harry’s gaze on her, but she couldn’t look back at him.

“Well, we’re definitely happy for ya’ll,” Rebecca told them and a few of the others in the vicinity chimed in to agree.

“Thank you,” Nora said quietly. She wanted to flee so badly. She didn’t like the attention.

“I uh, I need to use the restroom,” Nora said, pulling herself from Harry’s grasp, feeling completely awkward.

“Alright,” Harry told her, watching as she walked away.

She just couldn’t take it anymore. Harry was much better at faking it than she would ever be.

Notes