“Yo, Nora!” She heard Josh Devine, One Directions drummer and all-around hottie of tour, yell out to her.
She turned quickly to look back at him as he jogged up to her through the underground tunnels of the stadium they were at in Utah for the show that night. It was the 4th of July and everyone seemed to be on this hyper craze because of all the festivities of the holiday. But there she was, still trying to get work done, still trying to do her job no matter what. One Direction was currently doing their nightly meet and greet and Nora was in a hurry to bring them their last box of tour posters.
“Hey, Joshy,” she said, still walking the same fast pace she was before as he fought to catch up.
“Hey, are you coming out with us tonight?” He asked, with big eyes and a wide smile.
“Um…” She stammered, not sure if she was allowed to ‘go out’ with any of the guys.
She hated feeling like she couldn’t do anything, but she didn’t want to jeopardize her job for anything. And with the way Harry was trying to sabotage her, she was certain that ‘going out’ with the guys might be a terrible idea.
“Come on. We’re going to have a blast. There’s like this festival thing going on and… it’ll be loads of fun, okay. I mean, come on. You’ve gotta see fireworks. It’s the 4th of July, isn’t that what all you Americans do?” He said, grabbing the box out of her arms as he talked.
“Josh, I’ve got this,” she said, giving him a little resistance with the box.
“Nora. I got it,” he told her. She nodded and slowed her walk just slightly as he completely took the box from her.
“I mean, who’s all going out?” She asked, finally deciding to approach the subject.
“All of us. Like, all the guys. Camryn’s dancers, some of the crew guys. Come on,” Josh said as they reached the large room where the meet and greet was going on.
They heard some girls scream at the sight of Josh walking into the room and he looked up, giving them a smile.
“Hi,” he said awkwardly, as Nora went to grab for the box again.
“Where do you want it?” Josh asked, pulling it away from her just before she got a good grip.
“Uh, just… over there,” she said, pointing to a table behind the guys.
Nora looked up just in time to catch Harry’s eye as he cocked his eyebrow, giving her a devious smirk. She shook her head before nodding to the girl standing in front of him. She watched as he turned his head to the half crying, half smiling girl decked out in head-to-toe do it yourself One Direction garb. These 1D fans were sure a creative bunch.
“So?” Josh asked, stealing Nora’s attention again.
“Huh, what?” She asked, snapping out of her daze.
“Tonight,” he pressed.
“Oh. Uh… I’ll think about it,” she told him.
“But, seriously,” he said, still pushing for it.
“I said, I’ll think about it,” she laughed.
“Alright, alright,” he smiled at her as she started unpacking the posters from the box.
“Let me know. I’ll see you later, Nora,” Josh said as he started exiting the room.
“I will,” she told him.
“BYE JOSH!” A girl shrieked as he started out the door and a whole chorus of bye Josh’s ensued afterward.

“Are you coming out with us tonight?” Harry came up from behind Nora at catering that night before the show.
“Je—sus—” She yelped, completely startled by him. Harry laughed a little as she regained her composure.
“Don’t do that,” she said, punching him in the arm.
“Ow, jeez,” he said rubbing it, but still keeping the smile on his face. Nora went back to filling her plate with food, ignoring him.
“So, are you coming out with us?” He asked, grabbing a plate and falling in line next to her.
“Didn’t you just eat?” She eyed him.
“Still hungry,” he shrugged.
“You’re going to split your pants on stage,” she smirked, getting a picture of it in her head.
“Are you calling me fat?” He asked as he scooped another big helping of lasagna onto his plate.
“No, but you will be if you keep eating like that,” she snickered.
“Then you won’t find me attractive anymore?” He asked, grinning salaciously at her.
“Who says I find you attractive now?” She shot at him.
“Your eyes. And the way they’re always staring at me,” he said, bouncing his eyebrows at her.
“In your dreams,” she laughed.
“No, in your dreams,” he smirked. Nora scoffed, rolling her eyes as she grabbed a breadstick, putting it on her plate.
“But seriously, are you coming out tonight?” He asked for the third time as she grabbed a juice and headed toward the large table in the room where Sandy, Niall and Jon were already in heavy conversation as they ate their food.
“I don’t know,” she said as she shrugged her shoulders, taking a seat on the abandoned side of the table.
“I think you should. You’ve practically done nothing but work since we’ve been on tour,” he told her as he took the spot across from her.
“Uh, that’s why I’m here,” she said, looking at him incredulously.
“Yeah, but not to work 24 hours a day,” he retorted.
“I don’t want to do anything that will jep—” She started, but he cut her off.
“Jeopardize it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But it won’t if you just come out with us. Everyone knows you need some time off. Be young for a night. What are you? Twenty-one, twenty-two?” He asked.
“Twenty-two,” she told him.
“I think you just need to come out with us and be a twenty-two year old for a night,” he coaxed.
“I said, I’ll think about it, okay. Just—god, I’ll think about it,” she laughed, getting slightly annoyed with all the badgering, but also on the other hand she felt pretty good about being high on everyone’s list of people to hang out with.
“Nora, are you coming out with us tonight?” Sandy asked her from the other side of the table, oblivious to the conversation she and Harry just had.
“Oh my god,” she grumbled.
“She’s thinking about it,” Harry called out to him.
“Alright,” Sandy said with a nod and went back to eating.
“See, everyone wants you to go,” Harry said quietly, before he shoved a forkful of lasagna in his mouth.
“I get that, Harry,” Nora said, looking up to give him a firm stare down.
“I’m just saying,” he said as he shrugged his shoulders.

After another great show, everyone was bouncing off the walls getting ready to go out. The large gathering room in the venue was filled with many of the tour people talking loudly and having a good time, while Nora was walking around packing up things that needed to be shoved back on the bus before they all headed out.
“Are you coming with, Nora?” Liam asked me.
“Uh, I’ve got some stuff to do,” she said, pointing aimlessly behind her, trying to make up an excuse because she was too afraid of getting in trouble with management by doing something stupid and reckless with their precious boys.
“Paul, tell Nora she’s allowed to go out with us tonight,” Louis said giving Nora a playful, bored look before he looked over at their big burly bodyguard and tour manager.
“Oh, Nora, love. It’s okay. We can finish up. Go,” he said waving her off.
“See. Come on,” Louis said as he and Liam smiled widely at her.
“I just… I don’t know,” she said giving them a hesitant look.
“Nora…” Paul said in a warning tone, giving her a look to match. She stared back at him, almost afraid of what he was going to say.
“You are fantastic. You have been working your arse off for three weeks. Go out and have fun.” Paul told her as he grabbed onto her shoulders and pushed her gently in Louis and Liam’s general direction.
“Are you sure?” Nora asked, looking back at him.
“I am positive,” he said, giving her another stern look.
“O-okay,” she stammered, walking toward the boys.
“Come on,” Liam said, putting his arm around her as they walked out of the room.
“I’ve just got to… to change,” she told them as they stepped out into the hallway.
“Alright. We’re just going to be on the bands bus when you’re done,” Liam told her.
“Okay,” she nodded.

When she pulled open the tour bus to change her clothes, she felt a sense of excitement to get a night of fun. It was kind of ironic to her that this freedom came for her on Independence Day. Every day she was on tour, she felt like she was walking on eggshells because of the stress she put on herself to not fuck up the opportunity. It was her biggest fear to disappoint any one of the people she was working with and she didn’t know why.
She took a deep breath, walking onto the bus, straight toward the bunks. When she looked up, she almost ran straight into Harry.
“Oh!” She yelped, stopping in her tracks, her eyes wide.
He was standing in front of her shirtless with his black skinny jeans undone, showing the front of his Topman underwear. She couldn’t help it, her eyes naturally washed up and down his body. There was something about him that was so appealing to her and she hated it thoroughly.
“Hey, Nora,” he said in his sly seductive voice and her eyes snapped up to his.
“Uh…” She stammered, caught off guard.
“You okay?” He chuckled, enjoying her fumbling.
“I-I… yeah.” She nodded, looking away from him.
She heard him laugh and she just wanted to smack him, because he was enjoying her misery too much.
“Am I making you uncomfortable?” He chuckled.
“Yes. Could you put on some clothes? The last thing I need is for someone to walk on the bus and see me here with you half naked,” she snapped, shielding her eyes away from him.
“You want to catch another glimpse before I put on a shirt?” He asked, way too amused by the situation.
“Oh my god. Just get dressed!” She yelped, walking back toward the front of the bus. He laughed out loud walking toward her.
“Calm down. I’m dressed.” He chuckled.
“Good,” she said turning toward him, catching his shit-eating grin.
“Are you coming out with us?” He asked for like the hundredth time that day.
“Yes,” she huffed, moving passed him toward the bunks where her suitcase was.
“Awesome,” he said following her again, watching as she dug through her clothes.
“Ooh,” he said when he saw her bras and panties inside her suitcase.
“Oh, god,” she scoffed, rolling her eyes at him.
“I bet you look amazing in that one,” he said, going to grab for one of her thongs, but she slapped his hand away quickly.
“Get the hell outta here. Seriously. I need to change. Just, god,” she grumbled.
“I’ll wait for you,” he told her.
“Yeah. Whatever,” she said, grabbing some clothes out before zipping up the suitcase and going into the tiny bathroom to change.

Harry and Nora walked out of the bus together and headed straight for the bands bus. When they stepped on, they were greeted with loud music and loud conversation.
“Nora!” Josh yelled.
“Joshy!” She yelled back in the same manner, feeling a little awkward that she was in their bus instead of her own.
“Ready for a fun night? We were about to do some shots,” Josh said, smirking at her deviously.
“Shots?” She croaked out. She wasn’t aware this was going to be a drinking party.
“Yeah, buddy,” he said pulling out the Patron tequila from the bus freezer.
“Are you drinking, Nora?” Harry breathed in her ear.
“You’re nineteen,” she said in a warning tone, looking at him sharply.
“I’m a big boy,” he said, smirking at her as he moved toward the kitchenette on the bus where Josh was already pouring shots. Nora wasn’t entirely sure about this – especially with the tequila shots.
“Is this really a good idea?” Nora whispered to Harry.
“It’s fine, Nora!” Josh shouted, handing her a shot of tequila, watching as Harry licked his hand and Josh dashed salt onto it.
“It’s fine,” Harry mimicked him, but Nora just stared at him blankly, not so sure.
Harry reached down grabbing her hand, licking his tongue across it before Josh dashed some salt onto it. Nora’s eyes connected with Harry’s again and she could see his smile turn up the corners of his mouth.
“Alright, Nora. You take the shot, lick the salt and then grab one of these limes and suck on it. Shot, lick, suck,” Josh told her, giving a sly smirk.
“Like I haven’t taken a tequila shot before,” she scoffed at him.
“Well, alright then,” he laughed, grabbing his own shot glass.
“Ready, Nora?” Harry asked, cocking his eyebrow at her.
“Fine,” she said, rolling her eyes, finally giving in.
She was certain it was a bad idea, but whatever. One night of drinking with the boys wasn’t going to get her fired.
“1, 2, 3 – go!” Josh chanted, and they all tipped back their shot glasses, licked their salt and sucked their limes.
“Oh, yeah!” Josh shouted as he slammed down his shot glass on the counter top.
“Buuuuurn,” Harry hissed, slamming his shot glass down next to Josh’s.
“Oh my god. I forgot how much I hate tequila,” Nora groaned, nearly choking on the shot as she put down her glass lightly next to theirs, wiping at her mouth.

By the time they were finally headed out to the festival, most of them, including Nora, were three tequila shots in. She also finished off Sandy’s and Dan’s beers. She was feeling pretty good and the alcohol had everything to do with it. And of course, there was something she really enjoyed about being the only girl with a whole group of good looking dudes.
“Alright, we’re supposed to meet up with Jordin, Ashley, and the rest of the girls for fireworks in a little while,” Sandy said looking at his phone.
His lady friend, Ashley, was one of Camryn’s dancers. Nora hadn’t really had a lot of time to get to know any of them, but they were all nice girls from what she could tell.
The place where they ended up was like a huge 4th of July festival with carnival rides and everything. It was really cool and Nora was really enjoying herself as they walked around. The boys got noticed, of course, and had to sign a few autographs and take some pictures, but it wasn’t too out of control.
“Feel good about yourself?” Nora smirked at Harry, noticing his cocky grin after taking a few pictures with quite a large group of girls.
“Do you feel good about yourself?” He asked, hip-checking her lightly as they walked. Nora yelped as she almost lost her balance.
“I always feel good about myself,” she said, shoving him back with both hands, using more force than he pushed her with.
“Whoa. Don’t hurt yourself, love,” he laughed, catching his balance easily, even though he had more to drink than she did.
“Oh, I won’t. I’ll only hurt you,” she said, going to push him again, but he ended up grabbing her wrists before she could.
“Ha! What now, Nora?” He smirked at her with wide-eyes, proud of himself. His eyebrows arching up, his mouth dropping open as he chuckled.
“Let me go,” she growled, squirming as she playfully kicked at him.
“You’re going to fall over,” he laughed, easily evading her swinging feet.
“I hate you,” she grumbled, giving up as she ripped her arms out of his grasp.
“There’s a thin line—” He started.
“DON’T even say it,” she snapped, entirely sure he was going to finish it with ‘between love and hate’. He just laughed, shaking his head at her.
“Nora needs another drink, guys. She’s not nearly drunk enough,” Harry called out to the guys.
“Bars over here,” Sandy said, pointing over to a large canopy with a make-shift bar underneath it. There were barstools and everything.
“I’ve had enough,” Nora said, waving them off.
“No one’s had enough yet. First one’s on me, Nora,” Jon said, smirking at her.
“Aren’t you supposed to be the good influence?” She asked him with a smile tugging up her lips.
“It’s independence day,” he said with a shrug.
“Good excuse,” she giggled as they all headed for the bar.
Those of them that were of age had a few beers, while Zayn secretly snuck Harry drinks, being the biggest bad influence of them all.
Nora sat at the bar between Dan and Josh as they drank and she could really feel the weight of the alcohol and knew she should stop, but all the drinks were purchased and placed in front of her before she could protest.
“Hey, Nora,” Dan said to her.
“Hey, what?” She asked, downing the last bit of beer in her glass.
“You’re ringing,” he told her.
“What?” She asked, looking at him oddly.
“You’re ringing. In your purse. Your phone,” he said, pointing at her purse that was sitting on top of the bar.
“Oh!” She giggled drunkly, digging inside to find her cell phone.
When she pulled it out she saw Grant’s name splashed across the lit up screen.
“Oh!” She said, swiping the talk button immediately as she ambled off the stool.
“Grant,” she breathed into the receiver.
“Hi, Nora,” she heard his voice come through on her end over the loud noise.
“Hi,” she said, finding it comforting to hear his voice.
“I-I miss you, Nor,” Grant said, sounding a little bit sad.
“Grant…” She sighed as she walked away from the group.
“I just… I hate how things went down between us. I just… I really miss you,” he told her.
“Nora!” She heard Harry yell in her direction and she looked back to see him jogging toward her.
“Shit,” she breathed, knowing this wasn’t going to end well.
“Can we… can we just talk, Nora?” Grant asked.
“Grant…” She sighed again.
“Hey. Where are you going?” Harry asked as he hip-checked her.
She threw out her hand and pushed him away from her as she tried to focus on what Grant was saying, but with the alcohol flooding her veins, she could only focus on one thing at a time and Harry was like a god damn gnat that wouldn’t leave her alone.
“Nora,” she heard Grant say a little bit more sternly when she hadn’t answered the question she didn’t hear him ask.
“Nora,” Harry said to her also, grabbing her by the waist, tickling her sides.
“Harry!” She shrieked as giggles began rolling out of her because of Harry’s relentless pestering.
“What!?” Grant growled, and Nora heard the anger in his voice.
“Harry, stop!” She yelled, swatting at his hands.
“What the fuck is going on, Nora?” Grant shouted through the phone.
“Stop!” She yelled at Harry seriously, hitting him one last time and he backed off, looking at her wide-eyed.
“What the fuck is going on? Are you with him, Nora? Are you—you’re fucking around with him?” Grant choked out.
“No, Grant. It’s not like that at all,” Nora said into the phone and watched as Harry’s eyes got a little wider when he realized who she was talking to.
“You know what, Nora. Have fun with your new boyfriend. I’m sure he’s going to treat you way better than I ever could,” Grant spat at her sarcastically.
“Grant, no—” Nora pleaded, but he already hung up on her.
“Fuck!” She growled looking at her phone in her hand.
“Nora, I-I…” Harry stammered.
“Just, don’t,” she snapped, walking passed him back toward the direction of the buses.
“Nora!” Harry called after her.
“Just leave me alone, Harry,” she told him.
“You’re drunk, Nora. And the buses aren’t even there anymore,” Harry called out to her.
She stopped dead in her tracks realizing he was probably right. What the hell was she going to do? Where the hell was she going to go? She hadn’t thought this through.
“We’re all supposed to catch cabs to the hotel later,” Harry informed her.
“Shit,” she growled lowly.
“Come on. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to—” Harry started.
“He thinks that we’re… that you and I… that—” She stammered, shaking her head. She couldn’t even wrap her mind around it.
“That we’re sleeping together?” Harry cocked his eyebrow.
“Yeah,” she breathed, looking up at him hesitantly.
“Well, you know… we could…” Harry smirked.
“Ugh!” She growled, walking passed him back toward the other guys at the bar.
“Oh come on, Nora. Lighten up,” Harry chuckled, falling into step next to her.
“You and I are never going to sleep together, Harry. It’s not going to happen,” she told him firmly.
“Never say never,” he smirked.
“Never,” she growled at him.
“Alright. I get the point,” he laughed.
“Do you?” She questioned.
“I get the point that you feel like you need to resist,” he smirked deviously at me.
“Oh my god. You never stop,” she grumbled.
“You have to appreciate my persistence,” he chuckled playfully, shrugging his shoulders.
“Nora!” Josh yelled as she walked up. It was becoming a theme with him shouting out her name.
“Hey,” she said quietly as she took her stool from before.
“Time for another one, apparently,” Josh said getting the bartenders attention.
“No, Josh,” she said, shaking her head, but he already ordered a round of jeg-bombs for everyone.
“Oh my god,” Nora grumbled.
“You’ll love it,” he said, patting her on the back.
“You’re trying to get me to puke tonight, aren’t you? I sleep in a hotel room alone. I might die and no one will know until morning,” she told them.
“I mean, there are plenty of us to take care of you, Nor,” Josh offered.
“Mm-hmm. You’re going to end up carrying me home,” she laughed as the bartender slid the drinks over to us.
“That can be arranged,” Harry chimed in.
“Yeah, I bet,” she said eyeing him as she grabbed her jeg-bomb from the bar.
“Cheers,” Josh said.
“To our independence,” Sandy said, holding up his glass.
“Hear, hear,” Jon said as they clinked their glasses together before downing them.
Harry even got in on it when he wasn’t supposed to, most likely supplied by Zayn again.
“Time for fireworks,” Sandy announced, looking at his phone.
“Let’s go!” Jon bellowed as they all got up from their stools and headed toward the large gathering of people sprawled out on blankets and lawn chairs to watch fireworks.
When they finally found Ashley and the rest of the girls in the crowd, the fireworks had already started. They had big blankets sprawled out in the grass for all of them, but Nora wasn’t in the mood.
“Harry, come sit by me!” The girl with the pink hair shrieked out.
Nora didn’t know why girls constantly threw themselves at him. Okay, she knew why. But it was annoying. She found herself not wanting to have anything to do with these girls while they watched fireworks and huddled around the 1D boys like they were second coming of Christ or something. So she decided to be a little vindictive and take Harry’s attention away from them. Blame it on the alcohol.
“You want to take a walk with me?” Nora breathed in Harry’s ear, quiet enough so no one else heard.
“Yes,” he said immediately, giving her a wide smile.
Without a word to anyone, they walked off on their own, heading toward the carnival.
“Are you okay?” Harry asked her once they successfully maneuvered through all the families jam-packed into the small grassy area.
“Fireworks aren’t really my thing,” she said with a shrug.
“You’re American and it’s Independence Day,” Harry pointed out.
“Yeah, and?” She asked, giving him a questioning look.
“Well, what is your thing then?” He asked.
“I don’t know,” she said as they walked through the almost deserted carnival area.
“From what I gather, all you like to do is work,” he said, smirking at her.
“From what I gather, all you like to do is fuck around,” she said, turning it around on him.
His eyes flared for a moment, but he just shook his head and ignored her comment.
“Sorry. I’m pretty drunk,” she apologized.
“I’m not far behind you,” he told her.
“You drank more than I did,” she scoffed, smiling over at him.
“I guess I have a higher tolerance level,” he said, hip-checking her lightly.
“Holy shit. You’ve gotta stop that. I’m gonna fall on my ass,” she said, wobbling slightly. Harry let out a laugh when he had to reach out and grab her arm to steady her.
“Lightweight,” he quipped.
“You know what, whatever,” she laughed, pushing him.
“If I can’t push you, you can’t push me,” he scoffed playfully.
“But it’s so much fun,” she said, pushing him again.
“Nora!” He yelped, dropping his shoulder down as he picked her up by the waist and acted like he was going to throw her over his shoulder.
“HARRY!” Nora shrieked as her giggles rolled out of her. Once he put her down, she stumbled backwards, bumping into a wall.
“Oh my god,” she laughed, appreciating the walls stability.
When she realized Harry wasn’t laughing, that his eyes were focused on hers and his body was slowly inching closers, her laughing subsided. She stared back at him, just waiting for something to happen. Because no matter how much she tried to fight it, deep down she wanted something to happen. Deep down, she wanted Harry to make her forget about Grant and how much he continued to hurt her even when they weren’t together anymore.
She felt Harry’s fingers grip onto her hips and she waited on bated breath. His head moved in, cocking slightly and she was sure he was going to kiss her – she wanted him to. But instead, he put his mouth up to her ear.
“Tell me to stop, Nora. Push me away,” he breathed against her earlobe.
Nora’s breathing hitched, because she knew she didn’t want to. She knew he was putting this one on her on purpose. She knew he was giving her the option because he knew she wouldn’t resist him. The fireworks were booming overhead, making obnoxious canon-like sounds and she was sure her heart was pounding almost as loudly inside her chest.
Harry’s eyes pierced into hers, waiting for a response, but the resistance just wasn’t there. Her hands came up to the back of his neck as she pulled him closer, kissing him hard on the mouth. Her lips stung with pain from the force of impact, but she didn’t care, because everything else was just so sweet. Harry’s tongue tangled with hers almost immediately as she felt his fingers inch up the back of her tank top, touching her bare skin. His fingertips and lips were both so appealing and she wanted more and more. She felt desperate for him, like she was losing herself. And when he pulled away, she stood there staring at him in shock.
“Your phone,” he said looking down at her purse that she must have dropped to the ground when they began kissing.
“Huh?” She asked, looking down too, feeling a million miles away from her own brain.
“Your phone is ringing,” he told her.
“Oh!” She said dropping down to gather up her purse. As she dug for her cell phone, Harry’s phone began ringing in his pocket.
“Hello?” Nora answered.
“Nora, where are you?” She heard Niall’s voice.
“Oh, Niall. Uh… I just… I had to go to the bathroom,” she lied.
“You’ve been gone for a while. Are you alright?” He asked.
“Oh, yeah. Uh, Harry came with to make sure I didn’t get lost. We’ll… we’ll be back soon,” she told him, looking up to see Harry talking to someone on his phone.
“Alright. See you in a little bit,” he said.
“Yup,” she said and hung up the phone.
Harry turned back to her after he hung up his own phone.
“It was Liam wondering where we were. I told him you were hungry,” Harry told her.
“Mine was Niall and I told him I needed to go to the bathroom,” she said, biting at her bottom lip, hoping the two of them didn’t exchange information.
“Oh. Uh… oh well,” Harry chuckled lightly.
“We should… we should get back,” she said feeling awkward.
“Yeah,” He nodded.
She looked up to realize they were just making out up against a bathroom on the festival grounds.
“How romantic,” she quipped, pointing at the outhouse building.
Harry shrugged, giving her a smirk as he shoved his hands in his pockets. She couldn’t help but smile back at him as the thought of what just happened brought a blush to her cheeks.
What was she getting herself into?

Notes

Hiya!! Let me know what you think of the story! The more comments/reviews, the faster I'll update. :)