27 (Harry Styles)

005. HI, WE'RE THE HARRIES

Bella finally joined me in Harry's dressing room somewhere around twenty minutes later, leaving me and her alone inside. The two of us were growing quite bored, as the show still had over an hour and a half before it began. "Wanna get out of here?" I asked Bella, waking her up from her nap across the couch. She yawned and stretched, a confused look appearing on her face. "I said wanna get out of here? It's fucking boring." I laughed, getting up from my seat at the vanity.

She nodded and stood up with me, adjusting her shirt as she stood up and followed me out, into the hallway. I turned to the left, a sleepy Bella trailing behind me. I really had no idea where I was going, but I followed the signs with arrows leading to the stage. Bella and I walked for a few moments before coming to a large opening, which brought us out to the backstage area.

With a closer look, I could actually see the stadium seats and the stage where Harry stood, greeting fans before the show began."My favorite song has to be Sweet Creature, honestly." A young teenage girl beamed. Bella and I stayed near a corner, listening in on Harry's conversation with a small group of teenage girls.

"It's my mother's favorite, as well." Harry began with a smile. "It's written about a very special person, so I'm glad you enjoy it." He waved as the girls walked away, thanking him with a smile. As Harry tried to walk away, another fan approached him with a gigantic grin. She wasted no time in asking a very straightforward question, "Would you ever date Maggie Anthes?"

Bella spat out the water she sipped on lightly, wiping it from the corners of her mouth as she tried to conceal her laughter. I whipped my head around and pressed my finger to my lips, begging her to be quiet.
She waved her hands around her head as I heard Harry mutter a simple "I'm not sure who that is," which stung quite a bit. I understood why he had to say it, but it was quite difficult to be close with someone so close with the public eye, rather than you.

I heard his feet shuffle as he made his way back stage. He probably heard Bella. He opened the curtain, a look of embarrassment on his face. He definitely heard Bella. "Hi Harry." She falsely smiled and offered a small wave, getting up from her seat.
Her cheeks filled with water as she tried to swallow it, but made eye contact with me and laughed it all out. "Thank you, for this." Harry laughed and retrieved an old tee shirt on a table beside him to wipe up her mess.

He placed the shirt back and looked up at me, probably expecting me to say something. "Uh, Hi?" I answered shyly and twisted my hands together, making Harry smile. "See you snuck out, huh?" He ignored my awkwardness and smiled, his charm and charisma putting me at ease. I nodded as Bella spoke for me, "That shit was fucking boring. How do you sit there for like three hours?!" She exclaimed.

Harry chuckled softly, "Well what would make it better?"

"A lot of things."

"Well, name some." Harry laughed again, placing his head into the palm of his hands. Bella stared up at the ceiling as she thought. "Hmm.. Maybe a ping pong table." She grinned and made me roll my eyes. Harry looked over at me with a small smile followed by a subtle wink, turning back to my friend. "I'll put in a request for next time."

"Bold of you to assume there will be a next time, Styles."

"Maggie Marie, I can assure you, after you witness this set list, there will most definitely be a next time."

____

Harry's show was coming to a close as the last line of Kiwi rang out, for the third time. I swear, he never knew when to stop. "He turns into a different person when Kiwi comes on, my God." I muttered to Bella as he spit water out of his mouth. "He looks like a dolphin." She shouted expressionless over the crowd, squinting her eyes although we had pit seats.

He ran back to where Mitch stood and took a puff of his inhaler, sweat dripping across his forehead.

"I'm having your baby, it's none of your business"
"I'm having your baby, it's none of your business"

I sang along as the song finished, the lights instantly dimming. The crowd cheered for Harry as I saw him sneak off stage, waving to everyone as he exited. On his way out, he tripped over the wire on his microphone and yelled a loud "Fuck!" into the microphone, making everyone around us erupt into laughter. He flashed a smile and immediately apologized, blowing kisses towards the fans as he walked away.

The crowd eventually began to disperse, probably wanting to beat the large amount of traffic that followed after a Harry Styles concert. A guard came to discreetly get Bella and I and take us backstage, leading us through the backstage area. I looked around for Harry, but didn't see him anywhere. Bella and I somehow ended up back in the same boring, dull dressing room, except this time, a gigantic ping pong table stood in the middle of the room.

The door could barely open with the size of the thing, so Bella and I were forced to maneuver our selves between the table and door. Once inside, Bella let out a scream and ushered me to start playing a game with her. I sighed and gave in, taking a paddle and hitting the ball. Except, I didn't exactly hit it in the right place. The tiny white ball hit in between her eyebrows as she yelped in pain, taking the ball and throwing it as hard as she could at me.

The door budged painfully open again, the sound of it hitting against the table sent a shiver down my spine. Harry awkwardly waved as he entered, shuffling around the giant table. "Fuck, I didn't know it was going to be this big. It's the size of Texas." He chuckled as he finally made it inside of the room.

"It's quite the ping pong table, I must say." I agreed and nodded my head. He shut the door by kicking it with his foot, slamming it behind him. His awful cracks at one-liners that he told with a wry smile reminded me of just how much I missed that dimpled face. Bella stared at Harry awkwardly, who shifted his body next to me and stood beside me. "Um, I have to go to the bathroom." She giggled and tried to wink at me, but failed miserably.

She ran out of the dressing room and shut the door, leaving me and Harry alone together. I stared at the floor for a few moments of awkward silence before speaking, "Your show was quite wonderful." The ground on which we were standing on was covered in ping pong ball remnants, reminders of my multiple failed attempts. I nudged one of the small white balls with my toe as I expected Harry to say something. Anything, really.

Harry cleared his throat, "Thank you, Maggie. It was really fun up there." He smiled back at me. We stood again, basking in the awkward silence as I gripped the ping pong paddle until my knuckles turned white. "How much longer are you in London for?" Harry asked me. "For the week." I answered. I could see Harry thinking in his brain. He had that face; the furrowed brows, squinted eyes and pursed lips.

The problem is what some would regard as a positive or even essential change, I often perceived it as a step backwards. How long are you in London for? Really? That's all he had to say? All he could think of? He hesitated then said, "Well, we should do something during the week." What could possibly compel Harry to get out of his little London-Los Angeles bubble?

This was conceivably my only chance, however. "What're you thinking?" I asked and chewed on the side of my fingernail. Harry thought for a moment before speaking, "I dunno. Why don't we go back to our old stomping grounds?" He smiled and looked at me. "Stomping grounds?" I retorted, squinting my eyes and pressing my lips into a thin line. Harry nodded, "Yeah, back to Holmes Chapel. I dunno. We don't have to go, but I thought it'd be fun since you're only here for—"

"Yes. I'll go." I cut him off. His cheeks turned a rosy pink color and he nodded quickly, swallowing. He was blankly disappointed, as blankly disappointed as a child at the sudden frustration of some cherished scheme. My phone buzzed as Bella texted me, alerting me she was heading back to the room and to wrap up my conversation with Harry.

"And maybe, we could go back to that pizza parlor?"

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