Home

5. History

5. History

Harry hoped that he hadn't been too obvious as he spied on the duo seated across the table.

He watched as Mitch whispered in Scott's ear. He watched the blond freeze before folding in on himself. He watched him stare at the table, the panic and sadness flash in his eyes.

He watched as the chair was pushed out and he stood up, turning and leaving.

His heart broke for him. He wasn't sure why, but he could feel his pain lingering in the air behind him.

He watched as he returned with raw and red eyes, and Harry's heart broke for him again.

Both groups retired early to their hotel rooms, but Harry and the boys found their way back to one another as they always did on tour, sitting in a room together and talking about nothing.

"Tonight was fun. This is gonna be a great tour," Liam said, flopping backwards on Niall's bed as Niall groaned.

"Shoes off on my bed!" Niall yelled, swatting at his friend.

"Yeah. What was up with Scott and Mitch, though?" Harry asked, trying to sound casual.

"I was just gonna ask that. It was almost like they broke up in front of us," Liam replied.

"Broke up? Wait, are they together?" Harry asked.

"Well, not anymore, it would seem," Zayn laughed. "No, just kidding. I don't think they are."

"No, I follow Scott on Instagram. He's engaged, isn't he? To some Filipino model." Liam interjected.

Harry knew exactly whom he was talking about. He had seen the man all over Scott's Instagram, too. He was beautiful.

Annoyingly beautiful.

"Nah, that's not right," Louis added. "Scott told me he's single."

"What?" Harry asked, curiosity getting the better of him, unable to hide it. "When?"

"At dinner. We were talking about family and the like. We got onto the topic of dating. I told him about Eleanor. He told me he's single. Seemed to want to leave it at that, so I didn't press the issue," Louis said, eyeing Harry with a confused gaze. "That alright with you, Haz?" He teased.

Harry felt his cheeks flush. "Of course, it is. Just hope he's okay, is all. Wouldn't want some personal issues to affect the tour."

Louis' eyes narrowed, but the rest of the boys nodded. "Right," he muttered, clearly putting some pieces together in front of Harry's eyes.

The next morning, Harry watched as Liam and Scott spoke in the hotel lobby. Their body language was casual and friendly. Easy, like they were old friends.

Scott smiled, and Harry was conflicted. He was glad to see that he was feeling better. But he was disappointed that he wasn't the cause.

He shook the thought from his head as Mitch approached him, greeting him warmly with coffee in hand.

"Excited?" Mitch asked.

"Very. How are you guys all feeling today?"

"The same. We're all pretty pumped. Thanks again for having faith in us."

Harry laughed. "You guys make it easy to have faith in you." He sipped his own coffee, thinking about how best to breech the subject that he really wanted to discuss. "Everything okay with you and Scott, though? Things looked a bit tense last night."