Jen's POV
"Hey, Jen! I need to get my hair done! Where is Maddy?" Niall yelled from the bathroom.
"I have no idea." I sighed. I tried calling her and Louis' phones but both of them were off. "Come here and I'll do it."
His head peeked around the door, "What?"
I threw my hands up, "What?"
"You're gonna do my hair?"
I nodded, "Yes, now hurry up!"
He huffed and sighed making his way to the chair in front of me.
"Sit."
He sighed "How's Kat?"
"She's good." I used gel and lathered his hair with it.
"I miss her."
"I know." I brushed his quiff up and used more gel to hold it there. I used a half can of hairspray to keep it from moving. We were silent. Niall and I never had much to talk about. All of our feelings were pretty much the same. It was like the weird sibling thing I've got with Kat too. That's why I called Kat after his blow up last week. He was never going to do it. But like I said, we don't have to talk about anything.
"Alright." I said as I finished. "Go on. I'm not putting that other crap on your face."
He chuckled and ran off back to the bathroom.
There was suddenly a loud commotion outside the dressing room.
"I don't care! That's not happening!"
Harry.
"Harry, you're being unreasonable."
"Am I? Am I really? I love her! I'm not pushing her away."
It went quiet again. The conversation must have moved down the hallway.
My eyes went wide. Suddenly Liam was standing beside me. "You okay?"
"Who is he talking to?"
"John. He doesn't think Harry should settle down so soon. They want him for publicity but since he's with you he won't do it."
I groaned in frustration, "No one mentioned I'd be feeling like this when I took this job."
"I'm sorry, Jen. Do you need a minute?"
I shook my head and put it against his arm, "No. I just need a punching bag."
"You know, if you're really serious, I bet Harry would take you to the gym with him. You can use one there. Mark of course would supervise you."
I raised a brow, "Seriously?"
"Yeah!" Niall came out of the bathroom. "I used it a lot when Kat was with Luke. You'd be surprised how good it feels." He chuckled.
"That's tempting. I'll think about it."
Just then Harry walked into the room and slammed the door behind him. He sank to the floor and put his head in his hands.
"We'll give you two that minute." Liam said, pushing Niall into the bathroom and closing the door.
I walked over to Harry and plopped down beside him. "Haz?"
"Hmm?"
"Um, I was thinking. You know, maybe um-"
He lifted his head, "You stutter a lot when you're nervous." He smiled, revealing his dimples.
"Gee thanks for the boost of confidence."
"I'm sorry baby. Are you okay? I'm sorry if you heard any of that."
"I should be asking if you're okay."
He shrugged, "I will be. I'm just tired of being used for their gain. I voluntarily did it for too long and now they just assume I'll say yes. I don't want to lose you." His eyes met mine.
"You won't lose me, Harry. I won't go anywhere as long as you don't give me a reason to."
"What do you mean?"
"Don't give me a reason to leave you and I won't."
He nodded, "Sounds like a deal."
I smiled, therefore receiving a huge grin from him.
"Your smile is contagious. I love it." He leaned forward and kissed my lips. "So? You going to tell me what you were trying to stutter out?"
"Oh! Yeah, well I want to use a punching bag. Liam said you could take me to the gym with you and that Mark can help me."
"You want to punch a punching bag?" He asked.
I nodded, "Yeah."
"Hmm." He shrugged his shoulders, "Sure. Why not!"
"Really?!" I said excitedly.
"Of course! This'll be fun. We'll go tomorrow since we have a couple of days off and you'll need a day to rest."
I clapped in excitement, "Yay!"
Harry laughed and stood. "Up you go. I need to change for the show." He held his arms out and I grabbed them as he pulled me up.
"Alright." I went over to the racks and grabbed his clothing set. "Go change."
"I'll just change here."
"No, go change so that Niall and Liam can get out of the bathroom. The idiots didn't know not to lock that door."
Suddenly I heard them try the door from the inside.
"Damn it." Liam muttered. "She's right."
"Really?" Niall asked. The handle jiggled again. "Fuck. Harry can you please let us out?"
"Hmm, I don't know. This is kind of funny." Harry pointed out.
"Let them out, Haz."
"Okay." He kissed my cheek, "Only for you."
"Gross." Niall mumbled, "I can't wait for Kat to come back. You all are disgustin."
Harry opened the door. "Shut up, Niall. You know you and Kat are ten times worse than the rest of us."
"We are not! Kat doesn't like PDA."
"Ni! Shut up! Seriously. You're embarrassing yourself." I huffed. "Now get ready. And where the hell are Louis and Maddy?"
The door flew open and the two stumbled in.
"We're here." Louis shouted.
"Where were you?" I asked. "I tried calling both of you!"
"We were out." Maddy said calmly. Too calmly.
"Hmm, okay well next time let me know. I think I fucked up Niall's hair again."
"Got it." They both responded.
I shook my head as Harry wrapped his arms around my waist from behind. "I think they did it." He whispered.
"I think you shouldn't say anything." I countered.
Harry chuckled, "Okay, well we gotta go. I love you." He kissed my cheek and followed Liam and Niall out to the hallway.
I sighed. "Yeah."
As soon as Louis left the room, Maddy shut the door and looked at me.
"What?" I asked.
"Are you gonna tell him or should I?"
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"You love him."
"Yeah so?"
"You haven't told him yet, Jen."
"I know that, Maddy. I'm not ready. Please just leave it alone."
*************
"Kat!" I said as soon as her face popped up on the screen.
"What?!"
"You'll never guess what I did the other day."
"What'd you do?"
"I went to the gym with Harry!"
She laughed, "You went to the gym?"
I nodded, "Yeah! It was a blast! I punched a punching bag for over an hour."
"Wait, you're serious?"
"Yes, Kat. I am."
"That actually sounds like fun! Tell Mark that I'm next."
"Oh, of course!"
"So what else is going on?"
I shrugged, "Not a whole lot to be honest. The way I scheduled these shows means that they have two and three day breaks between shows. It's great because they can do whatever they want, but it sucks because I'm still stuck on this damn bus."
"You should have gotten different buses."
I rolled my eyes, "Please stop reminding me that I royally fucked this up."
"I found it humorous when Niall called complaining of the rotten egg smelling bus he was stuck on for eight hours."
"I hate you."
"I know you do. Okay. So, are we going to do this?"
I smirked and nodded. "Absolutely!"
**************
"Liam!" I heard Louis say from the outside of the bus. "Oh, Liam!"
"Ah fuck." I muttered scrambling to get out of my bed. I knew that if I didn't stop Louis now he'd get Liam. Again.
I ran through the bus and pushed the door open. "LOUIS STOP!"
"Fuck." He muttered.
"What the hell is going on?" I heard Niall ask sleepily.
I groaned. "BOYS! MEETING ON MY BUS! NOW!"
I walked back inside and found a sweater, pulling it on over my pjs.
Six minutes later the four of them sat at the table in front of me.
"It's four am." I stated.
Harry sighed, "Yes babe. It is four am. So you want to tell us why you screamed for a meeting at four am?"
"You should ask Louis and Liam."
Both boys chuckled quietly.
"It's not funny! I know these weird breaks suck okay? And I know sleeping on buses in stadiums sucks too. Trust me I do. But these stupid late night water, and silly string, or whatever fights need to end! Some of us appreciate our sleep because we have things to do during the day. Like online finals for school."
"Oh shit. Jen, I'm sorry!" Louis said. "I forgot! I'm really sorry!"
"It's okay. Let's just stop them okay?"
I got four head nods before three of them left the bus.
"Jen?"
I sighed, "Yeah?"
"Why didn't you just get a hotel for the week?"
"Because everything is right here, Haz. I feel organized."
"But you're stressed and you're not getting good sleep."
I sighed again and took a deep breath, "Sleep with me then."
His face screamed shock. "Wh-what?"
"At least cuddle with me until I do fall asleep. You're right. I'm not sleeping, okay? But when I was in school before, the only way I fell asleep quickly was if I cuddled." I fell silent. We never talked about my ex. Harry knows what happened but only because Kat told him.
"Jen, you know I'd love to, but I don't want to push any boundries."
"You won't Harry. Please?"
He nodded, "Okay."
I smiled as he got up and walked over to me. His arms wrapped around me tight as his lips met mine.
"God, I love you so much Jen."
I smiled and then whispered. "I love you too, Harry."
"You do?" He asked quietly.
I nodded, "Of course I do."
"You haven't said it before."
"I know. But I'm saying it now."
He kissed me again. "Well keep saying it okay? Never stop because I've never been happier."
"Deal."
"Alright, now lets get you to sleep. You have a final in four and a half hours."
I took his hand and pulled him towards my bunk. "I love that you remember that crap better than I do."
"I know, baby."
I sat down on my bunk and pushed off excess pillows. I scooted toward the back. Harry crawled in and his arms immediately wrapped around me.
We were silent. Nothing else needed to be said. I fell asleep as Harry hummed a song from their latest album.
***************
First show in France starts in three hours and I don't have anything ready. Harry didn't wake me up before he left and I woke up in a sweat less than thirty minutes ago. I haven't even showered.
"Hey Paul?" I called into the headset.
"Yeah?"
"Please tell me you have all four of them right now?"
"No. I'm missing Styles."
"Alright."
I pulled out my phone and dialed my boyfriend.
"Hey babe!"
"Please don't 'hey babe' me right now. Where are you?"
"I'm on my way back."
"From where?"
He chuckled, "Don't worry about it babe, I'll be back soon."
I sighed, "Okay."
We stayed silent for a few seconds. I could hear traffic sounds in the background but I focused on his breathing.
"Babe?" He asked.
"Yeah, Harry?"
"Are you okay? I can hear your breathing and I'm worried."
"I'm fine. I just need to shower and stuff. I didn't have time. I overslept."
"That was my fault, but hey, I'll tell you what, tonight, we'll go to a hotel and you can get a real night's sleep."
"No, Harry, that's not necessary."
"Jen." He scolded. "Stop doing that."
"Stop doing what?"
"Stop saying you're fine."
I sighed, "I am fine, Harry! I don't need you to worry about me right now!"
"I always worry about you." He said, cutting me off.
"Well don't please! Okay? Just get here. And soon!" I hung up on him.
Suddenly Niall walked into the dressing room and slammed the door behind him.
"What is your problem?" I snapped.
"I can't do this."
"Yes, you can."
"No I can't, Jen! I need her!"
I rolled my eyes, "Don't be dramatic!"
"Easy for you to say! You're with your boyfriend every fucking day!"
"Actually, I'd like to argue that! I'm with Harry Styles every day, not necessarily my boyfriend, okay? You guys are VERY busy! Kat gets that! But now it's your turn to understand that she's also very busy following a dream that she has for herself! Remember that you were the one who fought for this relationship! Fight for it some more, Niall because I can barely handle mine right now! I can't handle yours too!"
Niall sighed. "I'm sorry."
I took a deep breath, "Yeah. Me too."
I walked over and stood next to him. I took one of his hands in mine. "Niall, I know it's tough to be away from Kat. It sucks, like, I hate it. I can't imagine how it is on your level, but I know that you can handle it, okay?"
"Thanks, Jen." He pulled me in for a hug. "Do I have to perform tonight?"
I scoffed, "Ha! That's not even a question, Horan. Get out there."
He chuckled as he left the room. I went back to the racks and organized the boys outfits for this week. I'm not sure if Kat is coming for any of these shows yet but I've got most of them ready.
The door flew open again. "Hey, babe!"
I turned to see Harry walking towards me with a bag and a coffee cup. "What is this?"
"This is for you." He stepped in front of me and kissed my cheek.
"Oh. Well now I feel bad for yelling at you."
"Eh. Don't, love. Here: Iced Chai Tea latte from Starbucks and a breakfast sandwich."
"Oh, bless your heart." I took them and immediately downed half of the latte. Harry looked at me shocked.
"Wow, okay. Well, I'm going to get out to rehearsal. Louis yelled at me as I passed by backstage."
He leaned down and kissed my lips softly. "I love you. I'll see you in a bit."
"I love you too, babe."
He headed back towards the door as I took another sip of my drink.
"Oh, and Jen?"
"Yeah?"
"Take a nap. And a shower."
I gave him the finger as he closed the door.
