HIS EFFECT |Harry Styles|

Harry's image

"Ready for the most boring dinner of your life?" Harry asked me as he helped me put my jacket on.

"Yep." I nodded, turning around to look at him and press a quick peck to his lips.

After our little rendezvous on our not-so-private bunk, we both started to get ready for the dinner party, which was not such an easy task, since we were all sharing one small bathroom in a moving bus.

"You look beautiful, babe." Harry planted a sweet kiss on my forehead, before intertwining his fingers with mine and leading us out of the bus.

There were about five cars waiting for the boys and the rest of the crew that was invited for the dinner party. Harry shared a car with Liam and Niall, while Louis shared one with Luke and Calum. Lou rented her own car, since Lux was still visiting so she could come back to the bus the second Lux fell asleep, leaving me to share a ride with Ashton.

"You know what the best part of this dinner thing is?" Ashton asked as he flopped down on the car seat, closing the door after and I just shook my head.

"Free champagne." He winked and wiggled a brow, making a small giggle leave my lips.

"I don't intend on getting drunk tonight, so no champagne for me." I pointed out and he gasped, feigning horror and shock as he placed a hand over his heart.

"Well, I intend on getting smashed!" He cheered, before telling the driver to take us to the address.

The drive to the restaurant was quick and full of laughter. Ashton was in a really good mood and kept telling jokes and funny stories all the way down there. We were the first two to arrive, although the record label people were already there.

"Olivia!" Someone called my name and soon I felt my body being engulfed in an uncomfortable hug.

"H-hey." I greeted, still not knowing who it was, but for the strong, musky scent and this person's height, I could tell it was a man.

"How are you doing, my dear?" The mystery person pulled away, allowing me to finally recognize Simon's familiar features.

"I'm great!" I smiled awkwardly, still confused by his sudden affection.

"So I've heard and for the looks of it you dumped our dearest Harold for Ashton here." Simon patted Ashton's shoulder proudly, making the poor boy spit champagne back to the flute he was holding close to his lips.

"What? No! We're not together." He was quick to contradict Simon, who shot us both a suspicious look.

"Are you sure?" He asked in an annoying, patronizing voice.

"Of course! I love Harry." I was glad to hear that my voice didn't fail me, sounding as confident as it could be.

"Okay then, I'll take your word for it." He nodded, taking a sip of his whiskey. "But are you sure you don't want to date Ashton? It would be so much better for Harry's imagine if he wasn't dating right now..." Simon pondered and I felt the blood boiling in my veins.

"Is this what this is about? Harry's image?" I squinted my eyes at him, crossing my arms against my chest, in attempts to look much more confident and strong then how I was feeling at the moment.

"Well, yeah... Since he's started dating you his popularity fell sharply." He said matter-of-factly.

"I'm sorry to disappoint you Simon, but I'm not breaking up with Harry because of his 'image'." I said sternly. "He has already made it clear to me that he doesn't care about what other people think about our relationship, especially what you think." I spat, turning around abruptly and walking away before I said or did something I would regret later.

"Hey, Liv, wait up!" I heard Ashton call, but I couldn't be bothered at that moment, I just wanted to get away from those people who only care about how much money they're making on other people's misery.

"Hey! Stop!" Ashton reached me, tugging at my arm and turning me around to look at him.

"I'm sorry, Ash, but I can't be around those people back there." I felt the tight knot burning inside of my throat, begging for a release as the tears started to form on the corners of my eyes.

"Hey, hey, it's okay, I'm really sorry about what Simon said." Ashton brushed his fingers against my cheek, wiping his thumb underneath my eye where a small tear escaped.

"Thanks, Ash." I smiled sadly at him.

"You're right, you know?" He said lowly and I frowned, looking at him in confusion as I waited for him to elaborate. "You shouldn't care about what other people think about your relationship. As long as you're happy, that's all that matters."

"I know, but I also know that I'm the reason for all of the mean comments Harry is getting ever since we've started dating and he shouldn't be treated like that, people shouldn't be saying all those horrible things about him, Ash, and it's all because of me." I admitted, allowing the tears to flow free this time.

"No, it's not." Ashton immediately replied, pulling me into a much needed hug, reassuring me that it wasn't my fault as I sobbed against his chest.

"What's going on?" I heard Harry's angry voice booming from beside us, but I just couldn't look at him, I knew he would be hurt to see that I was seeking comfort in Ashton, but I didn't care. It wasn't what it looked like and I was sure he would figure that out soon anyway.

"Here..." Ashton whispered, grabbing my shoulders and pushing me away from him and beckoning Harry forward. As soon as he saw my tearstained cheeks, the frown on his forehead disappeared and his eyes softened.

"What's wrong, babe?" He asked soothingly, arms wrapping around my shaking figure, but I couldn't find the strength to speak. Suddenly, I became well-aware that I was alone in this.

My family was back in California, I had Ashton and Lou as friends, but they were both busy and I couldn't just make them stop everything they were doing to comfort me and Harry was the person I wanted to protect the most and by crying in front of everybody was just ruining his image even further.

"Simon said some fucked up things, but she was so strong, man, you should have seen her, she didn't back away and stood up for your relationship and basically told Simon to fuck off..." I heard Ashton explain and let out a chuckle.

"You're really lucky, dude. I wish I had something like that." Ashton confessed, before leaving Harry and I alone.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Harry asked as soon as Ashton was out of the room.

"No, I don't want to ruin the night." I shook my head, wiping away the tears and deciding that I was going to be strong for him... for us.

"I'm sorry, babe." He smiled sadly, running his hands along my arms to warm me up. "You know I would never listen to what any of them have to say, right?" He stared into my eyes as he waited for my answer and I felt like my heart was suddenly beating again.

"I know, Harry." I nodded. "I love you." I said, dying and needing to hear him say it back.

"I love you, babe." He kissed my forehead and I could breathe again.

"Now, come on, let's make them jealous of our love." Harry smiled, grabbing one of my hands and pulling me behind him.

Hello dears!

As always, thank you so much for reading and please don't forget to leave your vote and your comment.

With much love,

- I.