Meet Me In The Hallway // H.S. ✓

Chapter 11

~Gotta get better, gotta get better~

Brian was able to walk Anne down the aisle, despite his late-stage Parkinson's. And Harry was one of the groomsmen, since he got on with Robin so well. He was glad that his mum wouldn't be alone now. He worried about her, after all. All alone in Holmes Chapel. Not anymore.

As soon as the ceremony was over, Harry rushed to the car with Gemma in tow. She was supposed to drive him to the reception hall, where she had to put the last touches on things, and Harry had to get ready with the band.

There was a two hour gap between the ceremony and the reception, which gave them enough time to get ready and practice without people around. Will got there when Harry did, having taken a taxi from his parent's place. Brad and Nick were bringing the van and were on their way.

"Don't get in my way," Gemma smiled at the two of them, clearly flustered with all of the things to do.

"Not going to listen to that rule," Harry stuck his tongue out at his sister.

"There's rules?" Nick asked, walking in with a pout on his face. "I've never been one to abide by the rules, but I guess I can give it a try."

"Hey, Nicky." Harry smiled politely at him, admiring his dressed-up form. The dress was formal, so all of White Eskimo were wearing suits.

"Can I get some help?" Brad yelled from the back of the van, and the group all rushed over to him at once.

It was a lot of work to carry the drums, the guitars, amps, microphones, and cords into the building. Their first mission was to plug everything in correctly and so that Gemma didn't freak out at anything. That took around an hour. And once everything was in place, they had to practice a couple songs.

They had performed some of their original songs at pubs and in parks. And of course, some of them were on Youtube. But there were a lot that weren't. The most important song to sound check would be the first dance song, which was the White Eskimo "original" Strong. Harry had written it all by himself, and it was picked by Anne. She cried when she heard it. So it had to be that one.

"Testing, testing. One, two." Harry tapped the microphone. "Gemma's lipstick is smudged."

Gemma immediately checked that fact in her phone and then glared at him, seeing it wasn't true. He erupted into giggles and she flipped him off.

"Ready, boys?" Harry asked into the microphone, drunk already from the power of being on a stage. "One, two, three." The intro melody began, and a moment later, Will jumped in with the beginning of the song.

"My hands, your hands. Tied up like two ships. Drifting, weightless. Waves try to break it. I'd do anything to save it. Why is it so hard to save it?"

The song sounded beautiful in the room, and Harry was excited for everyone to hear it. They practiced Home, their first song, and More Than This before the guests started to arrive. For the first half of the night, they would play covers of songs. Typical lovey dovey wedding songs. And then when the dancing came, their original songs would be sung for everyone to hear.

They were terrified.

The guests arrived and the covers began. Anne looked beautiful, Robin looked handsome. The room was full of so much joy. Everyone loved the band and was in a good mood.

And when the first dance song arrived, Anne cried as she danced around the room with her husband to the background of a song by her son. Not sobs, but happy tears. It was a happy day. Surely all days from then on were to be happy days too.

---

By the end of the night, Brad was nearly slumped over at the drums, and Will seemed a little wobbly. This was their longest performance ever, and their highest paid one too. "Go home, boys. Me and Nick will pack up, won't we, hmm?" Harry told them.

"If you say so," Will yawned. He grabbed his coat and dragged Brad off the stage.

Gemma was cleaning up, and the guests were all gone. So were Anne and Robin, whisked away to their honeymoon. Harry figured that he would clean up all of the band stuff, and then help Gemma clean up everything else. It was just her, after all, and he couldn't leave his sister alone to do that.

The cords came unplugged first and were carried to the van. The amps next. And then it was a long journey for the two of them to carry the drums and put them in. After that, Harry sat on the edge of the van, panting heavily. Nick sat beside him, and there wasn't much space between them.

"This has been a wild ride." Nick smiled at him, twiddling his thumbs.

"Really, it has," Harry smiled back, feeling the hair on his arms stand up. He was aware of how close his crush was in proximity to him, and on top of their best performance yet, the feeling was intoxicating.

Scenarios played in his head of what would happen if he kissed Nick right then and there. Most of them were good, some were bad. But Harry just had to know. So he slipped his hand into Nick's and kissed him smack on the lips, running a hand through his hair quickly.

He liked it a lot. A whole dang lot.

But Nick shoved him in response, standing immediately. He shouted curses at Harry, and his chest closed up. "I'm not gay, you idiot!" He shoved Harry again. "And even if I was, I wouldn't be interested in you!"

Nick shook his head and walked out of the parking lot with just his jacket on. And once he was gone, surely gone, Harry sobbed. It was the first time in a long time that he had cried. And he sobbed, sitting on the ground, for a long time before Gemma found him.

"Oh, Harry," She sighed.

He had told her early in the spring about his massive crush on Nick, and Gemma was smart so she put two and two together. She just held her brother while he cried and talked him to his next moves. Harry didn't want to be put through the tension of being in the band with Nick any longer.

But breaking up the band didn't seem like something that Harry should decide on his own. So he packed up the rest of the instruments, helped Gemma clean up, and then went back to Gemma's place with her to sleep on his decision.

---

It was too early to get drunk, but the next morning, Will, Brad, and Harry were in a pub, drinking. "I kissed Nick." He told them. "It didn't go well." They chorused their apologies to him. "And I know this may seem dramatic, but I don't feel like we should be a band anymore." Harry told them his reasons.

They had to get a real life, Nick would hate Harry now, and they most definitely would not stop being friends. "I agree, actually," Will sighed, downing his drink. "I've been thinking about settling down a bit more. Not that I didn't love this."

"So, formal agreement then?" Brad asked, looking excited. "White Eskimo is over?"

"Deal." The three of them agreed.

"Eh, I never liked Nick all that much anyways." Will said, which was mostly an attempt to make Harry feel better.

"You two go through all of the equipment and tell Nick, okay?" Harry told them. "I've got to get out of this city for a while. But I'll be back."

"You always come back." Will smiled at him, and the two of them watched Harry leave.

He got on the next train to London.

Harry Styles got complete rights to all original songs written by White Eskimo.

And he never saw Nick Crough again.