Holding My Breath ~ Larry Stylinson

Chapter 20

As we left the building, Harry grabbed my arm and pulled be behind one of the walls so we were once again away from the others.

"Just so you know, if we weren't on the tour bus with the boys, things would be happening at home tonight." he winked before letting me go.

"I know, curly. I know." I chuckled lightly. He gripped my hand and pulled me close as we walked back. I snuggled into his warm chest as the cold air hit us from behind the wall.

"You cold?" he said quietly and I nodded. "Here, I'm still warm from all the jumping around on stage." he stated and took off his green zip up hoodie.

"Thanks." I smiled and pulled it on over my striped shirt. I smiled at the familiar scent of him filling my lungs as I continued to hold his waist with one hand. I felt him shaking. "You are cold." I laughed lightly and went to take off the jacket, before seeing his face. He was biting his lip and looked like he was in pain. "Oh god, I'm sorry." I quickly removed my hand, realising I had been holding his cuts.

"It's fine." he said quietly and pulled me close to him again. I sighed and lightly held higher on his waist this time. "As long as you're near me, I'm fine." he chuckled lightly and I shook my head.

"Yeah, 'cause me causing you pain is really 'fine'." I laughed.

"Lou, it's ok, really." he reassured me and we hopped into the bus.

"Ok, we're all here." Paul told the driver and the bus began to move. I playfully pulled Harry onto my bunk and he froze, not moving.

"You're heavier than I thought." I groaned jokingly.

"Hey, you wanted me here, you got me here. And now I'm comfy so you don't have much of a chance if moving me." he pointed to the bed before settling down on top of me, digging his face into my chest. I felt him sigh and his warm breath danced across my torso. We both closed our eyes and I let my face fall onto one side, resting against the pillow. I fluttered my eyes open for a brief moment to find Zayn staring at Harry with vacant eyes. Harry must have felt he was being stared at, because he sat up and looked straight back at him.

"Can I talk to you?" Zayn asked quietly, barely audible. Harry nodded silently before standing up. His fingers traced along my body before he followed Zayn into the kitchen area. I poked my head round but could barely hear what they were saying.

"Take care of him."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Just don't hurt him, ok."

"Uh, in case you didn't notice, you're the one who got him to cheat on me."

"Hey, that was his choice too. It wasn't just me, Haz--"

"Don't call me that. The difference between you and Louis is that I've actually forgiven him."

"He's the one who hurt you..."

"Don't talk about him like that. Just leave us both alone."

I heard footsteps coming back up the bus and quickly returned to my previous position. Harry came and relaxed back down onto me, Zayn also returning to his bunk. I didn't question it, I just rested my hands in his curls and waited for him to fall asleep.

*

"Morning." Harry and his morning voice smiled up at me.

"Hey." I sighed, still tired. "We'd better get up." I pushed him off me and he hit the bus floor with a thud.

"Ow.." he groaned with a laugh. I laughed back and got up, pulling on some fresh clothes. Before anyone could even speak to me, I jumped off the bus and greeted some of the fans. I took some photos with them through the metal railings before heading into the arena.

*

"10 minutes, lads." Paul called and we nodded, starting our vocal exercises. We burst out of the doors and skipped down the halls, shouting and screaming as usual.

"5,4,3,2..." The stage manager counted down then pushed us onto the stage. As we started singing the fans went wild and started screaming. We finished the song and I spotted Harry's eyes lingering on mine. I winked quickly at him before returning my gaze to the crowd.

"Before we start the next song," Zayn interrupted and I shot my head round to face him. "I just wanna say something. I've done something bad.. Really bad, to Harry. And I want to apologise. So here in front of thousands of people, Harry, I'm so sorry." I could sense the sincerity in his voice as it trembled slightly. Harry shook his head, his tongue inside his cheek and smiled.

"That's your tactic? Try to win my forgiveness by saying you're sorry on stage?" Harry scoffed back and looked into the crowd. I quickly walked over to him.

"Remember we're standing in front of 20,000 fans, Haz." I said into his ear so only he could hear me.

"Fine. I forgive you." Harry swallowed hard, obviously lying. The crowd cheered loudly even though they had no idea what was really going on. I smiled nervously out to the screaming girls as they began to hush.

"I, I wanna save ya. Wanna save your heart tonight." me and Niall started off the song and then Liam began his solo. I was glad to have something to break the tension on stage.

"I can't be no super man, but for you," Harry walked past me and squeezed my shoulder. "I'll be superhuman." he sang into my ear as I gasped, not even knowing he was behind me.

"Oh, now you're at home and he don't call." Zayn began to walk closer and I knew I didn't like where this was going. Harry was already the other side of the stage. "Cause he don't adore ya." he subtly pointed to Harry, but Harry definitely noticed. He came walking up behind him quickly. "To him you are just another doll." he sang as Harry spun him around looked him dead in the eyes, singing his last line. As Zayn walked away with his head down, Harry grabbed my hand.

'Is he actually mental?' I thought to myself. 'We are on stage in front of thousands of fans, and he decides to hold my hand while singing.'

"What you want, what you need has been right here. Yeah, I can see that you're holding back those tears, tears." Harry sang perfectly before we all sang together again. Great, now they're being very indiscreet about this whole situation. Well I guess if they are being this way, why should I hold back? As my solo came up, I took Harry's hand once more and looked at him deeply.

"Up, up and away, I'll take you with me." I sang and looked at him. As his head dipped down, his lips meeting mine, the fans started screaming louder than ever. Suddenly, my arm was yanked away from him and the stage lights got brighter for that 'dramatic' part of the song where we all stand still. We looked into the crowd and sang, I couldn't help but let a small laugh escape. What the hell was I thinking? I really hope no-one was recording that...

***

Soon my nightmare came true as that night, I found loads of videos of me and Harry's kiss. A lot of the time, it could have passed for a bad camera angle, but in some, it was very clear.

"I knew I shouldn't have done that." I pushed my laptop off of my lap and rested my hands in my hair.

"Lou, we've been on tour less than a week and there are already videos of me and Niall 'kissing'... Don't worry." Harry out his hand on my back then lifted it to his mouth as if he had an idea.

"What's up?" I looked up at him.

he removed his hand and smiled happily. "I know how to make management and Simon understand. I know how we can fix all of this."

***AN: ok, short chapter, sorry:3 and btw, the bit where Harry is behind him squeezing his shoulder, THAT'S THE COVER OF THE STORY. YAAAAY. and the picture in the side bar is what the on stage kiss looked like. Thought I would be nice and not just leave it for your imagination;) I swear to god though, that photo is perfection. I don't care if it's edited, that shit is gold. Pure Larry gold.***