By Chance

Chapter 5 - Truce

Tomorrow was the day Tessa had feared for so long - the day she was leaving to visit her family. It wasn’t just her taking some time off; even the boys had a break in the schedules. This meant both Louis and Liam had already left to spend some days with their girlfriends and in-laws. Niall went to Nando’s with Luke and Ashton from 5 Seconds of Summer, and right now Perrie and Zayn were trying to convince Tessa to join them for dinner. Harry was of course nowhere to been seen - but he was leaving for Holmes Chapel the day after tomorrow. „I'm not going to take along on your romantic date, thank you very much. Besides I need to pack for tomorrow, so just stop worrying about me - and enjoy your night out with each other instead,” Tessa said and sent them a genuine smile. „Fine, but you can’t get out of the deal with the driver I made. He will be here tomorrow and get you safe and sound all the way to Liverpool,” Perrie said. Tessa just nodded knowing Perrie wouldn’t budge on this one. They said their farewells and then Zayn and Perrie disappeared to their date.

This was the first time ever Tessa was alone in the house. Since she already had packed her belongings, yes she had lied to Perrie and Zayn to give them some privacy, she had the entire night to herself and she knew just how to spend it. Tessa wandered the halls looking for one particular room that she had been looking forward to spending some alone-time in. As Tessa grabbed the doorknob she already felt the chills on her skin. This was One Directions music room. First Tessa just walked around a bit and let her hands slide upon the instruments, but when she had gathered enough courage she sat down at the piano. Tessa mother had of course found it extremely necessary that her daughter was able to play a classical instrument, so she had started having piano lessons at a very young age. This was one of the only things she was grateful to her mother about. Tessa had loved playing and her fingers itched to be reunited with touch the instrument. She didn’t remember the last time she played, but as soon as her fingers touched the keys her mind stopped overthinking it and her hands naturally fell back into an old habit of playing the beautiful piece River Flows in You by Yiruma. She sat there and just played her whole heart out - and this was exactly what she needed before going back home. She needed to get all of her worries off her chest and out in the music. She was so into the music she didn’t even hear the front door open.

Harry had unnoticed left the house in the afternoon. He had texted Ed to meet him at some bar, since he wanted to welcome Ed home from his world tour. It had started out great, and Harry, Ed and a couple of their common friends were having a blast as always - but then some annoying guys had come up to them and talk about how Harry was a part of a gay boyband and giving him a lot of hate. Usually Harry would have ignored their remarks but during today’s meet up he had had one to many beers - and he felt so pissed he couldn’t really control his anger. In the end he had lashed out at one of the idiots. Harry knew he hadn’t thought the situation through, and even though the fight was quite equally he still regretted throwing the first punch. Luckily the fight wasn’t caught on camera - and Harry hopefully didn’t look too beat up. His head was pounding and he felt blood run from his nose. Harry knew the house would be empty when he got back, so he led Ed drive him and then thanked him for a nice day. It was really good to have one of his best friends back.

The second Harry stepped inside the house he felt the presence of another person. Damn then he couldn’t just clean himself up without anyone noticing. He just hoped it wasn’t Liam, because then Harry knew he would be getting a lecture. As he sneaked up the stairs he noticed the soft music playing. He tiptoed to the music room where the door was wide open, and then shock hit him. It was Tess playing. The two of them had been avoiding each other since their fight, which Harry knew was mostly his fault - he was just so angry all the time. He really didn’t know how to apoligise, since he knew he had hit a nerve mentioning her past - he just didn’t know what happened, but Zayn made it clear to stay away from her. Tessa didn’t need more hurt. When Tess had been hanging with Perrie and the boys, Harry had left to go chill with Cara or some of his other friends - and when it was the other way around she always made up an excuse about needing to go for a run, work or go out to dinner with one of the boys, mainly Niall since he was always hungry. Now Harry just stood there watching Tess, leaned up against the door frame, until he started feeling like a creep. He cleared his throat to get her attention, but even that did not work. It was not until he whispered her name "Tess," she immediately stopped playing.

Tessa felt the shiver down her spine as her nickname was whispered. „Harry,” she answered before turning around and looking at him. „I didn’t know you played?” Harry said as if the screaming between them never happened. „I haven’t been for a long time,” Tessa shrugged. „How come?” Harry stepped into the room and as Tessa took in his appearance, she noticed his bruise face and the lack of smirk on his face. „Oh my god Harry what happen to you?” Tessa exclaimed her voice filled with concern. Harry just shrugged and repeated her question. „If you answer, I promise I’ll tell you what happened,” he then added. Tessa considered it. She was worried and curious - besides she trusted Harry and she hoped their friendship would last for a long time. She nodded and grabbed his arm before leaving the room in silence. As they reached Tessa’s room she gently pushed him onto her bad. „Stay there, I’ll be right back,” she explained and went to the bathroom. Harry was confused, but he realised her intentions as she came back holding a first aid kit. She started gently cleansing the wounds on his hands, as she explained: „I never really had the best relationship with my parents and they were the ones who forced me to play - so I guess I stopped playing trying to forget about them. It’s stupid I know, mostly because I really love playing - but I really just had to get as far away from them as possible”. Harry flinched as she started cleansing the small cuts on his face. „I’m sorry about the other day. It’s really none of my business - I was nevous about going back to visit my family, and I just got a bit worried when I saw your state plus I knew the boys felt the same. They are not out to get you, you know. They just really care about you,” she continued and held his gaze for a second longer. Harry felt even worse about their fight now. He didn’t have the right to judge her and he had treated her like shit - when she was just worried about him. „Don’t apologise Tess, really. It was my fault - I was on edge and you were just the obvious target. I don’t know anything about your past, and I’m truly sorry about everything I said - I just really want to make this friendship work because strangely really I trust you, so what do you say love, truce?” Harry blabbered on nervously, but when Tessa looked at him and noticed the small smile on her lips. „Sure truce,” she said and suddenly the trademark smirk was back on Harry’s face.