Behind the Scenes

Chapter 19

HARRY

The moment the elevator doors slid open, we stumbled out into the hallway in a loud ruckus of giggles and clambering. My arm slung around her waist, one of her own draped limply over my shoulders as he body pulled to the side. I struggled to keep a hold of her as she moved, desperate to get out of my hold.

"I don't need your help," she mumbled through her giggling. "I am perfectly capable of getting to my room by myself."

I raise a brow at her. She had been increasingly combative and argumentative the more she drank, changing from the sweet vulnerable girl into her guarded and resistant self. I had attempted for the last hour to get her to come back to her room, separating her from her whisky, but was met with refusal after refusal. It wasn't until the bartender finally kicked us out, stating it was time to close, that I was actually able to get her out of the bar and towards the elevator.

The moment she stood, she stumbled to the side, catching herself on the nearby table with a clatter. My eyes darted around, hoping to keep her level of drunkenness from any prying eyes. The last thing I needed was for her to be caught this drunk, underage, by anyone on the crew. Or even worse, media or fans.

Getting her into the elevator had been more of a workout than my time in the gym. The moment I moved to grab her, she pushed me away, stating firmly that just because we had kissed, and because I had the prettiest eyes she had ever seen and a butt she could bounce a quarter off of, didn't mean she was going to let me 'manhandle her like a piece of meat'.

I leaned her into the corner of the elevator, using the two walls to prop her in an upright position. Her eyes were closed, her head slumped back against the side as I hovered nearby incase she tumbled over.

Which brought us to now; me desperately trying to corral her towards her room half way down the hall. It would have been a lot easier of she wasn't pushing me away, demanding that she was perfectly capable on her own.

"Is that so?" I countered, resisting a grin at her.

Wanting to prove a point, I let go of her tiny frame and watched as she slumped to the floor in a heap of drunken adorableness. She sat there for a moment, seemingly confused that she was actually now on the floor, before looking up to me with an affronted expression.

"You dropped me!"

"I didn't drop you," I assured her. "You said you were able to walk on your own. I let you go. You fell."

Reaching down, I moved to pick her up, only to be met with her slapping my hand away. "I can do it." She murmured, getting to her feet slowly.

I struggled to hold back my laughter as she stumbled down the hall, holding onto the wall for good measure. Pausing outside her door, her fingers fumbled with her keycard, repeatedly sliding it into the lock backwards and denying her entry.

"UGH!"

Shaking my head, I reached out and took the card from her, sliding it in correctly without a word before handing it back. Again, she scowled at me. "You think you're so smart," she muttered, before stepping into the darkness of her room. I paused outside, hesitant, but unable not to follow in her wake.

Once inside the dimly lit room, I took a moment to glance around. It was a lot like my own, except with two queen beds opposed to my single king. There were clothes strewn across the chair in the corner, a laptop on the desk. Looking to the second bed, I found it empty.

"Where is Ashley?" I asked, my voice seeming loud in the quiet room.

Kate shrugged. "I don't know. She said something about meeting up with some friends from high school, since I said I didn't want to do anything for my birthday and basically made her go. She's probably still out." She hovered by the foot of her bed, appearing confused or maybe nervous, before her eyes lifted to me. I remained a few feet away, hovering by the bathroom door. In the dim light of the room, she looked so lovely, so perfectly compact and breakable. Apart from her bleary eyes and flushed cheeks.