A/N: First off, this chapter is dedicated to _emily_5 bc she's seriously incredible and her comments made my entire day! <3 Also a huge shoutout to EatCarrotsWithTommo bc she's such a sweetheart!
Part 8
“So how was Harry?” asks Josh as he slips beside you, tucking himself under the covers. You quickly feel his body snuggling up against you, letting his wrap his arms around your torso.
“He’s uh---nice.” you smile in the darkness.
“Just nice? I swear he’s---”
You cut him off, “yes Josh, just nice. You’re the only one on my mind, remember. Shh, all this stress is getting to your head, just go to sleep.” you sooth, though as you say those words, your mind flickers back to the image of Niall. You squint your eyes shut. That was a long time ago, everything’s changed. You reassure yourself, trying to sound convincing.
“Fine, I’m sorry, I just don’t want to lose someone as amazing as you, you get that right?” he whispers, chuckling to himself slightly.
“Shh, I said go to sleep.”
All is silent, as Josh’s eyes flutter shut and you lay stiffly, your lip trembling as you try to think of anything but the blonde boy.
***
“And a one, two, three, four,” a woman shouts over a long guitar solo, quickly Josh flings his drum sticks effortlessly, clashing them along the drum set as the five take turns singing their solos.
You smile up at him as he glances at you, the set changes and the director calls a song change. The boys shuffle through the studio and Josh steps outside, his eyes lighting up when he spots you.
“So how was I?” he winks, engulfing you in a hug.
“Amazing as always, are you finished?” you wonder, glancing quickly in the direction of the boy in mid-song.
“They’re focusing on vocals, the director says in a few weeks’ time we can actually begin to record for the new album, isn’t that incredible?”
You grin up at him and touch your lips to his, when you hear in the background a loud voice.
“Niall, start again, why do you look so distracted?” the woman, you recall to be Paula, calls to Niall. Your eyes flicker towards him and he rolls his eyes, resetting and singing his line over again.
They finally get through an entire set of vocals and start another. Paula waves you over as Josh excuses himself to the washroom.
“Want to take a listen?” she asks and hands you some headgear that looks unfamiliar.
You shrug and lick your lips, slipping the sleak black headphones over your ears. Suddenly, the most beautiful of harmonies fills your hearing range, and you can’t help but smile at how wonderful they all sound.
The voices come to a halt and only Liam’s can be heard, harmonizing his solo as he shoots you a smile. You flash him two thumbs. Almost instantaneously, your breath catches in the back of your chest.
“And now she’s feeling so low,
since she went solo,
hole in the middle of my heart like a polo,
and it’s no joke to me,
so can we do it all over again?” your ears ring as your eyes are locked on Niall, his expression glum. He’s staring at you, as he finishes his line and Harry starts after him. You can’t help but feel like he was almost singing to you, but then again, his feelings are long gone. I’m imagining things, there’s nothing there. You voice in your head, begging yourself to believe it. He finally looks away, and you abruptly feel two hands on your waist, pulling you into a hug. You can immediately smell Josh’s cologne and your chest tightens.
Paula pulls the head phones from around you and you bite your lip, turning back to your smiling boyfriend.
“They’re good huh?” he states, pushing his hands into his faded denim pockets.
“Yeah, they are.” you agree as you hear Louis end his solo. Your heart’s still pounding from Niall’s but you hold it together until Paula calls it a day and begins packing up her equipment. The 5 all file out of the studio along with Dan, Jon and Sandy on their tail.
“How’d you like it babe?” Harry grins up at you, and Josh clears his throat, pulling you away from them.
“That flirty---”
You interrupt him, “Josh give it a rest, me and Harry just click, there’s nothing more to us than friendship? Shall I spell that out for you? Stop being so paranoid.” you beg him, hugging him tightly and turning back to face the group.
“You want to come to a party tonight? Like a welcoming party? I know you guys have only been here a week, so it might be good for you two.” Louis asks you, ruffling his hair with a smile as Josh intervenes,
“Hey, the only way I’m letting her go is if I come along.” he shakes his head.
“Don’t worry mate, you were invited too.” Louis laughs, offering you a questioning glance.
“He’s just paranoid a handsome prince in shining armor is going to sweep me off my feet. Just ignore him.” you groan and roll your eyes playfully.
Louis nods but his eyes flicker to the blonde boy scarfing down an entire bag of potato chips.
“You can come to Harry’s flat at seven, so you can have the evening to yourself. We wouldn’t want to take up your entire night.” he looks from you to Josh and slips away, sliding on his coat and joining the rest of the boys in conversation.
“Lou’s a weird one alright.” Josh shakes his head and you laugh. One week into the trip and the tension is already nearly unbearable. How are you going to last?
***
You both ride in the limo in silence, Josh’s hand laying idly almost an inch away from yours. You twiddle your thumbs and watch as the scenery passes, people bustling about. Everything moves so fast in New York, the people hardly take a minute to enjoy the historical buildings that they pass so flippantly each and every day.
“So is this like a fancy party or something?” Josh finally breaks the silence. You shrug, the collar of your shirt rising and falling as your shoulders lift.
“Louis didn’t say, I’m guessing it’s not too big, it’s in Harry’s flat after all.” you reply and fiddle with the buckle on your purse.
Josh nods and wraps his arm around you as the driver comes to a slowing stop.
“Thanks Tommy, just out here will be good.” Josh waves the driver off and takes your hand, leading you up the concrete staircase up to his flat.
When you both take a step inside, he quickly pins you against the far wall, his lips suddenly connecting with yours. His hands run along the inside of your arms and you can feel him smiling under your lips. He grips you tightly, almost as if he’d never let you go again.
“We should really get ready.” you interrupt and immediately his smile drops, his eyes littered with confusion.
“Alright.” he says quietly and turns away from you, heading towards your shared bedroom.
You let out a sigh and let your head rest against the wall, closing your eyes. Maybe staying here wasn’t going to be as easy as you thought.
“Hey Britt, you should wear this ton---” Josh stops when he sees you propped up against the wall, your expression grim. “Are you okay?” he questions, tossing the dress onto one of his three leather recliners.
Your eyes flutter open and you nod immediately, “yes, of course. Just a bit tired.” you lie, forcing a smile.
He cocks his head, trying to figure out whether or not to believe you. “We don’t have to go tonight, you know.” he states, placing both of his hands on either side of your shoulders.
“No, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t go. I’m fine, let’s just get ready.” you pipe up and he lightly pushes the hair draping in front of your right eye, behind your ear. Quickly, you feel his lips against yours and then he’s leading you down the hallway, mumbling about what he thinks you should wear.
“The black dress would really extenuate your curls nicely, but the maroon really goes with your eyes.” he rambles on, holding up different options.
You laugh, watching him pull dresses and skirts from your closet. You turn him towards you, giving him a quick smile, “you know, I don’t think I’m supposed to dress for a red carpet premier or something.”
“Oh shh, you’re right anyways, you will look gorgeous in anything.” he replies with a cheesy grin and you shoo him away, waiting to get dressed.
When you step out of the bedroom, you’re sporting a chiffon lilac dress, falling just below the knees and draping down further in the back. Your hair is up in a bun and you clutch a white purse in your left hand. You rasp on the bathroom door and hear Josh puttering around before pulling it open.
“Hey, I’m still doing my hair.” he protests but quickly shuts up as his eyes scan your figure.
“Told you you’d look good in anything.” he winks and you laugh, prodding him to finish his hair as you take a seat on one of the leather sofas and flip on the television. You settle on the Cartoon Network and a yawn escapes your lips. You definitely don’t want to be attending this party, though maybe you would be able to avoid Niall. Maybe you would hardly have to talk, maybe you could do that for the entire six months you’d stay here.
You groan internally and suddenly feel Josh’s hands on your shoulders.
“Tell me what’s wrong babe, are you home sick?” he asks, coming to sit down beside you.
“No Josh, I’m not six, I don’t get homesick in the first week.” you laugh, poking him on the nose as he scrunches up his face.
“You’ve been stressed ever since we arrived; well actually ever since the plane ride.”
You shake your head, “I’m fine Josh, it’s already six thirty, we should get going babe.” you dismiss him and stand up, heading to the door.
Josh sighs and you feel a text rattling your phone. You pull it out of your bag and see Louis’ texted you Harry’s address. His name’s still saved as ‘Louis the coolest guy on earth’ in your phone and you chuckle at the memory of when he saved his number without you knowing.
“Louis just texted me Harry’s flat address, I guess we can get going.” you inform Josh and he grabs his coat and nods once.
“Shall we drive or shall I get a cab?” he slings his arm around you with a cheesy wink as he stages an even more posh accident than he already has.
“I think we can drive, Josh,” you tell him, shooting Louis a text back, telling him you’re leaving.
You both make your way down the many flights of stairs and make a loop to the back lot where the cars are kept from view of the public. You slip into the passenger seat and Josh retreats to go open the two silver gates that block your way through. This apartment is quite fancy, much fancier than you are used to living in your two bedroom flat back in London. Josh starts the engine the moment he gets in and jolts the car forward, quickly swerving around the metal bars and into the lane. You ride in silence until you feel your hand reaching up to turn on the radio. You miss the radio stations back in London that play The Script and Coldplay instead of American rappers you couldn’t care less for.
“What was Harry’s address again?” Josh asks you and you pull up your phone, holding it up for Josh to see.
“Oh that’s near here; we’ll probably be there in about ten minutes. Text Louis that.” he requests and you obey, shooting Louis a quick text before placing your phone back in your bag.
“Do you know if Niall’s coming?” he wonders and your heart feels like it’s about to leap out of your chest.
“What?” you squeak, your lip trembling.
“Well he seemed a bit down earlier and I wouldn’t want Nialler to miss out.”
“Nialler?” you question in utter surprise, and again it comes out as a squeal.
“Yeah, me and Niall have become super close in the passed week.” he states like it’s no big deal.
You just nod and flip down the mirror, staring at your shocked reflection.
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A/N: heeeello, okay well first off, here's a nice long chapter for you all! I'm sorry it was late but i got really hurt at wrestling last week (i fell on my head & rearranged my spine) so it took me foreverrrrr to write this bc i had to move positions every 5 seconds bc of how badly my back hurt! I hope you like it! I'm going to make you all a deal, if i can get 10 comments on the chapter i'll post the next one ASAP. As soon as i hit 10 i'll post so C O M M E N T !
-Brit x
P.S. if you want me to fan you, just post on my message board or inbox me!(:
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