"Sophie Grey has been my best friend for as long as I can remember, she was there for our whole time on the X Factor and supported us when our families couldn't be there, she gave up everything for us…and I never really got to thank her for that, so here's my thank you" Harry delivered his speech without taking his eyes off of me, people in the room clapped again and I looked down to the floor feeling my cheeks burn red.
"I believe it's time to start the countdown…10" Harry called out.
9…
8…
7…
6…
5…
Harry jumped down from the stairs and I looked around for him desperately wanting him to be the first person I spent the start of my new year with.
4…
3…
2…
1…
'HAPPY NEW YEAR!' the room erupted as everyone cheered and turned hugging anyone near them I didn't want just anyone.
I wanted Harry.
"Happy new year Sophie" Harry walked up to me avoiding the people celebrating around him.
"Harry, I- Happy New Year!" I cried as I flung my arms around his neck and hugged him.
Harry's arms circled around my waist and he pulled me closer to him. I didn't know whether to thank him for his dedicated speech or to just wish him a happy year, so I didn't say anything at all.
"Sophie! Happy new year!" Liam interrupted our moment and I turned to give him a hug, a first of many that night
I finally crashed at 3am on the blow up mattress that was now upstairs in one of the boy's bedrooms.
Tonight had put into perspective my feelings for Harry. I was madly in love with the boy and was not the only girl in the country to be in love with the cheeky dimpled smile and the brown curls.
I felt the mattress go down as Harry got in the other side, he put his arms around me and he wasn't wearing any pyjamas, I was just thankful he was wearing boxers which is more than usual.
"Good night Sophie" Harry whispered in my ear, his arm still tightly secured around my waist.
It didn't take long for everyone to fall asleep, there was snoring coming from Zayn's direction and Harry was breathing heavily as his body spooned mine.
I couldn't get to sleep. My mind was racing around in circles all of it linking to Harry.
The Eye contact.
The kiss.
The bulge.
The speech.
Harry had said he wanted to talk to me before the year ended and I wasn't going to believe that all he wanted to say was thank you. There was something playing on his mind too.
I carefully rolled off the mattress causing Harry's arm to drop down. I paused, waiting to see if it had woke him, but he just moved and continued sleeping.
I grabbed a blanket off the floor and quietly crept out of the bedroom and down the stairs. The house looked like it had been hit by a bomb, we'd left the mission of clearing up until tomorrow morning, but I couldn't sleep and it needed to be done.
Walking round, I collected empty bottles stashing them all in one place ready for tomorrow and tried to collect as much of that annoying string that came out of those party poppers.
"What are you doing?" a voice startled me and I tried to contain my scream as I spun round, preparing myself for the use of my self-defence skills, only to find it was Louis.
"Just clearing up, I can't sleep" I relaxed and continued my job "I didn't wake you, did I?"
"No I wasn't asleep and saw you leave, but when you didn't come back for a while I thought I should come and check on you" Louis chuckled and held open an empty bin bag for me.
"Oh, I have a lot on my mind at the moment" I admitted biting my lip, this was Harry's best friend I couldn't let him know that I'd overheard them talking.
"Harry?" Louis questioned.
"Is it that obvious?" I asked.
"No, but I did walk in on you earlier with Harry getting a little excited" Louis reminded me and I blushed at the thought.
"Harry is one of the things" I admitted.
"Care to explain?" Louis looked at me and I knew I could trust him I could trust any of the boys
"The last few months have been all about the X Factor and you boys, I haven't though about what I want" I spoke surprising myself with my words.
"Harry will be devastated if you go home" Louis told me.
"He'll get over it" I shrugged. It was true, Harry had never wanted me to choose him over my own life. If it was up to him I'd still be up in Holmes Chapel finishing school.
"You're not really thinking about going home are you?" Louis asked frowning.
"What happens when you all go off on tour?" I asked, I hadn't even thought about this myself.
"You come with us!" Louis cried out "We need someone to keep us in check"
I laughed they really would need me there "Is that all you need me for though, you can hire a manager to do that for you"
"Of course it's not all we want you for! We love having you around, you know that" Louis nudged my arm smiling "As for Harry I think his feelings are pretty clear after tonight"
"Yeah" I nodded and bit my lip. "Right, I'm going to get my beauty sleep, coming?" Louis stretched and yawned.
"No, I'm going to finish down here" I gave him a hug and he walked upstairs.
I wanted to get the house cleared up by the time everyone woke, there wasn't much else to do apart from hoover and I couldn't do that at 4am. Once the house was as tidy as I could get it, I wandered upstairs and collapsed on the mattress next to Harry allowing sleep to take over.
"ROAD TRIP!" Louis yelled.
I had a good view of Harry's arse from here as both Louis and Harry were stood on the seats with the top half of their bodies sticking out the roof.
"Louis get in before you get us all arrested! You too Harry!" Hannah snapped grabbing onto Louis's hips and pulling him down.
I was going to be stuck in this car with them all for hours. Niall had organised a road trip to Ireland wanting everyone to experience life from, in Louis' words 'a leprechauns perspective'
"Why are you in such a bad mood baby?" Louis sat down on the seat next to Hannah throwing his arm over her shoulders. Harry flopped down on the empty seat next to me.
"I'm not in a bad mood" Hannah grumbled. That was a lie.
I got comfy with my feet up on the seat and my head in Harry's lap he seemed to be comfortable with my head resting on his crotch, I was however careful not to shuffle around not wanting a repeat of New Year's Eve bulge incident.
"Niall?" Louis asked.
"Yes?" Niall answered.
"What kind of food do leprechauns eat?" Louis asked he had been practicing his Irish accent for the last hour of the journey.
"Normal food Louis" Niall answered.
"Oh" Louis continued reading my copy of More magazine "Niall?"
"Yes Louis?" Niall answered.
"Where do leprechauns sleep?" Louis asked and Harry snorted trying to disguise his laugh.
"In a bed Louis" Niall answered, he was starting to sound annoyed by all the leprechaun references.
"Are they special leprechaun beds?" Louis asked and I could hear sniggering from Zayn, Liam and Harry.
"No Louis and stop calling me a leprechaun!" Niall shouted.
"Ooh he's an angry leprechaun" Louis held his magazine up, hiding his face and the other boys burst out laughing and I laughed with them.
"Will you just shut the fuck up!" Hannah shouted and the car fell silent, awkward glances being exchanged between everyone.
"Baby, what's wrong?" Louis asked ditching his Irish accent.
"You!" Hannah yelled and turned to Zayn who was driving "Can you stop at the next services please, I need to get out"
"Sure" Zayn nodded.
The rest of the drive to the service station was silent; no one wanted to talk afraid they would upset Hannah further. When Zayn parked up, Hannah pulled open her door and walked off.
"What did I do?" Louis stepped out of the car and watched after Hannah.
"Is she okay?" Liam asked.
"I don't know?" Louis shrugged, he was really worried.
"I'll go and talk to her" I smiled and left the boys running in the direction Hannah just went. I found her sat on a bench near a children's play area "Are you okay?" I asked hesitantly.
"Yeah, I just needed some air" Hannah nodded.
"What's going on?" I sat down on the bench next to her, the wood making my legs cold through my leggings.
"Nothing, I'm fine" Hannah tried to dismiss me, but I wasn't falling for it.
"I'm fine is the most common lie" I commented, smartly trying to force it out of her.
"I'm fine" Hannah stood up and looked at me, waiting for me to follow and we walked back to the car and the boys.
Zayn and Harry were stood by the car, Zayn having a cigarette and Harry waiting for me, he put an arm around me pulling me closer towards his body and I was glad to be against something warm.
"I'm going to the toilet" Hannah spoke and walked inside.
"Is she alright?" Harry asked once she was far enough away.
"She wouldn't say" I shrugged.
"It's her time of the month" Zayn commented, dropping his cigarette and standing on it. Zayn opened the car door and started the engine letting the heat reach me; it was too inviting to stand out in the cold, so I took my spot in the back.
"It's my turn to drive!" Harry jumped into the driver's seat and pretended to drive the car.
"As if Harry!" Zayn rolled his eyes and pulled Harry out of the car. Harry joined me in the back allowing me to rest my head in his lap again.
The car filled up again and Zayn set off. There was still awkwardness between Hannah and Louis, neither of them talking to each other and Louis had taken up the seat next to Zayn in the front.
"Anyone want to play eye spy?" Niall asked.
"Yeah I will" I called out.
"Alright, I spy with my little eye something beginning with…T" Niall didn't take long to think of something so it couldn't be difficult.
"Tree?" I asked.
"Yes!" Niall laughed.
"You need to make them more difficult Niall" Liam interrupted and a good job really otherwise this game would have got very boring, very quickly "Like I spy with my little eye something beginning with…D"
"Donkey!" Niall called out.
"Where do you see a donkey?" Harry turned to look at him.
"In my imagination" Niall smiled innocently and it was so adorable
"I give up" I spoke not being bothered to search for something beginning with D.
"Doritos" Liam answered holding up a bag of Doritos.
"Mmm! Yes please" Niall snatched the bag out of Liam's hands pulling it open.
It was the middle of the night and Louis had swapped with Zayn and was doing the driving letting him sleep. Hannah, Liam and Niall were also asleep, leaving just me and Harry awake, with Louis out of hearing range, we were alone. Harry had changed positions, laying across the seat, meaning I practically had to lay on top of him in order to fit on, but I was quite comfy.
"Sophie, you awake?" Harry whispered, I turned to face him.
"Yeah" I nodded.
"I need to talk to you" Harry kept his voice as quiet as he could so he didn't wake anyone