We make it through the first two stores successfully, only hearing a few excited whispers and giggles. Harry is holding my hand and I see his dimples peek out from the hood of his sweater when a gaggle of preteens start to squeal as we're checking out at the third place. We make it to the car and are unloading the last of our bags as said gaggle decides to approach and ask for pictures.
"Sorry if you were trying to hide from everyone. Hopefully we're not bothering you and your girlfriend." A little blonde girl about 14 says shyly. My face flushes hot and I drop my eyes to my shoes. She just called me his girlfriend.
I wait with baited breath to hear Harry correct her, but he just laughs and wraps an arm around her shoulders.
"Nah, it's okay! I wasn't really trying to hide from everyone. I just didn't want to make a scene or anything." He explains, smiling at the blushing little girl beside him. She giggles and looks down at her fingers, twisting them together nervously.
"You're really handsome." She almost whispers and Harry kisses her on the cheek. Her knees wobble a little and it's the most precious thing in the whole world. I'm not even mad. I understand a little more now why he does what he does.
"And you are absolutely gorgeous, my dear." He replies, smiling widely for the picture that the girl's friend is taking with her phone.
"Are you coming out to the show tonight?" he asks as he signs a couple of CD cases and one of the girls' 1D cell phone covers.
"No. We couldn't afford the tickets and by the time we'd saved up enough, they were sold out." A ginger-haired freckle faced girl with glasses says sadly.
Not missing a beat, harry reaches into his back pocket and pulls out a handful of wrist bands and hands them to each of the five girls standing in front of him. They start to squeal and cry and jump around hugging each other and Harry.
"Well, now you can come and you didn't even have to spend your hard earned savings!" he yells, throwing his arms out wide and celebrating with them.
"And if your mum's can't take you to the show, let this one know and we'll make sure you have a way to and from. Got it?" he smiles, jerking his thumb in my direction. I raise my eyebrows at him, but am actually excited to team up with him to do something great from these incredibly excited kids.
I give them my email address and cell number and Harry takes a couple more pictures with the other girls and chats them up a bit as I lean against the car and watch him work his magic. I'm realizing more and more just how lucky I am to hold this man's affections. It's blowing my mind each second that passes by.
Harry thanks the girls for being so cool, hugs the lot of them, and then turns for the car with a smile on his face. I walk around to the front and unlock the doors as one of the girls calls back to him.
"Thank you so much, Harry!"
"No problem! See you gals tonight!" he waves.
"Oh and Harry! If you really don't want to be so noticeable, maybe wear uglier shoes and baggy pants. Those legs and that butt of yours are spottable from miles away!" I fall into the car in hysterics and Harry gives them a thumbs-up as he nearly dives into the passenger's seat.
"Not a word, you. Not a single damn word." He laughs as I wipe the tears from my face and fight to regain my composure.
Xxx
We pull up to the venue and Niall is charging at us via segway, waving an Irish flag in the air and chomping on a hamburger. He has a snap back on backwards, no shirt, a pair of Irish flag sweat pants and a pair of bright yellow sunglasses that are bigger than his face. He waves at us enthusiastically as he does circles around the Element and then continues to race away as Paul chases him down the ramp, out of the garage door and down the street. I look at Harry in disbelief and he clutches his stomach laughing at Paul as he tears off after Niall like a bat out of hell.
"I feel like this is going to turn into something like a scene from Dawn of the Dead in fast forward once the girls outside catch sight of him out and about on that thing." I say, feeling actually really nervous for Niall.
"And that is exactly why I need to get this on record!" he cheers, throwing open the door and pulling his phone out of his pocket as he sprints for the closing garage door.
"C'mon!" he calls behind himself as I open the door and slowly remove myself from the Element.
"You go ahead! I need to get this stuff unloaded and find Julie!" I yell back.
"Don't go doing all of that by yourself! You really do want to watch this, I promise! C'mon. Just ten minutes!" he begs, standing outside on the side walk now. I look from Harry to the car and back at Harry and then I'm running toward his outstretched hand because let's face it… the boy could ask me to do anything, anytime of the day and I couldn't say no.
He's grinning from ear to ear as I approach, his hood back up and his sunglasses back in place. He has his phone out in front of him recording as we run. I see Niall up ahead zipping back and forth like a drunk idiot, glancing behind him and yelling as Paul tries to catch up to him. Harry is laughing so hard his phone is bouncing and making the video blurry.
"Bloody idiot, I swear." He laughs as we round the corner and that's when it happens. First its just a couple of little squeals, but then the line of girls that have somehow accumulated, wrapping endlessly around the building, all turn to figure out what the commotion is about. It becomes chaos. Niall is waving half of his burger in the air that now has his flag pierced through it and is singing "Waterfalls" by TLC at the top of his lungs as Paul is sprinting breathlessly after him yelling at him to turn around. There are a good fifty girls now screaming and chasing after Niall and Paul and Harry pulls me into the crowd and chases him too, screaming like an idiot and filming all the while.
One of the girls next to him does a double take and I jerk hard on his arm to make him fall back toward the back of the crowd so he isn't trampled by ravenous women, too. He laughs and pulls a hard right so we're on the outside edge of the crowd toward the back at a good advantage to make a clean get away if need be.
"Niall is good at bad decisions." Harry says into the microphone of his phone.
Niall looks behind himself and sees the crowd and waves, then spins suddenly and tears off for the garage again, passing Paul in the process and somehow maneuvering past the throng of raging girls who are pursuing him. He sees us as he's passing us and grabs Harry's hood and pulls it from his head as he goes, throwing both of his arms out to the side and leaning forward and gaining speed down the hill back toward the garage.
Harry and I both skid to a stop but it's too late. He's been seen and the crowd's screaming swells as Harry starts to laugh hysterically and then he screams.
"RUN, BABE!"
Tugging my arm nearly from it's socket we reverse course and are tearing off toward the garage again. I feel like I'm in Spain running with the bulls. It's exhilarating and terrifying and I swear to God I'm going to murder Niall if we get out of this alive.
I can hear Paul close behind, cursing at Harry and trying to keep the girls at bay. We round the corner quickly and I stumble over my feet, almost tumbling into Harry.
"Careful!" he shouts, slowing a bit so I can regain my footing and we're off again. The girls are closing in and the garage is looming closer and I see Niall shoot under the door as it's starting to close behind him.
"FASTER HARRY!" Paul shouts and we put on one last burst of speed.
"We're gonna hafta roll!" he yells at me as a tall, blonde girl reaches out and snatches harry by the back of the hoodie. He yelps and his hand slips from mine. More girls catch up to him but Paul pushes himself between Harry and the few girls who caught him. Harry grins, hugs the blonde quickly and then tears off for me again.
"DROP AND ROLL, CHRISTINA!" he screams as we both hit the ground, diving for the garage door that's now maybe three feet from the concrete. I close my eyes and roll as fast as I can, the wind being knocked from me at impact. I hear the door connect with the cement and then dozens of fists pounding on the door outside. I'm trying to bring the air back into my lungs and I sit up, searching frantically for Harry.
Did he make it?
"Harry?!" I yell, not seeing him at the door where I knew he rolled with me.
"You okay, love?" He asks and I jump, not realizing he was behind me.
He takes me by the arm and pulls me up, spinning me to face him.
I look up at him, panting, and see the excitement still bouncing in his eyes. He's on an adrenaline high and he's excited and on fire and he's worried for me so that takes precedence. Without even thinking about it, my mouth spreads into a smile and I'm laughing hysterically as I try to catch my breath.
"WOW." I say, shaking my head as Niall comes whizzing around the side of the bus and pulls up next to us.
"YOU ASS!" I shout, turning for Niall. He starts to squeal and speed away but I catch the back of his sweats and yank them down to his ankles and fall back, laughing even harder now. At least this time he's wearing underwear, although the Scooby Doo boxers he has on are not what one would call dignified.
Harry bends over, pointing at Niall and clutching his stomach giggling so hard his face is turning red. Lou has emerged from the bus just in time to see me de-pants Niall and she covers her eyes and screeches before she too starts to laugh so hard she has to sit down on the bus steps.
"Lovely, Niall. Just lovely." She says sarcastically as Niall pulls his pants back up.
"What's with you two wanting to see my bloody arse, eh?!" Niall yells at Harry and I. "If you wanted t see it that bad all ye had ta do was ask for Chrissakes!"
Harry puts his arm around me and pinches the bridge of his nose, shaking his head. He looks up then and grins at Niall.
"Nah, this one was for the rest of the world, mate." He grins, holding up his phone which was somehow still recording and had made it through our 007 style floor slide.
"Yer a bastard." Niall laughs, flipping the end of his flag and sending the last bit of his burger flying smack dab into the side of Harry's head.
"SICK!" Harry yells, wiping mustard from his cheek and kicking the bun with his shoe.
"I'm goin' t' murder the lot of ya!" I hear Paul's booming voice from the top of the ramp as he breathlessly hustles down, a finger pointed out at Niall as he shrinks away, still laughing.
"That's my cue." I whisper, winking at Harry. I hop up on my tip toes and kiss him on the cheek and then race up to the car to get away from the wrath of Paul and to avoid the wrath of Julie when she realizes I've been back for at least fifteen minutes and haven't even been inside.
