Chapter 16:

"Harry," I heard Charlie whisper as she slid her slim body into my room. I rolled my eyes and turned my body to face her. The light was still off, but I could see her silhouette near the bed. I nudged Harry and he sat up sleepily. I rubbed my eyes, sniffling. I'd cried all night, and not even Harry holding me was comforting enough because I knew that today was my last day with him for at least a week. No, it doesn't seem like a long time, but we'd grown so close.

"I know you want to spend as much time together," Charlie said, her voice was muffled because she was nervously holding her hand in front of her mouth. I figured she wanted to talk to him alone, so as much as I didn't want to leave them alone, I swung my legs over the bed and started to walk towards the door. I didn't feel like fighting, I was too tired.

"Gurveer, stop," Charlie spoke more clearly now, and I looked at her. "I want to talk to you, not Harry." my eyebrows rose in surprise and Harry sighed.

"I think you two have talked enough," he groaned, but I silenced him. I wanted to know what she had to say. She wasn't acting like herself; she was nervous, and she actually seemed vulnerable.

"Harry," I said with confidence, so that he wouldn't try to argue, "I'll be fine, go wake up the boys." he gave me a look that I couldn't read. He searched the ground for his pants, pulled them on then silently closed the door behind him. After he left, Charlie and I stood there in the darkness, awkward silence engulfing both of us. She motioned toward the light, and I reluctantly flipped the switch. She cringed when she could see my condition.

"You've been crying a lot, yeah?" her voice was shockingly full of sincerity. I nodded, reached up to pat at my puffy, red cheeks. "Listen, Gurveer-" I cut her off.

"Just call me G," she nodded and sat down on the floor, "and you can sit in a chair, or on the bed," she softly smiled and stood up.

"You have no reason to be nice to me. I don't deserve it one bit," she said looking down at her hands, "I've been rather harsh to you, and you did nothing to me. Harry's just always been mine, and then there was you and suddenly he didn't answer my texts, or my calls and then I found out he wasn't even in England anymore. And that day at their flat," she paused for a breath, still not looking at me. "I'm so sorry about your hand. Tara told me. They all hate me, but it's my own fault. Just like I made you hate me. I'm so protective of Harry, because I don't want him to get hurt. I've realized that by trying to stop you from hurting him, I'm hurting him myself. It was just that when I walked in that day, and I saw you, you looked so sweet, and so pretty, and I was jealous." She finally stopped and looked up, her eyes brimming with tears. I stared at her, wide eyed, and for a moment I was at a loss for words.

"You don't need to be jealous of me. My hand is alright now. I'm sorry that I've been so rude to you." I said quietly. She looked at me with desperation.

"You're sorry? No dear. I'm sorry. For everything. For trying to push you away from Harry, for making you so angry, and for telling you something that Harry should've told you." I had no words to explain what I was feeling. I couldn't hate her, I couldn't make myself do it. She let her guard down, and she was showing me, not just telling me that she was sorry. I leaned down to her and hugged her, and she lightly wrapped her arms around my waist, sniffling.

"Apology accepted. Now let's go get some breakfast," I said, weakly smiling. Even though my problems with her were resolved, I couldn't get over the fact that the boys were leaving. Charlie stood as I did, and she put a supportive hand on my shoulder. I sighed, swallowing the lump that had made itself at home in my throat. People could call me over dramatic, but this was so hard for me, knowing he was going to be in another country, and doing shows. I pushed open the door, and pulled away from Charlie. I murmured thanks, and walked toward Sara's room. I could hear her crying, and my already hurting heart broke again. I opened the door, not bothering to knock. She looked up at me in surprised, and it took all I had not to let me emotion take over.

"Come on, you're not gonna cry in here all day," I said, pulling her from the bed, and wiping her face off with the bottom of my shirt. "Niall would want you to be with him now, not alone." We sauntered towards the kitchen, which was abnormally quiet. The boys all sat at the table, pushing food around on their plates silently. You knew it was bad when Niall was only picking at his food. Harry looked up and gestured for me to come sit with him. I left Sara to Niall and plopped down on his lap. He softly ran his hand through my hair, staring at the ceiling. I looked around the table, and met eyes with Louis. He made a duck face at me, trying to get me to laugh. It made me more upset, I'd miss his crazy antics. We all sat their in silence, but somehow, I felt like this was the strongest we'd ever been. We all knew what was coming, but we were determined not to let it separate us.

"Guys," Raina said, walking into the kitchen, dressed in an odd combination shorts and a Jack Wills hoodie, "It's time to go." As reality sunk in, a tear fell down my cheek. Harry swept it away, pulling me up.

"This is not going to break us," he said gently, but sternly, holding me at arm's length, "Do you understand that." I nodded. "Good," he pulled me into his arms, kissing the top of my head.

We all stood there in the airport terminal/ Flashes from fans cameras went off around us, but we didn't pay any mind. I took a deep breath, holding back my tears.

"I love you," I said, and kissed him softly.

"I love you too," Harry muttered against my mouth.

"I'm going to miss you so much!" Louis yelled, pulling me from Harry into another hug. I laughed and gave him a soft squeeze back. Soon Liam and Zayn wrapped their arms around me too, along with the girls. A huge group hug formed right in the middle of the airport.

"We'll see you soon," the boys hollered as Paul moved them towards the plane. I clutched Sara's hand, and we turned to leave.

"G," Sara whimpered, and I looked over to her. "If we're this bad now, and we're going to see them soon, imagine how bad it will be when they go on tour." I blinked back tears, and pushed the thought from my mind. I knew what I was getting into, but I was too tired to think right now.

I threw my purse on my bed. Sara and I had done to get lunch, but we'd only picked at our food, pushing it around our plates. I decided to do something I probably shouldn't. I opened my laptop and pulled up Tumblr, Sara and I had run a blog together. I logged in, then almost fell off the bed. The messages were outrageous. A majority of them were sweet, and actually made me smile. Then I found a picture, that someone had submitted. We saw you guys on Bourbon Street, but didn't want to bother you. Here's the best picture we got. Xx. I looked at the picture, smiling from ear to ear. We looked so happy. I called for Sara, who laughed when she saw it. Harry and I were facing each other, and I could tell that at that point we were arguing over where to go next. Niall was pointing off towards a restaurant, but had one arm tightly around Sara's waist. The only other person in the picture was Lou…and I don't even know what he was doing. I saved the picture, then closed my computer. It had been a long day, and I didn't care what time it was, I was going to bed. I walked into the bathroom, and washed my face. I looked quite bad, and I was ashamed I'd gone into public like this.

"G," Sara said from my room.

"Yeah?" I called, getting face wash in my mouth. I stuck out my tongue in disgust.

"Can I sleep with you tonight, I really don't want to be alone," she sighed. I stepped back into my room, and nodded. I knew that feeling.

The home phone rang on my night stand, scaring me awake. I made sure not to wake Sara as I reached over her to grab my phone. It's a good thing she's a heavy sleeper.

"Hello," I whispered, not recognizing the number, "Do you know what time it is here?" the voice on the other line sighed, not sadly, but maybe in frustration.

"Hush G," Charlie's strong willed voice spilled through the reciever.

"What? Why are you calling? Is Harry alright?" my voice became panicked and Sara rolled over sleepily and opened one eye in curiosity. He'd texted me earlier to tell me they had landed.

"We're all fine, but tomorrow be ready at 12:30. A cab is coming to get you, and you're flying out here." she told me to tell Sara, and to pack enough for at least two weeks.

"Why?" I started to ask, but the other line clicked off, and all I was left with was the steady hum of the dial tone.