Amber’s POV

I struggle to drag Harry’s bag out of his room and downstairs where Harry was. I found him talking with his mom who had the biggest smile on her face yet that I have seen. If he is telling her of what happened last night then I would be the same. I mean, even though we couldn’t go to the park as it started to heavily rain right after he gave me my present, it was still the best night of my life. Ever.

Harry had on a flannel shirt with his hair restrained by a bandana, skinny jeans and black shoes. Casual Harry. The suitcase banged against the wooden staircase, echoing into the living room. Harry chuckles at me struggling before he jogs over to and takes his heavy gym bag with ease, throwing it over his shoulder, and sending me a wink. Why was it even so heavy in the first place? Better question: You live here, why did you bring extra stuff? I will probably never understand this guy. I shake my head and join him with his family to say goodbye.

“You should text me sometime, so whenever Harry doesn’t answer his phone I got you to yell at him for me.” Gemma tells me, handing me her phone. I smile politely and type in my number. She sends a quick text to me so I have her number as well. That’s pretty cool.

“Even though I only met you this morning it was a pleasure to meet you. Harry has really outdone himself, finding such a beautiful and intelligent young woman. You are welcome here anytime.” Robin smiles at me while extending his hand.

“The pleasure was all mine, sir, thank you so much.” I smile, shaking his hand.

“Oh please do stop by again when you are in town. It was so nice to have you here. Maybe next time we can have a girl’s day, just you, Gemma, and I.” Anne tells me, quickly taking me in an embrace.

“That would be fun.” I tell her when she releases me with a smile.

“But where would I be then?” Harry comes between us and pouts like a child.

“With Robin or the your other friends if they come as well. You know your other friends that were here wanted to talk to you. They keep coming to our door asking if you were home. Next time you can go with them out somewhere.” She scolds her son, who only gave her back a pearly white smile and a pair of rolling eyes.

“Fine.” He says before they take each other into open arms. “I’ll see you soon or when I can.”

“You better call as well, it would be nice to hear from you once in a while.” She says softly into his shoulder, tugging at my heart strings. It must be hard for her to have her youngest child being taken away from this kind of lifestyle for something so much bigger, barely able to contact them anymore.

“I promise... I love you mum.” He whispers to her, burying his head into the crook of her neck, looking so vulnerable. I should probably walk out… I feel like I am interrupting something. I do one last quick nod to Gemma and Robin before taking my bag and packing it into the back of Harry’s car outside.

I hope that didn’t seem rude. I just didn’t want to be in something that was so touching and sad at the same time. It would have been worse if I had cried and they saw me. Why do they have to be such nice people? Closing the passenger door behind me, I put on the seat belt and wait patiently for Harry when he returns. Harry comes out with a gym bag on his shoulder and turns once more on the porch, waving goodbye.

Anne quickly runs to him as he got to the bottom of the small steps and hugs him one more time, making Robin join in, before Gemma does as well. Now there was just a family group hug with Harry in the middle surrounded by his family. And, here comes the waterworks. Just great. Why do they have to look so happy? So perfect… I place my head on my knees, trying to pull myself back up together. Come on Amber. Stop crying.

“Amber, its breakfast time. Come on. Get up already. Don’t sleep in again.” My shoulder is continuously shoved, bringing me back here… Wherever here is.

“What time is it?” I hear myself ask, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes.

“It’s almost noon. We have let you sleep long enough. It’s on the table. Don’t forget to brush your teeth. You got morning breath, kid.”

“Don’t call me kid.” I tell him tiredly. “We are the same age.” I sit up and stretch my upper body for a minute or so before heading to the bathroom and brushing my teeth.

The smell of breakfast leads me through the maze of the house and to the kitchen where Jacob and his friend are setting the food on the table.

“Just wondering…” I ask them, making my way to my seat. “What is the plan for today?”

“Well, we’re heading home.” Jacob says, setting down a coffee mug in front of me. I scrunched my face up in confusion.

“No, we’re not.” His friend says, his eyes squinting slightly.

“What do you mean?” I ask curiously but I stand ignored by the two males walking up to each other.

“Yeah, what do you mean?” His friend crosses his arms over his chest.

“We have to! I mean, what about the others? You know we can’t leave them behind.”

“They said that they would be just fine. Just, fine! We made all this progress to fly out here to Europe, for her!” He points at me without looking at me. “And now you want to go back? Are you nuts? Let’s just stay here!” Jacob just shakes his head.

“Chris, I know what they said, I was there. But I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if they get hurt or captured. Look, we just fly back there, get them, fly back here, live in peace. Easy peasy.” He shrugs, sitting down to the chair next to me.

“But, do you realize that we have ‘kidnapped’ a celebrity, who is being called America’s-”

“Sweetheart?” Harry shakes me awake. I look over across from me to see him with a face of concern. “Are you alright? Why are you crying?” His hand rests on my shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze.

“I’m alright. Guess I got a bit emotional when you said goodbye to your family. It was very sweet.” I smile softly, removing my stray tears that were staining my cheeks. He smiles cutely, shaking his head.

“You are so adorable, I swear.” He says quietly, leaning over and hugging me, placing a kiss on my head. I was able to relax some, or at least enough for Harry to pull us out of his parents’ driveway, drive us back. I look to the house, his family standing on the porch, waving us goodbye with sad smiles. I return the gesture, continuing until they were no longer in sight. Why can’t the world have more people like them?

---

“Hey guys, how did it go?” Niall asks when we had arrived back at their hotel, munching on some chips.

“Great, actually. The fam loved her, as expected.” Harry smiles as he spoke, dropping our stuff off by the door.

“Ha, knew it.” Niall chuckles to himself, standing up with open arms to me. I smile and meet him halfway, taking in his Horan hug. “Everything is going to be okay, whatever happens don’t worry.” I hear him barely say in my ear. My face scrunches up in confusion. What is he talking about?

“What do you mean, Ni?” I whispered back. I tried to let the hug part but he kept me close.

“Simon is in the other room and-” He was cut short by Harry coming between us.

“Hey, don’t hog her so long. She’s mine.” Harry pouts, wrapping his arms around my waist.

“You guys were gone for two whole days, with each other and his fam, but I can’t get a minute of a hug with her? Rude.” Niall jokingly scoffs, only receiving Harry’s tongue sticking out at him in return.

A door opens in another room, loud chatter was heard approaching us. Soon, Liam, Louis, and Zayn appeared in the main room, running at me and taking me away from Harry, enveloping me in a group hug, saying words that I can’t understand.

“Boys, let her go.” A grown male voice says from a short distance, making the boys freeze and become silent. They soon let me go with gloomy faces, before making an opening for none other than Simon. In a usual grey suit, he approaches me slowly, hands behind his back, making me nervous.

“M-Mr. Cowell…” I greet him quietly.

“Amber. I see you are doing well. Somewhat.” I look over to Niall, suddenly putting the pieces together. He looked like he was about to cry, making me want to as well. I nod silently, unable to create sentences that would not make me look and sound weird or scared as I am right now.

“May I have a word with you, in privacy for a moment.” He doesn’t ask, he states. That is never well. Harry, who stood behind Liam and Zayn, quickly broke through between them and stood between Simon and I.

“Shouldn’t it be with me, Uncle Si?” Harry says as coolly as possible.

“Not this time, Harry. I just need Amber. Only for a moment.” He tells him before glancing over his shoulder. “Ms. Hudson.” He calls for me, and now I have no choice but to go. Simon walks down the hall at a quick pace, leaving me in the dust. I look to the boys, who are trying to pull smiles, except for Harry, who had a hard/confused face. I’m sure that the other boys know already, so they are probably going to fill him in as I go.

I leave the main area to follow Simon down the hallway, except I had no idea what room he had entered. As I was about to turn back and start at the beginning, I hear my name get called from the room on my left. Mr. Cowell was sitting at a desk, sipping from a mug.

“Come, take a seat.” He gestures to the chair on the opposite side of his desk. “And close the door, if you may.” I nod curtly and close the door before sitting down. “Now, I am sure you are aware of what has happened, yesterday was it? You know that I can’t have something like this for the boys.”

“Of course.”

“You know that I can’t have this going on, right?” He asks, before taking another sip.

“It’s all a big misunderstanding, Mr. Cowell. I can assure you that-”

“It won’t happen again? I’m sure.” He finishes my sentence, setting down his mug.

“Honestly, sir. He was just-”

“I know, I know. A friend.” He cuts me off, standing up and beginning to pace.

“No sir, he was someone that I had sadly met at a bar. He isn’t a friend, he was a stranger and still is. He tried to hit on me twice but I didn’t allow it. Honestly.”

“No matter the story, Ms. Hudson. I’m trying to improve Harry’s image in the media and this isn’t going to help. It’s only making matters worse. Now they think that the tables have turned, calling it revenge for Harry as a man whore, receiving a whore of his own. I thought that I could count on you to help me fix this, but you are only here for the publicity, aren’t you?” I couldn’t help but gasp at his statement. Is that what he thinks of me? Even him?

“That isn’t true, I-”

“‘That isn’t true?’ Amber, you do realize that you aren’t the first ‘fan’ to ‘date’ him, yes?”

“Yes, but-” I see how he can be a scary man behind the camera, now. I don’t like where this is going. At all.

“They all come and go the same way, Amber!” He slams his fist against the desk, making me jump in my seat. He takes a deep breath, before sitting down. He takes a couple more deep breaths, not saying a word.

“Sir, I can assure you that I am not that kind of person. Harry is the first person that I have ever dated, and he is the only guy that would even consider it genuinely, despite my family issues. So if he is kind to me I am kind to him. I won’t become that kind of person. I promise.”

“We are too busy for ‘promises’. But I am willing to give you one more chance. If I see any more trends about you on any social media that has to do with you being around another man in a deceiving way, I permit you to be here any longer. Do you understand?” He glares at me, his hands rubbing his temples harshly. I stay silent at his threat towards me, shocked that he would do that.

“I said ‘Do you understand’, Ms. Hudson??” He asks in a much louder voice. I quickly nod. “Good. And one last thing. During the remaining period that you stay with us, which I realize it isn’t much, you are only allowed to leave this hotel room with either one of the boys, presumably Harry, or one of our guards. No wandering on your own. Okay?” I nod again.

“Alright. This was all that I needed to do as I am here, so I best be on my way. Have a good day and enjoy the rest of your stay, Ms. Hudson.” He nods once at me.

“Have a safe journey back, sir.” I tell him softly, as he collects his things and leaves the room.

Once he shut the door, I let my terrified emotion free, as the tears spill out of my eyes fall onto my lap. I need a bathroom. I look around through my blurry vision, hoping that there was an attached bathroom in here. By surprise there was, so I quickly run in there and lock the door behind me. I walk wearily to the sink, holding onto it for balance once I had reached it. My horrid reflection looks back at me, red cheeks, blurry eyes that tears slipping out. This is what the world thinks of when they hear a whore.

“You’re a whore, Amber. Simon said so.” I whisper to my reflection, making more tears build up.

I look down to see those tears slide down the sink, one after the other. I’m not a whore, though. It wasn’t even my fault. Was it? I didn’t dress inappropriately. I didn’t act flirty. He just came onto me. I was in the bathroom for crying out loud.

I can't contain this anymore. I frantically look the cabinets for a razor and quickly remove my pants. I align the razor to my hip and make a small cut, enough for it to bleed a bit. I don't want to do it on my wrists since that will be in view and I can't wear long sleeved shirts when it is too warm.

The feeling relieves me, calming me. I look up back at myself in the mirror, taking in my features. I stop when I look at the silver heart hanging on my neck. Harry. He doesn’t think I’m a whore... Right? Wait, what if he finds out about this? Would he think I am one then?

“Amber? You in there?”

Speaking of Harry.

“Yeah, just had to pee.” I say without cracking my voice as best as possible. Oh no.

I turn on the sink so it could drown out the sound of my sniffle before removing my tears and washing my face. I remove the blood that was trickling down my leg and Once I had finished looking as calmly as possible and took many deep breaths, head out of the bathroom. I was only able to unlock the door before it swung open and Harry barges in, closing the door behind him, locking it once more.

“Harry? What are you doing?” I ask, but in return I only get tackled in an embrace.

“The guys told me what Simon wanted.” Oh. “I tried to talk him out of it when he left but he stayed silent and left.” I sigh, pulling myself away from him only slightly.

“Harry, he’s right. This is your image that we are talking about. I’m not making it any better for you.”

“Amber, no he isn’t! I don’t give a shit about what people think about me anymore! I only care about what matters to me the most.. You, the boys, the fans, and supporting my family."

He lets me go and runs his hands through his hair, resting onto the sink. I see the blade still sitting on the counter, inches away from his bum. Crap.

"I am going to call him and ask him to change his mind on this, because this isn’t right.” He gets up and starts to walk out. When I'm sure he is gone I wrap the blade in toilet paper and throw it out into the trash can before finding him.

“What do you mean?”

“Having him break us up?” He says like its the most obvious thing in the world.

“But we aren’t… He said I could have one more chance.” Harry sighs of relief and hugs me tightly again, petting my hair.

“Oh, thank God. If I called him and didn’t answer, I was going to follow him myself and beat him.”

“He is your boss. And your unrelated uncle. You shouldn’t do that. He knows what’s best for you.”

“Not all the time. He doesn’t know how amazing you are. How sweet, kind, caring… I could go on forever.” He starts swinging us side to side, leaving kisses to my head and wherever he could reach.

“Harry?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you…” I stop for a moment, should I really ask him this? Well, just in case. “Do you think that I’m… A whore?” The side motion stops abruptly, and he holds me out at arm's length, staring at me as if I had spoken in a different language.

“No, why would you ask me something like that?” His face goes hard, assuming what I am thinking.

“Just, wondering.” He sighs, pulling me back towards him.

“Amber, you’re not a whore. Believe me. I know you aren’t ready yet to tell me this in return but I do love you. So much. You are what I need in the crazy life that I have made, a reality. Never think of yourself negatively. I know that you aren’t in the best feeling right now, I came in just as you rushed to get in here, heard you cry, and what you said to yourself. Simon just doesn’t know about the real you. To me, you’re perfect. Never forget that. I love you.” He leans his head back to see me in tears again by his words, forcing me to rest my head on his chest.

“Love.” He lifts my head up in his large hands. “Say you’re perfect.” I’m hesitant at first but does as he says.

“I’m perfect.” I mumble.

“Yes you are, forever and always.” He leans in and connects our lips together tenderly. It was only simple, but full of love. If only the world had more people like him.

Notes

I don't like finals. I love summer more. It's here though so we chill. Woop woop! Thank you guys for waiting, here's another chapter for you all. I don't promote self harm, there's always someone that you talk to. If you think that you don't have anyone to talk to come talk to me, I'm always here for you because I love you even if I don't know you personally :)

Please comment/rate/and subscribe, love you all and happy summer!
(To those that are still in school, I pray for thee. x.)