“Darren, you’re going to die if stay in that position and let all of your blood flow to your head,” Jack scolds as he passes by Darren’s room. Darren sticks her tongue out at him and flips him off before sitting up criss cross apples sauce and going back to her phone conversation.

From Haaarrrrryyy:
Day 3 and we have our first concert tonight. I’m not usually as nervous as I am right now…

To Haaarrrrryyy:
Just breathe, popstar. And don’t be a let down :P

From Haaarrrrryyy:
:(

Darren inwardly laughs at Harry’s frowny face. Finn walks past her room at that moment and stops in her doorway, giving her an awkward look. Finn asks her if something is wrong with her, and Darren replies, “The only thing wrong with me is you. Get out of my door.” Finn obviously takes this in the opposite way Darren intends for by walking inside of her room and taking a seat next to her as well as her cell phone.

“Aw, how cute. You guys are texting,” Finn says in a baby voice, scrolling through Darren’s messages. He stops and turns his face, pretending to gag, giving Darren the perfect opportunity to snatch her phone back and flick Finn’s ear – something he can’t stand her doing, which is why she makes a point of doing it often. Finn frowns at his sister and gets up, leaving the room.

To Haaarrrrryyy:
Common fact: frowning gives you worry lines

~

The boys have just finished up in Bradford and are currently waiting for Zayn to finish saying his goodbyes to his family. Harry steps into the tour bus for the first time since the tour has started. Memories of drunken, lonely nights and hour-long fights come rushing back to him. Angry and harsh tones that were once shot in Harry’s direction make him want to get off and walk, but the nostalgic voices in his head are replaced by laughter coming from the main area of the bus.

Harry follows the sound of the laughter and finds himself taking a seat next to Louis while the other lads are playing some Xbox game with the console and TV that they have on the bus. Niall is yelling at Louis for killing his character or something, but Harry doesn’t understand what they’re talking about so he takes out his phone and texts the only person he has been since the tour has started. When he unlocks his phone, he already has a new message – via kik – from Darren.

ThatInvisibleGirl: My brothers haven’t stopped singing to your new album since they purchased it on iTunes when you left for tour… I might end up in jail for murder before you come back.
JustYourNormalGuy: Is the album THAT bad?
ThatInvisibleGirl: No, but my brothers’ singing is…

“Who are you texting, Harold?” Liam asks from across the room. Harry seemingly can’t hear Liam as he continues to type away on his phone.

JustYourNormalGuy: I’m sure it can’t be that bad

Louis pauses whatever game he and Niall are playing snatches the phone from Harry’s hands. Harry doesn’t even try to get it back from Louis. This has become a natural thing for them, so Harry waits for Louis to tell the group that it’s Darren and give him his phone back.

“These two seriously need to just date already,” Louis says while he continues to scroll up through the messages he’s most likely already read. Harry blushes shyly when Niall and Liam agree verbally. Zayn finally gets on the bus, so Liam catches him up on what is happening. When Zayn is up to date, he nods in agreement.

“Honestly, I think half the world ships their relationship already,” Zayn inputs. Harry rolls his eyes, remembering how ‘#Harren’ was trending worldwide after Liam posted the picture of him and Darren with their arms stuck up the claw machine.

“We are just friends, guys.”

“Well, you know what they say,” Louis starts, handing him his phone back, “friends who get their arms stuck in arcade machines don’t stay friends.” Harry tries to argue that that isn’t something people say, but Louis just sticks his hand up to silence Harry and unpauses the game.

~

JustYourNormalGuy: 1 week down, 2 weeks to go…
ThatInvisibleGirl: Stop pouting; I can sense your whining from here.
JustYourNormalGuy: I hate how you know me that well. imy, best friend.
ThatInvisibleGirl: ew. Don’t shortcut meaningful sentences… but I miss you too :(
JustYourNormalGuy: maybe I can see you earlier than two weeks?
ThatInvisibleGirl: don’t push your luck popstar. how’s tour so far?
JustYourNormalGuy: it would be better if you were here, but it’s been great

Harry’s initial thought was that this tour would suck and end up being a waste of time for this band, but as it turns out, the tour has been going great. The fans are extremely supportive – as always – and it has been great for all of the boys to be reunited with all of their families so far. Although pretty much everyone had been skeptical about this tour, the tour is surely bringing back the best of One Direction, at least more so than it has been.

ThatInvisibleGirl: well, I’m glad that you guys are doing great, but stop trying to guilt trip me, Harold. I will see you when you get back to London.
JustYourNormalGuy: in concert? We play on the 23/24 in the O2. I can get you tickets ;)
ThatInvisibleGirl: I dunno… I think that’s the weekend my brothers are dragging me on a campout

Harry frowns at his phone. He really wants Darren to be at one of his concerts to see him perform and do what he loves. Getting Darren to come out to one his hometown performances is out of the question, and probably for the better because he isn’t sure how that part of the tour will play out. Not even having Darren at one of their London concerts is ruining his mood right now, though, so he’s hoping she has the wrong date for the campout that she’s allegedly going on.

“Mate, stop frowning at your phone,” Zayn tells him as he walks into the room he and Harry will be sharing for their stay in Doncaster. There are only two guest rooms available, so naturally, Louis will be sleeping on the couch for the time being. He grabs his duffle bag off the floor and searches through the contents for a t-shirt. “Louis’ mum is kicking us out of the house and making us run some errands for her, so get your butt moving.”

Huffing, Harry temporarily turns his phone off and follows Zayn out into the living Tomlinson living room where the rest of the boys are waiting for them. Johannah is quick to shoo them all out the door with a list of things she needs even though Louis complains about them just getting here and needing “family time”.

~

Darren runs out of the building with a sad look on her face. Jack and Finn immediately sense that this isn’t going to be good news and copy her look of sorrow. As Darren steps in front of them, she sighs, but doesn’t say a word.

“Aw, Dare. It’s all right. We’ll just try again in a few months,” Jack tells her. Darren shakes her head and looks down at her feet. “What do you mean no? You can’t give up on driving.”

Darren finds it hard to contain her smile any longer, so she looks up at he brothers, her eyes sparkling. “No, it’s fine… because I passed!” She reaches into her pocket and pulls out the freshly printed plastic. Finn pulls the plastic out of her hand at the same time Jack lifts Darren up off of the ground and spins her around in circles. Darren laughs and nearly falls over when her brother finally sets her down, but Finn is quick to catch her in a hug before she can fall, swaying her back and forth in his arms.

“We’re so proud of you, Dare!” Jack says. Darren is smiling, almost too happily for her usual self, but she doesn’t care because she can finally drive – legally, that is.

“Thanks.”

“So…” Finn announces, dangling a set of keys from his finger. “Do you want to drive home?”

Darren nods eagerly and takes the keys from his hand. When they get to the car, Darren rushes everyone to put their seatbelts on. Jack is sitting in the passenger seat, while Finn is sitting in the back, ready to grab hold of the handlebar above his head just in case. Darren twists the key in the slot, making the engine roar to life. She pulls forward and out of the parking lot feeling happy and free to be driving with a license.

Jack and Darren both laugh at Finn as she jerks the car to the right as if she is going to switch lanes. Finn looks as if he’s about to hurl. Even though Darren is driving safely and only messing with him, he has his shaky fingers wrapped around the handle.

“Oh my gosh, I need to tell Harry!” Darren shouts as she turns into their neighborhood. She uses one hand to pull out her phone but Finn leans forward and takes it from her.

“Are you insane?! You can’t text and drive; you’ll crash and we’ll all die!” he yells at her. Darren huffs and puts her hand back on the wheel, increasing her speed slightly to get home faster so she can call Harry.

“Stop!” Jack shouts, making Darren slam on her breaks. The car jerks them all forward. A familiar white cat runs across the road without a bother in the world. Finn is hyperventilating in the back seat, and Darren is breathing hard from the adrenaline rushing through her for stopping the car so quickly like she did.

She slowly starts to drive the car again after everyone has calmed down a little. “One day, I’m going to kill that cat,” Darren says as she pulls into the driveway just a couple minutes later, “and if it kills Mrs. McGuthry as well, I won’t mind at all.”

“Now, now,” Finn tells her, leaning forward to hand Darren her phone, “it’s not nice to wish death upon a cat, even if it is Mr. Snugglesworth.”

“Well, I’m not a very nice person, now, am I?”

~

ThatInvisibleGirl: Guess who got their driver’s license!!
JustYourNormalGuy: you?
ThatInvisibleGirl: wow, you actually guessed it right this time :D
JustYourNormalGuy: haha, yay for you! You haven’t crashed yet, have you?
ThatInvisibleGirl: ha. ha. ha. I almost ran over Mr. Snugglesworth – again… but I haven’t crashed… yet.
JustYourNormalGuy: again? yet? who is this Mr. Snugglesworth anyway?
ThatInvisibleGirl: one of my neighbor’s cats. She’s suuppeeerrr old, and she’s always being real affectionate to everyone she knows
JustYourNormalGuy: sounds scary.
ThatInvisibleGirl: she is

“Harry, it’s your turn to shower!” Louis calls out to him from the hallway. Harry yells back an okay and grabs his stuff before going to the bathroom. As he’s walking, he takes out his phone and sends Darren a quick message.

JustYourNormalGuy: I have to go now, but I’ll talk to you later. 9 more days :)

“Here’s a towel, Harry,” Louis’ mum tells him. She hands him a clean towel for which he thanks her for before continuing to walk down the hall.

Louis stands beside the door, shaking some of the water out of his hair with a towel. He smiles at Harry. “I might have used the last of the hot water, but that’s what you get for going last.” Harry groans and proceeds to the bathroom, glaring at Louis before shutting the door in his face.

When he turns on the water, he only has about a minute of nice, warm water before it goes cold. Harry mutters a few profanities under his breath but continues to wash up. Louis is both right and wrong. It is his fault for going last, but it was never his choice in the first place. Nonetheless, he finishes his cold shower, and exits the bathroom when he’s finished. Harry runs a towel through his curls to absorb some of the water and keep it from dripping while making the short walk from the bathroom to the room he is staying in.

He approaches his room and slows down when he hears several hushed voices from inside. Harry leans his ear towards the door to hear better, but he accidentally pushes the door slightly, making a short creaking noise. The voices all stop for a second, and Harry stays completely still.

“I don’t hear the water running anymore,” one of the lads says. Harry’s eyes go wide and he takes a few steps back before walking normally so they can hear him coming, as if he wasn’t eavesdropping on their conversation.

As Harry opens the door, Louis shouts, “Alright, gotta go, love, bye!”

“Louis!” Liam scolds. Zayn hits the back of Louis’ head. Harry walks into the room, half faking a confused look.

“Hey, Harold. How was your shower? Was it cold? I bet it was cold.” Louis continues to ask questions then giving his hypotheses while getting up and starting to leave the room. The others follow suit, minus Zayn because it’s his room, too, all stopping in the doorway.

“Um…” Harry glances around at them, trying to figure out what they’re hiding. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees his iPhone in Louis’ hand. “Why do you have my phone?”

Louis glances down at the phone in hand and brings it to his face. “Wait, this is yours? I could’ve sworn it was mine…”

Harry grabs the phone, showing Louis the back. “Pretty sure it’s mine. I’m the only one with a white iPhone, so why did you have it?”

“Well, I must have accidentally picked it up without looking at it, thinking it was mine, even though it clearly isn’t but it was – or at least I thought it was mine, but it’s not,” Louis says, confusing everyone.

Harry just shakes his head, trying to make something out of Louis’ gibberish. “Well, I’m going to go to bed, then.”

“Goodnight!” the three in the doorframe yell when Harry shuts the door on them.

“Goodnight!” Zayn calls out. Harry looks at him, still quite confused. Zayn smiles at him. “Night, Harry.”

“Uh-huh… Night…” Harry tells him. He crawls into bed just a few minutes later, but the curiosity of whatever his best mates are hiding from him keeps him from sleep.

Notes

My wifi is working again! For now at least…

How cute are Harren text convos?
Who agrees with Louis that Harren needs to get with it already?
Or maybe they should remain friends…
Would you feel safe with Darren driving on the streets?
What are the rest of those boys up to?

In the next chapter, Harry will be back in his hometown, so I can't wait for you all to read how that goes down. Please leave me some feedback if you can. I love to hear what you guys have to say about my story - good or bad. :)

~A