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Chapter Four: The Calm before the Storm



"Well now, I must admit that I can't explain any of these thoughts racing through my brain, it's true. Baby I'm howlin' for you. Alright, there's something wrong with this plot, the actors here have not got a clue. Baby I'm howlin' for you." - The Black Keys

Seven Months after Madison Square Garden...

Seven months of the best friendship a guy could have with a girl. Seven months of falling for her best friend. Seven months of paparazzi. Seven months of hate. Seven months of recognition. Seven months of Harry. Seven months of Micah. Seven months of everything a girl could want with her superstar best friend. Seven months of bliss.

The Chatty Man, an English talk show host named Alan Carr, had invited One Direction to be guests on his show for the fifth time since they'd became famous. Alan Carr is a witty man who isn't afraid of the ideal "up a pole" and"intelligent" views of what a talk show should be like. He's controversial and witty, the basic European man in the media.

It's July of 2013 and the boys are on their Take Me Home Tour but have stopped in England for a quick chat with The Chatty Man:

"Enough talk on Lana Del Rey and her sweet, sweet, oh so sweet old soul...we all know good and well why you're watching this show, you nasty wankers. One Direction, god forbids we never have them on this show, are here!" spoke Alan to the camera and audience before going to break. He made his way back stage and greeted the boys in the green room.

The five of the wildly famous superstars were lounged out on a red sofa drinking champagne and munching on pretzels. Liam and Niall were deep in a conversation about whether or not the concept of sex before marriage was a good idea while Zayn and Louis bothered anoncompliant Harry with their teasing fingers and saying, "I'm not touching you!" Harry, well...he was texting Micah with his nose almost in contact with the screen of his iPhone and only giving Louis and Zayn the shrugged shoulder to lazily shoo them off. Louis and Zayn were only tempted to continue bothering him, hoping they could get him to snap out of his daze.

"Alrighty, boys! Are you ready for some crazy crazy crazy fun until we see the sun?" asked Alan. He made his way over to the boys and ruffled Liam's growing fohawk. "It lives! It lives! Oh, it's alive and growing!" Liam only laughed and pushed Alan's hand out of his short plump hair. Alan clapped his hands together and skipped over to a dazed and irrevocable Harry. "What are you doing?"

"Texting my friend who lives in the States," replied Harry without a glance away from the screen of his phone.

"Oh? What's his or her name?" asked Alan.

"Micah."

"That's his girlfriend!" added a nosy and evitable Louis Tomlinson who received a swift smack in the groin from Harry.

Alan Carr only bit his lip and grinned,"you've got a girlfriend Harry Styles?!"

"No."

"Well by the looks of it she's not just some friend either," said Alan as he quickly and swiftly pried the phone out of Harry's hands only to receive a slap in the gut from an irritable Harry.

"My phone. She's just a friend."

All of the boys stood up and made their way to the stage entrance to await their cue while Alan made is way out with asheepish grin and skip. He stood at the front of the stage speaking with his stage director for a moment and then signaled the go for the show to return from break.

"Alright! The moment all you giddy and hormonal teenage girls have been waiting for! One Direction!" exclaimed Alan to the screaming audience.

The boys each walked onto the stage one by one and grasped Alan, The Chatty Man, in a rehearsed hug and greet. They then each crowded on to the sofa, as always, while Alan took his seat as the host. Niall sat the closest to Alan and then Liam and Zayn and Louis and Harry at the end of the sofa.

"Alan man how are you?" asked Niall.

"I've been splendid! How about you doll faces?" replied Alan. "I've heard so many things since the last time we've met up for a chat."

"Oh yeah, yeah, we're pretty sure about that," said Louis.

"Crazy fandom drama, management rumors that I'm not allowed to talk about, and um..." added Alan and resting his eyes on Harry at the last part. "And um... girlfriends!"

Harry turned his eyes towards the ground and tried not to smirk, "Louis has those problems all of the time."

"Larry Stylinson is my real lover, so they say," added Louis as he wrapped his arm around Harry's shoulder.

"Oh, that's old news!" exclaimed Alan. "Harry darling, word around town is that you've got yourself a lovely lady, yeah?"

Harry's eyes darted up and at Alan and then became slight slits in his face. His palms almost immediately became clammy. He knows there are rumors behind his and Micah's friendship. Rumors of a relationship more than friends; rumors of Harry lying to his fans and media about not dating Micah; rumors about Micah being a gold-digger; every rumor Harry hated was about to be questioned in front of millions on live television and he wasn't prepared to answer them. He wasn't prepared because even though he loved Micah, he wasn't in love with her like everyone had been saying. He wasn't prepared because even though he and Micah had snogged and stayed the night at each other's homes, they were strictly just friends/. They were /just friends who lived in each other's lives as something more just without the title of it. He sat up straight and got a hold of himself before grinning at Alan.

"Really? And who would that be?" asked Harry.

"You tell me! I think we've got some photos," said Alan as a picture of Harry and Micah hand in hand made their way out of LAX. "She's so lovely!"

Harry rubbed his hands together and bit his lip, "Her name is Micah Clarendon."

"These rumors have been going on since December I've heard."

"The story of how they met is unbelievable," added Liam.

Alan stuck his hand up to Liam for a high-five, "Yes! Now that, I here, is something to talk about! How did Marry Stylendon meet?"

Harry couldn't help but laugh, and laugh hard. "Marry Stylendon? Is that what they call our friendship? Really?!"

"It is! It's quite exquisite!" replied Alan.

"First Larry and now Marry...people really like to butt into our personal lives and make mockeries of it!" added Louis. "It's crazy."

Harry, still laughing, added: "Madison Square Garden, we met there."

Alan raised his eyebrows, "One Direction's major heart throb, Harry Styles, finds love at his own concert? That's something for a love ballad. Tell me about it Haz."

Harry, stifling his laughter, sat forward with his elbows on his knees,"Micah.... She's...uh...she's...I never thought I'd ever meet a girl that I got along so well with and become so close with. I've never had a friendship like this before, with a girl."

"How long have you two been dating? C'mon everyone wants to know!"

The other four boys could only sit back and watch a confused Harry talk about something he has no clue about. They've seen firsthand how he and Micah are together and they know that what they've seen is no friendship.

Harry bit his lip once more, "Dating? Is that what everyone thinks this is?We're not dating!" He broke out in another wave of laughter. The audience, the rest of One Direction, and Alan Carr, were silent and confused. "She's just someone that I can talk to about absolutely anything. I get that with these guys right here, but with Micah I get the benefit of her being and incredibly gorgeous female!" Now the audience and everybody else broke out in laughter just the same as Harry. "She's my best friend and I know that she's got my back no matter what."

"They may not be together or anything like that but, speaking for all of us boys, I can say that we've never seen Harry so happy. Ever," added Louis. "He's always been happy, yes, but never to this extreme. It's contagious." He leaned back in the couch and clapped Harry's back and squeezed his shoulder.

"Ah, I see. Well! It makes sense that you aren't dating her because...well, she looks awfully young compared to the old hags you've been rumored to be seen with in the past!" joked Alan.

Harry rolled forward and clutched his stomach as another storm of laughter came rippling out of him. "No, no, that's not the reason we're not dating." He grinned at his band-mates and at Alan before adding, "That's just not what we want."

"The night you met her?" asked Alan. "How'd that go?" The girls in the audience silenced themselves almost completely, the boys of One Direction aside from Harry were intrigued in hearing Harry talk about that night for the first time, Alan...he was more surprised at how serious the room had become. It was the most serious and calm the show had ever been. It was a record to be broken.

Harry looked down at his lap and ran his hand through his curls before looking up at Alan with serene green eyes. "Well that night has been the best night of my life for many reasons: Madison Square Garden, filming for our movie 'This is Us', and meeting Micah. This is why I feel that rumors of her being agold-digger are utterly bogus because I was the one who saw her. She didn't throw herself at me or scream my name or act like a crazed fan. I was just so drawn to her, she's beautiful yes, but I was drawn to so much more than that. She's a wonderful person. I couldn't help myself and just had to meet her so Ihad a guard go and fetch her a backstage pass so that I could meet her, she didn't know of course. It was a surprise." The audience awed and grew more silent. "When I met her, it was almost instant, that I knew I needed her in my life. She's so cool and nonchalant about everything! After I met her, I invited her out to dinner and we just talked about everything, like we'd known each other for ages. It's really something special. I can't pinpoint why I'm so lucky to have her in my life. It's just surreal sometimes to realize that someone can care about you that much and be your best friend, especially a girl."

"There are some rumors that you and she are seen a lot of the time entering and leaving each other's homes. Hers in the States and your flat in London...is that true?" asked Alan.

Harry creased his eyebrows and bit his bottom lip and thought a few seconds before answering. "She's my best friend. It's hard trying to keep up my life in One Direction and still make time to see her, let alone my own family, especially while on tour. So yes, in order to see each other and spend some time together we fly to see each other as much as we possibly can. She flies out to a few of our shows in the States and hangs out with us. I fly out to spend a few days with her in The Big Apple whenever I can and same with her in seeing me in London." He began rubbing his thumb along his bottom lip. "She's areally great friend. I don't know what I'd do without her, honestly."

"A lot of people tend to find it weird that they spend so much time together or that they can spend the night at each other's homes completely casual with everything," added Niall. "They're genuinely best friends."

Alan gave the boys a genuine smile and clapped his hands together, "Micah Clarendon, eh? Even her name has a nice ring to it. Well, Harry, I'm sure you guys' fans are more than supportive with your friendship. With Marry Stylendon to be exact!" At that the audience began to laugh with relief from the tension and seriousness in Harry's voice. "Larry Stylinson is no more he's moved out and now Marry Stylendon has moved in!"

"Aha! That's the craic!" exclaimed Niall.

"Larry Stylinson was never a residence of the neighborhood anyway!" cheered Louis bumping his shoulder against Harry's.

Alan laughed and looked into the camera, "hot damn that was intense! When we come back we'll see if the boys have worked any on their dance moves.../Zayn./"

The audience cheered and the boys stood and stretched their legs. "Hey man, fuck management bro, you love her. We all know you do. What are you so afraid of?" asked a whispering Liam after he pulled Harry off to the side. "Denying this only gives people and our management all the more reason to make it seem like nothing or even worse than nothing, P.R." He placed his hand on Harry's shoulder and squeezed. "We care, man, and you deserve this."

Harry shyly smiled at his best mate, "I'm not afraid of anything. There's nothing more between us...no lies." He clapped Liam's shoulder and made his way back the front of the stage with the rest of the band, leaving Liam irritated and confused.

Liam eventually followed and placed his hand on Louis' back, "he's clueless." Louis only looked at him sheepishly and nodded.

"What's it like in New York City? I'm athousand miles away but girl tonight you look so pretty, yes you do. Time Square can't shine as bright as you; I swear it's true.... Don't you worry about the distance, I'm right there if you get lonely. Give this song another listen, close your eyes, listen to my voice it's my disguise. I'm by your side. Oh, it's what you do to me." - Plain White T's