Friday, May 25 2012
East Rutherford, NJ

The drive to New Jersey had been a short one. They had left right away after the show the night before and had arrived at the next venue in the middle of the night. It was for the best – the bus wasn’t mobbed by fans that way and the boys were able to sleep in a little, rather than getting an early wake up call.

Still, that didn’t stop Harry from waking up at (what felt like) the crack of dawn and rummaging around the kitchen for something to eat.

“What’re you doing, Harry?” Liam called from his bunk. “It’s bloody early.”

“We don’t have any food,” Harry called out, not particularly caring he was waking the others up.

“Well go out and get some then,” Liam called back in frustration. “The rest of us are trying to sleep before we have to get up and do press.”

Harry looked up at the clock on the wall. It was just past six in the morning… he really was up early. Sighing to himself, he threw on some clothes and left the bus in search of food.

As he walked around the venue parking lot, he noticed Brittany leaning up against the side of her bus, texting. She didn’t seem to notice him as he approached her.

“Well good morning,” he grinned, causing Brittany to jump.

“Oh my God!” she exclaimed, and then laughed. “You terrified me!”

“Sorry,” he replied sheepishly. “You were pretty focused there, who were you texting? Your boyfriend?”

She shook her head. “No, no boyfriends sadly. I was just updating my Twitter.”

Harry grinned. So she didn’t have a boyfriend – that meant flirting with her was a-ok. Not that it would have stopped him before. Now he just didn’t have to worry about some guy showing up and knocking his teeth out. “Oh, you do the Twitter?” he asked jokingly. “I do too, let’s see what you wrote!” he said, gently lifting Brittany’s phone from her grasp. She hardly resisted.

BrittCooperMusic: totally on tour with @onedirection!! Great first show last night… I’m so excited I couldn’t sleep! xoxo britt 

Harry grinned as he handed Brittany her phone. She blushed and turned away from him slightly. “Thanks,” she muttered.

“Oh come on,” he laughed. “It wasn’t that bad. I’ll even buy you a coffee, seeing as you couldn’t sleep last night,” he added, taking her hand and leading her away from the buses.

Brittany glanced down at her hand and raised her eyebrow a little. She didn’t think it meant much – he was just being nice. She knew Harry had a reputation for being a flirt, but she hadn’t expected him to be this forward.

Harry glanced through the gates. There was a Starbucks across the street, but as it was starting to get lighter out, there was no way they could go alone. “Come on, I’ll have to get a security guard. They’ll kill me if we go out alone and get mobbed.”

Brittany just nodded and Harry led her towards security.

***

“Bloody brilliant, Harry, what did you do?” Liam asked as the group got prepared for an interview they had over the noon hour.

“What?” Harry asked, still looking straight ahead. He made sure to keep still so the stylist could do her work quickly.

“Our twitter account is blowing up, have you even been on your phone?”

“What?” Harry asked, pulling his phone out of his pocket, and looking up apologetically at the stylist as she glared at him. He was never able to sit still for long.

1Dfan4life: @Harry_Styles is it true ur dating @BrittCooperMusic? 

Uvegotthat1thing: @Harry_Styles was seen at a Starbucks with @BrittCooperMusic!!

1Dharrysgirl: @Harry_Styles what do u see in @BrittCooperMusic! She’s just trying 2 leech of u!

“Oh. Oops,” Harry said sheepishly as he scrolled through his timeline. News travelled fast, and his fans apparently all thought he and Brittany were attached at the hip.

It had only been a coffee! Imagine if he’d taken her out for a full breakfast like he’d wanted.

“So… are you?” Liam pressed, and Harry rolled his eyes. Often, the group could be mistaken for a group of gossiping teenaged girls with the way they spoke to one another.

“Yeah Harry, are you?” Louis asked, half mocking Liam.

“It was just a coffee,” he shrugged. “She is pretty hot though.”

“You say that about every girl,” Niall interjected as he pulled out his phone and promptly followed Brittany’s twitter account. He figured he may as well – since she was going to be touring with them and all.

“That’s because there are just so many girls to love, and only one of me,” Harry laughed.

***

That evening before the show the members of the group were scattered backstage. They had just completed their soundcheck and were loading up on the catering before it was time to get ready to go on stage.

As the others were immersed in watching an American Football game on TV, Niall and Liam were sitting at one of the tables eating dinner. While they did that, they also shared a few laughs over the continuous twitter replies that kept pouring in.

Unbeknownst to them, Brittany had entered the catering area and intended to head over to them. She wasn’t interested in watching sports with the others – it had nothing to do with who was sitting there.

Nope, nothing at all.

“Hey guys,” she said once she’d fixed herself a plate of fruit. “Do you mind if I sit with you?”

Niall nodded and motioned to one of the empty seats at the table while Liam laughed a little. “Wouldn’t you fancy sitting with Harry instead?”

Brittany rolled her eyes as she sat beside Niall. “So you’ve been on twitter, huh?”

“Just a little,” Niall laughed. He couldn’t help but notice she was in her stage outfit. It made sense – she would be going on soon. Still… the revealing clothing she was wearing made it difficult for him not to stare. “You caused quite the commotion,” he continued after a moment, looking back up at her face when he’d noticed his eyes were beginning to travel.

Brittany didn’t seem to notice. She simply nodded sheepishly, popping a piece of cantaloupe in her mouth. “Yeah, I know. My twitter followers have probably tripled since yesterday.”

Niall laughed lightly. “Well, at least it’s working out for you.” He noticed his eyesight shifting downward again. “Uh, what’s with all the fruit?” he asked, trying to cover up the fact that he’d quite obviously been looking at her.

“Oh,” Brittany said, looking down at her plate. “Yeah, I was pretty hungry after the show yesterday, so I thought I should eat something before going on stage, but I didn’t want to eat anything too heavy, you know? I thought the fruit would give me some energy on stage.”

“Right,” Niall replied, and Liam snorted at his friend’s clear inability to come up with a clever remark.

Brittany shrugged. “I’d say you should try it, but it’s clear you don’t need any more energy on stage,” she laughed, lightly tapping his arm. “I don’t know how you can dance around that much and not be totally wiped out.”

“Just practice I guess,” Niall replied modestly.

At that moment, Jenn, Brittany’s tour manager entered the catering area. “Brittany!” she called. “You’re on stage in five! Finish up and let’s get moving!”

Brittany bit her lip as she got up. “Sorry guys, duty calls,” she laughed, bouncing off. “Good luck with your show tonight!” she waved on her way out.

“What was that all about?” Liam asked Niall once she was gone. He gave him a knowing look.

“What?”

“Asking her about fruit and all that. Nice cover, by the way,” he said with a laugh.

Niall rolled his eyes. “Did you see what she was wearing? Can you blame me? Come on.”

Liam got up and patted his friend on the back. “I saw. That’s female pop stars for you,” he said. “At least she’s nice though.”

“Yeah,” Niall replied, gazing back down at his phone and scrolling through his twitter feed. Liam was right – that’s all it was. Brittany was nice. She understood him, being in the same industry and all. She was just being friendly, and there was no use thinking anything more of it.

BrittCooperMusic: Welcome new followers! Just had a quick bite with @NiallOfficial and about 2 go on stage in NJ! Can’t wait to see all of u! xoxo britt

No use at all.