The boys sat on the fading brown leather couch in Simon's office, excitement overtook their bodies as they quietly celebrated their recent Xfactor win.

Simon walked into the room, a large grin on his face, as he shuffled papers and scribbled notes down on his clipboard.

"Alright, there's somthing I have to say before we get started, alright?" He said as his chair squeaked. The boys nodded simultaneously.

"There are millions of people who would love to be in your place, this is such a large opportunity. You have to remember, I can take this away from you just as quickly as I gave it to you. That means; no horseplay, no defiance, no attitude, no talking back, and work your hardest. Is that understood?" He rose an eyebrow, his fake, bright white teeth slightly visible between his lips.

"Yes" they all nodded, big smiled on their faces.

"This also means that you all will be getting lots of publicity, you will be household names by next month. You already have thousands of fans and they look up to you, so you have to be roll models to them" he said, mostly directed at Zayn, Niall and Louis

"That includes but is not limited to; smoking, drinking, sex and hookups, public intoxication, public indecency, swearing, age inappropriate references or gestures, or jurrasic appearance changes. Remember, you're a teen boy band. Appeal to the young teenage girls" He finnished.

As he listed all these things off in order, it seemed like he had them all memorized, as if he said them too frequently.

"Last thing before we start, you have to run everything by me and the team. Whether it's stories, hair cuts, tattoos, major dental work, major surgery, or relationships. Got it?" They all nodded again.

Simon cracked a grin

"Alright, perfect" he licked his lips

"Loosen up boyos, this is fun. What are we all most excited about, hm?" He asked, clasping his hairy fingers together over his crossed leg

"Seeing all over the world" Niall was the first to speak, Simon nodded

"Same probably, yeah" Zayn added, clapping Niall on the back

"Hm, I geuss the experience, were so lucky to have this" Liam happily smiled, sitting up in his chair

"The traveling for sure" Louis frantic nodded, looking at Harry who was smiling back

"Preforming. It will be so fun to see all the fans from diffrent parts of the world" Harry replied

"Hmm" Simon hummed, scribbling more nonsense onto his notepad

"Those were all very well though out answers, I bet you all are good at school, yes?"

Liam and Harry nodded as Louis, Niall and Zayn just smiled and shook their heads slightly

"Well, we don't want that attitude in this band. Let loose, no more essays or MLA format nonsense. You'll make music and money, soon you'll forget all that useless math you learned" Simon rubbed his hands together

The new friends looked at eachother, big smiles on their faces as they moved on with the meeting, going over timelines, schedules, rules and contracts.

After they were done talking everything over with their lawyers and parents who were waiting in another room, they all said their final goodbyes and clambered onto the small, hot and over crowded black tour bus. There were 2 sets of bunk beds and one single bed in the middle. Niall immediately claimed the middle one and dumped his belongings out from his duffle bag.

"I want the top one!" Zayn exclaimed as he walked over Niall, stepping on his hand, and climbing the small medal ladder to the furthest top bunk.

Louis quickly claimed the other top one and Harry took the one under Louis because he didn't want to step over Niall. A questionable smell came from his clothes that he had dumped on his bed, old Nandos and melted candy.

Liam sighed and stood on Nialls bed as he tried not to fall, finally making it to the furthest bottom bed under Zayn.

Niall laughed as he layed on his back and spread his feet out to touch the bed of Harry and Liam on either side

"Nasty Niall" Liam barked, swatting his foot away. Harry just laughed and moved his foot off of his knee

Louis popped his head down from his bunk, peeking down to Harry's.

"Hi" Harry smiled at the upsidedown boy infront of him

"Oops!" He gasped as his body slid from the bunk, landing on Nialls mattress beneath them. The tour bus erupted with laughter as Louis rolled his eyes, looking back at Harry who had a slight red tinge to his cheeks

Soon after, their bus driver came onto the bus bearing gifts of chocolate

"I remember being as young as y'all, ya deserve a treat. Calm before the storm, ya hear?" He smiled, tossing each boy a chocolate bar. Niall looked at him lovingly. Liam put the bar in his pocket for later, Zayn and Louis ate them right away with 'thank you's written on his face, while Harry furrowd his brow at what the driver had just said

"What do you mean by calm before the storm?" He asked

"Y'all will see soon enough, just try to enjoy the next few weeks" he smiled, his Texan accent prominent under his thick handlebar mustache

"Let me introduce myself. I'm Joel, I'll be y'alls driver until further notice. I'm very qualified, I see ya lookin at me boyo!" He laughed pointing at Liam who looked at him quizzically

"I know a thing or two about mechanics, ya hear? Louis, no driving the bus" he smiled, shaking his head at Louis who was just about to ask that question

"I'm sure you're able too, hell, I'm sure all y'all are able too, but that's my job and I don't need y'all to crash the bus, yeah?" He tilted his head, sitting on the forest green couch.

"We just need to do a few more runs on the engine and we'll be off" he smiled, twisting his facial hair with his thumb and index finger

They nodded as he saluted them and disappeared up front where the driver's seat was

"I have a goal to drive this before were done with tour" Louis smirked mischievously

"Louis, no-"

"Yeah mate, me too!" Zayn added in

"Oh no Zayn, not you too-"

"Me three!"

"Harry! I expected better from you" Liam shook his head. They all laughed as they walked around to the back of the bus into the sitting room

"Ew Niall did you fart? Someone crack a window" Zayn grimaced as Niall started chasing him around.

Liams phone started to ring so he answered it and stepped into the bedroom. Zayn and Nialls screams and socked feet sounded through the back, leaving Harry and Louis standing shoulder to shoulder.

Harry snuck a look at the older boy. He had a smile on his face, bringing his finger up to his lips as he bit at his nail.

He looked at his own hands, seeing his bitten nails. He grimaced as he looked at his hands, but for some reason when Louis did the same thing he looked really good. In the short while he knew Louis, that was one of the things he noticed about him. He looked effortlessly good all the time. Even when he was biting his nails or stuffing his face with fries or just sitting there on his phone.

Harry hid his blush as the older boy looked back at him, giving him a warm smile before fishing out his phone.

He smiled as he looked at the device, absently biting his lips as he juggled the phone back and forth in his hand.

He grinned as he looked back up at Harry, turning the phone around to show him what he was looking at

"Our first group picture" Louis said, turning it back around and taking a screenshot of the picture before opening up his phone app

"Hmm, I don't think I have your number Harry. I wanted to text this picture to you" he said as he handed Harry his phone.

Harry nodded as he felt the foreign object in his hand, quickly tapping out his number and saving his contact as

"Thanks mate" Louis replied as he tapped a few buttons, making a group chat with the 5 of them and sending the picture.

Harry's phone buzzed in his pants so he picked it up to get a better look at the picture. He smiled, taking a screenshot as well.

Liam, Zayn and Niall emerged from the back at the same time. Liam smiled as Niall had a victorious grin on his face, Zayn looked pissed.

"He chased me and farted at me" he shook his head

"At you?" Louis chuckled

They all laughed and sat back down on the couch

Louis was the oldest but probably the least responsible. He was 18. Harry was the youngest, 16, and very shy.

Harry had developed a stupid little crush type thing on Louis, him being the 'cool older boy', and was really embarrassed.

"Alright kiddos, we all ready to go" Joel called as the engine sounded beneath them

They cheered as the bus pulled out onto the black tarmac street, starting for the highway. They did not know what was in store.

•

They drove for the entire day non-stop, they had depleted all the snacks and drinks that were supported to last them the rest of the week, so now they found themselves with the air conditioning on its highest setting, laying on their beds.

"Go fish" Niall mumbled, tossing his cards to the side

"Its only been the first day and I'm already bored out of my mind" Niall groaned, flopping onto his stomach.

"Joel?" Louis called

"What!"

"Are we there yet?"

"Don't start with me Louis" he replied. Louis turned back to Niall to say something, but he was sound asleep, snoring softly against his pillow

"How does he fall asleep so fast?" Zayn laughed, poking him with no avail

"I don't know mate" Louis shook his head

"At least he wont complain for a while" Liam laughed.

"Who wants to bet that he'll sleep the rest of the drive?" Louis laughed, just then Niall turned onto his side, stretching and letting out a yawn

"Aw man, that was a good nap! How long was I asleep for? Are we there yet?"

"About thirty seconds, and no" Zayn patted him on the back, Niall groaned

Harry was oddly quiet, just sitting on his bottom bunk with a smile, his knees tucked up against his chin. He was happy just listening to their conversations, planning what he would say in his head but never actually speaking out loud. He liked the way Louis' expressions changed as he talked.

This was all so new to him, well it was new to everyone but Harry being the youngest and shyest, he was quite nervous about the whole ordeal.

"Harry?"

"Hm?"

"Its your turn" Liam said

"For what?"

"Go fish"

"Oh, do you have a 6?"

"Go fish" he shook his head, Harry picked up a card

"Ha, I win" he cheered as he put down his pair of 6's on the bed beside him

"Ugh, I was about to win, I only had one card left" Louis said, peeking his head down to Harry's bunk. His hair flopped off his forehead as he smiled upsidedown at Harry.

Harry just smiled and stuck his tounge out

"Ten minutes and we're in Edinburgh" Joel called over his shoulder. In a rush, the boys piled out of the bedroom and into the main room in the center of the bus

"Excited Harry?" Louis smiled, nudging his shoulder with his own

"Mhm" Harry hummed, biting on his nails

"You okay mate?"

"Yeah" he nodded.

Louis frowned, lightly grasping Harrys wrist, pulling it down from his face. Harry looked up at him, and Louis smiled

"Nervous?" Louis asked

Harry just nodded

"It's okay, I am too"

"You are?"

"Of course I am. You'll be great though" he patted Harry on the back, making eye contact.

Harry blushed looking away, mumbling a small 'thanks Lou'.

Louis gave him a soft smile, the corner of his mouth quirking upward.

Before he could say anything else, the bus screeched to a halt

"Alrighty, we're here. We have to wait for your bodyguard because theres a few fans outside" Joel said as he put the vehicle in park.

Zayn walked to the side of the bus, cracking open the tinted window and sticking his head out

"Hello!" He said to the fans outside

He was met with screams and crys. He quickly stuck his head back in, eyes wide

"Woah, there's hundreds of them" he said in surprise

Just then, Joel got off the phone and spoke

"Its gonna be another few minutes, there's more people than we anticipated so we have to call backup for more bodyguards, so get comfortable" he shrugged

They all nodded and sat on the small couch

"Harry, can I talk to you for a second?" Louis whispered to Harry, who nodded

They both stood up and walked to the door to the bedroom

"We'll just be a second" Louis said to the others as he opened the door

Harrys heart was in his stomach for some reason

"What's wrong?" Harry asked, confused.

"Nothing, just wanted to hang out for a while" he smiled, plunking down on Nialls bed in the middle of the room

Harry followed suit, laying down on the other side of the bed, taking a deep breath.

"So?"

"So"

"Tell me about yourself" Louis said

"You already know everything about me, I'm not very exciting" Harry laughed

"I think you're very exciting. What's your favorite flower?" Louis asked

"Uh, sunflower probably, why?" He replied, raising his brow

Louis just shrugged and sat up, looking down at Harry.

Harry opened his eyes and laughed when he saw Louis looking down at him, his tounge sticking out

"Weirdo" Harry laughed, sitting up as well

They made eye contact as they regained their cool, a small smile on Harry's face

Louis let out a breathy laugh, looking down at his lap as he shook his head.

"What?" Harry laughed, laying on his back with his head infront of Louis so he could look up at his face

"Nothing" Louis smiled softly. He reached down and tucked a curl of hair that was laying on Harry's forehead, behind his ear.

"Time to go!" Niall called through the door

They shared one last smile before exiting. The heat from the sun radiating off the black top onto their sunkissed skin.

They were escorted out of the bus by their bodyguards staying close. They made it to the building without incident, but Louis slipped a protective arm around Harry's waist. He pretended to be chill, but he blushed furiously. Harry could tell that Louis was nervous with the large crowds.

"That was crazy" Zayn exhaled once they got inside

"Yeah" Louis frowned

The body guards led them around to a door. One of them grabbed Harry by the arm and pulled him to the other side.

"Where are you bringing him?" Louis furrowed his eyebrows, keeping Harry close to his side

"We just have to talk to him for a second" the man replied

"What's it about? We can just talk here" Harry shrugged, in reality he was terrified.

"It's confidential, come, it'll only take a minute" he groaned

"Then I'll come with him, I don't really want a sixteen year old alone with a bunch of adults" he said, linking his arm around Harry's bicep

The man rolled his eyes

"This kind of behavior won't be tolerated" he replied

"What kind of behavior?" Louis sassed

"Hey, it's okay Louis" Harry whispered. Louis made a disgusted face at the man infront of him and then turned back to Harry.

"Call me if you need me, I'll be right outside the door" he hesitated, patting him on the shoulder before Harry left with the men.

They sat him down at an old mahogany desk. He heard a clicking behind him, spinning around he saw Simon, his glasses perched on the tip of his nose.

"Hi?"

"Harry, we have some things to discuss" Simon grinned, Harry just nodded

"Now, you're only sixteen, so I assume you're a virgin?" Simon blatantly asked

"Uh that's kind of personal" Harry flushed. Two men came up beside him as if that was their only job, flattening papers out before him. They pointed to They let Harry read it, then they flipped the page and pointed to his signature.

He read it as Simon continued to talk

"And you're in a boyband, you're going to be a sex symbol soon enough. Diffrent girl every night, you know what I mean?" Simon smirked

"I don't want that" Harry grimaced

"Of course you do! You're a teenage boy! Now which one of these girls would you like?" Simon spoke, pushing 3 photos infront of him

"I'm not- that's so wrong Simon! Can't you see that?" Harry gasped

"No my boy, there's already girls lining up to sleep with you. If you don't pick, I'll pick for you" he said as he slid the pictures back toward him. Harry just shook his head and stood up, walking toward the door. Simon whistled and the bodyguards stepped infront of the door.

"You'll have a girlfriend by tomorrow, Harry" Simon stated, and with that Harry pushed through the men and through the door. Louis was waiting beside the door, leaning against the wall.

"Are you okay? What did they say?" Louis asked instantly

"He's trying to set me up with all these girls, I don't want that! I just want to sing" Harry replied. Louis didn't really know what he was talking about, but he took him into his arms, stroking his back in the hallway.

•

Harry didn't want to talk about it anymore, claiming it was embarrassing and no matter how much Louis tried to coax more out of him, he wouldn't budge.

They had a few interviews before checking into their hotel. It was more of a house than a hotel, all five beds were in the same room though.

They lounged in the living room watching a movie, Harry didn't really seem into it though. Louis kept an eye on him, he sat beside Harry and slung an arm around his shoulder.

"You okay?" Louis whispered, Harry just shook his head 'no'.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" Louis asked

"Not here" he replied

"Let's talk in the other room, yeah?"

They got up and walked to the bedroom, sitting on one of the beds that was pressed up against the wall.

"What's wrong love?" Louis asked quietly.

"Simon has my intentions all wrong" he replied.

"What do you mean?"

"He thinks all I wanna do is have sex with girls, that's the opposite of what I want to do. I just, I'm a kid you know" he laughed.

"That's really shitty of him Harry, I'm sorry he said that to you" Louis replied

"And he's making me date someone tomorrow who I don't even know, I hate it" Harry said. He groaned and layed down.

Louis followed suit and layed down beside him. The boys were facing eachother on their sides.

"I'll be here for you always" Louis said muffled into the pillow

"Thanks" Harry said back

"You should get some sleep Harry" Louis whispered, tucking a curl behind his ear.

"Okay" he replied. Louis noticed that Harry never disagreed with anything, he always said 'yes' and he was very easily convincable. Odd.

Louis ruffled Harry's hair as he got up

"Goodnight" Louis spoke softly

"Night" he mumbled, turning around to hide his blush

•

Harry thrashed around on the bottom bunk, a sheen of sweat coated his forehead as he mumbled and whimpered.