Harry woke up and reached for Julie. He sat up when he didn't feel her. He looked around the room. The bathroom door was open, but she wasn't in there. She wasn't on the balcony either. He got up and checked the other room, but no sign of her there either. He picked up his phone and called her. Straight to voicemail. He was practically in a panic. He got dressed and went to Niall's room. Maybe she was there or Amanda knew where she was. He knocked on Niall's door. When no one answered, he knocked louder.

Niall came to the door still half asleep. "Harry, what's going on?"

"Is Julie here?" When Niall shook his head, Harry continued. "Is Amanda?"

"Yeah, she's asleep. What's going on?" He asked.

"I woke up, and she was gone. Called her phone, and it went straight to voicemail. After the rough time she's been having, I'm a bit concerned." He said.

"Let me wake Amanda, but I'm sure everything's ok." He walked back into the bedroom. "Amanda? Princess?" He kissed her cheek. When she finally opened her eyes, he kissed her lips. "Sorry to wake you, but Harry's here. I think he needs to talk to you."

"Huh? Why would he need to talk to me?" She asked sleepily.

"He woke up to JJ gone this morning. Think he may need reassurance everything's ok." He said.

She sighed and lay back on the bed. "Great. I was afraid she'd pull back and run. How far though?"

"Um, you may want to hide the doubts a little more when you talk to Harry." Niall said.

"Yeah, I guess." She got up got dressed and went out by Harry. "Hey." She said.

"Hey, sorry to wake you, but do you know where Julie is?" He asked.

"No. Niall told me she was gone when you woke up. Let me check my phone." She pulled out her phone and looked. Nothing. Damn her. She called. Right to voice mail. She texted her. She knew if JJ's phone was off, she wouldn't get it until she turned it back on; but it was something. "Sorry, I don't know where she is. I'm sure she's ok. She's gone through a lot lately. I'm sure she probably needs some alone time." She tried to convince both of them.

"Just when I thought we were getting somewhere." He ran his hands through his hair. "It's so frustrating."

"I know" Amanda put her hand on his shoulder. "I imagine her emotional outburst the other night didn't sit well with the rational controlled version of her. I'm sure after she thought about it, she determined she needed to get back in control. She doesn't feel in control with you."

"What's that mean?" Harry asked.

"It means, she acts with her heart and her body with you instead of her head. Not saying it's right, but she's afraid to feel. I know you've had to realize that."

"Yeah, I just wish she'd trust me enough to not run away." Harry said.

"You and me both." She said and hugged him. "You and me both."

Julie sat on a rock at the beach for hours and just stared at the ocean. She was angry at herself for the past few days. She'd been letting her emotions cloud her judgement, and she didn't need to go back to being that girl. She needed to get control of her emotions and control her actions. She wanted to make the right decisions and stop acting on her feelings and emotions without weighing the consequences. Maybe Amanda, Harry, Niall, and the rest of them weren't mad at her, but they should be. She was still angry that people could talk about anyone like those girls did, especially about people they didn't even know; but she shouldn't have reacted the way she did. She took a deep breath, and put her arms on her knees and buried her head in her arms.

Harry, Amanda, and Niall stood back on the beach and watched her. They had talked to security and were told James went with her when she left this morning. They were told she'd told them that she didn't need security, but they knew Harry would be upset, so James insisted. They called James and found out where she was. "This isn't good, is it?" Harry asked.

"I dunno; she looks pretty peaceful." Niall said.

"When have you known her to be peaceful, Niall?" Harry asked him.

"Good point." Niall said. "She didn't run though. She just wanted to be alone. Think you should take that as a positive."

"Ok, Mr. Positivity, we get it. I think we better figure out what's got her so guarded though, before it does drive her away." Amanda said. "Carefully."

"Yeah," Harry said. "Guess I will try first. Enjoy some beach time." He said as he walked towards Julie. He wasn't sure how this was going to go. He walked up quietly behind her, climbed on the rock, and put his legs on either side of her. She jumped slightly, but when he wrapped his arms around her, she put her hands on his arms and leaned back against him.

"Good morning." Julie said resting her head under his chin.

Well, he was expecting some resistance, but this was much better. "Good morning. I was worried this morning when you were gone when I woke up."

"Sorry, guess I just needed some time alone." She said looking out over the ocean.

"You ready to talk?" He asked.

"About what?" She asked.

"About the other night."

"It was incredible. Completely amazing. Best I ever had." She said trying to distract him from the subject he really wanted to talk about.
"Maybe we need a repeat tonight."

He kissed her neck. "Hips don't lie? You using song lyrics against me now? And anytime, sweetheart, but that's not what I meant, and I think you knew that perfectly well."

"I'm good, Harry. There's nothing to talk about. Except what we're doing today." She played with his fingers.

"I wish you would just talk to me." He closed his eyes.

"I am. Look, I know you think there's something you need to know. That you wonder why I am the way I am. But maybe that's just me Harry. Maybe if you can't accept that, we're wasting our time. Sometimes, you just can't talk it out and fix everything." She said a bit frustrated.

He held onto her tighter because he knew what he was going to say would probably make her want to get up and walk away, but he wasn't going to let it happen. "And sometimes you can. Sometimes you just have to try. Sometimes you have to trust that people want to listen and want to help."

She tried to pull away from him, and he just held tighter. "Harry, let me go."

"Not a chance. Never. Just trust me." He said.

"This has nothing to do with trust. Just let it go. Let me go, dammit!" She exclaimed.

"I told you never. I knew you would want to run as soon as we started having a real conversation, and I'm telling you, it's not going to work. Push me away as hard as you want, I'm not going to let you go. Try and pull away, I'm just going to hold tighter. And you can say whatever you want, it's not going to change my mind. I'm on to your game."

"I'm not playing a fucking game, Harry. Damn you, just let me go." She tried once again to pull away.

"Ok, alright, I shouldn't have said it that way. But I won't let you. I already know you better than you think I do. I'm here as long as it takes. Believe it." He said.

She was getting extremely frustrated, but he just remained calm. That in itself made her uncomfortable. He should be angry by now, and he should be telling her that she was impossible and stubborn, but he wasn't. And he was strong, a lot stronger than she gave him credit for. She finally gave up and just laid back into his chest again. "I hate you."

He loosened his grip a little when she relaxed back. Took a while, but he meant it when he said that he wasn't going to let her go. "I know. And I wouldn't have it any other way." He would ask again, but not now. He had to push a little at a time. He could tell she wouldn't say anything to him anyway, so he just enjoyed the moment. A beautiful view of the ocean and a beautiful, albeit difficult and stubborn, woman in his arms.

Niall and Amanda walked hand and hand down the beach. It was still early, so it was pretty quiet. They were also on a private area of the beach, which was nice. Amanda kept glancing back at Harry and JJ though. She wondered how he was doing. She probably shouldn't have let him go in alone. They were good, then things seemed tense, and now things seemed ok again. As long as JJ was in his arms, she supposed everything would be ok. She needed to talk to JJ though. Alone. She needed to figure it out once and for all. She knew she would probably get yelled at, and possibly sworn at, but she was going to ask. She had too.

"Princess I'm gonna ask again. Are you ok?" Niall said.

"Yeah, of course. Just same stuff on my mind. This is beautiful though. Perfect actually." She said.

"It is since you're here. So, I have something I need to talk to you about." Niall said a little nervously.

"Um, ok. But you're kind of freaking me out here." Amanda laughed nervously.

"Sorry, I don't mean too. I just. Well, it may seem obvious to some, but I'd like to well....I just...." He struggled to get out what he wanted to say.

"It's ok Niall. Just say it; you can tell me anything." She said.

"Well, I'd basically like to know when I'm asked next time in an interview if I'm single, if I could say no." He said.

She stood there and looked at him shocked. She had figured they were together and that it was exclusive, but it was still a shock to hear him say it. "Wow, Niall that's serious." When she saw him start to wrinkle his brow, she continued. "If you're asking if I will be your girlfriend, absolutely. But it's up to you if you tell everyone or not. I'm good as long as you call me yours." She touched his cheek.

He smiled his dazzling smile. "Then my answer will be no, I'm not single. I have the most understanding, beautiful, smart, and compassionate girlfriend in the world." He leaned in and kissed her. "And I've never been happier."

"You're very, very sweet. And I'm proud to call you my boyfriend." She kissed him. She was happier then she knew she could be. She couldn't wait to tell JJ. She wanted to scream, but she just kissed her boyfriend instead.

"Are you two ever going to get off that rock?" Niall asked as he and Amanda walked up to them.

"Ask him." Julie said. "I've been trying to get up."

"And run." Said Harry. "No wonder I wouldn't let you up. You wanna get up, that's fine; stop running."

"Stop being so bossy." She got up and watched Harry get up.

"You haven't seen bossy yet. Get your stubborn ass over here." He said. "I need a hug."

She shook her head at him but didn't move.

"Then I will just take one." He said as he walked over and hugged her.

She took a deep breath, but then slowly wrapped her arms around his waist. Her head kept telling her to run, but her heart kept telling her to stay. It was a constant struggle. For the first time in years, she was listening to her heart. She was going to stay. She looked up at him. "I'm tired. Can we go take a nap? Well, after a quick bite of room service?"

"Yes, WE can." He kissed her quickly. He looked at Niall and Amanda. "We will meet you down the beach later, ok?"

Amanda put her hand on Julie's arm. "We will talk later. We need to talk."

Julie twisted her lips. "Yeah, sure, of course."

*if you are enjoying the story please vote/comment/share. I would love to be able to respond.

*the story is complete fan fiction