"JJ, are you ok?  Even for you, you're awful quiet tonight."  Amanda asked as they sat backstage waiting for the guys to be done with their pre-show interviews and meet and greets.

"Tired I guess; it's been a long...well, couple months.  After last night, I'm not sure how much I want to say. I'm still embarrassed, and I'm still kind of overwhelmed by all this."  Julie answered.

"Shouldn't you be relieved that the final is over, and you can relax for a while?  And isn't it about time something good happens to us?  I mean, geez, how much more boring crap could we put up with?"  Amanda laughed.

Julie shrugged.  "I suppose."

Amanda raised her eyebrows. "Wow.  Convincing."  She wasn't done getting to the bottom of JJ's issues, but she heard the guys come in, so she let it go for now.

Julie watched Niall go up to Amanda and take her hands and give her a brief but sweet kiss.  She was so happy for her friend.  In a couple of day's time she found an amazing guy in Niall; and, of course, it didn't hurt that it was Niall.  Everything went quickly, but she supposed it had to.  He had three shows here, which kept him here for a while; but then, he would jet off again to finish the tour, which didn't end for another month.  How do you deal with that? she thought.  She guessed she would find out soon, as she helped Amanda through it. She didn't see this ending once Niall left in a couple of days.  Oh, the life of a rockstar.

"I'm so glad you came.  You can come back to the hotel again tonight right?"  Niall asked Amanda.

Amanda still couldn't believe this was happening to her.  There was no way she was missing spending as much time with Niall as she could.  "Of course.  I'm so glad they scheduled three shows in a row here."  She laughed.

"Me too."  Niall said.  "And then we have a couple of days before our next show, so I'm trying to get them to let me stay here a day or two longer.  Is that ok with you?"

Amanda pretended to think about it.  "I think I might be able to handle it.  I am supposed to go back to work tomorrow night though, so could prove problematic."

Niall grinned.  "Well, maybe we will have to see what we can do about that."  He wrapped his arms around her.  "Let's go for a walk.  Well, as much as we can around here."

"Ok." Amanda said.  She would do anything Niall asked of her.  May seem crazy, but everything felt right when she was with him.

Julie watched Niall and Amanda walk out of the room.  Great, she thought.  Again she was super happy for Amanda, but she really wondered what she was doing there at the moment.  Everything was so new and great for Niall and Amanda; she really wasn't needed, and they really had no eyes for anyone other than each other.  She just tried to sink into the corner until the show.  At least she would enjoy the show she thought.

Harry had watched Julie since he walked into the room.  She just sat there watching Niall and Amanda.  She didn't seem angry or sad or happy or really anything. He just couldn't really sense anything. It seemed in sharp contrast to the girl Gemma, Lottie, and Lou were talking about constantly. They still brought her up.  He walked over and sat down next to her.

Julie saw Harry cross the room, and she starting saying under her breath, don't come over here; don't come over here.  Crap, she thought as he got closer, and she gasped slightly as he sat next to her.  She wasn't quite sure what she felt, but she knew she didn't need a Harry Styles in her life right now if he made her feel that conflicted already, and they'd barely spoken.

"So when are we going to test your theory?"  Harry asked Julie without even looking at her.

Julie closed her eyes and took a deep breath because she immediately knew what Harry was referring to ̶ how easy it was to get into his pants.  "Are you ever going to let that go?"  she asked opening her eyes.

He smiled and then looked at her.  "Probably not."  He laughed when her eyes widened.  "It's an interesting theory.  Probably easier for some than others."  Harry teased.

Julie shook her head.  "I have no doubt about that.  Seriously though, that was definitely a conversation that wasn't supposed to get back to you.  I'm sorry about it actually."

"There's really no need to be sorry.  I will let it go.  For now.  If you tell me what's really going on in that pretty little head of yours."  Harry said.

Julie looked up and again immediately regretted it as he caught her eyes.  She couldn't look away.  Oh no, don't do this; you can't fall for this guy.  "Nothing, really."  She tore her eyes away.

Wow, Harry thought, she's got such beautiful blue eyes.  It's the first time she'd really let herself look him in the eyes.  "I'm not buying it.  Why not talk to me?"

Why not talk to you?  Let me count the reasons, Julie thought.  "I doubt what's going on in my head is something you really want to deal with on your very limited downtime."

"Seriously I'm intrigued.  We could start talking about the theory again."  Harry teased.

Julie shook her head in defeat.  "Honestly, I don't even know.  It's just one of those days.  I should be ecstatic right now being done with my final.  On my way to a great career.  Getting what I wanted."

Harry nodded.  "I mean, yeah, it should be a relief at least."

"But what if what you thought you wanted and worked so hard for, what if you aren't sure that's what you want anymore?  What if after possibly accomplishing what you've worked hard for, for two years just feels, wrong?"  Julie asked.  When Harry gave her a shocked look, she continued.  "See told you that you wouldn't want to deal with this.  I'm a mess.  Confused, conflicted, and possibly completely lost."

Harry twisted his lips in that cute way he does.  "Well, what do you want to do then?"

Julie looked over at him; and since he wasn't looking at her, she let herself look a little longer then she should have.  Be irresponsible, she thought.  Go for the crazy irrational and totally bad for you things in life, like you.  Let's test the theory, she thought and then laughed at herself. As if that was something that would go beyond teasing.  "Right now?  I'm dying for a Starbucks Frappe.  I don't think I've slept in months.  You know that feeling right?"  She had to get off the subject.

Harry knew she was avoiding but was going to let her, for now.  "Well then let's send someone for one.  Can't have you dying on my watch."

The show was absolutely incredible that night as the girls were positive it always was.  They could watch every show on every tour and never get sick of it.  About 3/4's of the way through the show though, Niall stopped the show unexpectedly and addressed the crowd.  "So as most of you know, about 2 months ago, while we were here on a brief break, I had an accident and hurt my knee.  I had the most incredible experience in the hospital.  If you're ever in need of hospital care, I suggest LA Memorial.  And hope that Amanda and Julie are working.  We are also lucky enough to have them here as our guests tonight. I'd like to invite them out here to say hi and say thank you the best way I know how.  In front of all of you amazing people."

Julie and Amanda looked at each other, but neither moved.  Julie just shook her head.  No way was she going out there in front of all those people.  "Um, girls?"  They heard Niall say.  "I know you're here somewhere."

Before they knew it, they were being pulled on stage ̶ Amanda by Liam and Julie by Louis.  Amanda went mostly willingly.  She was shocked, but it was such an incredible experience, she wasn't going to pass it up.  Julie on the other hand was dragging her feet.  "Louis!  I don't want to do this!"  Julie protested.

Louis put his arm around her shoulders.  "You'll be fine; we got your back.  Let Niall say his thanks.  It won't take long."  He continued to walk her out on stage.

Harry watched Louis walk Julie out on stage.  He shouldn't care. It really shouldn't bother him, but it did.  He wanted to do it.  But he wasn't sure it was a good idea.  He watched Louis place Julie next to Amanda and Niall and couldn't help but smile.  She looked scared but mesmerized.  It was almost like she explained earlier.  Confused.

Niall put his arm around Amanda's shoulders.  "Thanks Liam, Louis.  Everyone, this is Amanda the best nurse out there. And next to her is Julie the best admissions person you could ever want to deal with.  I just wanted to properly thank them for making it seem comfortable, even though it was probably the most uncomfortable I could have been."  He hugged Amanda.  "Hopefully, I can continue to thank you later and for a while yet."  He whispered in her ear.

Amanda gasped and looked at him.  Whoa.  Did he just say that?.  "I hope so too."  She heard herself say.

He hugged Julie quickly and laughed as she told him she hated him again.  "Seems to be a theme with you."  He said.

"Well," Julie told him.  "Stop making me."  She looked out into the stadium.  It was an unbelievable sight.  And the sound was overwhelming.  She couldn't believe the feeling.  It was scary and completely fulfilling all at the same time.  It was a complete buzz.

"So, we are gonna keep them out here while we sing this next song.  It's called, One Thing."  Niall said. 

All of the guys were great, giving the girls attention and making them laugh and still entertaining the crowd.  Niall tried to pay particular attention to Amanda, pulling on her hand and spinning her around.  Amanda could not get the smile off of her face. She never felt so happy before.  There was not a better feeling in the world than this.

Harry knew that if he paid too much attention to Julie, the fallout in the media, and all over social media would be fast and furious; and he was still trying to figure her out. But he was pretty sure she wouldn't appreciate that at all.  He did know that it was time to make her aware that he was interested though.  He needed to do something. She was proving quite difficult, bordering on stubborn.  So when he saw Liam go over to Julie, he figured it was his time. If there were more than him with her, it wouldn't look so suspicious.  During the line "get out, get out, get outta my head, and fall into my arms instead," he made sure he got her attention.  He then made sure he looked directly into her eyes when he sang, "you've got that one thing, I need that one thing." Then even though he didn't want too, he moved onto another part of the stage away from her.

Julie's heart was pounding.  Even though she was sure she was the only one who noticed that, and she was sure it was just a performance thing.  Holy shit, this guy was good at what he did. No wonder he was loved by millions of girls.  She glanced at Liam who was smirking at her. Ok, so apparently she wasn't the only one who noticed.  She hoped it wasn't anyone other than Liam then.  She playfully slapped at Liam who then laughed and grabbed her wrist and raised her arm in the air as the song ended.  "Julie and Amanda everyone. Let's give them a big Directioner thank you for taking such good care of our little Niall when he wasn't well."  He hugged Julie and walked her towards the edge of the stage.  As she walked off, she looked up towards Harry who winked and pointed at her.  She just shook her head as she finally got off the stage.

Niall hugged Amanda and kissed her cheek.  "Yes, thank you so much for making a guy feel at home in the worst places you could end up really."  He walked her off stage and kissed her on the lips quickly before going back out to finish the show.

Amanda walked up to Julie and put her head on her shoulder.  "Can you believe this is our life right now?"

"Sure, you deserve a boyfriend like Niall, why couldn't it be you.  I'm just along for the ride."  Thanks for bringing me."

Amanda looked at JJ.  She sure was clueless when it came to guys.  She may not know everything either, but she could tell Harry was interested. How JJ couldn't pick that up amazed her.  She knew better than to bring it up now though, because JJ would just argue every point she made, no matter how good of a point it was.  "Sure JJ, we will just wait and see about that. But for now, you're welcome. I guess."

Julie just gave Amanda a look.  What the hell did she mean by that any way?  She turned her attention back to the show though.  It was still the most amazing thing she ever saw.

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

*the story is complete fan fiction