#v.havery

Harry rubbed at his face as he looked in the mirror that adorned the wall of his dressing room. Night two of his first ever solo tour, and although the nerves weren’t as high as the night before, there was still a subtle weight that laid on his chest. He only turned his head slightly to the side when Camille, his current girlfriend, slid up behind him and ran her hands down his chest. His eyes closed in the process, maybe making it look like the action somehow calmed him, but all he could do was see her, the one that got away. It was always her that he saw when he closed his eyes, when he tried to write anything, when he sang. She haunted him like a ghost, and he knew from the moment she walked into his life, what he’d never be the same. “Is it that time?” He asked with a rasp from being silent too long, the sound of his own voice making him blink back into reality until Camille was nodding in response. He didn’t even want to think about how many times the blonde had told him that she loved him at this point, and how many times he had said it back out of obligation. It wasn’t like him to so blatantly break a heart like this, but he was empty, and Camille was the first person to come along and make him feel a little less numb. He’d be fine once he got on stage - he always was, but he’d still end up thinking about Avery.

Harry bit down on a piece of toast as he riffled through the mail, his pregnant wife sleeping away back in the bedroom. She’d been up all night sick, so he hadn’t wanted to bother her in any way. The first world war had been before Harry was born, but with the rise of Nazi’s, all young men were required to take military training. This of course had caused large paranoia among many people, but of course it had caused a level of underlying fear in both Harry, and Avery. He wanted to believe that his training would be unnecessary, and that he could continue to live in the happy bubble of his new little family, but as his eyes traveled over the letter in his hand, he could feel his whole body go cold. He looked back towards the bedroom, and then the letter in his hand again. He was going to have to ship off to France to help their allies against the German, which meant he was going to have to leave his pregnant wife without a promise of coming back.

Harry's life had been full of ups and downs. One moment things were absolutely perfect, and then the next - tragedy would strike. It seemed to be a running theme with the young rockstar, but despite having recently lost his beloved stepfather, it was hard to not soar on the support of his amazing wife and kids. He had to admit that he wasn't surprised when a portion of the one direction fan base began to distance themselves from supporting him. It was bound to happen with the way he was depicted by the press, and sadly even his own former band mates. His success was always discredited, being viewed as something thrown at him instead of something he earned. He loved those boys, and would never want to actually be pitted against them. It was a negative view that got him down at times, but he tried instead to focus on things that were more important - things that made him happy. "I'm glad you could come out." Harry traced his fingertips down the line of Ave's jaw, grateful that they had a few moments alone before the show. Having young kids in the midst of launching a solo career wasn't exactly the easiest thing in the world, but they tried their best to cherish the time they got together alone. "You look hot." He smiled before leaning in to brush his lips against hers.

This wasn't the life he had originally imagined for himself. That much Harry could say for sure. He'd thought about being various different things like...maybe a firefighter? A teacher maybe. Perhaps even like, a horrible sales person that bugs the shit out of everyone calling to collect overdue bills and sell you something else in the process that you didn't need. But somehow he'd ended up here, staring up at paintings of a female figure in an art gallery that probably cost more than his entire life's worth. Jeff had convinced him to start modeling for uni artists to collect a little side cash while he was still trying to figure out what the hell he wanted to do with himself. Strumming mindless songs on the street in downtown London really wasn't paying the bills. He was comfortable enough with him body, but dropping his clothes for someone else to paint him just sounded a little nerve wracking. He hoped he could even follow through with this. Jeff was rambling about something, but none of it registered as he pried his eyes away from the life size female portrait and instead glanced over his shoulder. He could feel his heart physically stop when he caught sight of honestly the most gorgeous girl he'd ever seen in his life. She was petite, but had the eyes of a goddess. How could someone's eyes be so captivating all the way across the room? He picked at his bottom lip as he kept watching her interact with others around her, Jeff's voice now just muffled sounds in the background.

Harry smiled at Barney, the security guard at the back entrance of the theater, one he had come to know fairly well since Ave started on this show. It had been her dream to not just get on Broadway, but to eventually work her way up to starring in her favorite show, Wicked. It didn’t take her long to accomplish her dream, the timing had been impeccable. The role became available as soon as she began picking up traction in the industry, and her passion for the part had made her a shoe in to having the best audition possible. Harry was proud of her, of course he was, but it was no secret that this was a hard lifestyle to juggle with his own. Harry was just a music teacher at a small, low budget middle school in the rougher part of town. It was a bit of a commute, and a bit shady, but he loved those kids so much, and tried his best to bring his passion through to them - to give the ones who shared his love of music, something to be happy about. Harry spent a lot of nights watching Wicked over, and over again, just for the chance to see his wife, even if she was on stage. Ave never was able to come see his choir concerts, but he tried his best not to hold that against her. It was what it was, and really, what was a middle school choir concert compared to a Broadway show? He looked around for Ave while clutching a bouquet of flowers. He hadn’t expected to be able to come tonight, and he hadn’t told Ave either. He was trying to be spontaneous in hopes that maybe it might actually make her smile. His brows furrowed when he saw her sitting on some bloke’s lap, someone he’d never seen before, giggling, and smiling at him like she used to do with Harry. It stung, and felt like a punch to the gut. He cleared his throat, and gripped the flowers to the point of his knuckles turning white.

Harry looked over at the clock for what felt like the thousandth time. It had been exactly one whole year since he had been face to face with his ex wife, a person whom he’d never thought he’d be without. From the second they saw the other it was like a race to see how fast they could fall for eachother and who would cave first. Harry knew for sure when they had been shopping for ice cream, the way she had giggled and acted so cute when he teased her to make up her mind which flavor she wanted or else he was going to buy out the lot. The words “I love you...” had rolled so easily off his lips and he would never forget the look in her eyes when he’d said them and she’d said them back. But that was six years ago when they were barely legal and naive. Having children was something Harry had always pictures himself doing at some point, but never as early as they did. Their first, Ryan, wasn’t planned at all. They both had to give up their dreams and move back close to Ave’s parents in an attempt to build a life worthy of raising children. The second child, Nix, had been planned in a last stitch effort to save their marriage. Dumb idea. All that did was add more stress and push them even farther apart. Harry would also remember the moment Ave had told him she couldn’t stand him anymore and kicked him out, leaving him no choice but to move back to England in order to afford survival. He’d seen the kids when he was allowed, which was hardly at all and only at the aid of Ave’s brother. He’d convinced her to bring the kids to England for Christmas and he knew he couldn’t screw this up. He wanted partial custody - he wanted his kids back. A wide smile appeared on Harry’s face the second he saw the three familiar bodies walking through the airport, Ryan and Nix running up to him with mirroring grins on their little faces. “Hi my loves.” He pulled off his beanie and hugged them close, taking in their scents and wishing he didn’t have to ever let go. “I missed you so much.” His eyes rose to Ave next, his heart jumping in his chest exactly like it had all those years ago. “Hey. Good to see you.”

“Hey babe!” Harry called out as soon as he walked in the door, something he always did out of habit. He and Ave had been married now for quite some time, so it was normal to fall into a routine of sorts. However, lately it had felt a little different. Ave was constantly losing her patience with him over small things and his normal level of spoiling her seemed to go ignored and unappreciated. He wasn’t perfect himself, but Harry tried his best to be the perfect husband and father to the utmost of his abilities and tonight he was hoping they could enjoy a rare night alone together after dropping the kids off at their grandparent’s place.