Best friend dates with Harry always meant something adventurous and fun, so when I awoke before everyone else I decided to get a head start on my day.

After making coffee I began to gather up the ingredients for french toast. Ann had mentioned Ashton eating it all the time as a kid so I decided to surprise him for breakfast.

As I was mixing the eggs with some milk and cinnamon the door to the bunks slid open and Gracie stepped out.

"Good morning, Gray." I smiled at her and she came forward to hug me. "Did you sleep well?"

"Mhmm." She nodded.

"Why don't you go lay down with Daddy while I make breakfast?" I suggested and she nodded before walking over to Ashton.

I watched as she lifted up the blanket and then crawled underneath the covers and onto her fathers chest.

Ashton's eyes fluttered for a moment before he sleepily smiled and then wrapped his arms around his daughter.

I continued to make breakfast for everyone, the boys, Ann, and Ender strolling out and Harry waking up.

All I needed to do was wake up Ashton and Gracie, and so Ann took over cooking while I walked over to them, bending down beside them.

"Hey sleepyheads, breakfast is ready." I called at them, laughing as they opened their eyes.

"Mommy, hold me." Gracie reached up for me, so I lifted her off of Ashton and sat her on my waist, Ashton then standing up.

He yawned before shaking his head to chase the sleep away, then leaned in to kiss my cheeks and lips.

"Guess what I made for breakfast." I smirked at him. "French toast."

"Seriously?" He broke into a grin. "I love french toast, I used to eat it all the time when I was young."

"I know, your mom gave me the idea."

After several pieces of french toast were devoured by everyone, Ann decided to head home to Sydney.

As she said her goodbyes, Gracie began to cry and pitch a fit because she didn't want her grandma to go, so I had to take her to the back of the bus and calm her down.

"Gracie, I know you love Grandma and she loves you too, but she has to go home to take care of Indie and go to work. I know she wants to stay here with you too but she has to go home now." I explained to her as I rocked her back and forth in my lap.

"But I don't want her to go."

"I know, I don't want her to go either, but she has to, and I know it would make her very sad to see you cry before she left. So can you put on a big smile and go give her hugs and kisses?"

Gracie nodded her head, still in a pout, and I wiped away her tears before taking her back in the front room where she ran into Ann's waiting arms.

"I love you Gracie." Ann hugged her tight and gave her a few kisses on her cheeks. "I'll come visit soon, I promise."

Once everyone had said their goodbyes and Ann left, I took my leave with Harry, the two of us getting into a SUV where Harry gave the driver an address.

It was warm outside so I wore a white, cotton sundress and sandals while Harry wore skinny jeans and a black tee shirt.

"So where are we going?" I asked him.

"I found this cool little classic car show and they have food trucks there and stuff." He shrugged. "Thought it could be fun."

"I like it." I smiled.

After a bit of driving we arrived at what looked like a town square, old classic cars and people everywhere.

We got out and since we were in a small town Harry told his bodyguard to leave us to ourselves.

We began to walk around, admiring the old classic cars and taking pictures of and with them.

"I've gotta get myself one of these." Harry shook his head.

"Oh I like this one." I walked up to a red convertible ford mustang.

"Me too." Harry smiled. "Imagine driving this through London."

We took pictures of the car, Harry talking to the owner about it for a few minutes before we headed to the food trucks.

It was fun to run around and try different things. Harry and I had to try every taco truck and then hit the ones in between, even stopping at one that had gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches.

We took our sandwiches to a bench but it was super uncomfortable, so Harry had me sit on his lap.

"So what'd you think? This a good best friend date?" He smiled.

"Yes it was amazing."

"Think I might go buy myself that mustang." He sighed.

"Harry, that's the last thing you need is another car." I swatted his chest.

"What? You don't want me to drive you around in that? That car is a dream!" He exclaimed.

"Stop spending all your money!" I laughed.

Suddenly my phone began to ring and I stood up to get it out of my back pocket.

"Hold on, Enders calling me." I said to Harry and then answered, still laughing. "Hello?"

All I could hear from the other end was just sobbing.

"Ender?" My heart began to race as panic flooded through me. "Ender baby what's wrong?"

"Chl- o-" He tried to talk but was crying too hard to speak.

"Ender, love, I can't understand you. Take a deep breath and tell me what happened."

He just continued to cry.

"Okay, i'm coming home. I'll be there as fast as I can, okay?"

I thought I heard him manage an okay through his tears before I ended the call.

Harry just looked at me in confusion.

"I need to go; something happened with Ender."

Harry and I wasted no time in getting back to the stadium and I went straight to the bus where Ender was alone, crying in mine and Ashton's bed.

"Baby." I frowned as I moved in to wrap him in my arms.

This was breaking my heart to see him so upset. He hadn't cried this hard in a while.

"Tell me what happened." I stroked his cheek.

"Chloe broke up with me." He sobbed.

The first thought that popped into my head was that I was completely unaware he was "with" Chloe, but right now he needed me to comfort him not question him.

"Oh, End i'm so sorry." I hugged him tighter.

I heard the sound of the bus door opening and then Harry spoke.

"They're in the back."

Not seconds later Ashton walked into the bunks area, his wide eyes falling on us.

"He and Chloe broke up." I explained before he could even ask.

"Oh, End i'm sorry." Ashton crouched down and took one of Enders hands.

Ender cried into my neck and Ashton looked up at me and mouthed "he had a girlfriend?"

"Apparently." I mouthed back.

I continued to hold Ender until he finally got control of himself and settled down.

"I know breakups suck bud, but I promise you that you'll be okay." Ashton told him.

"She said I was a bad boyfriend because I was never there." Ender sniffled.

"Well, Ender, you weren't there. You're travelling and that's not your fault and she knows that. But long distance relationships are hard, believe us, we know." I said and he looked up at me.

"But you're still together." Ender frowned.

"I know, but that doesn't mean it was easy.It takes a lot of effort and patience and even then there's moments where it feels like it's going to fall apart, but if you want to be with each other enough then you make it work." Ashton explained.

"Is that what you did?" He asked us and we nodded.

"I wish I could give you break up advice End, but i'm a little lax in that area, so all I know is that if you and Chloe are meant to be together then it will happen one way or another." I rubbed his back.

"She's right." Ashton smiled. "I know it hurts now but it will get better."

We sat there and held Ender for a while longer, letting him absorb some love and comfort.

"My question is, when we're you going to tell us you had a girlfriend." I smirked at the boy and he blushed wildly.

"I don't know."

"Well, were your parents and we'd like to know these things. You don't have to hide things from us."

"I wont." He looked up at me in promise.

Since Ender was now calm and relaxed, I was able to continue on with my day. Harry left before the show that night but told me he'd see me soon and that he had something special planned.

That night after the concert I was laying in bed with Ashton, him passed out next to me and snoring in my ear, but I was unable to sleep because I was thinking about Ender and his secret girlfriend.

Sighing, I rolled over and began to scroll through twitter on my phone, noticing people posting pictures of Harry and I, and the comments were not nice.

Every article headline I saw was accusing me of cheating on Ashton with Harry because of a photo of me sitting on Harry's lap.

I knew this didn't look good.

People were calling me a whore and a home wrecker, and then reporters were trying to analyze my every action and interaction with Harry.

As I looked at the photos, my fight with a drunken Ashton ran through my head. I knew he was just upset and had gone about it in the wrong way, but I also knew that the photos looked very incriminating.

I wasn't cheating, Ashton knew I wasn't cheating, and Harry knew that as well, but to the rest of the world I was a slut.

It stung to read the comments of people accusing me of such awful things, and finally I had to set my phone down and turn it off to save myself the agony.

Laying down I could feel some tears slipping through my eyes and harshly sucked in a shaky breath.

One thing Harry was wrong about was that I would never get used to the media and press.

Ashton turned over in the bed, his arm winding around my waist as he went to nuzzle his face into my neck.

Of course this was the exact moment a sob went through me.

Ashton lifted his head before leaning over me.

"What's wrong?" He whispered, his voice tired.

"Nothing, go to sleep." I tried to say back but he obviously wasn't having any of that.

"Baby." He frowned before turning me over so he could look at me. "What wrong?"

"Just people took photos of Harry and I and now they're saying i'm cheating and it hurts to know people think i'm doing that because i'm not. I don't like Harry that way."

"I know, I know." He said in a soothing voice. "You can't control what people say, you can only tell them the truth and it's up to them to believe you or not."

I nodded, feeling him begin to wipe my tear drops away.

"It always gets worse before it gets better. But you know I trust you, and I love you, and I will defend you to the ends of the earth."

"Thank you."

He smiled before leaning in to kiss my lips.

"Come on, let's go to bed." He then lifted up the blanket and his arm, letting me turn into him and wrap my arms around his waist.

He laid the blanket over me and then wrapped his arm around me as well, holding me tight.

"I hate it when you're upset."

"Me too." I sniffled.

Ashton turned his face to the side to kiss my forehead and then rested his cheek on my forehead.

Comfort was something I knew I would always be able to find in Ashton. He made me feel safe and loved and wanted, and he knew the best ways to make me feel better.

"I won't ever stop needing you." I whispered to him.

"I won't ever stop needing you too."

In the morning I was sad to find more photos released of Harry and I hugging and him kissing my cheek.

It seemed as if the fire was getting bigger and I couldn't contain the flames.

Ashton took my phone from me and turned off all of my notifications so I wouldn't see anything. He told me he would handle it for me and to not worry, but I felt like the world was out to get me at the moment, and I didn't want to leave the safety of the bus.

I stayed inside and baked anything that could be chocolate because I was craving it and it made me feel better.

After dinner, the boys were getting ready to go backstage to prepare and Ashton stepped up to me, moving the mixing bowl of chocolate cake batter away from me.

"Car, stop beating yourself up over this. In a few days it will be over and everyone will have forgotten, so while right now it sucks I promise it will go away soon."

I nodded.

"Now come on, you can bake later."

He put the mixing bowl in the fridge and I changed into shorts and one of the many tee shirts laying around, I think it was Michaels and then held Gracie and Enders hand as we walked to the arena.

Brad led the kids and I out to the seats that were reserved for us and Becca tagged along too,

As we stood there waiting I was speaking to Becca when suddenly I heard someone scream "whore".

Becca and I both turned to look to see some girl shouting at me.

"You're so disgusting for cheating on Ashton! How dare you even show your face here! You're ruining Ashton and the band!"

My jaw dropped at this.

"She's not cheating on anyone, get over yourself! You obviously don't know how to discern the truth from bullshit in the media." Becca snapped at the girl.

"She's a bitch!"

"Don't say that about my sister!" Ender then yelled at the girl and Gracie began to cry.

Brad intervened, walking us and the kids back inside while Becca stayed there verbally battling it out with the fan.

"What happened?" Ashton walked up to us as we entered backstage and when I saw him I just started sobbing.

"Hey, it's okay." Ashton pulled me into his arms.

"Some girl started yelling at her." Ender told Ashton who sighed before looking at Brad.

"I want whoever it was out. Tell them the band personally asked them to leave and they will be escorted by security and harassment charges will be pressed against them."

"Ash-"

"If you won't do it then I will."

Brad sighed before walking back out.

"I'm so sorry. I mess everything up." I cried into Ashton's neck.

"No you don't, everyone else does." He sighed. "I've got this handled."

He had to finish getting ready and couldn't stay with me like I wanted but I stayed there with the kids and watched the show from there.

Harry was texting me and asking if I was okay after everything so since I couldn't talk with Ashton at the moment I talked with Harry.

'I'll come get you tomorrow. I have a surprise that will take your mind off everything, I promise.'

I read his text over and over that night, wondering what he could possibly have planned.

The next morning the news was even worse because of the situation at the concert, but Ashton told me to ignore it.

When I said Harry was taking me somewhere today I expected him to say no but he told me it would be a good distraction for me.

So at 10:00 that morning Harry arrived at the bus, a hoodie over his head so no one would know it was him, and told me to pack an overnight bag.

It felt almost wrong to leave when things were this bad but Ashton was right, I needed a distraction.

After saying my goodbyes, Harry and I left, the car taking us to his private plane.

"Where are we going?" I asked Harry as he lay sprawled out on the sofa while I occupied a chair.

"Ireland."

"Ireland?!" I exclaimed. "What for?"

"A best friend date." He smiled.

The flight was lengthy and when we touched down we got into a car that Harry was driving.

He played the playlist he had made for me as we drove along, a smile now on my lips. I had noticed a basket in the backseat of the car but chose not to ask about it until Harry pulled up to a lot in what seemed like the middle of nowhere.

We were in the Irish countryside at night...what was this boys plan?

"Harry, what are we doing?"

"Trust me, Halle." He laughed as he opened my door.

"Don't Halle me." I flicked his ear and he smirked before lifting me up and throwing me over his shoulder.

"Harry!" I squealed but he just laughed as he shut the car door and locked it before walking down a hill.

There were some people around that I noticed and finally Harry got to the bottom of the hill and set me down.

His arm stayed around my waist and my jaw dropped as I saw the sight before me.

Lights. Millions of lights. All connected and creating a tunnel for people to walk through.

"Wow." I breathed. "Oh my God...Harry this is amazing."

"Thought you'd like this." He smiled before kissing my forehead.

We held hands as we began to walk through it. I was just in complete awe at how beautiful and magical this all was.

"I'm sorry, but could you take our picture?" Harry stopped a couple and they happily took our picture under all of the lights.

I could've stayed under those lights forever but finally Harry led me back to the car where he grabbed the basket and a couple of blankets from the back.

We then began to walk a bit until Harry walked up a hill and stopped underneath a large tree.

He spread out the blanket and then set down the basket before motioning me to sit down with him.

"Thought we could have a picnic beneath the stars if that's alright." He smiled.

"It sounds lovely."

Harry had a permanent smile on his face as he unpacked the basket, containers of pasta salad, fruit, chicken, a thermos of coffee (for me of course) and then some cupcakes.

As we ate I couldn't help but feel like the rest of the world had disappeared.

As I devoured the chicken, Harry took the pasta salad.

"This is so good." I whined in happiness as I fell back on the blanket.

"I know." He sighed as he took another bite and then laid down next to me. "So was this a good distraction?"

"Yes." I chuckled. "I really needed this, thank you."

"I saw that some fan screamed at you during the show."

"I don't really wanna talk about it." I shrugged.

"But you should." He turned his head to the side to look at me. "Car, you didn't do anything wrong."

"Then why do I feel like i'm ruining Ashton's career?!" I snapped at him.

Harry's eyes went wide and I immediately felt guilty.

"Do you really feel that way?" He asked, ignoring how I had lashed out at him.

"I don't know...maybe..."

"Carter you're not ruining his career. You did nothing wrong. Believe it or not but even if you stayed inside all day and never showed your face or had a pap take a photo of you, you'd still be on the front page of every magazine! They're going to drag you through the mud no matter what you do, you have to learn not to take it personally."

"I'm not cut out for this lifestyle, Harry! I thought I could handle it but i'm falling behind and dragging everyone down with me."

Harry stared at me.

"You're wrong."

I rolled my eyes.

"No, you're wrong because you're not dragging anyone down. If anything we're not doing enough to keep you away from all of this."

I had no response.

"I'm going to make it better." Harry said firmly. "I promise."

I gave him a smile before he turned over on the blanket to grab cupcakes from the box.

"Chocolate, vanilla, lemon, or red velvet?" He asked.

"Red velvet." I smiled and he passed me the cupcake while taking the lemon one for himself.

I got a picture of him eating his cupcake which he whined for me to delete but I wouldn't do it, so he retaliated by snapping one of me laying on the ground pointing up at the stars trying to find the constellations.

Once we had our full of sweets and coffee we continued to lay underneath the stars. Harry had put the extra blanket over us and I cuddled into his side for more warmth.

"Hare, do you ever wonder what your life would be like if you never became famous?"

He sighed.

"All the time. But then I remember that if I hadn't become famous then there's a lot of amazing things I would've missed out on."

"Like what?"

"Like meeting you for example." He squeezed my shoulders.

"How thoughtful of you." I giggled.

"It's true!" He laughed while acting offended.

Our laughter had settled after a few minutes.

I gazed up at the expanse of stars above, totally mesmerised. This was the true definition of serenity.

My phone dinged, disrupting my peace, but showing a text from Ashton.

'Hope you arrived to your destination safely. Call me when you get the chance. Love you to the moon and back.'

I sighed.

He had been really sweet about this whole ordeal and I hadn't properly thanked him and now I was halfway across the world from him just because I couldn't handle it.

"What's wrong?" Harry asked and took my phone from me to read Ashton's text. "What is it?"

"I feel like the worst fiancé on the planet." I shut my eyes. "He's been nothing but sweet and caring and protective and I just ditched him because I felt weak."

"You needed a break. That's understandable." Harry said.

"I know, but I should've let him be there for me more."

"Well, if you want to call him i'm going to go grab something from the car real quick." Harry said and I nodded as he got up and kissed my forehead before walking away.

I watched him go and then dialled Ashton's number, holding it to my ear as I stared up at the sky.

"Hey." Ashton answered on the third ring. His voice was soft and comforting.

"Hi."

"I didn't expect you to call."

"Why?"

"I don't know. Just thought you'd be busy."

"Well I wanted to talk to you."

"Okay." He chuckled. "Talk."

"I'm in Ireland."

"Yeah? What are you doing?"

"We went to this place called the tunnel of lights and oh my god, Ashton its the most beautiful place i've ever seen. It's so sparkly and magical and I didn't want to leave."

He laughed at this.

"That sounds nice."

"It is. But now i'm just outside looking up at the stars."

"Have you found any constellations?"

"Well, Harry claimed he found the big dipper but I think he was bluffing." I chuckled.

"That's sounds fun, Car."

"Yeah." I said and then sighed. "I'm sorry."

"Why are you sorry?"

"Because I was being too pathetic and weak and didn't let you comfort me like I should have and just ran away because I thought I could run from my problems but I can't run away from myself."

"Carter," he sighed, "I know it feels like this is all of your fault but I really hope you come to realise that it's not. You can't stop people from being idiots but you can control yourself and you've done nothing to make them lash out besides be sweet and kind and loving to the people who bash you over and over again. That's being the bigger person and that's what makes them jealous of you. Do you see what i'm saying?"

"Taking the high road is starting to give me a nosebleed." I joked and heard him snort.

"That's just the price you have to pay sweetheart."

I smiled.

"I love you."

"I love you too."

"I'll be back tomorrow."

"Okay. I'll be waiting for you. I'll always be waiting for you."

--

It all goes down hill from here folks, so get ready for the ride!

I'll have the next chapter up soon!

Much love xx-m