I could feel the colour draining from my face at Sarah's words. I stood there completely still, staring at her open-mouthed as she read the full statement, pausing every so often to steady her voice. I could feel tears burning the backs of my eyes and a lump forming in my throat. She finally got to the end, "As for One Direction, fans can rest assured that Niall, Liam, Harry and Louis are hugely excited about the future of the band." She looked up from her phone and we looked at each other. Sarah's bottom lip wobbled, and a tear spilled down my cheek. "Fuck," Sarah whispered.

I felt absolutely ridiculous; 22 years old, standing at the entrance to the car park, crying because Zayn was leaving One Direction, but I couldn't help myself. They were my favourite band of all time, after all. Sarah took a huge sniff and wiped a tear from her eye. We hugged each other.

"Do you think Harry was ringing to tell you?" she sniffed.

"I don't know," I said. "I can't imagine he would have been allowed to say anything until the official statement was released. But he didn't sound himself this morning, so I'm certain this is why."

"What if they split up?" Sarah asked, biting her bottom lip, her voice wavering.

I swallowed hard. "They won't. They're stronger together than they are apart. They're tied in to a contract for another album, and they're in the middle of a world tour."

Sarah nodded, but I wasn't sure of what I was saying. What if Harry was ringing to tell me they were actually splitting up?

Don't be stupid, I told myself. He's not going to ring YOU to say that. There are more important people in his life who would need to know first.

Yes but he knows you'd be devastated, I answered myself.

Stop having conversations in your head, I replied, then shook my head in annoyance at my own ridiculousness.

"Have you spoken to Harry?" Sarah asked.

I shook my head. "I called him a few minutes ago but he didn't answer. They'll still be onstage..." I trailed off as I realised the magnitude of it all. "Oh God, the Jakarta show. They've only just announced Zayn's departure and they'll have had to go onstage... that's if it even went ahead... Google it!!" I instructed Sarah.

I could see Gary, Abby and Nicki walking towards us. "I'm going to try Harry again, I won't be a minute," I said. I walked a few feet away, pulled out my phone and called him again. My heart was pounding as I listened to the now familiar dialtone, followed by his voicemail.

"Hey, it's Harry. I can't come to the phone right now, but leave me a message and I'll call you back. Bye."

I took a deep breath as I waited for the beep. I kept my voice low so I wouldn't be overheard as I left him a message.

"Hey Harry, it's Jess. Sorry I missed all your calls. I've just heard about Zayn... I can't believe it... I hope you're OK and, um, Jakarta went as well as it could. I'm just leaving my conference now so I'll be in the car for a bit, so, um, call me if you want, or I'll be home in about an hour or so. Um, ok, bye."

I ended the call, my hands shaking. Seriously, leaving voicemails was nerve-wracking anyway; leaving Harry Styles a voicemail was enough to get me signed off work with stress. Leaving Harry Styles a voicemail after just discovering Zayn Malik had quit One Direction could potentially make me develop an aneurism.

I walked back to the others, my insides like jelly. "Did you Google the Jakarta show?" I asked Sarah.

"Yeah, they're still performing now," Sarah replied. "Someone's tweeted a video of Harry crying on stage."

"Really?" I frowned, wrinkling my nose sceptically as Sarah nodded sadly.

"Apparently. Do you want to see?" she asked, but I shook my head.

"I don't think my nerves are ready for that, to be honest," I said. "Are we sure it's real and not just the fandom being dramatic?"

As I said this I smirked to myself. I was the last person to be criticising others for creating unnecessary drama.

"There are a few other pictures, they all seem really upset," Sarah said, her voice breaking again.

We got in the car and crawled along in the traffic, the windows steaming up as it was raining outside. That suited me fine, as it matched my mood. No one was really talking much. Sarah, Nicki and I were silent. Presumably they were thinking about Zayn. I was mostly thinking about Harry, and how flat he had sounded this morning. He must have already known then. No wonder he hadn't been his usual self.

The silence was interrupted by my phone ringing. I glanced at the dashboard as Sarah gasped. Incoming Call - Harry Styles. Nobody screamed this time, but I could tell everybody was now fully alert.

"I need to take this," I said, indicating to pull over into a layby. I pressed a button to take the call. "Hey, you're on speaker," I said when I heard the call connect. "But if you hang on, I'm just pulling over and I'll get out."

"OK," Harry said.

"Jess, what are you doing, it's pissing down out there," Sarah said.

"I'll be alright," I mumbled as I stopped the car and unbuckled my seatbelt. "Back in a minute," I said to the others in the car. "Harry, I'm just disconnecting the bluetooth, hold on," I said to Harry. I pulled the keys out of the ignition and grabbed my phone. I opened the car door, stepped out into the rain and put the phone to my ear. "Are you still there?" I said to Harry.

"Yeah, I'm here," he said, in the same flat tone as before.

I shut the car door and walked in front of the car. Sarah was right, it was pissing down. "Are you OK?" I asked softly.

"No, not really," he sighed. "I'm gutted."

"What happened?" I asked.

"He just said he didn't want to do it anymore," Harry said. "He called me early this morning and I just knew something was wrong, cos it was like 2am in the UK. And he just said he was really sorry but he couldn't carry on, it was either his life with Perrie or his life with the band, and he had to go with his heart."

"Oh my God," I breathed.

"I'm sorry for calling you in the middle of the night," he said. "I'd tried my mum and my sister but they didn't answer so I just thought I'd try you."

"Oh God, no, I'm sorry," I said. "My phone was on silent so I didn't hear it. I would have answered if I'd heard it."

"Even at 3am?" he said.

"Of course. It's you," I said, without thinking. Not cool, Jess.

"Thanks," he said, and it sounded like he meant it.

"How was the show?" I asked tentatively.

"Tough," he said. "The last couple of shows were hard without him but we all thought he'd be back, but tonight it was awful. It felt so weird without him. It was really emotional."

"Were the fans ok?" I asked.

"Mostly," he said. "They seemed to enjoy the show. Everyone's still in shock I guess."

"Understandable," I said, my teeth beginning to chatter. I was soaked through.

"Are you standing out in the rain?" he asked.

"Yeah but it's f-fine," I stammered.

"Go and get back in the car," he said. "I'll talk to you later."

"Honestly, I don't m-mind," I said.

"Well I do," he said. "I should take a shower anyway. Will you call me when you get home?" he added shyly.

"Yeah course," I said. "But it might not be for another hour or so. Won't you be in bed?"

"I'll wait up," he said. "Promise you'll call, no matter what time it is here?"

"I p-promise," I said.

"OK. Go," he said.

"OK," I smiled. "I'll talk to you in a bit." I turned back towards the car where I could just about make out 4 faces staring intently at me through the steamed up windows.

"Bye," he said.

I opened the car door and slid into the driver's seat, glad of the rain on my face that hid the tears spilling down my cheeks.

"Is everything OK?" Sarah asked gently.

"Not really," I said, starting the ignition. "But I'm sure it will be."

"What happened? Or can't you talk about it?" Nicki asked.

"I'd rather not," I said, uncomfortably. "I'm sure it'll be all over the internet anyway."

It took us over an hour to get back to Belsize Park tube station, where I dropped the others off to go their various ways. It was just after 6pm when I drove into the car park of my flat. As I walked up the stairs I pulled out my phone and sent a quick text to Harry:

To: Harry Styles: I'm going to have a really quick shower, then I'll call you if you're still up? x

I stuck my phone on charge, peeled off my wet clothes and jumped into the shower, relishing the heat on my chilled skin. Once I had warmed up I shut the water off, stepped out and dried off. I pulled on the comfiest pyjama bottoms I could find, and a hoodie, made myself a cup of tea and picked up my phone. I had a message back from Harry:

From: Harry Styles: OK xxx

Hmm, 3 kisses again. I was liking this. I got on the sofa and pulled a blanket over my legs. I took a deep breath and called Harry. My heart began its familiar pounding as it began to ring, and my stomach performed its familiar somersaults as he answered, "Hey you."

"Hi," I said shyly. "Did I wake you?"

"Nah," he said. "I'm just in bed watching tv. How was the conference?"

"Boring," I said. "I couldn't concentrate properly."

"Why not?"

"Well, I had a feeling something was going on," I said, feeling my cheeks blush.

"How do you mean?" he asked.

"Well, calling me in the middle of the night, then you didn't seem yourself on the phone... I dunno, I just had a feeling..." I trailed off.

"Yeah, sorry for calling you so late," he apologised again.

"Please don't be," I said. "I'll keep the volume up from now on, so if you want to talk, just call me."

"So your friends are crazy," he said, changing the subject, and I could hear the smile in his voice.

I chuckled. "Yeah, sorry about them."

"Gary was in the car?" It was a statement, but sounded more like a question.

"Yes," I said warily.

There was a pause. "OK," he said.

"Is it?" I asked.

"As long as he kept his hands off you," he said, but I could still hear enough of a smile in his voice to know he was only half serious.

"Are you jealous, Mr Styles?!" I teased.

"Maybe," he said. "He spent the day with you and I didn't, that's enough to make any guy jealous."

My body flushed all over at what he was saying. "You spent the evening in the company of 50,000 women who are all hot for you," I said. "Don't talk to me about jealousy."

"Yeah but none of them are as pretty as you," he murmured.

I literally couldn't speak. Literally. My throat closed up and everything. To the point where the silence became a bit awkward and Harry asked, "Are you still there?"

"Mmm hmm," I squeaked. I rolled my eyes at myself. Just for once could I not just be cool?

"Are you embarrassed?" he chuckled.

"No," I lied.

"OK," he said, and I could hear he was now grinning.

"Stop grinning," I scolded.

"How do you know I'm grinning?"

"I can hear it in your voice," I said.

"Well I can't help it. You make me smile," he said.

"Well you make me smile too," I said, unable to stop myself from grinning as well.

"So we've got a 2 month break coming up soon," Harry said.

"Mmm hmm," I said, still screaming inside from his previous comments.

"Our last show is in Dubai, and I'm going to LA from there," he said.

"Oh," I said. I was kind of hoping he would be coming back to London and that I might get to see him again.

Don't be stupid, I told myself. He hangs out with supermodels and famous people.

"I was wondering if you wanted to come out to LA for a week, or maybe longer?" he said.

I think my heart actually stopped. I know my breathing did. I was speechless.

"Jess?" he said. "Are you still there?"

"Yes, I'm here," I said, finding my voice.

"What do you reckon?" he said.

"Um, yeah, I mean, yes, that would be amazing," I stammered. What was wrong with me? Why oh why couldn't I just be breezy?

"Cool," he said, and I could hear the smile again.

"I'll need to clear it with work first," I said, thinking out loud.

"I'll pay for your ticket," he said.

"No you won't," I retorted.

"Why not?" he said, sounding taken aback.

"Because I'm not having people think I'm using you," I said. "Hanging out with someone famous to get all the perks. I'm not like that."

"I know you're not," he said.

"Well good," I said. "I'll sort out my own ticket."

"God you're fiesty," he remarked.

I laughed. "Yes, I have heard that before."

"I like it," he said, and my skin tingled. "So I'll be in LA from 6th April. Do you think you'll be able to get the time off?"

"I should be able to," I said. "I haven't got any other holidays booked. I'll check on Friday when I'm back in the office."

"Great," he said. "I haven't really got anything planned over there, so we can do whatever you like."

"OK," I said, managing to keep my voice level.

"So tell me more about this team building thing," he said.

We talked for about half an hour, until I could hear Harry's yawns becoming more frequent.

"You should get some sleep," I said.

"Mmmm," he mumbled, sleepily. "I'm enjoying talking to you though."

"I am great company," I said, and he laughed. "Seriously though. You'll be tired tomorrow."

"We've got some meetings tomorrow to talk about how it's going to work without Zayn," he sighed.

"How are the others feeling?" I asked softly. It was the first time I'd ever really asked him a question about the other band members. I'd never wanted him to think I was fishing for information about them, especially as he knew I was a fan.

"Pretty shit," he said. "Louis has taken it the hardest. I just think it'll take a while for it to sink in properly." He yawned again.

"Go to sleep," I chided.

"OK," he mumbled. "Thanks for calling and taking my mind off everything."

"It's fine, my bill's in the post," I teased, and he chuckled.

"Have fun at your thing tomorrow," he said.

"I will. Hope your meetings go well," I replied.

He grunted. "Thanks. Let me know when you've got your holiday booked off."

"OK. Bye," I said.

"Bye," he yawned.

I ended the call and sat on the sofa staring at the wall for a minute, trying to process what had just happened. Had Harry Styles just invited me to stay with him in LA? Oh... my... God...

I stood up and went over to the mirror in the hall. I pulled up my hoodie and looked at my stomach. I was slim, but not really toned. If I was going to hang out with Harry Styles for a week in LA, I would probably have to wear a bikini, which meant I had approximately 2 weeks to get a bikini body. Christ.

I quickly texted Callie: Harry's invited me to LA in a couple of weeks. I need to lose about 3 stone first. Gym tomorrow? xxx

I threw my hoodie and pyjamas off and pulled on my leggings crop top and trainers. No time like the present. I grabbed my iPod and keys and left the flat, speeding down the stairs and jumping the last two. I put Little White Lies on full volume, jammed my earbuds into my ears and began to run.

The streets were almost dark so I only stayed out half an hour, but I've never run so fast in my life. My mouth was turned up in a permanent grin as I replayed our conversation over and over in my head. I mentally planned out the next two weeks' exercise regime, and let myself fantasise about seeing Harry again in the flesh. I didn't know how I was going to wait a whole 2 weeks.

When I got back home I had 2 messages.

From Callie: What the fuck?!?! And yes, if only to hear the gossip!!! Pick me up at 6? xxx

From Calvin: Easter weekend at Mum and Dad's?

I replied to both messages, confirming both arrangements, then flopped onto my bed. I set my alarm for 6am the following day, to fit in a run before work. There was no way I was going to LA unless I was looking at hot as possible. Harry Styles wasn't going to know what hit him.