"I thought you said Nadine and Sara don't even speak to each other anymore," I said, and my voice sounded oddly strangled and high pitched.

"They don't," Harry replied. "But work's work. Sara is here with Victoria's Secret, according to Kendall, and I doubt Nadine would pass up the opportunity to attend the AMAs."

I looked over at Kendall who nodded seriously with concern in her eyes.

"What do you want to do?" Harry asked me. "I don't want you to feel uncomfortable at all. If you'd rather leave, it's fine. We'll do whatever you want."

"Why should Jess leave?" Louis piped up from beside me, wrinkling his nose. "She's done nothing wrong."

"I'm happy to stay, if you are," I said to Harry. "I'm not scared of Sara, or Nadine for that matter. I don't particularly want anything to do with either of them if I'm honest, but I'm not running away from them. Can't we just stay out of their way?"

"Of course," Harry murmured, slipping his arm around my waist and kissing the side of my head.

"But where's the fun in that?" Louis goaded from my other side. "I say we find those bitches and own them!"

"Stop winding her up," Harry scolded over the top of my head, as Louis caught my eye and grinned wickedly.

I shook my head at him. "I don't want any trouble," I told him.

"Ah, Jess, you disappoint me," he said sadly. "Where's your sass gone? I could always count on you to slay with a clever one-liner."

"There's a time and a place," I said, firmly. "And now is not it."

It was Louis' turn to shake his head. "You're way too classy for this loser," he said, hooking a thumb at Harry without taking his eyes from mine. "But let me know if you change your mind and wanna go and kick some Victoria's-Secret-arse," he added in a lowered voice, leaning in towards me and winking.

I couldn't help laughing out loud at this, and at Louis' eagerness to start up trouble. "OK," I giggled. "I'll keep you posted."

"Do you want some more Champagne?" Harry asked, looking down at my almost empty glass.

"I'm OK for now," I replied.

If there was a chance I might bump into Sara Sampaio, I needed a clear head. I wasn't worried about Nadine, as she wasn't even confirmed to be in attendance. But as Sara had made a play for Harry once before, I wanted to be fully alert if she tried again. Not that I thought for one millisecond that Harry would be tempted, but I certainly wasn't about to let her get close enough to try. I didn't know anything about her, other than she was into snorting the white stuff and sleeping with other people's boyfriends. That was enough to put me right off her.

I started to relax after a full hour had passed without any sign of the gruesome twosome, and I couldn't help noticing that any time Harry was occupied in a separate conversation, one of the One Direction boys (usually Louis) was right by my side chatting to me, making me laugh and generally keeping me involved in the group. As a result, and thanks also to Kendall, Lou and Lottie, I was pretty much surrounded by them all, and I felt like they had my back.

I eventually needed a bathroom break, just when Lou and Lottie had disappeared in the direction of the bar and Kendall was deep in conversation with Gigi Hadid a few feet away. I looked around for a sign for the toilets, and Louis immediately appeared next to me.

"What's up?" he asked.

"Just looking for the bathroom," I explained.

"I'll take you," he offered, holding out his arm. I eyed him with suspicion. "Not take you into the cubicle," he said, rolling his eyes. "I mean I'll show you where the loos are. I went for a piss about half an hour ago. Took me ages to find them."

"Honestly, I'll be fine," I insisted.

"Don't argue," he cut me off, taking hold of my upper arm. "This way."

I gave up and allowed him to steer me through the crowd, through a small foyer and into another room, up some wide steps (that I probably would have tripped up if he hadn't pointed them out in the nick of time) and towards a corner where I saw a sign for the ladies'.

"Straight ahead," he said, nodding his head towards the door. "I'll wait here."

As I turned away from him I looked across the room and locked eyes with a familiar-looking blonde girl wearing a stunning silver silk dress, who held my gaze with a hard expression. It took me a moment to register who she was, and it was only as I looked away to walk into the bathroom that I realised it was none other than Nadine Leopold, Harry's ex-girlfriend.

My heart gave a nervous lurch and my stomach twisted sickeningly as I held my head high and let the door shut behind me, hoping desperately that my shock hadn't shown on my face. I didn't want to give her the satisfaction of thinking her presence rattled me, but I couldn't deny it had done exactly that. I suddenly felt vulnerable and out of my depth without Harry and the others by my side, and I used the bathroom as quickly as I could and then opened the door in search of Louis and safety in numbers.

I could feel Nadine's steely gaze on me as I walked back into the room as calmly as I could towards Louis. Out of the corner of my eye I swore I saw her stand up and begin to stride in my direction, but I stared resolutely forward into Louis' face.

"There you are," he beamed, his voice slightly louder than necessary. "I don't think I've told you tonight how stunning you look. Just proves that you don't need a Victoria's Secret contract to turn heads. Money clearly can't buy class."

His smile never wavered, but I caught a glint of mischief in his expression and knew instantly that my instinct had been correct, and that Nadine was indeed approaching from my right and Louis' words had been entirely for her benefit.

I said nothing as I reached Louis, and he took my arm again and began to steer me away.

"Well well," came a voice from behind us. "If it isn't the fickle fangirl and her boyband crush."

"Y'know, Jess, I'm disappointed they gave away so many free tickets to the after-party this year," Louis said, silkily. "It used to be far more elite. Shame they started letting skanks in."

"You said it," replied the voice, closer this time, and I realised Nadine was walking right behind us, and her response was aimed at me. "They're allowing anybody in these days. All you need is a rich and famous boyfriend."

"And what would you know about that?" I retorted, whirling round to face her as my brittle resolve to be the bigger person snapped in two. "You fed yours a concoction of illegal drugs without his knowledge after he wouldn't take you back, all because you were desperate to lure him into bed! And even then he wouldn't look twice at you!"

A sly smirk spread slowly across Nadine's face as she eyed me with scorn. "Hark at Little Miss Innocent. A concoction of illegal drugs. You are so out of your depth here. Playing dress-up in an off-the-rack number, keen to hang out with the big kids. You won't last five minutes, especially with Harry's wandering eye."

Her words were clever and well-chosen, and I fought to keep my face impassive as I was flooded with self-doubt all over again.

Beside me, Louis sniffed the air theatrically. "Wow," he remarked. "There is a real stench of sour grapes in the air. Can you smell it, Jess?"

I was too nervous to find this funny.

"Harry's wandering eye?" I repeated, attempting a look of disdain. "Or your paranoia?"

Her smile broadened. "Oh, that's what he told you, huh? That I was paranoid? And yet he flew all the way to New York and somehow ended up in bed with my best friend."

"I would suggest you choose your best friends more carefully in future if that bothered you so much," I replied over my shoulder as I began to turn away, my legs trembling beneath my dress. "Preferably ones who won't stab you in the back."

"Don't let him near yours," Nadine called, with a sly wink. "Or any more Victoria's Secret models, either. He's got a bit of a penchant for us. How's Kendall Jenner these days?"

"Ignore her," Louis said in my ear, his grip on my arm tightening as he led me through the crowd and away from Nadine's poisonous tongue. "Are you OK, love?" he asked, once we were in the foyer and out of earshot.

I pressed my lips together and fought back tears as each of her jibes began to sink in. I had well and truly lost that round. She had caught me off guard with her verbal attack.

"Hey, don't cry," Louis said, circling his arm around my shoulders and leaning into me as we made our way back to where Harry and the others had been standing. "If you let her get to you, she's won. You're worth ten of her, and that's why Harry's here with you and not her, or Sara, or Kendall, or anyone else."

"I know," I said, in a small voice, desperately trying to stop my lip from trembling.

I was doing my best to ignore everything she had just said, but I couldn't help wondering if she was right. I was wearing an 'off-the-rack' dress. I did feel a little out of my depth amongst all these successful musicians who earned thousands of pounds an hour, and these size zero models who survived on lettuce leaves while I tucked into hearty cooked breakfasts. And Harry had told me that Nadine was paranoid...

We approached the group and Harry's face broke into a smile when he saw me. "There are you are. I wondered where you'd gone."

"Bathroom," I replied as Louis removed his arm from my shoulders and I slipped into Harry's embrace.

"Are you OK?" he asked, frowning slightly as he surveyed me.

"Just had a run-in with Nadine," Louis supplied, pulling a face.

"What?!" Harry said in dismay.

"It's fine," I said, breezily. "She was a bitch, I walked away. Nothing to report."

"What did she say?" Harry demanded.

"Nothing worth repeating," I said, tilting my face up and kissing him on the lips.

"Tell me later?" he murmured, kissing me back.

"Yeah," I whispered, and he wrapped both arms around me and kissed me again, deeply, driving away my insecurities and reassuring me that I was the only girl in his world at that moment.

"Get a room," Louis moaned.

"And deprive you of a front row seat?" I teased, pulling away from Harry to grin at Louis. "I'm not that selfish. Next time bring popcorn."

Niall broke into a maniacal laugh next to Louis and slapped his thigh repeatedly as Louis chuckled in appreciation at my comeback.

"You're one of kind, you, Jess," he grinned, and I giggled as Harry tightened his embrace and I rested my head on his chest.

"Hi Harry!"

My blood ran cold and I felt Harry stiffen as I recognised the voice to be the one that had shattered my confidence only a minute earlier with her snide remarks.

I lifted my head from Harry's chest as he turned in her direction, and I saw Nadine standing next to us, smiling brightly at Harry and completely ignoring me.

"Nadine," he acknowledged coldly, before turning back to me. "Would you like another drink, baby?" he asked me.

"I've still got one of your shirts at my apartment in New York," Nadine continued before I could answer Harry. "If I'd thought, I would have brought it tonight, sorry."

"Keep it," Harry said bluntly.

"Really? It's one of your favourites. You wore it the night we went for dinner with my family, remember?" she said sweetly.

"Like I said, keep it," he replied. "Or bin it. Whatever."

"Sara's looking for you," Nadine said, changing tack and twisting a strand of her hair coyly around her finger while looking at Harry through her eyelashes. "You're looking really well, by the way. As always."

She was so obvious, it was nauseating.

"Thanks. See you later," he said, turning away from her and slipping his hand into mine. He leaned close to my ear as a line of people squeezed past us.

"Shall we get out of here?" he whispered, his lips brushing my skin and sending a prickle of electricity down my spine.

"I'm fine," I replied, gazing into his eyes and smiling.

"Woah, watch it," Louis grumbled from next to us, as someone bumped into him and knocked his jacket off his arm and onto the floor.

"Nice seeing you again, Harry," Nadine said softly, touching Harry's arm as she leaned in to kiss him on the cheek.

He flinched away from her and she was forced to take a step back as a waiter approached us with a silver tray holding a dozen or so Champagne flutes glittering under the lights.

"Careful," Niall advised, touching Nadine's back gently to ease her out of the way of the line of passing guests, just as Louis made to bend down to retrieve his jacket from the floor.

For reasons best known to himself, Louis seemed to change his mind at the last second and jerked upright again. The poor waiter didn't see the jacket, got the sleeve caught around his feet and stumbled. The Champagne flutes slid sideways to the edge of the tray and then tipped over, the contents leaping from within and splashing gloriously down the front of Nadine's silver dress.

She gasped in shock and jumped backwards abruptly, catching her heel in the hem of her gown in the process, and crashed heavily to the floor on her bottom, crystal glasses smashing all around her.

Chaos ensued as Niall and Lou Teasdale quickly rushed to help Nadine up, who was soaked with the contents of a good few bottles of Dom Perignon, while the waiter flapped and apologised and flapped some more, clearly beside himself at what he had just caused.

Amidst all this, Louis calmly bent down and picked up his jacket from the floor, exaggeratedly brushed the dust off the sleeve and slung it over his arm again. "Well that was an unfortunate accident, wasn't it," he remarked, the hint of a smirk playing on his lips.

"She pushed me!" Nadine wailed as she finally scrambled to her feet, glass crunching beneath her heels and pointing at me with a shaking finger.

"What?!" I cried in disbelief.

"She was nowhere near you," Harry replied coldly, slipping his arm around my waist as a couple of staff arrived and began hastily cleaning up the mess.

"Miss, I'm so sorry, it was my fault," the waiter apologised, almost in tears. "I missed my footing and bumped into you. I will reimburse you for the damage to your dress."

"Damn right you will!" Nadine screeched, picking up her clutch bag from the floor and running her hand through her hair. "This was a set up, wasn't it?! This was down to you!" She pointed at me again, her eyes glinting wildly.

"A set up?!" I laughed in her face. "No, love. That's your speciality, not mine. Calm down and, er, powder your nose or something. I daresay you need it after that."

"Oof! Slay!" Louis chuckled gleefully, and Harry's fingers surreptitiously squeezed my waist.

"I might have known you'd be up her ass," Nadine hurled, turning to Louis furiously. "I'm surprised Harry trusts you two to be in the same room after your little liaison -"

"That's enough!" thundered Harry, and Nadine, Louis and I all jumped in shock. I looked up to see his jaw set firmly, his skin pale and his eyes wide and white. He stared down at Nadine, who visibly shrank and swallowed nervously.

"What you did in New York," he began, his voice trembling, "was sick. For all you knew, I could have been allergic to that shit you gave me. I could have fucking died!"

"I didn't actually give you -"

"Don't try and wriggle out of this on a technicality!" he hissed. "You risked the safety of not only me, but Sara and Jason as well, and anyone else who may have taken it. You almost ruined my relationship with the love of my life. I was a fucking mess after what you did! It took me months to get over it. And for you to turn up here insulting my girl and my best friend... I don't know how you have the audacity."

Nadine said nothing but glared angrily at Harry, her arms folded across her chest doing nothing to disguise the Champagne stain seeping into the delicate silk.

"Come near me or anyone I love again, and I will speak out about what you did," he threatened. "I will take whatever the media has to throw at me. I'll brave the inevitable shit storm. It would be worth it to ruin your life the way you ruined mine. Global brands like Victoria's Secret don't like negative press, particularly when it's drugs-related. Mud sticks. So just bear that in mind, yeah?"

With a look of furious contempt, Nadine turned away and pushed through the crowd of people, stepping over the remnants of the shattered glass, leaving Niall, Louis, Lottie and Lou staring at Harry in awe. The disgraced waiter scurried off and was quickly swallowed up in the throng.

"Yes Harold!" Louis breathed as Harry exhaled shakily, pulled me close and kissed the top of my head.

"That was sick," Lottie nodded in approval, and Lou gave Harry a one-armed hug.

"She had that coming to her," Niall remarked. "Good on ya, Harry."

"Are you alright?" I whispered as he licked his lips and pressed them hard together so they disappeared.

"I will be," he replied. "I'm sorry you had to experience that tonight. I'm sorry for whatever Nadine said to you when you were with Louis. You shouldn't have to deal with that sort of abuse."

"Don't apologise," I said, lacing my fingers into his. "It's not your fault."

"It is," he said, bluntly. "Of course it is. This all stems from what I did. It just seems like every time we start to move on, something happens to pull us back."

I lifted my hands to his face and gazed deeply into his beautiful green eyes.

"You need to stop beating yourself up," I insisted. "I'm over it. We're over it."

His hard expression softened suddenly, and his entire body relaxed with a sigh.

"I just don't know how else to make this right," he said, almost pleadingly, gazing over my shoulder into the distance. "I just want everything to be perfect."

"It is perfect," I assured him. "You don't need to try so hard."

"I do," he whispered, seemingly to himself, leaning his forehead against mine.

"What do you mean?" I asked, but he didn't answer and instead sighed again.

"Just be yourself, Harry," I said gently. "That's all I want. I just want you. All of this," (I swept my arm out in a circle to gesture to the room) "isn't what matters. It's not important." I bit my lip trying to stop myself from saying what I was about to say, but the Directioner in me took over. "Minibars, expensive cars, hotel rooms and new tattoos, good Champagne and private planes... they don't mean anything," I stated.

He closed his eyes and chuckled softly. "I never thought I'd see the day I was glad you were releasing your inner fangirl," he admitted.

I cocked my head at him questioningly, but he shook his head.

"I just mean I'm happy you're finding peace with everything again. I was afraid I'd ruined your love of One Direction, and I hated myself for destroying such a huge part of your life. I would do anything - absolutely anything - to make you happy."

"You do make me happy," I insisted, and for a moment he looked like he was about to say something momentous, but then he smiled down at me with that dazzling gaze, and I felt a rush of giddiness that was completely unrelated to the Champagne, the victory over Nadine, or the excitement of the evening.

"Let's get out of here," he said. "Are you ready to go now?"

"Of course," I nodded, and he pulled out his phone to call for a car.

"Are you having another drink before you go?" Lou asked, picking up a couple more glasses from a passing waiter with a tray.

"I can't get any phone signal," Harry muttered. "I'll be right back."

As he slipped away in the direction of the foyer, Louis and Niall in tow, I accepted one of the glasses Lou was holding out to me and took a large gulp. It was chilled to perfection, and went down a treat.

"You look like you needed that!" Lou teased, and I let out a tense sigh.

"It's certainly been an eventful evening," I remarked.

"Looks like the drama isn't quite over yet," Lou replied ominously, staring over my shoulder. "Sara Sampaio is headed this way, and she's making a beeline for you."

---***---

I just want to say that although I do try to keep this book as close to real-life events as possible, there is some stuff that is invented to enhance the plot. I have absolutely nothing against the real Nadine Leopold, or Sara Sampaio. Their personalities in this story are entirely created by me!

I'm also really excited to be able to thank everyone who has nominated No Control for Best Series and Best Fanfiction in The Fiction Awards! Nominations are still open, so if you think my books are worthy of an award, I would be so grateful for any nominations! Head over to thefictionawards and take a look at the book with all the info! You have until 29th July 💖