"Oh God," I said desperately to Lou, turning away so that hopefully Sara wouldn't see me. "I don't think I can do this again. I don't have the strength left in me for round two."

Lou's eyes widened slightly as she surveyed me. I didn't doubt that my distress was obvious. "OK," she said uncertainly. "D'you want to walk away?"

I nodded, keeping my eyes fixed on hers, and she nodded too before taking my hand and turning sideways to slip through the crowd. Nadine's words, although spawned from bitterness and hate, had shaken me and knocked my confidence. I definitely couldn't take another battering, not from the person who had slept with Harry behind my back.

"Jess!"

My stomach lurched as I heard the unfamiliar female voice calling my name, and I dropped my head down and stared at the floor as we attempted to make our escape. It could only be Sara, and I hoped with all my heart that she would take the hint and let me leave with dignity.

"Jessica! Excuse me..."

I reluctantly looked up and as I suspected Sara Sampaio, aka the object of months of my misery, was standing a few feet away trying to get my attention. Her shiny dark hair cascaded over her shoulders like a waterfall, and rested gracefully on her bare shoulders. Her skin was smooth and flawless, her teeth were white and straight. She was stunning.

"I'm just leaving, sorry," I mumbled, forcing my gaze away as I felt the sting of tears behind my eyes at the sight of her. Although Nadine's engineering had been the cause of the whole New York fiasco, Harry had still slept with Sara while he was in love with me. Knowing that he had kissed her, touched her, wanted her when he should have only had eyes for me was somehow harder to accept when she was standing right in front of me, looking nothing like the horse I had painted her to be in my head. She was absolutely beautiful in the flesh.

"Please wait," she said softly, reaching her hand out and touching my arm. "I'm sure I'm the last person you want to see, but please just hear me out."

There was no spiteful gleam in her eyes as there had been in Nadine's; only sincerity. I stopped.

"What is it?" I asked, bluntly, and Lou stopped too, turning and looking back at us with apprehension.

"Can we go somewhere and talk?" Sara asked.

"No," I replied. "Whatever you have to say, say it here."

"OK," she nodded. "I owe you an apology."

Whatever I was expecting, it wasn't that. I stared at her, confusion and distrust clouding my judgement.

"I'm sorry for what happened with Harry," she said quickly. "I should never have chased after him when I knew he was seeing someone. Nothing can excuse that."

"No it can't," I interrupted.

"I know," she said, hanging her head in shame and averting her eyes momentarily. "Please believe me, if I could go back and change it, I would. I am so sorry for ruining your relationship. And I'm honestly really happy that you're back together."

"It's none of your business," I said steelily, pleased that my voice sounded clear and confident when inside I was on the verge of crumbling.

"I know it isn't," she accepted. "I'm not trying to play games, I swear. I'm just trying to put things right. When I mess up, I apologise. And I messed up big time, so I'm apologising. I'm not going to insult you by offering pathetic excuses. I shouldn't have done it, and I'm sorry that I did. I think Harry is a really great guy, and I would never deliberately try and wreck things for him."

She had been staring earnestly into my eyes the whole time and I held her gaze, attempting to keep my face impassive while trying not to imagine Harry's lips on hers, his hands roaming her body, his touch igniting her desire.

She dropped her eyes again and bit her lip nervously.

"Anyway, I won't take up any more of your time," she said, humbly. "I'm sorry for my part in it. I just wanted you to know." She started to turn away.

"Thank you," I said, and she stopped, her eyes darting back to mine again. "It must have taken guts to come over to me and say that," I conceded.

She shrugged nonchalantly, but swallowed hard. "It's cool. I figured this might be my one chance to apologise in person."

"I appreciate it," I admitted, because although I still felt nauseous just from looking at her, I also felt a little bit of empathy towards her. And she obviously had a fair amount of courage considering she had approached me on her own while I clearly had back up.

Courage like War Horse, my subconscious whispered wickedly, and despite the tight knots in my stomach I felt a hysterical laugh bubbling up inside me. I quickly swallowed it.

"OK, well, um, I'll leave you alone now," she said awkwardly. "Thank you for accepting my apology."

I smiled at her softly and she gave a tentative one in return before disappearing into the crowd.

"Wow," said Lou emphatically, from beside me.

"Tell me about it," I breathed heavily. "I was not expecting that."

"She seemed genuine," Lou observed, thoughtfully.

"I thought so too," I agreed.

"You handled it brilliantly," she praised. "You were so dignified. It's one of the things Harry loves about you - you've got class."

I swelled with pride inside at her words, and she squeezed my hand supportively as we headed towards the exit. Harry caught sight of us approaching and cocked his head to the side in a questioning smile as he slid his phone back into his pocket. "What are you doing here?" he asked.

"Getting away from Sara Sampaio," I sighed and his face fell, his eyes widening in shock. "I'll explain on the way back," I said.

"The car's out front," he told me. "Do you want to brave the paparazzi together, or leave separately?"

I didn't have the energy to start concocting a plan to escape the venue unnoticed by the paps, and all I really wanted was to curl up in Harry's arms and forget the last half hour.

"I don't mind," I said, absently. "I just want to get out of here."

"Together, then," he said softly, taking my hand in his. "Come on."

We hugged Lou, Kendall and Lottie goodbye (Harry poked Kendall's cheek playfully and she tweaked his nipple sharply, causing him to yelp in pain) and passed Liam and Louis on the way to the door. Louis gave a jaunty salute and then called to me, "I probably won't see you now for a while, so have a safe flight home!"

I stopped and turned to him, releasing Harry's hand to put my arms around Louis. "Thanks for sticking up for me tonight," I said as he rubbed my back gently, and planted a soft kiss on the curve of my neck.

"Any time," he replied, pulling away from me and smiling. "Sorry for provoking Nadine and ruining your evening."

"Oh - you didn't ruin it!" I said hastily. "I actually owe you for letting the waiter trip over your jacket. That was possibly one of the best moments of my life."

Louis pressed his lips together and raised his eyebrows so high they disappeared under his hair. He puffed out slowly, blowing his cheeks out in the process. "Dunno what you mean, sorry," he declared, darting his eyes from left to right exaggeratedly, and I laughed.

"OK," I nodded. "I can live with that."

He gave me a mischievous grin and a wink. "Thought you might."

"See you soon," I smiled, and he gave a nod of acknowledgement and then turned back to Liam, before darting one last glance in my direction as I made for the door with Harry.

"Ready?" Harry asked.

"Let's go," I replied, and Dale appeared at our side and strode purposefully towards the main door and pulled it open.

The flashes were blinding. I had almost forgotten just how bright and intrusive they were, it had been that long since I had experienced them en masse like this.

"Harry!"

"Harry!"

"Look this way!"

"How was your evening?"

"Congratulations on your awards!"

"Can we get a picture Harry?"

"Is this your girlfriend?"

"Any plans for your hiatus?"

"Harry!"

"Stand back please! Let them through!" This was Dale.

I kept my head down and followed Harry's feet to a dark car waiting for us on the road, and then slid onto the back seat after him. Dale shut the door behind us and jumped quickly into the passenger seat, slamming his door as Paul put the car into gear and began to move off. Paps swarmed the road, pressing their cameras against the front windscreen and clicking repeatedly.

"Move, dickheads!" Paul thundered, pressing the horn for several seconds so they scattered away from the car and gathered on the pavement, still flashing away. My pulse was racing with adrenaline as we finally cleared them and drove away down the street.

"Christ," I breathed. "I'd forgotten how intense they could be!"

"You alright?" Harry asked, resting his hand on my thigh and rubbing it gently.

"Yeah," I smiled, and he smiled back and then gazed out the window for a minute.

"What did Nadine say to you before?" he asked eventually without looking at me.

"She said I was out of my depth and we wouldn't last thanks to your wandering eye," I answered truthfully.

Harry turned his head sharply to look at me, a frown creasing his brow. "She had no right -"

"I know," I interrupted. "She knew what to say to provoke a reaction. Or at least she thought she did. I tried not to give her what she so desperately wanted."

"I'm so sorry you had to endure that," he said sorrowfully. "I'm sorry being with me is never plain sailing."

"Pfft, who wants plain sailing anyway?" I teased, but he didn't smile.

"And Sara?" he asked, tentatively.

"Sara... apologised," I told him. "She seemed genuine. She didn't make excuses, she just said how sorry she was for what she did and she wished she could go back and change it."

"She should have left you alone," Harry huffed.

"I'm actually glad she came over to me," I reasoned. "That took a lot of courage. She's gone up in my estimation after that. I mean, we'll never be bosom buddies, but at least I know if I ever bump into her again she's more likely to be civil, rather than rip my hair out."

Harry nodded silently, gazing out of the window at the blur of the passing cars.

"Are you alright?" I asked, leaning forward trying to see his face.

He sighed and slipped his hand into mine, intertwining our fingers.

"Yeah," he said halfheartedly, staring fixedly at the seat between us. "I just get worried that one day you'll get fed up of the shit you have to put with because of me, and you'll just walk away. I don't think I could face losing you again."

"Harry," I said fervently, and he looked up into my eyes. "I'm not going to walk away from you. I love you."

"I love you too," he said, squeezing my hand tightly and leaning towards me along the back seat. "So much. Like, I can't explain how much."

"You don't need to," I said softly, leaning towards him too and kissing him gently on the lips. "I know." His hand let go of mine and cupped my cheek as he returned the kiss, his tongue running slowly along my bottom lip as he pulled back a couple of millimetres. His eyes blazed with desire, and with such intensity that my stomach fluttered excitedly in response. Although we were in the back of a moving car, I was aware it had darkened windows, and suddenly I was struggling to control my yearning for him. I wanted him there and then and I knew the feeling was mutual.

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Is anyone in the mood for a double update? I am!

Don't forget to vote for this chapter, and I'll upload the next one as soon as I have finished it, which will be sometime this afternoon/evening! :) xxx