(No Control - 32. Strong)

When I arrive at Heathrow I'm escorted through Passport Control by my security, and I'm taken straight to our private jet that is waiting on the tarmac. Louis and Niall are already on board, and judging by their dirty laughs, they're looking at something inappropriate on Louis' phone. I shove my carry-on bag in the overhead locker and take a seat diagonally opposite them.

"How's the fitty?" Niall asks, as Louis slides his phone into his pocket with a smirk.

"Jess? She's good," I tell him.

"He gets a bit shirty if you disrespect her," Louis says in a stage whisper, and I give him the finger.

"You fucked her good though, yeah?"

"Niall!" Louis scolds. "They made love. There were hearts, and candles, and rose petals on the bed - ow!" he laughs as I reach over and thump his leg.

"Aaaahhhhhh," Niall says, with a lovesick look. "Is he in love?"

"No I'm not," I huff, and the pair of them cackle gleefully at my expense.

"Alright lads," Liam says from behind us, walking up the aisle with a rucksack over his shoulder. "How is everyone?"

He sits down next to me and pulls his phone out. I glance over and see he is texting Sophia. That boy seriously has a massive thumb print on his head.

Zayn joins us ten minutes later and I exchange a nervous look with Louis as he greets us and takes a seat on his own by the window.

"Perrie OK?" I call over to him, and he throws a grin in my direction.

"Yeah man, she's good. Nice blonde chick, by the way." He winks.

"Thanks," I mutter.

"Harry's lost all his chill," Louis butts in, leaning over towards Zayn.

"What chill?" Zayn sniggers.

"Leave me alone, all of you," I grumble, and I stick my earphones in to get some peace and quiet.

A few of hours into the flight everyone has settled down. Louis and Niall are asleep and Liam is reading. I look over at Zayn, who is staring out of the window into the blackness, deep in thought.

"You OK?" I call over to him.

He looks up suddenly and smiles. "Sorry man. I was miles away."

"How are things? Really?" I ask him.

"Alright," he says, looking away. "Hard saying goodbye, y'know?"

"Yeah," I nod, even though he isn't looking at me. "If you ever wanna talk, or anything, you know I'm here, yeah?"

"I know. Thanks mate. I'm good."

But there's something in his tone that says otherwise.

....

I manage to get a couple of hours' sleep, and by the time we land it is 4pm local time. It's hot and humid, and my hair immediately starts to go frizzy, so I pull it back with one of those little rubber band things. There are photographers and fans waiting for us at the airport but we're rushed straight through by security, and I see the looks of disappointment on some of the girls' faces as they realise they're not getting pictures with us today.

We are taken straight to our hotel and I order dinner from room service. After a quick shower and a call to my mum to let her know I've arrived, I get into bed and sleep right through until 6am the following morning.

When I wake I switch on the TV, find the English channels, and then scroll through my Twitter feed.

There is nothing of real interest, so after about half an hour I order breakfast and have a quick shower. As I'm walking out of the bathroom in only a towel there is a knock at the door. 

Good timing, room service.

I open it, and standing next to the food trolley is Lou Teasdale.

"Hello darling!" she beams, and throws her arms around me. "Ew, you're all wet," she squeals.

"I've just got out the shower," I tell her.

"Obviously." She rolls her eyes and pokes my shoulder. "Can I join you for breakfast?"

"Sure," I say, letting her in. 

I accept my breakfast tray from the smiley maid, and we sit on my bed to eat.

"Where's Lux?" I ask.

"With Louise," she replies. Louise is their nanny who helps look after Lux sometimes while we're touring.

"I've missed her," I tell her.

"She's missed you too, babe. She can't wait to see you. So how did your date go?"

I feel myself starting to smile.

"Good, I think. The date was great."

"I'm sensing a 'but'..?"

I sigh, and brush my hands together to get rid of the toast crumbs.

"I dunno, she kind of... rejected me when I suggested meeting up again after the tour."

"What do you mean, rejected you?"

I tell Lou about our coffee shop date, and our conversations, and the picture message I sent her which she has so far ignored.

"And you say she seemed into you?" she asks, and then immediately answers her own question. "But then, if she agreed to go on a proper date, let you stay over and then met you again for coffee, I would say she's into you."

"Yeah, that's what I thought," I nod. "So why was she so quick to brush me off?"

"Maybe she doesn't want to get her hopes up?" Lou suggests. "You're pretty desirable. She's probably thinking she won't stand a chance."

"She's gorgeous, though," I protest. "Look." 

I pull out my phone and go to my camera roll to show Lou the picture of me and Jess.

"Wow," Lou smiles. "She's pretty."

"She won't be short of offers," I muse.

"Maybe that's it!" Lou says suddenly. "Maybe she has a boyfriend? Or is at least seeing someone? Maybe she didn't want to pass up the opportunity with you, but she knows it can't go any further because she's spoken for?"

I honestly hadn't even thought of that.

"I don't think it's that," I say, but as the words are leaving my mouth I start to think that's probably exactly what it is. 

She had condoms by her bed, didn't she? And she told me she doesn't do one night stands, that I was her first hook up. She must have a boyfriend.

Damn.

"I dunno," Lou is saying. "Are you going to keep in touch with her?"

"I was going to," I admit. "But now you've said that, it's suddenly making sense. And I'm not going to pursue her if she's got a boyfriend."

"I'm not saying she definitely has," Lou backtracks. "Why don't you ask her?"

"Awkward," I dismiss her. "How am I supposed to approach that one? 'Hey Jess, how are you? Did your boyfriend mind you hooking up with me the other night?' No way."

"I shouldn't have said anything," Lou sighs.

"It's fine," I say breezily.  "It was only a couple of dates anyway. No big deal."

I'm gutted.

....

We spend the morning at a radio station in Singapore doing an interview, and a couple of fan Question & Answer sessions. I'm asked, as always, whether I'm still single, and as I give my usual nod and my textbook "No, I'm not seeing anyone right now" answer, Louis is making a heart shape with his fingers and Niall is blowing kisses at me. 

I smirk at them both, and Louis quickly shuts up when the conversation moves to Eleanor and he has to be evasive with his answers, telling the DJ she is fine and he enjoyed seeing her on our tour break. They decided not to go public with their split just yet, so they could both come to terms with it in private, although Louis seems to be coping with it just fine. He's keen to get out clubbing and sow his wild oats to take his mind off her, and I can't say I blame him. He's been with her three years. He needs to have some fun.

He persuades Niall and Zayn to join him in the VIP bar at the hotel that night (I'm too tired and not in the mood for getting drunk) and I hear him staggering along the corridor at 2am, singing Uptown Funk at the top of his voice and bumping into the walls.

I wake up on Monday morning as fresh as a daisy, and once I'm showered and dressed I take great pleasure in banging loudly on his door to wake him up.

"Fuck off!" he croaks from inside his room.

"Lou! Open up!" I call urgently through the door. "I need you to help me smuggle a girl out!"

"What the..." I hear him mutter and he is at the door in seconds, his eyes wide and his hair sticking up in all directions - no jokes please. "You had a girl last night?" he whispers excitedly.

"No, you fuckwit, I just wanted to wake you up, like you woke me up with your awful rendition of Uptown Funk at stupid o'clock this morning."

"Pfft," he hisses, turning away from me and returning to his bed. I follow him into the room and let the door shut behind me. "You're like the boy who cried wolf with that one," he says. "One of these days it'll be the truth and I won't believe you and you'll get caught."

I say nothing and grin.

"We need to go out on the pull," he says as he flicks the TV on.

"Mmm," I mumble non-committally.

My phone rings in my pocket, and I see Karen's name on the screen.

"Morning, Karen," I say cheerfully.

"Heat magazine are running a story about you and your hook up," she says bluntly. 

"Her name is Jess," I say, irritatedly. 

"It's going to be a double page spread, advertised on the front cover," Karen continues, ignoring me. "They're saying she's your girlfriend, and they've got a whole bloody album of pictures."

For fuck's sake.

"Oh well. It's not like it's the first time," I sigh. 

"We tried to stop it, but they're only printing the facts, and their assumptions. There are no lies and nothing to taint your character."

"I'd better warn my mum," I mutter. "When is it going to print?"

"It's already gone. It'll be out today."

"Great," I say flatly. "Thanks for the heads up."

"Keep it in your pants these next few weeks," Karen snaps. "We're still fighting the Tokyo story, and I'm confident she'll keep quiet, but for goodness' sake don't give me anything else to try and cover up. I'm gaining new grey hairs every day."

"Alright," I say, with a hint of exasperation. "I hear you loud and clear."

"You in trouble?" Louis asks gleefully as I come off the phone.

"No need to look so pleased about it," I grumble.

"Makes a change from me being labelled the bad boy for not being able to keep my mouth shut on Twitter."

"Feel free to start a fight with someone to get the attention off me," I tease.

"No thanks, I'm enjoying watching you crash and burn," he grins.

"Dickhead," I snap, and he laughs. 

We watch TV - or rather I watch TV and Louis sleeps - for a bit, and after a couple of hours I call Lou and we head into the city with a few bodyguards and have a wander round the shops. I text Mum and Gemma to let them know about Heat magazine, and tell them it's Jess in the pictures, and as Lou and I sit down to lunch I tell her about the article. When I'm finished she says nothing for a minute, but stares at me thoughtfully.

"If Jess does have a boyfriend, I doubt she will for much longer when this story is on the front page of Heat," she says eventually.

"She was worried about being seen the night we met," I remember. "That was obviously why."

"Yes but what I mean is, she'll be single."

I shake my head. "I'm not interested in anyone who is unfaithful," I tell her.

"True," she concedes. "I have to say though, darling, you're not usually a bad judge of character. I'd be surprised if you'd got her so wrong."

"I am surprised," I admit. "She seemed so genuine. If it was all an act, it was a very convincing one."

"I wish I hadn't put forward the boyfriend theory," Lou says. "We've got no proof. Think about how you feel every time people jump to conclusions about you."

I say nothing, but stare at my drink.

"Why don't you text her?" Lou suggests.

"Who says I want to?"

"Your face says it." She reaches across the table and touched my hand. "You keep bringing her up. It's obvious she's on your mind."

I can't deny it. So I still say nothing.

I don't want to make a fool of myself. I keep remembering her brushing me off before I left. And that stupid text I sent her that she never replied to - 'I should have kissed you.' What the hell was I thinking?

I can't decide what to do, so I decide that doing nothing is the best course of action for now.

When we get back I head down to the private hotel pool with Liam and Niall and swim a few lengths. We mess about in the water for a bit and then sit in the jacuzzi for half an hour putting the world to rights.

We call on Zayn on the way up, but he's sitting on his balcony deep in conversation with Louis so I head back to my room to order room service.

I wonder if Jess has seen the article about us yet. I wonder if she'll text me if she does. 

I get an early night and when I wake up on Tuesday morning I have an idea. If I tweet, it might encourage Jess to text me. I was planning on tweeting something about the show anyway, so I can just do it a day early. 

I think back to our conversation about the picture of my splashed shirt that I tweeted. She seemed happy that it had been aimed at her. Why would she have been bothered if she wasn't interested in me?

We get picked up from the hotel and taken to the stadium to see the set up, and then we head to a private studio to rehearse some of the songs. While we're waiting to be let in I open Twitter on my phone and send a tweet. 

Looking forward to the show in Singapore.. Can't wait to see you all. All the love. H

Immediately it is favourited and retweeted thousands of times, and my mentions explode. I follow a couple of fans, causing them to go crazy, and I smile at the thought that something as simple as a Twitter follow can make somebody so happy. 

Sometimes I really love my job.