Zianourry:Didn't want you to worry

"All right boys. The crowd's kinda gotten crazy so just stick right behind me and head for the car. No stopping. Hear me?"

Harry nodded along with the rest of the boys, signaling to Paul that they understood. He internally sighed as he prepared to face the crowd that had gathered outside the radio station where the boys had been recording all day. The crowd had gotten crazier and crazier as the day had gone on, and Harry wasn't at all sure that all of them were sober. His attention snapped back to the present as Louis ,moved over and shared a tired smile with him.

Paul took one more glance at the boys and then walked through the doors. As the doors opened, Harry winced at the assault on his ears. It had been a while since such a noisy crowd had greeted them. As they walked out of the building, the noise level rose to a fevered pitch and Harry fought down a feeling of claustrophobia as the guards standing around them shifted in close in order to fend off the girls. For one second the guards were overwhelmed and Harry felt a hand reach out and rip the sleeve of his shirt.

As he fought to regain his balance, he felt someone's breath against his ear and heard a voice whisper, "Fuck you Styles, you don't deserve any of this."

His nose wrinkled at the familiar smell of beer-drenched breath and instinctively jerked away from the voice. Before he could move away a glass bottle was slammed into his ribs and a blistering pain crackled through his side. He fell against Louis and let out a startled groan. Louis reached out and steadied him, looking at him in concern. "You alright Harry?"

Harry fought to control the pain and managed to nod at Louis before straightening up out of Louis' grip. He had to fight not to hiss in pain as his side complained at the movement. He forced himself to put one foot in front of the other as he felt the guards finally push back the crowd.

They eventually made it to the black Escalade that was pulled up outside the recording studio and Paul pulled the car door open and ushered the boys in. Harry watched as Liam and Zayn climbed into the back seat. Louis and Niall got into the middle row and squeezed over to make room for Harry. He clenched his teeth and slowly pulled himself into the car, struggling to keep his face blank as his side throbbed.

As soon as he sat down Pail closed the door and climbed into the front seat before ordering the driver to leave. Niall let out a chuckle as the car finally pulled away, "Wow, what a crazy crowd that was ridiculous!"

The rest of the boys laughed and Louis fingered the hole in Harry's sleeve as he answered, "Looks like you were the favorite tonight Haz! That's quite some fan you have there."

The car filed with roars of laughter as Louis finished ripping what was left of Harry's sleeve off. Harry could only let out a weak chuckle as he briefly contemplated telling them how wrong Louis was. He quickly discarded the idea, knowing that the boys would all worry about him and fuss over him. Really he was fine, he just needed to take a hot shower and he would be fine, no problem. As if to contradict that thought, his side let out another pang. Immediately his face tensed as he struggled to hold in the whimper that threatened to steal from his lips.

The rest of the boys continued laughing as Louis rolled down the window and threw Harry's sleeve out into the frantic crowd as the car pulled away.

For the rest of the car ride Harry looked out the window with his hands tensed into fists, begging for the car to go faster so that he could get home and into the solitude of his flat.

When the car finally slid to a stop in front of the hotel, Harry slowly got out and walked through the lobby, trailing behind the rest of the boys as he tried to minimize his movements. The elevator door dinged open and Niall, Liam, Zayn, and Louis piled in. Harry sped up so that he wouldn't hold them up. As he climbed into the car Liam looked at him carefully and asked, "Haz, you all right mate? You're looking kind of pale."

"I'm fine," Harry snapped in response, exhaustion making the words sharper then he'd intended.

The boys all looked at him in concern, but Harry refused to answer their questioning glances. He stared straight ahead and as soon as the elevator opened, he hoped out and walked as fast as he could down the hall to his room.

He could hear the boys walking quickly to catch up with him, but he didn't want to answer their question. He pulled the key out of his wallet and tried to open the door, but the key fell out of his hands. Cursing in frustration, he bent down quickly to pick it up, momentarily forgetting his injured ribs. As he bent down pain crackled through his side and he ended up on his knees gasping in pain.

Harry felt hands on his back and worried voices, asking him what was wrong, but he didn't have the strength to answer. The simple act of staying conscious was taking all of his energy.

Liam shouted in shock as Harry crumpled to the ground. He ran to his side and knelt down next to him, putting his hand on his back and rubbing soothing circles. "Harry? Babe, what's the matter?"

He felt Niall and Zayn standing behind him as Louis knelt down on Harry's other side and grabbed Harry's hand in his. It took several minutes for them to get a response out of Harry and even then he just replied with a jumbled answer. "Mmhm fine. Leave…alone."

Liam sighed at the obvious lie and replied, "Babe you aren't all right. Come one let's get you inside the room." He slowly pulled Harry into his arms and started to pick him up, causing a small groan to slip from the younger boy's lips. Liam flinched at the sound and tried to comfort Harry. "Sorry babe, just hold on for a second."

Louis grabbed the key that Harry had dropped onto the floor and opened the door, holding it open for Liam. Niall and Zayn rushed past both Louis and Liam and into the living room. Zayn sat down on the plush, suede couch that sat in front of the tv with his arms open for Harry.

Liam slowly placed Harry into Zayn's lap and the curly-haired boy whimpered again.

Niall immediately grabbed Harry's hand and gave it a squeeze, which made Harry open his eyes. Liam's heart twisted as he saw the pain reflected in the green eyes. "Hazza,babe, look at me."

He used his hand to force Harry's head up and his concerned brown eyes finally met Harry's gaze. "You have to tell us what's wrong. Where does it hurt?" Harry continue to be silent so Liam asked, " Why won't you tell is, you know you can trust us."

Harry flinched in indignation and finally answered, "Course, just don't want you to worry."

Liam's heart melted at the fact that their boyfriend was in such obvious pain, but was still trying to protect them. Louis came up from behind the couch and brushed the damp curls off Harry's forehead before placing a soft kiss there and replying, "You know I'll just imagine worse if you don't tell us?"

Harry let out a chuckle that quickly turned into a hiss of pain. His face tightened and Liam saw Niall's hand turn white as Harry squeezed it. After a few seconds his face began to relax again and he roughly whispered, "My side."

Liam immediately grabbed the end of Harry's shirt and slowly rolled it up until they could clearly see the toned abs and skinny waist that lay beneath. A collective gasp echoed through the room at the huge bruise that was beginning to blossom along Harry's left side. Zayn practically growled at the sight and snapped out, "Harry, who did this to you?"

Harry's eyes opened and he lifted his head from where it had been resting against Zayn's chest. "Just one of the fans, you know in that huge crowd earlier…" he answered, glancing at Zayn anxiously.

Zayn softened his expression at Harry's look and the younger boy relaxed back against Zayn before closing his eyes.

Liam glanced up as Louis got up from his position leaning against the couch, but Louis just motioned that he'd be right back as he headed for the kitchen.

The short-haired boy looked back down at Harry and brushed a soft hand across his cheek before asking, "Baby, I know that you are tired, but we need to know if anything else hurts?"

Harry shook his head without opening his eyes and the older boy sighed gratefully.

Louis walked back into the room and handed Liam the bag of ice that he had gotten from the kitchen along with a glass of water and an ibuprofen.

"Hey Haz, I need you to swallow this pill, okay?"

Harry slowly opened his eyes in response and Zayn helped him sit up a bit so that he could take the aspirin. Even that small amount of movement caused him to go pale, but he managed to gulp down the pill with a sip of water, before sagging back down with a small groan, eyes slipping closed as he nuzzled his head against Zayn's shoulder.

"Good job babe. I'm going to put them ice pack on now." Liam warned before gently settling the ice bag against Harry's bruised side and the curly-haired boy's face tensed in pain as a soft hiss slipped from his lips. Louis sat down to next to me on the floor, grabbed Harrys hand and began rubbing it on soothing circles as Niall did the same with Harry's other hand. Zayn tilted his head and placed a kiss on Harry's forehead.

Eventually Harry's face relaxed slightly, his breathing slowed, and he opened his eyes again.

"Better?" Liam asked as his eyes met Harry's tired gaze.

Harry roughly cleared his throat before nodding and offering them a small smile.

Liam handed the glass of water back to Harry as Niall enthusiastically returned Harry's small smile with a brilliant smile of his own. "You can just take it easy for the rest of the night. What about a movie night?"

"That sounds perfect," Harry agreed.

Niall immediately jumped up and went searching for a suitable movie, while Louis moved over to sit at the other end of the couch.

Liam removed the ice pack and gently ran his fingers over Harry's bruised side. Thankfully, he didn't feel any broken ribs.

Harry winced at his touch and bit his lip, fighting not to jerk away from his boyfriend's gentle touch. It didn't take long before Liam removed his hand and Harry relaxed as soon as the older boy's fingers lifted from his bruise.

"I don't feel any broken ribs, so I guess it's just a bruise, but you were lucky. You should have told us right away. We could have gone straight to the hospital."

Harry shrugged his shoulders in response and Zayn finally spoke up again, "Hazza do you know who did this, or why?"

Harry's eyes drifted down  to his hands as he whispered, "Told you, just a random fan."

Liam grabbed his hands and narrowed his eyes as he admonished Harry. "Harry, you are hiding something. What else happened?"

Harry slowly answered the older boy. "I mean they didn't hit me anywhere else or anything like that.."

"But?" Zayn continued, catching on to his boyfriend's hesitation.

"But they said some stuff…. You know the usual you suck kind of crap.." The green-eyed boy smiled in an attempt to hide the pain in his eyes, but nobody was fooled.

Liam leaned forward and carefully pulled Harry into a hug. "Don't you listen to them babe. You are more talented than the rest of us combined and don't you ever forget it."

Harry loosely returned Liam's embrace and he leaned back to see a watery smile on Harry's face. "Good. Now, let me go get another ice pack and then we can watch whatever random movie Niall picked out this time."

Harry smiled in response and squeezed Liam's hand before replying, "Thanks you guys. I love you."