Three Rules // A Harry Styles Au

Part 3 - How To Break A Heart

"So... he didn't tell you he was going to the pub with this bird, then?" Sarah asks as you settle back down, eyes averted from their public display of affection.

"No." You lightly shake your head.

"Weird. Usually tells you everything."

"Not when it comes to his new girlfriends..." you purse your lips, and take a long drink from your pint. "Tends to wait a bit before he says anything."

"Why?" She frowns, scratching her cheek.

"No idea, ask him." You chuckle once, ignoring how tight your chest has become. "If he... mentions it to you, don't tell him that I know."

She raises a brow. "Why not?"

"Because I want to see how long it takes him to tell me about her."

Sarah sits back, eyes studying you for a moment while you pretend not to be upset about the sudden upheaval in your life. So Harry has another girlfriend, or at least someone he's interested in romantically. And you're going to have to go back to fucking anyone who takes your fancy, or Sergio when he's having a rough day.

In this present moment, there's only one thing you want.

Standing, your pint only half drunk, you dig through your bag. "I'm going for a fag. Tell me if anything develops."

"Sure." Sarah hums, pulling your bag to the bench you share so no one can reach it.

With a single cigarette, your lighter and your phone, you head out the back of the pub into the smoking area, and sit under the arbour, hidden behind wooden trellis. You light your cigarette and take the first drag, leaving your lighter on top of your phone, and then roll your head back to rest against the wall.

You may have let yourself get a little too optimistic about things that have happened the past few months with Harry. You never admitted it to yourself until now, trying too hard instead to convince yourself that nothing will change, but really, deep down, you believed that they might.

You know that this time around will probably be the hardest - watching him grow close with someone who will never appreciate him for him. They never do. It should be easier, having your heart battered with the prospect of him finding someone to spend his time with that isn't you. You should be numb to it by now - unfazed and ignorant.

But you're not.

In truth, every single time it gets harder and harder to watch him romance someone that isn't you. It's like he has your heart in a vice, and every time someone new comes along, he twists the bar and squeezes it just a little tighter. Eventually it'll burst, and you'll break. You know very well you need to be careful with yourself, but you don't know how to, or where to begin to start doing that. How do you take care of yourself when you've only ever been good at spiting yourself?

From where you sit you can see the front of the pub, though it's unlikely anyone could see you unless they were really looking. It gives you a perfect view when Harry appears with her, giggly and blushing.

You watch the pair closely, taking a drag from your cigarette. He has a hand on her upper arm as she does his chest, and they seem... far too cosy for a couple who've known each other only a matter of hours.

Harry kisses her again, just like he had done inside the pub, and a long sigh leaves your chest. You watch the entire thing, right up until he pulls away, and then he helps her into a taxi and she disappears. He always has been gentlemanly like that.

He watches until she's gone, then looks up to the sky for a moment, before pulling his phone out of his pocket. No more than five seconds later, your phone starts ringing against the bench.