𝘀𝗮𝗳𝗲𝘁𝘆 𝗻𝗲𝘁 ʰᵃʳⁱᵃⁿᵃ ✓

THIRTY ONE

THE SECRET

"all i'm saying is, you can't ask me to choose between you and brad pitt! tell me something, are you a masochist, troye?"

the group was hanging out at ariana's house, as they usually did, and they were all pretty drunk, as they usually were.

ariana cackled, not believing doug and troye were arguing about something so silly. out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of harry and noticed he was staring at her, not being subtle whatsoever. he had his beer bottle pressed to his lips, but he wasn't drinking and ariana honestly wanted to jump him, right there and then.

jesus, control yourself.

ariana shook her head, trying to rid herself of her inappropriately dirty thoughts, and she stood up to go the kitchen to get some more drinks for the group. of course, harry excused himself almost immediately and followed her out of sheer habit.

on a regular day, their friends would've been quick to comment on it, but they were too drunk to put the pieces together.

"shit! you scared me, harry."

ariana looked at him for a second and when she couldn't think of anything to say, she turned back around to face the counter where she was setting different cheeses on a platter. however, ariana completely forgot what she was doing as soon as she felt harry's strong arms hug her from behind. he rested his chin on her shoulder and she could feel his hot breath on her neck.

"i'm sorry. i didn't mean to scare you." he mumbled into her neck before kissing her and ariana sucked in a breath, pulling away before anyone could see them... and before she let herself get carried away.

"harry... we can't do that here. anyone could walk in."

harry tried to hide his disappointment, but he couldn't stop himself from frowning, though it looked more like a pout. ariana felt bad, she hated whenever harry was upset, but they'd both agreed to keep those moments for when they were alone.

they were just friends who, on occasion, helped each other... relieve their everyday stress.

and you're probably wondering, when the hell did this happen?

well, nobody really knows. not even harry and ariana. it started out so small... a kiss on the cheek every now and then or a hand on the thigh. at some point, the subtle and innocent gestures turned into late night make out sessions and before they knew it, they were sneaking around to have sex like a couple of horny teenagers.

the first time they did it, it was exhilarating and ariana felt so free, though that might've just been the alcohol numbing the part of her brain that was in charge of making rational and responsible decisions. the honeymoon phase lasted less than their hangover and the morning after, ariana was overcome with guilt and anxiety. she was terrified she'd fucked up their friendship. she'd gotten a taste of what life was without harry and that was definitely not a world she wanted to live in, ever.

the last thing she wanted was to lead him on, again. so she made it clear from the start that if they were going to do this, there could be no strings. at least not for the time being. she was just looking for a little distraction and much to her surprise, harry had agreed to her terms as long as she promised to be honest with him, which she did.

"no one's gonna catch us, love, stop worrying so much. and would it be so bad if they did?" harry whispered the last part, secretly hoping she wouldn't hear.

"it's just... not a conversation i want to have with them yet. i like what we have now and the second we start telling people, it's gonna get complicated. i can't do complicated anymore, harry." ariana's voice cracked, the memories of her past relationships flooding her mind and leaving her with an empty, awful feeling she knew all too well.

harry pulled her into a hug and she buried her face in his chest, taking in the scent of his cologne that she loved so much.

"it's okay, we won't tell anyone. i don't mind... i actually think it's hot." ariana giggled, pulling away so she could look at him. harry grinned as he wiped her tears away, kissing both of her cheeks and then her lips, his hands still on each side of her face.

"sorry i'm such a mess." ariana sighed sadly, making harry frown.

"hey, don't say that... that's my favorite person you're talking about."

~ｓａｆｅｔｙ ｎｅｔ~

PLOT TWIST! were u surprised? tbh i surprised myself writing it because it's not what i had planned (like at all) but i think it turned out okay. thank u for reading and for being here! i really do appreciate it. 🤍