𝘁𝘄𝗼 𝗴𝗵𝗼𝘀𝘁𝘀 ʰᵃʳⁱᵃⁿᵃ

ii. thank u, next

"i'm telling you, dude. this song is a cultural reset! ugh, i'm literally a genius."

"you do know you're not the only one who worked on this song, right mate?"

"let me have this, white boy."

ariana giggled as mikey and niall argued, something that happened quite frequently. as annoying as they were sometimes, they always knew how to cheer her up. her life was all kinds of messed up but her friends made it all a lot better.

"i think we're all geniuses." troye said sassily, referencing a very popular video of ariana's former costar being jealous, making the other two boys snort. though ariana didn't find it amusing whatsoever.

"shut up, that's not funny." ariana tried to hide her smile, but gave up seconds later, laughing along with her friends.

"okay, okay! the glam team will be here any minute now, stop being problematic." ariana stood up and started tidying the –already clean– living room. the room fell into a comfortable silence, everyone busying themselves with their own things for a while.

"wow... woman of the year. that's crazy." mikey said with a proud look on his face. he really was amazed by ariana's strength and ability to rise above. ever since he met her, in 2014, he knew she was destined for greatness.

"i feel so undeserving... but yeah, it's cool." ariana shrugged, feeling slightly uncomfortable by the situation. much to everyone's surprise, she didn't actually enjoy being the center of attention, unless it was at a show.

an entire gala dedicated to honoring her was the definition of hell, but it's not like she could decline the invitation. that'd be insane.

oh you're making me woman of the year and hosting an entire event just for me? aw... no thanks.

yeah, that would've been really bad.

so there she was, waiting for the glam team to arrive. the fact that the event was for her had its perks though. for example, she was allowed to bring as many people as she wanted to which meant her friends would all be her dates and having them there was enough to ease her nerves a little.

"i don't understand. if it's an award show dedicated to women... why are men allowed inside?"

"men can celebrate women too, dumbass."

"true, but i still think they should ban men from attending. honestly, just ban them from existing!"

"you're literally a man, mikey."

ariana laughed at the silly conversation, but stayed silent, not really knowing what to say. truth be told, her short exchange with harry had left her kind of dumbfounded and in a very weird mood.

sure, she was used to seeing his face all over social media and hearing about him. they even texted each other occasionally, but they never actually interacted. it was always more of a hey i hope you're okay type of situation. they just cared for each other, is all.

but speaking to him after so many years, even if it was just by text, brought back conflicting emotions ariana thought (and hoped) she'd left in the past.

harry wasn't in the past though. or else she would've included him in her song about moving on. she would've thanked him for everything and then let him go, but she didn't. she couldn't.

ariana felt silly. surely, something had to be wrong with her. not being able to move on from someone after so many years wasn't normal. if harry had fully moved on, why couldn't she?

of course ariana had dated. she'd been with some really amazing guys after harry and she loved them all dearly, but harry always stayed in the back of her mind. tempting and mocking her.

"you okay? you've been kinda quiet since we got here." mikey said, resting his hand on her shoulder to offer some comfort.

"i'm fine, mikey. i just need to get through tonight and i'll be okay."

she wasn't sure if she was trying to convince him or herself, maybe it was what they both needed to hear. though, mikey seemed satisfied enough with her answer and decided not to push the subject. he hugged her for a few seconds before the doorbell rang which meant the glam team had arrived and it was show time.

ariana really hated red carpets. she found them annoying and unnecessary. she didn't like all the cameras with flashes that made her even more blind than she already was. she didn't like the photographers shouting at her to look their way. and she definitely did not like the interviewers who always seemed to find a way to make it awkward.

this was supposed to be her night and here they were, asking her about her ex-boyfriends. more specifically, about harry. and all she could do was smile politely while she tried not to cry.

"...all i'm gonna say is that i care about him very much. i wish him nothing but the best and that's all you need to know about that."

ariana said it so gracefully, even though she was dying inside. talking about harry made her heart hurt more than she'd like to admit. she shot her publicist a look and very soon after, she was being escorted inside the venue.

"that was fucking awful. i can't wait to see all the headlines tomorrow."

the group laughed together as they waited to be seated, but they were interrupted by someone clearing their throat behind them.

"harry?"

~ ｔｗｏ ｇｈｏｓｔｓ ~

i hope u liked the chapters!