IV

Part 23

A while later, I heard the door open. I kept still, waiting for him to come to me.
"Hey baby." Harry said as he walked up to me.
"Hi." I said, looking up at him from my phone.
"We need to talk." He stated.
I gulped; I expected the worst. I looked into his eyes. The same ones I bumped into years ago when I first met him.
Harry decided to speak first since I didn't say anything, "I-I just wanted to say I'm sorry. I hate arguing, you know that."
I nodded.
"I thought you would still be mad at me this morning because you didn't wake me when you left." I pointed out, letting out a small laugh.
"You were finally sleeping. I could feel you tossing and turning last night." He smiled, his hand brushing against my leg.
I sat on top of him, kissing his forehead. My phone buzzed. I looked over at it, resting on the coffee table. I walked up to it to get it.
I unlocked the screen to see what the notification was. My heart dropped. This couldn't be happening. I looked back at Harry, who had been watching me the whole time.
"What's wrong?" He asked.
"Nothing." I said, looking down at my phone again as I sat next to him.
He lifted my chin up with his hand.
"Tell me."
"It's nothing, I swear." I said, admiring his collar.
"Y/N, you're not looking me in the eye. I know you're lying."
I covered my eyes with my hands.
"I didn't pass, Haz. I'm a failure." I cried.
I felt his hand rubbing my back, so I hugged him.
"It's okay. Let it out."
"I'm just so stressed right now. I feel like I'm not doing anything right." I sniffed.
He hushed me, enveloping me in his warmth.
"Are you calm now?" He asked after a few minutes.
I nodded.
"I'm going to tell you a few things, okay? Firstly, you're not a failure. Secondly, this exam is only a ten percent of your final mark. And lastly, I don't want to see you like this anymore. It's not good for you. You're an excellent student and always have been. Don't let some stupid exam get to you." He spoke, kissing my forehead afterwards.
"But what about Lexi? She said she would say something bad about me." I sniffed.
Harry shook his head in despair before saying, "I don't know why she acts like this. It's sad that she's turned into that."
"Can we go out? Have lunch somewhere? I don't want to be here." I told him, hiding in his chest.
"That's a great idea. You deserve it for all the stress you're under." He agreed, kissing my forehead.

We got a private table at some restaurant where Harry knew the owner. We sat opposite each other and Harry smiled.
"What is it?" I asked, returning a smile.
"You look. Beautiful." He sighed.
I shook my head in embarrassment. Harry still had that effect on me despite the years. He still made me have butterflies in my stomach. He still made me shy around him with those comments. He still made me feel like the first day we met.

As we discreetly walked back to the hotel, Harry spoke.
"You know, whatever Lexi says this afternoon-"
"Let's not talk about that, please." I begged, cutting him off.
"No, listen." He insisted, stopping us. He held me by my shoulders and said, "Whatever she says is irrelevant to me. I know you'd tell me the truth."
I smiled, grabbing his hand and walking to the lobby. In the elevator, I couldn't help myself so I kissed him lightly.
"No PDA." He whispered, when I pulled back.
We both disliked kissing or doing anything of the sort in public. We liked our love to be private, since that was the only thing that wasn't spread all over media.
"I know, but-" I whispered back, but he stopped me with another kiss.
When he pulled back this time, I raised my eyebrows.
"What's gotten into you?" I said, not hiding that I was pleased with his action.
"Want me to stop?" He teased, getting closer to me.
I smiled as he closed the space between us, but the ring of the elevator interrupted us.

When we got to our room, I went straight to the couch. I wanted to see what she had to say. I wasn't afraid anymore.
"I'm pleased to say that we have Lexi Fausse with us here today. She will be on after the break, so stay put if you don't want to miss Y/N's best friend reveal a huge secret. See you after the break!" A lady announced.
Gossip shows disgusted me. They basically lived off being nosy. Harry sat next to me as he heard the television.
During the ads, Harry said nothing. Words weren't necessary. I rested my head on his lap while he stroked my hair. But as soon as Lexi appeared on screen, I sat up immediately. 

"Hello, Lexi. We're so excited to have you here." The interviewer greeted.
"Hi. I'm so happy to be here. I love your show and I just can't believe it! Thank you so much." Lexi replied sweetly.
She hated these type of shows as much as I did. I sighed. What had she turned into?
"Well. The thing is. My favorite had always been Harry. But Y/N just ignored it. She wanted to be with Harry so badly, she forgot about me. Her best friend. And when she told me she was going out with him, I just had to accept it. She didn't give me a chance to tell her that I had a crush on her new boyfriend. And I met Harry before her. We had really hit it off, but then when she appeared." Lexi spoke.
With each word she said, the angrier I got.
"She just took him away from you." The interviewer ended for her.
Lexi nodded sadly.
I clenched my teeth, turning off the TV and throwing the remote across the room.
"Is it true?" Harry asked me.
I shook my head.
"She told me her favorite was Niall! She never told me she liked you, Haz." I said, biting my lip.
Harry took me into his arms as we thought about the whole situation.
"Wait. Remember when we were already going out, that Lexi started acting strange around me?" Harry remembered, sitting up.
My eyes widened.
"Yeah, she confessed liking you! How could I not remember?" I groaned, putting a hand on my forehead as I realized.
"Exactly. But she said it was a phase. Because she had broken up with her boyfriend or something like that." Harry added.
I looked at him.
"Do you think? No, it can't be." I said, shaking my head.
"But it would all make sense, Y/N. Think about it for a moment." Harry insisted.
"She recently broke up with Jake, I guess. But we don't know for sure. Because I found them making out before I left." I told him.
"But that doesn't mean anything. We both know Lexi doesn't stay with a guy for too long." Harry reminded.
"I don't know, Harry. I don't know what she's planning. But it won't be pretty." I sighed.
"We'll get through it, I promise." He replied, holding my hand.

Later, Harry left to the arena. I stayed because I had uni work to do. But Lexi was still on my mind. She never told me she was seeing Jake? Why was that? Was she planning to use him against me the whole time?
I decided to get to work. I had already failed an exam, I didn't need to fail another one. But a knock on the door startled me.