IV

Part 34

"Remember, I'll be there soon. Good luck. We'll Skype every night, alright? I love you." Harry whispered in my ear as we hugged.
"I'm gonna miss you. I love you more." I replied, giving him a kiss before getting into the car.
Mike got in next to me. He would be with me during my stay in London. Harry had wanted it that way. I watched Harry wave goodbye with a smile, but it faded as soon as I lost sight of him. Mike put his hand on my knee, trying to comfort me. But I didn't say a word because nothing he could say to me would make Harry be by my side. It was useless.
I just glumly looked out the window as we passed thousands of streets, all meaningless to me now. How was I going to study these next few days? My phone buzzed. I picked up, not even checking who was calling.
"Hello."
"Y/N, come on. Remember what we talked about? We're just one week away from being together. Nothing will separate us from that moment on. What happened to my optimistic girlfriend?" He chuckled.
"She got separated from you. Again." I huffed.
"But this time it's only 10 days. I'm only asking you to be positive about it. This is probably the shortest period we'll be apart." Harry insisted.
But I knew what he meant. He was right. I was the one that always cried and pouted and got mad at us not being together. Harry always stayed calm because he wanted me to act the same way.
He once told me that it hurt him even more to see me like that so I always tried to control myself. But not this time. It had been too sudden. I didn't expect to be in London while he was on tour. It was just the same as being at home.
"Y/N, tell me something. You've been silent for too long and I need to hear your voice before I go to rehearsals." Harry interrupted. 
And so I told him what he wanted to hear so he could do well in his rehearsals and the concert later that night.

But it was hard to be without him. The first days were the hardest and the weekend was even worse. But that Saturday, Mike insisted on taking a walk to forget about studying and all our problems in general.
"Fine, but only for a few hours. I really need to study. My first final is on Monday." I agreed.
We went to Trafalgar Square, hoping to mix in with the tourists. After walking around for a while, I pointed out a small café where we could sit outside and enjoy the sun, a rare occasion we had to take advantage of.
Mike decided to stay at the table while I went to the bathroom. The jingle of the door to the café startled me.
"Sorry!" I exclaimed as I bumped into someone.
"Y/N?"
"Jake? What are you doing here?" I asked, shocked. This was Lexi's-secret-boyfriend Jake.
"Oh, well. I don't know what Lexi told you but when I found out you left uni to study over here, I felt like I wanted to do the same. So I'm studying at a business school here in London." He explained.
"Oh. Cool. Are you and Lexi-" I started.
"Oh no. She broke up with me. I also left home cause I needed something to distract me. Everything reminded me of her." He interrupted.
I nodded awkwardly.
What was I supposed to reply to that?
"Here's my number." He said, grabbing a napkin and scribbling quickly.
"In case you wanna catch up." He smiled, hugging me and handing me the napkin.
I watched him leave, still confused at what had just happened. 

Back at home, I studied until dinnertime and joined Mike.
"You won't believe it." He told me.
What now? He turned on the TV to the gossip channel.
"Apparently Y/N has been seeing someone new in London. Our sources say that the couple went their separate ways. Harry's in Dublin and Y/N, as we said before, is in London. She was spotted with this man this afternoon." The voice spoke while images of Jake appeared on the screen.
"I love how these people jump to conclusions." I sighed, rolling my eyes.
"Don't worry about what they say. They'll always have something to say, even if it's made up." Mike replied, resting his hand on my shoulder.
"I know. But it's hard to ignore it sometimes. Harry doesn't deserve it either."
"I think you deserve some takeout. All that studying probably got you hungry. I'll order, you call Harry. Make sure everything's alright." He smiled before leaving to the kitchen.
But I knew the call was mostly for me. To make sure I was doing alright. Harry would just ignore the rumors, like always. I quickly dialled his number and after two rings, he picked up.
"Hey babe. I'm so glad you called. I have some news to share with you." Harry's voice said through the phone.
"Hi! I missed you and I just wanted to check on you, make sure you're doing alright." I lied.
"Don't do that to me, Y/N. I know something's up. Tell me. I'm here for the good and especially the bad." Harry insisted.
"Have you seen what they've been saying about us?" I asked quietly. I was definitely ruining the moment.
Harry had good news and I was crying in a corner.
"Yeah. It's hard to ignore. Paparazzi have been asking me if we broke up all day. I just deny it, they don't need to know every single thing about us. How are you coping?"
I sighed before replying.
"Fine, I guess. It's just that finals, being away from you and now this. It's all stressing me out." I confessed.
"When I get back home, we're gonna do so many fun things you're gonna forget this week completely." Harry promised, earning a laugh from me.
"When are you coming? Please say soon."
"That's what I wanted to talk to you about. I'll be coming home a little later than the boys." Harry revealed.