Arcane

chapter 19

I walk downstairs after Harry, seeing Anne set up for the small party. She looked up and saw me, a big smile appearing on her face "Oh Ember! You look beautiful" She yelled out, coming in to hug me. She seems to like hugs a lot I guess. I hugged her back and smiled, "It's not too much?" I thought it seemed a bit fancy for a 'small get together' but Anne shook her head. "No I think it's perfect" She looked at Harry and patted his cheek, "See? Told you she would look perfect" Harry's eyes widened for a second before blushing and looking down.

Had he asked Anne to choose something for me to wear? Did he talk about me a lot? And about what?

I decided not to push it, walking past them and into the kitchen, seeing Gemma. We didn't talk a lot but she was always around so we knew each other as kids, "Hey!" I said, seeing her look up from her phone, a smile on her face. "Ember, hey! How are you" I walked towards her, leaning against the counter. "I've been good, crazy to be back here. What about you?"

"Everything's great, is that the dress Harry and Anne were talking about a few days ago?" She asked, pointing to my dress. I gave her a confused look, pushing my eyebrows together "What do you mean?" She grabbed a few chips from the bowls on the counters, popping one in her mouth. "He was rambling about you wearing a dress for the party, but couldn't make up which one so he bought a bunch. Anne and him were arguing about which one would look better but that one won I guess" She received a phone call and excused herself, leaving me stunned in the kitchen.

I thought this was an older dress he had found somewhere, I didn't think he would go out of his way to buy me a dress. A bunch of dresses.

I felt a tap on my shoulder, making me jump. I turned around to see Harry, an embarrassed smile on his face "Hey you" I smiled, tilting my head. "Hey sorry about my mum.. and sister" I felt a blush on my cheeks, "Were you eavesdropping My. Styles ?" I said with a sly smile, his eyes growing a bit wide as he shook his head, "No- No I didn't mean to. I was just kind of there and-" I looked around quickly making sure no one could see us and pushed my lips against Harrys, shutting him up. His eyebrows shot up, not expecting this but quickly melted into the slow kiss.

I pulled back, not knowing where this new found confidence came from. "Thanks" I chuckled, quickly pecking him again as we walked into the living room where a few guests had arrived.

----

This party has been, how do I put this nicely? Fucking terrible.

It had started out amazing, Harry not leaving my side as we mingled through the crowd. Of course it got awkward for a second where some people asked us how long we had been together and both of us had to explain that we're just friends, which confused me even more about what we were. But things were fine after that, until this one girl showed up.

And before I say anything, I don't know her at all, so I don't want this to be my first impression of her. But she was making it really hard to stay cool. We were walking to an old friend of ours from Primary School as a tall, skinny, blonde girl with legs up to my waist walked in. Tight black shimmery skirt and white tank top, tequila bottle in hand. I felt Harry tense besides me,

"Hey, you okay? Want to say hi to her?" Before Harry could respond she walked up to us, glancing at me for a second before giving Harry a huge smile and brought her hands to his, making him hug her as she squeezed his neck. "Hi bubs! I've missed you" She said, kissing his cheek and glaring at me. I creased my eyebrows, shaking my head slightly, confused about the interaction happening in front of me. She pulled back and intertwined her and Harry's fingers looking up at him then me, "Aren't you going to introduce me to your friend bubs?"

I cringed at the nickname she called him, looking at Harry who wouldn't meet my eyes. He rubbed the back of his neck with his hands, motioning to me as we talked. "Alicia, this is Ember. A friend from New York, I knew her back in Primary" It didn't bother me before as he called me his friend, but now it really does.

"Oh!" Alicia yelled out in fake amusement, "New York? That's so interesting, I've always wanted to visit" She smiled, "Yeah, I came from there to visit Harry this week" I said, not taking my eyes off of him as I talked, but could still see Alicia's smile falter for a second. "A week? Where are you staying?"

"Here"

I swear her eyes almost popped out of her head, and I pursed my lips trying not to smile. "You're staying.. here?" She looked back up at Harry who looked at the ground who seemed to want to be swallowed up by it. "Yup, in the guest bedroom" He said, still not looking at me.

Alicia rolled her shoulders, cracking her neck and handing me the tequila bottle. "Here can you take this? Me and Hare Bear are going for a lap" I frowned at the nickname again, watching as they walked away, Harry not even looking back at me.

What the fuck just happened? He had a girlfriend? He was in a relationship? The thought alone made me nauseas, he had kissed me, I had kissed him, we had cuddled in my home. I shook my head, blinking away the few tears that had collected in my eyes, looking down at the bottle Alicia had handed me.

Might as well.