V

Part 5

Harry's lips were on mine before I could even finish. I savored the feeling of having his body pressed against mine, his hands caressing my face to pull me even closer to him. When we finally pulled apart, we were out of breath.
"What was that for?" I asked shyly.
"I just saw you and-"
Those words clicked fast in my head.
"Were you jealous?"
"No. I just missed you. We haven't seen each other in a while."
"So you just had to pull me out of there for a kiss?"
"I can give you more than a kiss." Harry replied, getting closer.
I raised a hand to his chest to stop him.
"You can't do that anymore. I'm not here to meet your needs. It's a mutual thing, remember?"
"Why are you so bothered? Are you interested in him?"
"What if I was?" I defied.
"I'm supposed to be the upset one here." He whispered.
"What are you even-"
"Harry?"
We looked to see Kendall standing at the end of the hallway.
"You should go." I whispered to him, seeing he had company.
"Could you give us a minute?" Harry asked Kendall.
She turned around as if she hadn't been there, returning to wherever she came from.
"Y/N, I'm not only attracted to your body. I need you to know that."
"You don't get to do this right now. Not when you told me you brought me here because you missed me."
I walked away from him and back to the bustle of the party. I felt numb. The conversation with Harry had taken a wrong turn, but it kept replaying in my head. My chest felt tighter by the minute. I needed fresh air. Instead of going to the back yard where the party continued, I opted for the front yard. I rested my hands on my knees and focused on my breathing.
"Y/N!" Mikayla called out as she rushed to my side. Her soothing hand on back made me feel alleviated.
I turned to look at her, only to see Niall not too far behind.
"Are you alright?" He asked.
I nodded.
"I think we should go home." Mikayla suggested.
"No, stay. I can go on my own. I don't want to ruin your night." I fought back.
"You won't change my mind." She warned.
"Niall, can you please tell Brad I'm sorry?"
"Don't worry, I'll tell him. Now go home." He replied, kissing my forehead.

Back in the comfort of our home, Mikayla helped me into bed.
She sat by side to hand me a glass of water.
"You know I love you, but I have to tell you this even if it hurts." Mikayla started.
I sighed, knowing that the words she was about to pronounce were true.
"You've gotta end whatever is going on between you and Harry. It's taken a toll on you."
"I know. But it's not easy. Here I was thinking I could start meeting people and he comes in and sweeps me off my feet in a second." I shrugged. I was helpless.
"You've got to do this, Y/N. For your own wellbeing." Mikayla insisted.
"Yeah. I'll do it. But maybe tomorrow." I smiled, cuddling into my pillow.

"Rise and shine!" Mikayla sang as she entered my bedroom with a tray in her hands.
"What time is it anyway?" I groaned, sitting up.
"An unreasonable one. But management wanted to have an urgent meeting so I brought you breakfast." She replied with a smile, sitting beside me.
"When do we leave?" I asked, grabbing my mug.
"As soon as possible. Do you think we're in trouble?" She pondered.
"Hopefully not?" I tried.
As the coffee drank up my drowsiness, a new thought started clouding my mind. I had to cut things off with Harry.
"Come on, Y/N. Get dressed before they start calling us." Mikayla got up, grabbed the tray and left me alone with my thoughts.

Mikayla and I sat down in a conference room with four other people. The meeting started with technicalities, my attention quickly dissipating and moving on to think about Harry.
I had sent him a text before we left saying we needed to talk about what had happened at the party. My eyes wandered to the black screen on the table looking up at me.
"So shall we discuss the party?" Dave, our manager, suggested.
"What about it?" Mikayla asked.
"It's been all over social media. People love seeing celebrities together." He continued.
"Okay. Why are we here." I shrugged, still not understanding why we were at the meeting.
"Those mini performances on the dance floor were great." Someone chimed in.
"Harry's was great." An intern gushed.
I rolled my eyes at the mention of his name.
"A bit of a rocky start but the rest was amazing." Dave admitted.
I rested my head on my hand. This was going to be a long meeting.
"Y/N, do you want to know which performance everyone's talking about the most?" Dave asked, trying to get my attention.
"I'll bite. Which one?"
"Yours. With Niall."
I nodded, trying to sound interested. Couldn't this be said in an email?
"Oh and Mikayla, everyone was talking about your costume. Especially..."
Time to zone out. I could've been sleeping! I focused on my phone again, hoping it would light up with a love confession. But he wouldn't do that. Not for me.
"The chemistry was undeniable." Dave assured.
"Yup, definitely." I replied, not knowing what I was agreeing to.
"So then it's settled? Last chance to say no. You can sleep on it if you want." Dave warned, looking at both of us.
"I'm game if Y/N is. As long as the pros outweigh the potential hate." Mikayla replied, offering me a smile.
So maybe I should have paid attention. But Harry's caller ID popping up on my phone pressured me into making a decision.
"Yeah, I'm cool with it. Sorry, I gotta take this." I smiled, grabbing my phone and leaving the room.
"Harry. I think we should meet up as soon as you can." I sighed.
"Yeah, I agree. I have something to tell you."
"What's it about?" I blurted. Why did I even care? I was gonna dump him as my FWB.
"I'd rather tell you in person."
Goodbye peace of mind. Was he going to break things off first? Was he going official with Kendall?
"Alright. How about after lunch?" I suggested.
"Sounds great. Why don't you come round?"
"I'll be there at 3PM. I should go, I'm in a meeting." I giggled nervously.
"Don't let me distract you then. See you later." Harry chuckled.
Although our conversation felt strained at first, I felt giddy as I hung up. As if we weren't meeting for me to end things, as if he actually had good news.
I walked towards the conference room but the door swung open before I had a chance to touch the knob.
"We're all done here, Y/N. This is your copy of the contract. Mikayla's already signed it." Dave informed me, handing me a stack of papers.
"Thanks. Sorry for leaving like that." I apologized.
"No worries. Sign my copy so this is settled, please."
I quickly signed on his clipboard.
"Done. This shouldn't be too difficult for you, you're friends after all." Dave smiled.
I smiled back. I would look like a fool if I said I didn't know what the hell we were talking about.
"Y/N, let's go home. I'm so excited to start working on our next album." Mikayla greeted, linking her arm with mine.
Saved by the bell.
"Bye, Dave. Thanks for everything." I waved at him.