but the wait will be worth it

chapter forty four

The sirens had woken me up, which was a great way to reassure myself that I was still alive.

Two police cars pulled up into the driveway, chasing the party out of the house and into the street, where hundreds of people intoxicated by alcohol and drugs stumbled back into their cars.

Of course the party had received noise complaints. All good parties end with the cops clearing everyone out. Niall was probably thrilled.

I felt a warm hand in mine as Clara pulled me off of the grass, and tugged my arm all the way until we had both stumbled down the street. We ended up sitting on a curb, waiting for our car to arrive. I didn't expect anything less of the night's end.

It was when Clara began to puke in the street when I had given up and finally just let my eyes rest, before waking up with a halt when realizing I was going to throw up, too.

Finally, all of the alcohol I had been intoxicated with was quickly spilled out into the front lawn of some rich white woman's imitation of a suburban house. That was actually the highlight of my night, to be honest. At least I could see straight at that moment.

After throwing up all that I could, I laid down onto the rough cement and just stared up at the sky. I wasn't so dizzy anymore, but at least I had time to think.

Or not think. My brain was still jumbled around with angry thoughts and confused ones, a mix of almost every emotion.

It was when Clara sat beside me with a white face, eyes glassy and a grave expression, when I finally looked up. She stared for a moment into space before whispering, "that bitch," with gritted teeth.

I turned to face where Clara was looking so intensely, with anger in her eyes to see the girl dressed up as Courtney Love stumbling through the street, silhouetted figure beside her....

Fuck. Not what I needed at the moment.

"Hey!" Clara yelled out from the curb to the two dancing around in the middle of the street. She got up to her feet, a fist building at her right hand.

I stood up as well and the girl walked over. Taking off her mask, her mouth fell open.

"Harry? Harry, oh my god, it's so great to see you!" She rushed over and pulled me into a hug.

"Hi, Emma," I mumbled while standing stiffly in her hold. Kurt Cobain stayed back, pacing around the middle of the street.

Pulling away, I slowly took off my mask as well and gave a small smile. "What are you guys doing here," I asked. Emma started to giggle, as she was clearly still drunk as she tried to get some words out.

"We... flew out yesterday. Louis was invited to the party and he could bring a plus one, so he chose me!" She laughed while jumping up and down and clapping her hands together. I let out a breath before peering to her right to get a glimpse of him.

"Oh, I forgot," she yelled, "you two have a little thing going on. How's that thing going for you, Harry? Maybe if you ask nice enough you could get a kiss from him at the end of the night," she laughed while continuing to bounce around with jitters.

Clara glared at her from beside me. Before she could speak, I rolled my eyes and spoke up.

"Already received one of those, actually," I mumbled and Clara's head turned to face mine. She furrowed her eyebrows as my eyes stayed hotly on him behind Emma.

Finally, he walked over.

"Hey, Haz," he muttered while standing halfway behind Emma as she continued to giggle. I frowned and stared coldly at him.