V

Part 7

I avoided his gaze and stared at my plate. I leaned in my seat to whisper to Mikayla.
"Can we go to the bathroom?" I pleaded.
She nodded and we quickly walked away from our table. I entered hoping the stalls would be empty but I was never a lucky person. Not wanting anybody to hear us, we left the toilets and stood in the hallway that separated the ladies and gents.
"He's here." I sighed.
"Where? I didn't even notice."
"He's a few tables behind you. It would've been so romantic if we both weren't on a date." I giggled, leaning against the wall.
We quieted down as people exited the restrooms.
"Was he with Kendall?" Mikayla asked as soon as we were alone again.
"I don't know. The chair was empty-"
"Y/N?"
We turned to see Kendall walking towards us.
"Hey." I greeted.
"Where you waiting for the bathroom? I think it's empty now."
"I just wanted to reapply my lipstick." Mikayla spoke up.
Kendall nodded.
"See you around." I smiled, taking Mikayla's hand and walking in to the bathroom for the second time.
"Why do we always get stuck in weird situations?" I groaned.
"So she's with Harry. Come on, she probably is back with him by now." Mikayla started for the door.
"Wait. Can we switch seats? I don't want to be facing him."
"I wish we could. But I don't think management would be happy with me next to Niall."
"Or me next to Brad." I reasoned.
"I'll make sure we leave soon." Mikayla reassured.
As we walked back to our table, I couldn't help but glance over at his table which was surprisingly empty. Relieved, I looked to our seats to find four people there. The nightmare was far from over.
"Y/N, look who we found!" Niall exclaimed.
I should've told him about Harry.
I took my seat, sandwiched between Kendall and Niall.
"Yeah, we saw Kendall in the bathroom. Didn't we, M?" I offered Kendall a smile, ignoring Harry completely.
Mikayla started a conversation with Kendall and Harry. I turned to listen to Brad and Niall, who rested his arm on the back of my chair.
"Why haven't you touched your dessert? It's your favorite part of every meal." Niall asked.
"I'm kinda full." I lied.
Niall looked into my eyes, sensing something was off. Embarrassed, I avoided his silent pleading to see if anyone was watching us. Thankfully they were invested in their own conversations. I turned back to Niall, offering him my spoon.
"I'm gonna have to feed you?" He chuckled.
"No! You can eat my dessert." I laughed.
Niall dug in and jokingly offered me a spoonful.
"Nope. Here, I'll feed you." I giggled, taking the spoon from him.
A throat clearing interrupted our laughter. Harry slowly set down his glass, coughing slightly.
"Are you okay?" I asked, concerned.
Our eyes met once again. He nodded, tensing his jaw. The more we stared at each other, the harder I felt I was falling despite everything we'd gone through.
"Well, it's been a lovely night but Y/N and I have a long day tomorrow so." Mikayla to the rescue.
We said a general goodbye to everyone and as we walked towards the exit, my name was called.
"Brad, I should go." I said, meeting him halfway down the foyer.
"We haven't had a chance to talk about this."
"I know, I-"
"I just wanted to tell you that I hope this doesn't change where we left things at the party." Brad confessed.
"It won't. Promise." I smiled, rubbing his shoulder.
"See you soon." He smiled.

"Hey Y/N, it's Dave. Just checking in, you girls are doing great. People loved seeing the 1D boys together. Maybe we should arrange more dates including Harry? We'll talk soon. Take care of yourselves."
I rolled my eyes, setting my phone down.
"At least we're doing something right." Mikayla chuckled.
"I don't know if I'm looking forward to seeing Harry more often."
"Of course you aren't. Did you notice his body language last night?"
I shook my head, waiting for her to go on.
"So tense. His hands were in fists and he cracked his knuckles. And I didn't buy the choking, he was jealous of Niall."
"You think so?"
"I loved seeing you happy and giggling. I'm sure he saw it too." She shrugged.
"I honestly was considering telling Niall about Harry and I when I saw them sitting at our table." I laughed.
"Niall is so oblivious sometimes. Anyway, what did Brad tell you before we left?"
"I think he wanted to let me know that he's still interested in me? No offense."
She was in a relationship, although fake, with him.
"None taken, girl! You deserve the attention you're receiving.I love that for you."
"What would I do without you?" I smiled, hugging.
"Let's start brainstorming. This album isn't gonna write itself!" Mikayla laughed.
We quieted down, making room for our ideas. Being alone with my thoughts, I processed the whole situation I had gotten myself into. I rewinded up to the meeting with management. Being so distracted with Harry, rethinking our relationship, the phone call. The phone call. Harry called me. I got so caught up in breaking things off that I had totally forgotten. He called me because he wanted to tell me something. And now, there was no way of knowing.
"You're zoning out again, Y/N."
I looked up to see Mikayla staring back at me.
"I've been trying to get your attention for the past two minutes. What's up?"
I explained my realization.
"Are you sure it wasn't about Kendall?" Mikayla reasoned.
I shrugged.
"He sounded happy. It felt like things were back to normal. Before this whole mess." I said, lost in thought.
My phone buzzed. Niall.
"Looks like we have a double date for lunch." I smiled, looking up at Mikayla.
She checked her phone to see if she had gotten a message. She was staring at the screen.
"Is there anything wrong?" I asked.
"I-I'm not invited. You're not going on a double date with me." Mikayla frowned.
"So much for Dave just checking in." I scoffed.
"Think of this as an opportunity." Mikayla pointed out.
"What's so great about seeing Harry again?"
"You can check if he's still into you. I bet he's still jealous." She reminded.
"I'll need a fire outfit then." I smirked.