CASUAL • Harry Lewis/w2s

two - edited

Friday, later that week, I was throwing a little gathering. The Sidemen and all of our friends hadn't spent much time together recently, so I eventually came to the conclusion that it was necessary.

People were invited to begin arriving at twenty. I was therefore a little taken aback when someone knocked on my door at 19:45. I assumed it would be Talia and Simon since they had texted me a while back saying they would be here early. After walking over, I opened my front door. It wasn't Simon and Talia.

It was Charlie.

"What are you doing here?!" I snapped at him. "How did you get in here?"

"You invited me," He reasoned. "And your neighbour got here at the same time as me so he just let me in."

"You were invited when we were together, we are not together anymore," I sneered. "I would like you to leave."

Of course, he didn't listen, and we continued to argue back and forth at the door until a few people arrived. Charlie used that as a chance to slip inside.

I broke up with Charlie that day when Harry dropped me off. Charlie was ranting on about me hooking up with one of the sidemen, and I decided to end it that day because I could no longer stand it.

Music was playing in the background and conversation was breaking out as people started arriving at my flat. I turned my kitchen into a bar where anybody could come and use whatever ingredients I had set out on the kitchen island to create drinks.

I was sat talking with Faith on my couch. She and Ethan had trouble finding a babysitter for Olive, so they were almost unable to attend tonight. Fortunately, a friend of theirs agreed at the last minute to babysit her.

While we talked, I kept feeling like I was being watched. When I'd look away from my conversation, I'd see Charlie, who was standing diagonal from me, eyeing me. His expression was a strange blend of annoyance and something else I couldn't pinpoint. He was talking with Harry weirdly enough, giving Harry was probably the person who Charlie liked the least.

I headed to the kitchen to make another drink. I ended up joining a conversation between Vik, Randy, and JJ in the kitchen. JJ was telling a ridiculous story in his typical exaggerated way. I stayed with them a bit before I decided to go outside on my small balcony to get some fresh air. I leaned against the railing looking out over London. I heard the door open behind me, so I turned to see who had joined me.

"Glad you could come tonight." I smiled seeing it was Harry.

To be honest, Harry looked good tonight. He had dressed a little fancier than usual. He was wearing blue trousers and a short-sleeved navy polo shirt.

"Me too, this was very needed for all of us," He said sitting down on a stool beside me. Given his drunkenness, Harry made an effort to maintain self-control. "Oh and love your new flat!"

Harry had never seen my new flat before, even though I had given a housewarming party here a long time ago.

"Thank you, Harry." I said softly, looking over at some buildings, letting my mind wander off.

I had always been close to Harry. Before we allowed the fans to get to us, we would hang around for several days every week. Fans had been talking about me dating one of the Sidemen boys since the beginning of the group, and when we were under Corona in 2020, they were certain that Harry and I were dating or at least hooking up. We both let the fans get to us, which caused us to drift apart. Me 3 years ago would have been shocked to know Harry wasn't the first to see my new flat.

Despite us drifting apart, our friendship remained strong. However, I don't think things will ever return to how they were. Due to these old rumours, Charlie was convinced throughout our whole relationship that I had something with Harry, which is why he hates him.

"What's bothering you?" Harry asked, breaking the silence I hadn't even noticed.

"Hm?"

"You seem kinda distant tonight, something's clearly bothering you."

He still knew me so well.

Debating whether or not to tell him, I remained silent for a minute. Harry was already looking up at me as I looked down at him.

"I broke up with Charlie on tuesday

"What?!" Harry sputtered, he looked confused. "After I dropped you off?"

"Yeah, and the asshole still had the audacity to show up," I replied, downing the rest of my drink.

"He's a fucking toad, Maisie,"

"Yup, I realised that too late," I said.

We stayed in comfortable silence, both of us gazing out over London. Until Harry broke it again. "I think I will go inside, wanna come?" He asked as he stood up.

My balcony was not very large. There was just enough room for a small table and a folding chair, to be exact. Since the table took up most of the space, we stood very close when he got up. He was so close that I could smell him. And he smelled damn good.

He stood staring down at me waiting for an answer. "Yeah, of course."

We stood for a few seconds keeping eye contact with each other before he reached up to tug my hair behind my ear. "I miss us sometimes, Missy."