Shades Of Styles

My friends ex

"Harry...we can't," I sigh and slightly push against his chest. As much as I want to pursue this because I know I have feelings for him, I just know I can't. He pulls away from me but keeps his eyes locked on mine.

"Why not?" He asks, searching my eyes as if the answer is in them.

"Liz..." I say like it's obvious because it is. They've only been broken up for a couple of months and Liz is my friend. I can't do this to her.

"What about her? We broke up like 6 weeks ago. I'm over her." He shrugs.

"She's still my friend, I can't do that to her." I tell him.

"You call her your friend? Between you and me, she doesn't like you." He confesses. What is he talking about? I know Liz can be mean sometimes but I didn't think she didn't like me.

"How do you know?" I question him.

"She told me."

"Why would she hang out with me if she didn't like me?" I push back. I think he's just saying that to convince me he's right.

"I don't want to be mean (Y/N) but...do you ever remember a time that she hung out with you outside of our group?" Our friend group consists of Liz, Harry, and I, Harry's friend Niall and our other friend Shaylee. Though I know I've always been a bit closer to Shaylee, Harry and Niall and Liz always seemed to gravitate towards Harry and Shaylee, I honestly thought that we were all just hanging out together. Though after Liz and Harry's breakup, Liz hasn't really hung out with the rest of us. But Shaylee has been spending time with Liz.

Liz and I never seemed to connect outside of the group, barely even speaking to one another unless the other three were around but I never really processed that maybe it was because she genuinely didn't like me. Back in the beginning, the group was just Harry and Liz who were going out before I entered the group. Shaylee and Liz were friends and then I met Shaylee and then we became friends. Then Harry started bringing in his friend Niall. For the last year or so, it's been the five of us.

Liz always seemed to have mixed feelings about me because I think she saw me as a threat to her relationship but I would have never tried to get in between them. Though they fought a lot and I always wanted to say something but I never did because I didn't want to overstep. With all the fighting, they never broke up until recently.

"I guess not but still...we're all friends. It would affect the group." I point out.

"Who cares about that...I like you a lot." He admits and my heart flutters.

"I like you too Harry but this..." I motion between the two of us. "Just can't happen."

"What if I told you the reason we broke up was because of my feelings for you...and the feelings I know you have for me?"

His words leave me silenced as I wait for him to call his own bluff but after a minute or so I realize he isn't.

"Why do you think Liz hasn't been around? I told her I had feelings for you that I couldn't ignore anymore and she broke it off with me." He admits even more.

I'm quiet for a moment as I try to process everything I've just found out. It takes me a while to realize I've been looking everywhere except at him and I finally meet his eyes again. That's when I realize I'm too overwhelmed to deal with this and I need time to think.

"I have to go." I stand up and head towards the door.

"(Y/N)..." He calls, quickly getting to his feet.

"I just...need some time, okay? To think." I say as I turn around to stop him from stopping me. He grabs my hand and pulls it to his chest, his face twisting into confusion.