After the End: Book 3

40. Let the Games Begin

Harry's POV

I woke up alone in my flat which I had expected. Cory wasn't the type to stick around. She'd left me in Manchester as well. Traveling with her had been different, but she had planned to take me everywhere with her back then. I wasn't her responsibility here.

Lux's blanket was draped over me on the sofa. The colors and the soft fabric were so comforting and familiar. When Cory had pulled it out of her backseat while I was tripping out, it had instantly calmed me down some. Then she'd turned on some of that horrible French opera music that really wasn't as bad as I thought and she'd driven me through the city, pointing out pretty lights and talking about things she knew I liked, like flowers and the sand in Malibu and guitar music. Cory put a lot of effort into her trip sitting.

We didn't drive long, but by the time she'd brought me home, I was on the tail end of my peak and I had gotten extremely talkative. She'd opened all the windows to let the warm summer air in and I'd told her about everything with Louis and his sisters and the fact that I was pretty rapidly destroying things. She'd listened without judgment and I'd kept going long beyond a reasonable amount of time. I'd gotten to the subject of Lux and although my voice had remained level, I'd felt tears falling down my face and I didn't bother to address them. Cory continued listening. I just kept going until the comedown had long ended and my eyes couldn't stay open anymore. I'd fallen asleep talking.

Cory had remained on the beanbag a few feet away all night. She didn't touch me and gave me my space and I did everything in my power to try and turn off the fiery nerve feeling. It lessened alongside my high, but truthfully, I didn't begin feeling like my skin was mine until I woke up alone on my sofa that morning.

I peeled myself off the sofa and regarded the empty flat. I lived there again, I was realizing. That was the deal. Now that my sobriety was out there as a big falsity, I wasn't supposed to be at Louis. He'd made that clear the day he brought me home.

With that thought, I wandered down the hall and decided to shower. I wanted to wash away all the remnants of the vulnerability and trauma I'd been wearing the entire night. I stayed in the shower way too long trying to let the scalding water melt off the top layer of my skin and then I remembered what I'd said to Naomi the previous night and felt compelled to make a few apologies. I got out of the shower, found more clothes in the boxes in my room and put on old sweats and a tshirt that Lux had brought home from Paris for me.

Then I found my phone. Cory had plugged it in for me again. I had just settled in a bean bag chair to call her again when I saw the email at the top of the screen from Louis. I had several texts and calls from him that I'd been ignoring, but the email caught my attention. It was from his work email. I thought maybe he was cancelling our meeting, which would make sense considering everything I'd thrown at him, but as I clicked in, I discovered it was quite the opposite.

Louis had just threatened to quit.

"Greeting Colleagues,

As Harry has so eloquently put it, we feel like shit over in the Tomlinson household. Effective immediately, due to personal conflicts we will be mandating changes to the management structure of the the Harry Styles project.

Starting today, the talent will be under the direct supervision of Rebecca Kilada, with myself maintaining manegerial responsibility. Daily progress updates will be necessary, excluding weekends, and team progress meetings will expanded to weekly. In addition to that, the talent will need to enroll in his counseling services and attend weekly Addicts anonymous meetings provided by the tower with signatures to prove attendance and participation.