Fleur (Harry Styles)

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It had been about a week since Harry and Violet had spoken. Other than the stray "good morning" text here and there, the two hadn't been able to sync up for any real conversation. Violet was booked solid with meetings and book reviews that needed to be written. Harry was in and out of the studio, on and off of talk shows. The time difference between LA and NYC certainly didn't make things any easier.

It scared Harry how quickly the two of them had fallen out of rhythm. Between Tara and the distance, he didn't know how much longer Violet would be willing to put up with him. Speaking of Tara, she and Harry had been plastered all over magazine covers and talk shows. Violet had deleted all of her social media apps just to avoid the photos. The first few that she'd seen made her stomach turn. Harry looked genuinely happy. It bothered her that she wasn't the one making him smile like that.

She had to push all of those thoughts to the back of her head. She was busy at work and didn't have time to dwell on her secret relationship with Harry. She hated to admit it, but she hadn't made a real effort to make herself available to him this week. It was just easier for her to pretend nothing was happening – that there was nothing to talk about. She told herself that she'd call him back once she turned in her final book review. But here was, about to send off the last of them. She hovered over the 'send' button momentarily, knowing that life would slow down as soon as she pressed it. When life slowed down, she had to deal with her feelings. Violet wasn't always the best at that.

Click.

* *

Harry was stressed out. He'd hardly heard from Violet and it really felt like she had been avoiding him all week. He knew that she was busy, but she was barely even responding to his texts – and when she did, she never made an effort to continue the conversation.

He looked at his watch as he tapped his foot eagerly. It was nearing 5:30 on the East Coast which meant that Violet could be getting home any minute. He couldn't wait for this meeting to end. It was a Friday, so he felt like this might be his best shot to get her on the line. She'd promised him yesterday that she'd call once all of her articles had been turned in.

As soon as Ben stopped talking, Harry said goodbye and rushed out the door as nonchalantly as possible. That meeting could've been an email, he thought to himself as he scurried out of the building.

As soon as he pulled into his driveway he beelined for his front door, dialing her number before he'd even unlocked it.

In New York, Violet had just curled up on her sofa with a cup of chamomile tea. She was relaxing before she hopped in the shower to get ready for her night out with friends. She'd been so wrapped up in work and Harry that she hadn't really seen any of her friends. She'd barely even gotten Nora up to date with everything that was going on.

One morning she woke up to a link to a TMZ article of Tara and Harry accompanied by a few choice words from her best friend. Nora had thought that Harry was cheating on Violet. This made her wonder – could Harry cheat on her? After all, they hadn't had any conversation regarding the exclusivity of their relationship. She certainly didn't plan on seeing anyone else, but could the same be said for Harry? She thought so, but she wasn't quite sure.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the buzzing of her phone. Harry's name flashed across her screen and as much as she'd been dreading the call, she couldn't deny the sense of relief that washed over her upon hearing his voice.

"Finally," he said on the other end of the line. You could practically hear his grin through the phone. "I've been waiting to hear that voice all week."

"Have you?" Violet questioned from the other end.

"Haven't been able to stop thinking about it," he mused.