The Elites

Epilogue

I still wasn't used to heads turning wherever I went. Most people had the courtesy not to take out their phone and take a picture and mutter holy crap that's Harry Eastbourne to the person sitting next to them loud enough for me to hear.

I had hoped that the café was remote enough to not garner any attention, but I knew I had to stop thinking that way. It didn't matter how remote any place was, somehow I'd be spotted. So as I opened the door and the bell chimed and the eyes slowly started to flicker and widen as they realised who had walked in, I did my best to casually make my way through the aisles of tables to the one I was looking for.

In a booth towards the far end of the café sat Lara, Will and Blair. They all smiled up at me as I slid into the seat beside Blair. They'd already ordered me a coffee.

"What happened this time, get chased on a moped again?" Lara laughed, sprinkling a packet of sugar into her tea. Three empty packets already lay strewn on the table. She had said her pregnancy cravings involved tons of sugar.

"Nope, reporters on foot actually," I said. "One of them fell flat on his face. Quite amusing, really. Where's Ashton?"

"With Stasia," Lara said. "Apparently he found a couple of old case files that could help."

"Clearly they can handle it without me," I said, shrugging and taking a sip of my coffee.

"On the contrary," Will said, wagging a finger at me. "I just got a message from Mr Hetley asking where you were. You might want to check your phone."

"Or maybe I shouldn't," I said, already starting to run through excuses I could use in my head. It was hard to believe we were still working on the same case as before, but working closer with the police had really helped further the investigation. There'd been a team working on any possible links between Violet and anyone else that would want to continue her work but nothing had come up. Unlike during the bad period, the Agency had decided that more than one incompetent idiot was necessary to make sure we were safe from another attack.

"So what's new, Eastbourne?" Will asked. "Slept with any more psychopaths as of late?"

As dark as it seemed, Violet jokes had become all too common since that night in the hall. I was extremely tempted to say not unless Stasia has a diagnosis I don't know about but I bit my tongue. Lara, however, seemed to be able to read my mind as she snorted into her tea. Of course she'd know about it. Stasia has never been able to keep her trap shut.

"What's so funny?" Blair asked, and Lara waved it away, grinning at me in a torturous way. I raised my eyebrows at her in a if you say it out loud I'll kill you ha ha ha way.

"Nothing," I said quickly. "I heard that they've officially shut the hall down."

"Probably turning it into a bloody museum," Will said. "And here we have the lodging room still filled with poisonous gas that had Harry, Will, Stasia and Juliet in the hospital being detoxified for hours. And over there is the bloodstain from where Harry nearly knocked Chase Gordon's jaw away from the rest of his face."

"Wouldn't put it past them," Lara said, shifting slightly in her seat. "I'm going to get some more sugar."

"I'll get it," I offered, already standing up.

"Sit your ass down, boy," she laughed, swinging her legs over and heaving herself upwards, clinging onto the table for support. "I still have legs."

It was a wonder how Lara had even managed to slide into the booth to begin with: I'd never realised how much bigger women pregnant with twins were compared to the average pregnant woman.

It'd been seven months since that night in the hall and I hadn't left the country a single time. I still didn't read the papers but I let myself be seen a lot more than I used to. It was too much effort to stay hidden, especially as the paparazzi had stepped up their game considerably since the whole thing. While I was still very much focused on my work, an even bigger task for me had been rebuilding the friendships I'd lost over the years. I was visiting the Agency headquarters a lot more frequently which gave me a more general profile to everyone I worked with. I'd been meeting up with Will, Blair, Lara and even Ashton as much as I could, which was a large step up from the odd day I'd have a month when I was practically living in America. Even people like Chase and Dexter were being nicer to me. It seemed like the events at the hall had changed their attitudes significantly in every way imaginable.

At first it had been weird hanging out with Lara and Ashton. If someone had told me a year ago I'd be sat at Will and Blair's home laughing and joking with the my ex-girlfriend and her husband I'd almost indirectly killed I'd have punched them in the nose for trying to be funny. But now I truly felt like we were friends, and sometimes it was still hard to believe I could call Lara or Ashton a friend again. My run in with her brother had been an interesting one; I hadn't seen Jared in a long time, and at first I thought he wanted to punch me in the face for what I'd done to his sister all those years ago. But instead he'd clasped my hand and pulled me into what Lara had called a bro hug, thanking me for saving his family.

I was taking Lara's advice from down in the hall's basement and using it to the fullest. Version 5 Harry was a very happy person indeed.

A/N: Aaaaaand that's my story! I can't describe how proud I am of this book as the characters have been my babies for around 8 years now. Harry, Lara, Will and Blair fore-fronted the fantasy world I created as a kid and practically lived in and, with the addition of Ashton about a year and a half ago, over time their situations evolved into this. Please let me know what you thought as nothing makes me happier than reading comments, especially with a story so close to my heart! Thank you for reading, and consider checking out my other book "Outcasts" here on Wattpad! :D

Oh, and one more note. A frequent belief I see is that Ezra is actually Harry's child. This is not the case. Harry and Lara really did not have any contact until the night that this story takes place and Lara was already pregnant by Will and Blair's wedding. Ezra is 100% Ashton's child! Just needed to clear that up!