as it is || harry styles au

eleven

tw // talk of rape

i v o r y

It'd been five days since I talked to Mom. Five days of avoiding her. That meant spending less time with Jamie, too, as a consequence.

     But I couldn't talk about it again. I physically, mentally, and emotionally couldn't talk any more about the past—with Anne, with Harry, with Mom, with anyone. And if saying that little made me feel this sick, I don't know how the truth could ever come out.

     "Good evening, can I—Oh, Will."

     "Hey, Ive —Ivory."

     Will being one of my customers at work was not on my bingo sheet for the day. The last time I'd seen him was days ago at Harry's place after the pepper spraying fiasco when he'd interrupted a pretty tense conversation between the two of us.

"Are you meeting anyone?" I asked for the sake of preparing mentally for seeing another family member of his.

He shook his head, drawing my attention to his shortly cut hair that reminded me of when Harry used to cut his own hair super short in an attempt to hide the slight curls to his hair. "Nope. Only me. I wanted to actually talk for a little if that's alright? I know you're working, but you're pretty busy otherwise."

Will was harmless—and I truly believed that. He would always be the little brother I never had. But I was still overly cautious since the last time someone tried to "talk" to me at work.

"You're not going to interrogate me are you?"

"Not interrogate you, no." He winced. "I heard about the Lena thing. I know she came off really strong, but she means well. You'd like her."

I laughed. "I'm sure I would if I wasn't being grilled by her."

He nervously scratched the back of his neck. "So, can we talk?"

"Can I ask what about first?"

"I don't want you to feel unwelcome in Camden because of what happened with you and Harry. Our family still loves you, and—"

"Will, I appreciate what you're doing, but you don't have to try and make me feel better. I've talked to Alden. He's not a fan of me, and I don't blame him. Harry and I wont..." I took a deep breath to push through the truth, "...won't ever be friends. That's just the reality."

I noticed his knee start bouncing up and down under the table. He looked like he was going to start to say more, but he stopped himself and stared hard down at the table. After several seconds of silence, he said, defeated, "Can I just get a coffee to-go, please?"

I nodded. "Of course."

...

"Two sangrias, please."

I raised my eyebrows. "Okay, we're starting off strong?"

Zuri turned back to the bartender. "And two shots of Calzadores, please."

I stand corrected.

Zuri had convinced me that since I'd already missed Jamie's bedtime because of work, I'd might as well go out with her so that we could finally catch up.