The Timeline

21.

January 7th, 2015:

Claire had two problems: Harry Styles and how to distance herself from him once and for all.

After six days of deep thinking and many mental breakdowns, Claire had reached the conclusion that that would've been the only solution. No one could accuse her of using him and their friendship to get herself opportunities in the show business if there wasn't a friendship between them anymore.

No matter how much she would've suffered because of it, no matter how hard her heart would've cracked because of it, no matter if she was going to cut off one of the best friendships she had created for herself and no matter the fact that she would've hated herself for doing it. If it would've prevented any rumors from spreading then so be it: Claire couldn't have people thinking she used Harry for fame, and could've even begin to fathom the thought of people thinking Harry was capable of doing those things with someone. It would've been a way to protect the both of them. That way, Claire would be able to prove herself on her own, and then, once she had finally made it, once she was famous, she could've befriended Harry again, having nothing to fear because then they would've been on the same level. If he wanted to be her friend again, after she had cut him off.

Still, she figured, she would've been the one to suffer the most, after the drifting apart would've finally reached its peak: Harry would've been fine, he had plenty of friends and things to do to keep himself occupied; Claire, on the other hand, would've had to get over the end of their friendship and build a life where he was no longer present. She would've survived it, but the actual surviving would've been an absolute hell.

It was necessary, though. She knew it. Emma's words and Nadine's eyes had been enough to bring her to that decision.

The process of distancing herself from Harry had begun exactly the moment Robert had unceremoniously put her down the table, after he had fucked her. For starters, she knew that if she as much as let him know or understand what she had just done, he would've either thrown a scene or done something stupid. So, she had simply asked Robert to drive her home, if it wasn't asking too much, and he had consented to it. Claire had written a text to Harry, to let him know she was going back to his house because she wasn't feeling well.

From that moment on, she had avoided him as much as possible: when he had gotten back home at 3AM and had knocked on her door to see if she was okay and she had pretended to be asleep; when they had been all around the breakfast table, and Claire had faked a headache so she wouldn't have to interact with any of them, although she spent half the morning hungry as fuck.

The only moment she hadn't been able to avoid him had been when he had driven her to the train station, Nadine in tow of course. That had made Claire feel so humiliated she had kept her eyes downcast as much as possible, not even attempting to talk to him or have small talk. Thank God the drive was a short one and Harry was sensible enough to not try and ask her about the breakdown she had had the previous night in front of Nadine. Too bad he would've never known what all of it was about, Claire mused, as she got down from the car and bid her goodbyes to both Harry and Nadine. Nadine had wished her a Happy New Year in a lovey-dovey tone, but Claire hadn't had it in herself to reciprocate. Then, the most unfortunate thing had happened, because Harry had gotten down from the car and followed Claire to the station's entrance.

"Claire." - he had said, and Claire had stopped in her tracks, knowing that she couldn't just avoid him and pretend he didn't exist then.

She had looked back at him, and of course, her eyes had befallen over Nadine's figure, staring at the both of them from the passenger seat - she had gotten it, as Harry's official girlfriend - eyes narrowed. A wave of nausea had overtook Claire's stomach and she had almost been on the verge of screaming to Harry 'Stop! Don't you see what you're doing!'. Instead, she had remained silent, waiting for Harry to speak.