Oblivion (Harry Styles)

Chapter 24

~5 Years Later~

Eden's POV

"I can't believe you guys talked me into this," I sigh.

"We need to celebrate," Anna says. "You're turning 30."

"Shh. I don't like that number." I wince. Chase laughs.

"We've all had to go through it. Come on old lady," Anna laughs, tugging my arm, pulling me into the club.

"I'm not an old lady."

"You're an author. Your career screams old lady," Chase says.

"Become a best selling author. Then we'll talk," I playfully glare.

We take a seat in a booth, ordering drinks. The atmosphere was loud and wild, a typical night in Vegas. It wasn't my type of hang out, but I'd come here for my friends.

"Maybe we can finally find you a man," Anna laughs, downing a shot.

"Oh no," I laugh off. "I think I'm better off single."

"I would be that way too, if I had dated the guys you did." Anna says. I look down at my drink. Anna frowns at my reaction. "Look, I'm sorry. I know it's a sensitive topic. Let's just have fun, okay?"

"Oh it's fine. To a fun night," I lift up a shot glass. Anna and Chase do the same, before the three of us down the shot.

After a night of dancing, drinking, and third-wheeling with Chase and Anna, I left the floor and went out the exit to have a smoke.

It was a terrible habit to develop. My whole life, I always said I'd never smoke. I somewhat fulfilled that promise. I'm not addicted to smoking, but there's times when I need it to calm me down.

I looked to my left, seeing a fire escape. Living in New York City, introduced me to many fire escapes. I kicked off my shoes, leaving them at the bottom of the ladder, before climbing up to the top. It was a decent view up here. You could see the whole city.

I walked to the ledge of the building, taking a seat. Heights never scared me. Being up high made me feel like I ruled over the entire world, even if it was just for a few minutes.

I examined the city, analyzing every shape I saw, as I puffed smoke from my cigarette. "Good God, Eden. Why did you have to choose the top of a building to run off to," Anna groans, walking to me.

"What are you doing up here?"

"I saw your shoes and figured you were doing something awesome without me," she says, taking a seat next to me. "Wow, this is a really pretty view," she acknowledges.

"So this is it?" I ask, she furrows her eyebrows at me.

"What?"

"This is it. We're all grown up now. We aren't going to go to clubs on our birthdays anymore. We'll stop traveling the world and finally settle down with a family. The first thirty years of our lives is over. The fun stuff. It's just done," I shrug.

"I guess so," Anna laughs. "Instead of beer, we'll be drinking coffee. Instead of clubs, we'll be going to our kids' baseball games. I guess it was fun while it lasted."

"Yeah," I sigh. "I'm nervous, but excited for the future."

"Let's make a deal," Anna begins. "In thirty years from now, no matter where we are, we'll come back and sit on this very ledge."

"We'll be sixty years old!" I exclaim.

"So we talk about our grandkids. Do we have a deal?" She asks, stinking out her pinky. I hook mine onto hers.