From Everything That Was (Till Everything That Will Be)

Harry (Present)

And somehow, we fell out of touch
Hope he took his bad deal and made a royal flush
Don't know if I'll see you again someday
But if you're out there, I hope that you're okay
- Hope ur ok, Olivia Rodrigo

Harry's coffee machine decided to stop working on his first day back to work after his summer break. He spent about ten seconds pondering about whether to just break down crying, yell, or just call in sick. He did neither of those and instead flipped off his coffee machine and went to get dressed.

His apartment was small and modest with a small living room built together with the kitchen. There was a short hallway, from which he could enter his bathroom and bedroom. He entered the latter, walking to his dresser.

He yanked open the top drawer, his movements full of frustration. He started sorting through his neatly folded clothes for the few pieces he had in mind. At the bottom of his drawer, he found his midnight blue slacks, and he pulled them out in victory. Seconds later he found his black button-up. Added with a pair of socks with a pattern of bananas—Niall had given them to him—his outfit was complete.

He quickly dressed, pulling his sleeves up. He ran a hand through his hair, grabbed his leather briefcase from the foot of his bed, and scurried into the kitchen. He scowled at his coffee machine, and quickly took a bagel from the cabinet by the sink while also checking the time on his watch.

"Shit!" he cursed loudly, beginning to walk toward the hallway.

Chewing on his bagel, he went down to the building's garage where his car was parked. He pulled his keys out of his pockets, unlocking the car from a distance. He practically threw himself inside, buckled his seatbelt, and excited the garage as quickly as possible.

At the current time, if the traffic was on his side, he would only be fifteen minutes late. But it was of course today that his new co-worker, who he was going to work side by side with, was going to start, and Harry really wanted a good first impression.

He and this new teacher were going to work together with Harry's main class, the C class, a bunch of kids in year four. Harry had worked with all of the kids since their first year in school, alongside Oscar Johnson, but he had decided to change career paths. So now Harry was going to learn to work together with a new person, and he was late on their first day of working together. Great.

He was ten minutes from the school when his best friend at work, and one of his best friends outside of it, Liam Payne, called him, his number showing up on the Bluetooth display. Harry quickly pressed the accept button, saying, "I'm on my way, Payne, don't worry."

"Good morning to you, too," Liam chuckled. "A bit tense?"

"Maybe," Harry gritted out, stopping the car by a red light. "For fucks sake, I'm gonna be so late."

"Yeah, that's why I called. Your new teacher mate is here already, and..." Liam let out a small whistle. "Hot damn, I don't think you wanna be late for that."

Harry felt the corner of his lips pull up in a smirk. "Got a little crush there, Payne?"

"No," Liam said, "but I can appreciate a nice view."

"Touché. Where are you right now?" The light turned green and Harry continued driving down the streets of Cambridge.

"Hiding in the bathroom. I don't wanna begin the preparations for the classes. It's so boring."

"Liam, the kids are returning next week, you have to."

"And you have to be at work, but you're not, so—"