Fifth Destiny // Ever After High as Fifth Harmony Fanfiction

Chapter Eighteen: Everybody's Got A Secret...

{Chapter 18 POV: Holly O'Hair}

I thought singing would heal me, but the magic, it seems, only applies to physical wounds.

I was sitting in front of my mirror, brushing my hair and trying hard not to fall apart again. It felt like I was back in the tower, watching as my life went by. It seemed time was standing still, though one of the only sounds audible was the ticking clock on the tour bus wall. The band was checked into a hotel for the night, but I decided to stay back in the bus. I thought being apart from the girls would give me the chance to recollect my broken pieces. This theory was not working out well for me.

So I stroked the brush through my long strawberry hair over and over and over, focusing in on the pattern of my brushing to distract myself. It barely worked. My mind just wandered more, as it always did. I don't know why I always resort to this method. It wasn't even cold this gorgeous late June night, but I shivered. I was almost ejected clear off my stool when my phone blared unexpectedly, destroying the quaint silence.

"Holly?" A familiar voice said when I picked up.

I tried my best to calm my shaking self down enough to take a deep breath and say a full three words. "Austin? What's up?"

"Look, I know you're not feeling too good right now, but do you want to come to a party with me? It's going to be full of celebrities," Austin, who had taken the responsibility upon himself to fill in as my best friend after Blake became more than that for me, then backed out of my life altogether, asked me.

I sighed, ready to tell him I really wasn't up to it, but then I reconsidered. Maybe that's what I needed. A night out to allow myself the emotional distance to heal. So I told him I would go.

"Put on something nice and I'll pick you up at your hotel," he said. I laughed nervously, then had to tell him why I wasn't in the hotel.

He thought it was funny. I couldn't understand why Blake ignoring us was something he handled so well, almost like he's used to it. We weren't together for too long but... Blake was my first true love. Rapunzel only knew Flynn for like one day, but they fell in love. True love is someone and something I believed in more than anything. It was already gone. I didn't know if it would ever come back.

So I did what Austin told me to do and actually made myself look presentable. More than presentable, even. Fabulous, flawless, like I hadn't cried in years. My makeup was on point and my dress made me look like a million bucks. The confidence boost it gave me was exactly what I needed to put such a vulnerable state behind me.

When Austin greeted me at the bus door, it wasn't much of a greeting. He looked right at me and didn't say anything for a moment.

"You okay?" I said, tucking a loose lock of my hair behind my ear.

"Yeah, yeah. Just.... Thinking." Austin extended his hand to me, and I took it and youthfully jumped the distance from the door to the ground. "Hey, you and Blake are supposed to fall in love after he steals your crown and shows up at the tower, right?"

I nodded, but I was not in the mood to talk about Blake some more.

"I guess he's got to make some stupid decisions before he makes the right ones."

Austin was right. However, I didn't want to hear it, because that wouldn't ease my suffering at all now.

About twenty minutes later, Austin and I had arrived at the party. Loud music pulsated from what appeared to be someone's secondary or vacation home. When I asked Austin how he'd been invited to this anyway, he'd said Becky invited him earlier, and that it wasn't her party. I was not feeling welcomed at all.

Inside the party, I was outside of my comfort zone. I lost Austin almost the minute we came in. I wandered through the rooms, carefully watching my step. It was dark and there were lots of people around. It was more people than I'd ever seen, other than at a show. The air smelled like sweat and some other unidentifiable odor. I had to get out for some fresh air so I wouldn't feel sick.

I discovered the kitchen, and I heard Austin talking before I put a foot through the door. "Holly can't know about this."

Holly can't know about this.

It was too late then to turn around. Becky had kissed Austin, but he wasn't not kissing back. But... Lizzie.

I think he knew I was there, but he didn't try to stop me when I ran. Finding my way to an exit was not a struggle after that. I took a step out of the back door and onto a deck, the air already much more breathable.

"Are you okay?" A voice, a famous voice, asked me from my left. Shawn Mendestiny sat alone on a swing, holding his acoustic guitar. This was a much more comfortable setting for someone as naive, innocent, and inexperienced as me.

I strolled over to the swing taking deep, calming breaths. "Hi. I didn't realize anyone was out here. I'm Holly."

"I'm Shawn. Party too much for you?"

I blushed and nodded, my head still spinning.

"That's okay. Me too. Why did you come, if you don't mind me asking?"

I sighed. "My friend told me it would help me put everything bad that's happened in the past few days behind me. I've been here maybe ten minutes and things are already worse."

"I'm sorry to hear about that. When I came, I didn't think I would enjoy it, but I figured, at least I can get some good inspiration out of it."

Shawn and I talked for an hour or two, but it was getting cold outside and neither of us dared to go back in the house. Shawn offered to drive me back to the hotel, as I was reluctant to go home with Austin. I was unsure how long it would be until I could face him again. I just keep losing people I trusted.

The only good thing that came out of tonight is that I might have actually created a solid friendship.

REMEMBER TO READ THE CHAPTER THAT GOES WITH THIS IN FIFTH DESTINY: THE NOTE COLLECTION! IT'S VERY VERY IMPORTANT.