Public Sphere | H.S. | #Wattys2016

Chapter XIII

Author's note: I deliver on my promises, here is chapter 13, and it's kind of long. Thank you to JadieMiller for writing about Public Sphere to her readers, it means a lot! THANKS JADIE! 

To anyone reading this, go read Serendipity by JadieMiller AND make sure to read the sequel, Euphoria. They are both fantastic. 

On with chapter 13. Thanks for reading, x.

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He didn't hesitate to let me into his brand new home. And he even carried my weekender in.

"So what's up?" he said with his thick Bradford accent.

"I don't know," I shuffled my feet in nervousness.

"You and Harry?" he asked with curiosity in his voice.

I shook my head 'no,' and all of a sudden, everything made sense to him.

"Gigi is coming over soon, but I can tell her to hang back," he said as he offered me a glass of wine.

"No, I don't want to be a burden," I said as I graciously downed a big gulp.

Zayn rolled his eyes as he got his phone out to probably text her about my arrival.

"So Pillow Talk," I tried to make conversation with him that wasn't about me and Harry.

"Have you heard it?" he asked his eyes bright and hopeful.

I nodded and smiled at him. And that seemed to please him. It had been a long time coming. Ever since I was helping him get out of his contract, he had been using all of his energy to stay afloat in One Direction. Then once he was released from the contract to another contract, albeit a better one, he used all of his energy into making the music he liked. That energy wasn't wasted, the song was beautiful, just like he intended it to be.

"So what's going on? What's new with you?" that was Zayn's way of discretely asking me about Harry.

I avoided his fishing completely, "You know the band 5 Seconds of Summer, right? You were still in One Direction when they took them on tour?"

He looked confused as he slowly nodded.

"Their management called me a few days ago and asked if I would work with them," I said casually. "I was thinking about it."

"One boy band to another?" Zayn cringed as he looked at me.

"They're apparently not a 'boy band.' But you would know better than me," I said giving him a small smile.

"They're great lads," he said unsure of what he was supposed to say.

"I don't want to talk about Harry. Let's talk about anything else but him," I clarified for him so he would be less confused.

"They're a great band, all great lads. I'm not sure if they would be able to afford you," Zayn crinkled his eyes as he laughed.

"They're getting quite big you know. Not One Direction big, but they're getting there," I commented as I scrolled through my emails.

"You're here to detox, so detox. No more talking business," Zayn said as he gently took the phone out of my hands and into his pocket.

"I sort of like their music," I said not knowing what to do with my hands. Usually my hands were occupied by my phone, now that Zayn was holding my phone hostage, they felt awkward.

"You never said that about One D's music," he feigned a gasp and then let out a laugh.

"I like One Direction," I said unsure of myself. I wasn't sure if I really knew any of the songs.

Zayn just rolled his eyes as shuffled his feet, probably not knowing what we should discuss next.

It was never this awkward between us, so I knew that something was going through his mind that he wasn't telling me.

"What is it?" I asked unable to hide my hatred for the awkwardness between us.

"I texted him," he looked at his hands.

"Who?" I immediately asked before realizing that he was talking about Harry. "Oh, how is he?"

"He's on his way," he responded looking at me with a forced grin and two thumbs up.

I buried my face into my hands and as luck would have it, the doorbell rang.

I was crossing my fingers, toe and eyes in hopes that it was Gigi at the door. But boy was I wrong.

Before they decided to make their way over to me, they exchanged pleasantries. Then they both shared a few concerning words about Simon and how everything was going to s**t.

"Where is she?" Harry's voice then chimed closer.

Then I heard a bunch of rapid walking steps and then there he was, Harry Styles in the flesh.

"Hey," I mustered up a smile.

"I'm so, so sorry," Harry said as he pulled me in for a hug.

I just froze because we never had this much physical contact before, and honestly, it was scaring me a little bit.

"It's fine," I said as I removed myself from him.

"Mum and Gem want you to stay with us in Holmes Chapel until this blows over," he said thoroughly confusing me.

"Thank you, but no thank you," I said slowly. "I'm not sure if I missed something, but I'm pretty sure we're not friends."

He looked taken aback by that statement. I didn't say it to be rude or mean; I was simply stating a fact. He barely ever acknowledged me or was friendly with me through out all the years I've known him, and now, just because the media royally screwed me over, it didn't mean that we were suddenly friends.

"I'm sorry, I just don't know what to do," Harry said nervously touching his hair.

"Don't worry about it. I don't represent Simon anymore, which means that I don't represent you either. Stay out of the media for a few days and this will all blow over. So as far as I'm concerned Mr. Styles, our working relationship is over," I said as I went over to Zayn in demand of my phone.

Zayn quietly handed my phone back as I went upstairs to take a breath.