Secrets Better Left Untold (A Harry Styles Fanfiction)

Chapter 23

I wake up the next morning in an empty bed. He left.

I'm not sure how long he stayed. I know that I cried myself to sleep in his arms, but that's all I remember. And now, he's gone.

I groan as I pull myself out of bed and into the bathroom. I decide to get in the shower to try to wash away all of the painful memories of last night. When I'm finished, I slip into some sweats and quickly brush my teeth before heading to the kitchen.

As I walk down the hallway, I smell bacon. My feet quicken, hurrying into the kitchen hoping to find Jessica making breakfast. I freeze when I see someone at the stove with their back to me. That's not Jessica.

He hears me and spins around with a smile on his face. "Oh hey, Bella."

"Ryan?" I frown, looking around the room for Jessica.

"She's still asleep." He answers my unspoken question. "Did you want some breakfast?"

"Um...yeah, sure." I nod, walking over to the coffee pot to pour myself a mug.

"Where'd you go last night?" Ryan asks, turning back to the stove. "I met Jessica at that party, and she told me that you took her car home."

"I, uh...wasn't feeling well." I answer awkwardly, not wanting to dwell on last night.

"That's too bad. We had a blast. My head's pounding though." He says as he flips a pancake.

"There's some Advil in the bathroom cabinet." I tell him, sipping my coffee.

"I'm way ahead of you, Bells." Jessica chimes, walking into the kitchen with the bottle of pills.

She quickly grabs a glass of water and takes the pills. Once she's finished, she walks over to Ryan, kissing him on the cheek before letting him get some of the medicine.

"Do you feel any better?" Jess asks, and I sit there for a moment before realizing that she's talking to me.

"Oh, yeah. I'm fine." I nod. I am fine...physically fine. Emotionally? Not so much.

"Good because you're coming out to dinner with us tonight." She chimes as Ryan finishes cooking and slides some food onto the plates.

I quickly thank him as I carry my plate over to the table. They both sit down across from me, and we all start pigging out.

"I'm going out to dinner with you?" I ask Jess, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, you are."

"Why would I do that?"

"Because you're my friend, and I wanna hang out with you." She tells me.

"And I wanna hang out with you too, but you two should just go have a good time. I'd rather not third wheel." I say, shaking my head.

"Don't think of it as third wheeling. Think of it as a double date...minus your date. Unless you wanna bring Harry with you."

I hear a loud noise, causing me to jump slightly. When I look down, I realize that the noise was me dropping my own fork onto my plate.

"Sorry." I whisper to Ryan and Jessica as I quickly pick my fork up again.

"Bella, is everything okay?" Jess asks me softly.

"Yes. Everything's fine. Harry's just, um...he's busy tonight." I answer shortly.

"Okay...so come anyway." Jessica continues, ignoring my sketchy behavior.

"Jess, I don't want to intrude. Besides, I bet Ryan doesn't even want me to come."

"Not true. I'd love for you to come." Ryan speaks up, and I try my best not to roll my eyes. Can't anyone understand that I don't feel like going out to dinner tonight?