The Intern

Chapter 8

Harry’s POV   I was drunk. I was that ridiculously inhibited, practically passed out, stumbling into everything, drunk. I had gone to see Caroline on a crazy whim and I had still been on that high that being with Grace had given me when I met her at a bar close to the hotel. The problems with highs are; they only last so long before you crash and burn. About half way through my meeting with Caroline I started to get anxious; thinking about Grace and what she was feeling after our meeting. What better way is there to relax then down a few shots?   As the night went on Caroline started to talk about how much she missed me, and I started to think about how Grace and I were, and always would be, “just friends”. I started to feel that familiar feeling of loneliness come back to haunt me and before I knew what I was doing; I invited Caroline back to my hotel.  We were making our way back to the room, giggling like drunkards, when I noticed a very familiar pair of blue eyes duck behind the corner. It was amazing how quickly I sobered up.  

“Grace?” I called out, rushing around the corner. I saw her rushing towards the exit stairs and managed to grab her wrist before she could escape. “What?” she barked out harshly.

“What are you doing here?” I asked, taking a cautionary step backwards due to her tone.

“I came up here to talk, but I can see you’re a little busy” she seethed, trying to escape my grasp.

“Talk? Talk about what?” I asked, leaning back towards her. “I wouldn’t want to tear you away from your tramp” she hissed.

“Grace, why are you upset?” I questioned.

“Upset? I’m not upset!” She screamed, clearly upset.

“I thought we were just friends” I said, utterly confused as always.  

“Clearly” she said, ripping her hand away and rushing away before I could even react.   I stood staring at the place where she had been and tried to make sense of what had just happened. All I could think about was the fact that I needed to sleep. I turned back towards my room and realized that Caroline was still there, leaning awkwardly against a wall.

“I should probably go” she whispered sheepishly.

“Listen Caroline, I’m really sorry. It’s just that-“.

“Harry, I get it. You’ve moved on and I should too. Good luck” she said before leaning in and kissing me on the cheek.   I let myself into my room and flopped down on the bed. I fell asleep wondering what the hell my life had come to.

The next morning I awoke early and prepared to board the plane that would bring me back home and maybe bring me back some normalcy. It was my full intention to sit next to her on the plane but after I got on I noticed that Anna had already taken the seat next to her.   I could tell she was trying her best not to look at me as I was putting my luggage away, but when she thought I wasn’t watching her I saw her quickly steal a glance. When I turned back to make eye contact, she quickly looked down and pretended to be absorbed in her magazine.

I was left to stare at the back of her head for the next six hours and try and figure out what the hell was going on in there.  After we got off I quickly grabbed my things and rushed after her as she took off towards the exits.  

“Not so fast Freckles” I muttered as I grabbed her arm and pulled her towards the bathrooms.

“What do you want Harry?” She asked, letting out a long sigh like the last thing she wanted to do was talk to me.

“I want to know what the hell happened last night?” I whispered anxiously.

 “I have no idea what you’re talking about” she said, avoiding eye contact.  

“How about the part where you flipped out on me about Caroline? Remember that?” I asked dubiously.  

“I was upset” she said casually.  

“Upset? You have no right to be upset. You were the one who wanted to be 'just friends' not me” I said back, trying to mask the frustration in my voice.   Grace pinched the bridge of her nose and I could tell she was trying to make me disappear. Unfortunately for her; I wasn’t going anywhere.  

“Look Harry, I don’t know. I had gone out with Louis and I was drinking and I’m pretty sure I’m getting my period and so I’m really hormonal and then you were with Caroline and that just pissed me off even more. Seriously though, she’s so old and that didn’t really work out so well the first time and I didn’t want to see you go through that again” she forced her mouth shut to keep her from rambling anymore.  

I studied Grace’s face, trying desperately to figure out what she was thinking, but she remained as elusive as ever.

“Look Harry we’re friends, and I’m very protective over my friends. I just don’t want to see you hurt” she said. I got the feeling that she wasn’t telling me the truth but she was pleading with me to accept it so I just nodded slowly.

She gave me a small smile and kissed my cheek before moving ahead of me so she wouldn’t get caught in the paparazzi mob that surrounded me as soon as I got past the security checkpoint.  

Today however, things were different. They didn’t swarm me, they didn’t call my name, and they hardly even batted an eyelash in my direction. It was all about Grace.

They enclosed her in a small circle and started screaming all sorts of questions at her.

“What’s your name?”.

“How does it feel to be dating Harry Styles?”.

“Who did your hair?”.

“Is Harry a good kisser?”.

“Where are you from?”.

“Does Harry wear boxers or briefs?”.

“What’s your twitter?”   Grace looked back at me for help, but I was too shocked to do anything to help her. Fortunately I had people around me who weren’t as slow as I was.

Preston rushed forward, grabbed her, and ran out the door quicker then I had ever seen anyone ever do anything like that. I tried to follow them but Paul grabbed my arm and dragged me to a separate car and pretty soon we were speeding towards my flat. I ran inside and immediately texted Grace; asking her if she was all right or knew what was going on.   Nearly an hour later, all of which I had been pacing back and forth anxiously, I received a text message in response.

"We’re screwed”. She had also posted a link to an article in the Examiner. I held my breath as I waited for it to load. “Harry Styles' New Girl” the headline read. There were several pictures of Grace and I that appeared to have been taken by random strangers. There was one of us golfing, one of us eating lunch, one of her driving my Range Rover, one of us in the airport, and, the worst of them all, one of us in the club engaged in a lip-lock. Crap.  

AN: So I wrote this chapter a while back and am just now posting it on wattpad which explains why I've referenced Caroline Flack who's relatively old news. I love Flackers and I actually debated on changinging it to Taylor Swift, but I decided to leave it whole! Love you guys! xx