The next day was shit.
Not because I had sorta broken up with Harry the night before even though we hadn't even really been dating. But because I was utterly and terribly exhausted.
When I got home from Harry's at half past midnight, I had changed into some pajamas, brushed my teeth, and slumped right into my bed. But did I sleep?
Hahahahaha. No.
See, talking about Lily had brought up hundreds of repressed memories that had haunted my mind. As soon as the light was off and I was laying in bed, the memories attacked.
I stayed up for hours, just remembering my best friend. Some good, some bad. It had been a while since I'd truly let myself remember Lily, and I had almost forgotten about how much I missed her. But I did. I missed her more than I could ever express through words.
I was already awake when my alarm went off at five a.m. based on the fact that I had never actually gone to sleep. I yanked myself out of bed, went through my daily morning routine, and grabbed a double shot espresso from Starbucks, which brings us to where I was when Harry called me.
"Ash Winter?" I mumbled.
"Hey. You coming by later for the editing of Midnight Memories music video?" Harry's gruff voice echoed through the receiver.
"Yup. You need to be there at two, but I'm not coming until about three, okay? You got a ride there?"
"Yeah, Georgia'll take me. I met the editing dude earlier, and he's pretty awesome. I think we're going to the bar afterwards," Harry responded.
"Be careful," I groaned. I heard him sigh before saying goodbye.
"Well, you look terrible," Niall spoke, strutting over to me in a plain white T-shirt and sweats as I hung up the phone.
I sighed. "Wow, thanks. That was real kind of you."
Niall chuckled slightly before frowning. "You okay?"
"I'm fine. We gotta go though, or else we'll be late for your interview," I said, turning around and heading towards the door. Niall was silent as he followed me and clambored into the car.
He spoke up again after a few moments. "Was that Harry you were talking to?"
I nodded slowly as I scrolled through my phone, making sure all my clients were fine and where they needed to be.
"Look, Ash, don't get me wrong. Harry's a cool guy and all, but just . . . just be careful. I don't know. I don't trust him. I've seen you two around and I just don't want you to get hurt."
"I know, okay?" I snapped, immediately regretting it the second it left my lips. I knew Niall was just trying to look out for me, but I didn't need this right now. I tried to soften it a little by adding, "We're not even together, so there's nothing to worry about."
I could see that Niall knew I didn't to talk, so he just nodded slowly and looked out the car window as the town sped by. I opened my mouth to apologize, but closed it. Apologizing meant opening up again, and I couldn't do that again for the second time in less than twenty-four hours. I just couldn't.
"Harry?" I called, opening up the heavy door and stepping into the dimly-lit building. I heard laughter towards the back, and trudged over.
