unlike her // h.s [Completed]

XII

H.

"I need a break." I push out a breath and slide my headphones off, sauntering out of the recording booth. Mitch throws his hands up in the air at me and scoffs.

"Why do you need a break?" He glares.

"Because I've been recording non-stop for two weeks. I need a break. I need some sleep. I need to do something else." I snap, tugging at my hair.

"You just want to see that girl." Clare states, crossing her arms over her chest.

Adam shakes his head. "I agree that he needs a break. You've all been working him too hard. He's barely had any sleep."

"Because we don't have time for breaks!" Alex shouts.

A flurry of conversations and shouting fills the atmosphere. "Everybody shut the fuck up!" I yell. Alex and Mitch look taken back and everyone else looks at me in surprise. "All of you, get out."

"Harr-" Sarah starts.

"Leave." I say lowly. Everyone piles out of the room and I fall back onto the couch, covering my eyes with my palms. My anxiety is through the roof and all I can hear is the sound of my heartbeat pulsating quickly. A few tears roll down my cheeks. "Fuck." I curse at myself and lean my elbows against my legs, burying my face into my hands.

A quiet knock at the door makes me lift up my head. Mitch comes in and shuts the door behind him. He leans against the wall in front of me. I vigorously wipe my cheeks to rid them of tears. "I'm sorry." He says lightly.

I keep my eyes on him, not talking. "Don't you want your fans to listen to your music?" He asks, his voice small.

I scoff and roll my eyes. "My fans understand. They care about me as much as I care about them. If my album is a month late, I'm sure they won't mind." I spit.

"Can't we talk without you getting upset?" He groans.

"You're the one making me upset." I retort, pinching the bridge of my nose in annoyance.

"I know."

"If you know, then leave."

"But-"

"Leave, damn it." I demand. He hesitates before walking out of the room.

I quickly slide my phone out of my pocket and press the contact.

Me: Can we meet up?

It doesn't take but a second for her to reply.

Emery: idk

Me: Please. I need to get away.

A few minutes pass before she replies.

Emery: Okay. Where?

xxx

I meet Emery at the corner of the street where she lives. I reach from the driver's seat and open her door.

She gets in and smiles at me. "Hi."

"Hey." I grin and pull away from the curb.

"You've been gone." She points out, turning her head to look at me.

I focus my eyes on the road. "I have." I bite my lip. "I've been super busy."

I see her nod from the corner of my eye. She doesn't question where I've been. "What are we doing today?" Her voice is light like windchimes. Goosebumps appear on my arms.

"Sneaking away." I grin, turning down the road. "Actually," I sigh. "I wanna go to Burger King."

She giggles and nods. "Sounds great."

I drive for a few minutes, making small talk as we head to the fast food resteraunt.

We pull up into the drive through and order some food. I decide to park in a random parking lot so we can eat. Immediately, she bites into her burger and a pickle falls onto her lap. I laugh at her. "Nice going."

She pouts and picks up the pickle chip and throws it at me. It sticks to my cheek and she giggles. "You think that's funny?" I grin and she nods. I throw a French fry at her but she just picks it up and eats it.

"You're too much," I state, shoving some fries in my mouth.

"So they say." She sighs, biting back a smile.

"Who's 'they'?" I ask, throwing another French fry at her.

"Everyone." She says, eating the fry I threw at her.

After around fifteen minutes, my phone rings. I pull it out to see the contact appear on the screen. Mitch.

I ignore it and toss it on top of the dashboard. She raises her brows at me. "You're not going to answer that?"

"No." I say blandly. "It was no one to worry about."

We talked for a couple of hours before she got a phone call. She asked if I could drop her off at her house and I happily accepted it.

Before she leaves the car, I grab her hand. She swirls back to look at me.

I bring the back of her hand to my lips and plant a small kiss there. "Thank you for coming out with me."

Her face flushes and she nods, leaving the car without another word.