New York [harry styles au]

06

06.
The end of August was approaching in what seemed to be a short length of time. Summer was flying over and I wanted it to stay stationary for a while. I was still unsure of when I would be travelling to my next destination away from New York but I was having too much fun at the time to even think about it. Harry's apartment was lucky to have fully open-able windows as otherwise, we would have definitely suffocated in there. In the Summer of 1972, a heatwave had begun. It swept west across the nation; meaning that, unfortunately, we were the first to be hit by it. Countless nights I found myself leaving the bed in Harry's bedroom and opting for the sofa instead, the warmth was too much to handle at times.

Because of the heat, the group spent a lot more time inside rather than outside; more specifically, inside Harry's apartment. I remember Harry praising the home delivery services of nearby stores whilst ordering five electrical fans by phone for the living area. We would also force Smith, Beatrix or Angelina to leave the apartment and collect food, though it was now customary for Beatrix to drop takeaway food to us on her way home from work. Beatrix was a god-send, if I do say so myself.

It was past twenty days in August, around six days into the heatwave, when Smith and I spent the day in Harry's apartment. Harry had turned the television on, distancing it a bit further away from us so the electrical heat it produced wouldn't swelter us more, and was watching the latest updates of the Vietnam War; something he was obviously passionate about.

"It annoys the shit out of me. The American army think they're so entitled that they can just wander into another country and needlessly murder all of these civilians. It's sick, just god-damn sick."

Whilst he was arguing the rest of the debate in his head, Smith and I sat very still either side of him like mannequins; not wanting to waste any energy and cause even more heat radiation around the room. The news then showed stories of two children dying in hot cars within the central New York area and we all peered at each other with worry. The apartment suffocating us wasn't equally as likely, was it?

A buzz from the receiver knocked us from our worrisome thoughts, followed by another, then another and then, a final extra long buzz.

Harry and I looked at each other before confirming, "Angelina" with a nod.

"I'll get it." I offer, any excuse to stand up from the boiling sofa was an offer worth accepting. My body felt almost frail as I made my way to the receiver, clicking the button before speaking. "Yeah?"

"It's A to the N to the G to the L, I mean E, wait." She stopped in thought for a moment, obviously trying to figure out how to spell her own name. "Winona, it's Angelina. Let me in." She gave up.

"Come on up."

I step onto the cool tiles of the kitchen while I wait, grabbing a cup from the cupboard and filling it with ice cold water from Harry's water machine that he ordered merely a few days ago; another product purchased as a result of the heatwave, though it definitely did keep water cool. Two sips of the water later and a knock was at the door.

"You know, you could always give me a key." Angelina announces to the apartment as soon as I let her inside. A strong smell of vodka radiated from her as she walked past and I knew Harry noticed it too as she fell into the sofa beside him.

"And where have you been all day?" Harry questioned, almost like her father would.

"Just with some people in the streets, I made some friends and we went to a bar. I had a lot of fun." She giggled to herself, I grabbed another glass and filled it with water before stepping over to the sofa, placing it onto the coffee table in front of her and perching beside her. I looked at Harry's expression of concern from the other side of her.