Free (Sequel to Through The Dark) Complete

Chapter 1

This is the sequel to Through The Dark....if you've come from reading that you have no idea how thankful I am!  If you haven't read that yet, you may want to before you start here....

Six months had passed since Julie's final run in with Johnny in Vegas. So many changes had occurred since the day she'd finally stood up for herself and stopped letting him control her life. She had taken control. She had stopped being so scared of every action. Life had gotten a little crazy for a while, especially on social media when it was no longer a secret she was with Harry. She had turned all her accounts private and never went online searching for anything. One Direction had finished their last tour and had decided to take a hiatus at the end of the year. It was now November. Time had been moving pretty quickly. Julie's life had completely altered since that fateful day, yet she felt she was still finding her way.

Julie walked out of the restaurant inside the Beverly Hills Hotel clutching her notebook closely. She was deep in thought when she heard a familiar voice say her name. Well, it said "JJ". There were still only a few people who called her JJ. She shook her head when she heard it again. She recognized it immediately. "Zayn?" She turned around, and sure enough, it was him.

"What are you doing here?" Zayn asked walking up to her. "And what've you got that notebook for?" He tapped the notebook held tightly to her. He'd never forgotten what he had read in it so long ago.

"I, uh, I had a meeting here. They wanted to meet in the restaurant." She said. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, I'm staying here for now. Until I figure things out." He took a chance and gave her a quick hug. "It's good to see you. You look great. So, what was this meeting about?"

"Zayn." Julie started to say.

"Yeah, I get it. But come on. We can't talk? Just a bit?" He said. He understood the complication, but it was just an innocent conversation.

"I met with someone to see if some of my writings could be used for songs." She said. She wasn't sure why she blurted it out. She hadn't told anyone yet. Maybe because Zayn wasn't a part of her circle anymore she felt a little more comfortable.

"Really? That's great!" He said. He had only read a brief bit of some of her writing, but that was exactly what he'd thought, and hoped for, when he did.

"Yeah, not so much. They want to hear something with music. And well, I'm not quite able to get there. That's not my thing. I know nothing about writing the music part." She said.

"Well, your boyfriend could help with that. In fact, I'm well aware he's very good at it." Zayn commented. He glanced at her. "He doesn't know, does he?"

"No, he doesn't know." Julie replied giving him a look. And then, it was like she went right back to that day a couple of months ago. It all seemed like it was happening all over again. She had just arrived to the hotel. Harry was touring the East Coast of the US, and she had gone to meet him. She walked in when he opened the door and gave him a kiss. She knew right away something wasn't right.

"Harry, what's wrong?" She asked him.

"You know Amanda got here yesterday, right?" He asked her.

"Yes, I'm aware of that." She looked up at him. "You're seriously mad about that?"

"She said you weren't working last night, so why weren't you able to come? I mean I haven't seen you in so long, and you just avoid coming to see me and won't tell me why?" He asked. Julie had become so different since the time she'd confronted Johnny. She seemed like she didn't need him as much. While he seemed to need her more.