Free (Sequel to Through The Dark) Complete

Chapter 2

A few days later, Amanda opened the door when the bell rang and was surprised to see Harry standing there.  "What are you doing here?"  She had tried to be neutral when it came to him and JJ breaking up, for Niall's sake, but she still wasn't over it.  She hadn't gotten over being angry with him.  Amanda had found out the day after he'd broken up with JJ. She had discovered it when JJ called her from LA.  Of course, JJ wouldn't tell her when it happened so she didn't ruin her and Niall's time.  And JJ didn't want her to come back to LA to be with her right away either.  When she got home a few days later, she found JJ in her room, in bed, sobbing.  JJ looked like she had been crying the whole time.  It had been a rough few weeks.  JJ had come so far, and watching her retreat back into her shell was extremely hard for Amanda.  JJ reverted to how she had been before, working as much as she could and doing nothing else.  Amanda hated seeing her pull back,  but she understood.  JJ had been with Harry for almost a year and had known him for just over a year.  She loved him and then, out of nowhere, he had broken up with her.

"Hey, I came to get something from Niall."  He said.  "Can I come in?"  He asked as Amanda still hadn't stepped aside.

"I don't know if that's a good idea.  Can't I just get Niall for you?"  She asked.

"Let him in Amanda."  Niall said coming into the front room.

Amanda sighed and stepped aside.  "You know JJ's here right?"  She asked Niall.

"He knows she's staying here, Amanda."  Niall said walking over to the counter to get what Harry was picking up.

"But JJ's not going to expect him to be here."  Amanda said.

"Come on, Amanda.  I'm not here to cause any trouble.  I just needed to grab this from Niall."  He said holding up a bunch of papers.

"Panda!"  Julie called out walking out looking in her bag.  "Have you seen my phone?  I can't seem to find it."

"JJ."  Amanda said getting JJ's attention and nodding in Harry's direction.  "It's on the table by the door, by your keys."

Julie stopped in her tracks when she saw Harry.  It was the first time she had seen him in person since she'd left that hotel room months ago.  She shook her head to clear the shock of him standing in front of her.  "Thanks, I'm going out for a while."  She put her hand protectively over her side bag which held her notebook and some of the other things she was working on.

Harry looked at Julie.  He hadn't seen her in months.  He hadn't spoken to her in months.  He had tried to get some information out of Niall, but Niall wouldn't share anything other than that she was ok.  Amanda had advised Niall against relaying too much information.  Harry thought she looked good.  Some of her soft curves had returned.  Her eyes were bright blue again, and he noticed she did her make-up slightly different.  Very light, very natural.  He had always loved that about her.  The fact that she didn't try to hide behind tons of make-up.  He knew she was staying with Niall and Amanda now since she hadn't found an apartment when Amanda moved out.Amanda wouldn't let Julie live just anywhere. However, Harry hadn't expected that he would see her when he came.  He had figured Niall would tell Amanda that he was coming, and Amanda would warn Julie.  He didn't know what to say or, for that matter, if he should say anything.  He decided just to say a quick hello.  "Hey, how are you?"

"Yeah, this isn't happening."  Julie said as she walked to the table to grab her phone and keys.  "I will be back later, but I'm not sure when.  I will call to see if we still have company."  She said putting her phone and keys into her bag.

"I'm not staying, so don't worry."  Harry said.  He didn't know what he was expecting, but he hated the fact that she couldn't even act civilly with him.  He was still friends with Niall, and he thought he was with Amanda too.  Didn't Julie realize that their break up had been hard on him too?  When she walked out of that hotel room, he'd felt broken.  He wanted to go after her and tell her that he was sorry.  But he couldn't.  He couldn't get over that it felt like she was pulling away from him, that it was only a matter of time before she told him it was over.  He figured he'd just saved them some time.  He'd spent that night and the next day drowning his sorrows.  When he woke up the next morning and looked over at the other side of the bed, he couldn't believe she wasn't there.  He hoped it was a nightmare, but when she wasn't there, he'd realized he had actually done it.  Then his pride had gotten in the way.  He wasn't going to beg her to come back.  He had felt the way he felt, so he thought he needed to just go with it.  "Going to see Zayn again, are you?"  He asked her when she turned her back on him.  It just came out. He hadn't planned on bringing that up, but when she just turned away from him without acknowledging him, it came out.  Harry could feel himself tense up. It seemed he said a lot of things before thinking about them.  It got her attention though.  Maybe just not in the way he had hoped.