New York [harry styles au]

20

20.
After everything that had happened to Angelina, we thought it was best for her to stay in Harry's apartment for a while. Being in arm's length of Harry and I was sure to help her, as well as give Beatrix time to fully grasp the whole situation alone. I had never seen the group so threatened before. If any other negative circumstance were to erupt, I thought the group may even split. Yes, you could say that tensions were running high; especially since Angelina had always been in the direct centre of the group. She was quiet for the first few nights, sleeping in Harry's bed with me whilst Harry took the sofa. Her usual plump lips became increasingly chapped and she was inevitably shaken by everything, her trust also being threatened. She would never move her head from my shoulder as we slept.

The fourth night, she decided to enter the bedroom alone at 7pm as an attempt to gain more sleep. I kissed a worn-out Harry on the forehead as I left to follow her at 10pm to find her soundly sleeping under the cool covers. My movements were slow as I joined her on the right-side of the bed, her body instinctively moving closer to mine as I did so. We slept for a few hours before I was awoken at 3.31am by a screeching cry followed by wavering sobs. I sat up instantly to find Angelina's head leant against the side of the lower bed frame, her body collapsed against the hard floor. The bedroom door swung open by routine and Harry hurried inside, rushing to her aid. He picked her up bridal style before softly placing her back onto the bed. Her arms securely wrapped around her legs and she defeatedly buried her face into her thighs.

"What is it that you want, Angelina?" Harry asked gently.

"Alcohol, and peace of mind." She replied with a sniffle, my arm wrapped around her shoulders again and she moved her weight onto me as her forehead fell against my neck.

"I can only get you one of those things." Harry told her. His eyes were shining from the streetlamp's cascading light flooding from the edges of the curtain. His lip was shaking slightly and his skin was pale as ice. "The other thing, peace of mind, is what we need to work on. You'll get it soon, Angelina, you just have to believe that you will."

"He's right, you know." I mutter and Harry's eyes flash to mine, a small appreciative grin fading over his usual frown. Angelina nodded slightly with a nod.

"I just don't see how I'm meant to gain peace of mind when I'm having nightmares every night and feel like crying at every second of every day." She reveals and Harry's hand falls onto hers.

"Justice will be served in the end. Karma is one hell of a bitch." Harry replied and a panicked feeling strikes through my veins at his mention of karma. If karma was really a thing, Harry's job would surely be on her list of wrongdoings and I think he knew that. "Anyway, enough of that talk. How about some of that whiskey?"

"I thought you would never ask." She replies with a smile threatening to tug at the ends of her mouth.

He gets up from the bed and leaves, returning with three shot glasses and a bottle of whiskey. It suddenly dawns on my mind how I was so used to alcohol now, I could never usually drink it straight and now I always did. His hands place the glasses and bottle onto the side table before leaving once more to fetch the record player. He props the record player upon the dresser and gently lays a record onto it. The Beatles' Let It Be begins to softly flood the room with music.

"To letting it be." Harry raises his glass of whiskey once he had joined us again, facing us from the opposite side of the bed. Angelina and I both do the same and clink the glasses together. We all wince as the warm liquid flows like a river down our throats, leaving a trace of burning behind it.

"Will it ever go away? This feeling? I just want things to be back the way they were." Angelina is the first to speak after a few minutes of no words.