hariana drabbles

039

- Her [part 2/?]

Author: Me (2017)
Summary: Harry and Ariana remain friends after their breakup. Harry's been in relationships after Ariana while she hasn't, or so he thought.

It's the one where Harry is a little shocked to hear that Ariana's been in a secret relationship for a while now and is eager to know who the new guy is.

-:-:-:-

Harry sticks the little spoon in his mug for the third time. He swirls the coffee around but never averts his attention from the café door. Harry expected Ariana to come later than their planned time to meet because she's always been terrible at keeping track of time, especially when they were due to visit his mother's home in Cheshire for a dinner or a birthday, or whatever the case. Chances were, they were an hour past schedule and it's always her fault.

Harry has to snake his head to see over the sea of quiet coffee enthusiasts who were sitting around him. He hoped Ariana would remember this is where they always sat when they went on dates or at least be able to spot him in the far back when she arrives.

Harry ceases his movement when he sees a ponytail bobbing across the café front window. A few moments later Ariana appeared, followed by a taller gentleman who Harry assumed was her bodyguard. His own was seated a few tables down him and Harry refused to make eye contact with him, knowing how pathetic he looked; he didn't need the patronizing stare from his own bodyguard to remind him.

"Hi, fūck , sorry I'm late." Ariana apologizes breathlessly as she throws herself into the seat across from Harry. "It's freezing and I couldn't find my gloves. It was a fūcking nightmare."

"You're fine." Harry reassures her with a small smile. "I got here a couple minutes before you."

"Oh," She sighs deeply, glancing at the mug near Harry, "you ordered?" She questions him as she reaches for the mug, but before Harry could stop her she's already taken it in her hands, expecting the glass to be warm to the touch. Instead, it's cold.

Harry's now aware that he's caught in a lie. Ariana holds his cup for a moment too long and does not look at him once. She slowly lowers the mug and slides it towards Harry with a small smile.

"Sorry." Harry could all but say clearly as he looks away sheepishly.

"You're fine." She reassures him as her smile remained, while she leans back and waves for the attention of a waiter.

She orders her usual. Harry mouths every word to himself to see if anything else had changed. Nothing's changed, except she's with someone else now and Harry knows she's with someone else now.

"What was that?" Ariana questions him as Harry blushes. "Oh nothing, I didn't say anything." He murmurs, as Ariana nods slowly. "Okay."

Harry looks away and purses his lips, fearful of her questioning stare as he pokes the handle on his cold mug, budging the mug each time.

"How're you doing?" Ariana asks him. She uses her 'mom voice' to emphasize the gravity of her words. It helps Harry know that she genuinely cares and isn't just asking for the hell of small talk.

Harry sighs, "I'm fine." He admits, "I'm used to it."

"I'm sorry. Being left, sucks. You deserve better." She says, causing Harry to chuckle, "No, she deserves better. I couldn't meet her expectations of me and I gave up trying. I thought things would work out on their own eventually, but–"

"Sometimes they don't." Ariana finishes his sentence with a sympathetic smile. "And you can only hope that they do, and when they do, it might not be the way you thought it would. You end up regularly meeting up for coffee whenever you're free."