Anywhere With You • {J.C.}

||Twenty-Nine|Wish I Had||

"You said you couldn't stay
You've seen it all before."
-Trying Your Luck

Harlow awoke naked and confused—she wasn't sure how she had gotten to her bed or how she had even gotten home, but the snoring boy beside her was a pretty good indicator.

Memories began flooding in—the strange girl in Julian's bed, truth or dare with Julian's roommate, and then... nothing. She vaguely recalled throwing up at some point during the night, but wasn't sure exactly where—somewhere outside.

Her heart was racing and despite being bitterly cold, she was sweating—undeniably hungover.

"Jules... Jules, wake up." Harlow patted his shoulder, his forearm draped across her waist with his face nuzzled into the crook of her neck.

"Hmm..."

"Jules, I need you to get up... now." Harlow spoke in a panic; she wasn't sure why she wanted him to leave, but knew that he needed to. There was something she had to do today—something she had forgotten about, but knew it needed to be done. It would come to her eventually, hopefully when Julian was gone, or possibly before.

"Why- wha- what's goin' on?" Julian grumbled, rolling over on his back.

"I gotta be somewhere. I... I don't know, I have to do something today."

"Like what?" Julian let his hands fall to his sides, too hungover to move anymore than he already had.

Job.

That's what Harlow had forgotten about—she was supposed to go back to Cavern's to get her old job back before making the final move.

"I'm gonna try to get my old job back."

"Oh, shit." Julian got up, rushing to find his clothes. He snatched the towel at the end of the bed, trying to retrace his steps—the bathroom.

Harlow sat up on her elbow, eyeing Julian skeptically. "What... you got something goin' on today?"

"Yeah, work. I'm supposed to be there at two."

"You work?... Where?"

"The bar." Julian mumbled, wrapping the towel around his waist for some dignity.

"Since when have you had a job?"

"Not long." He forced a laugh.

They shared a smile before Harlow pushed her hair away from her face. She glanced down to see Julian had been sleeping on her robe, giving her a clue as to where Julian's clothes might be. "Check the bathroom."

When Julian turned, Harlow slinked into her robe. She regretted how much she'd drank the night before, wishing she could remember the pivotal things that happened. She knew there had be a lot of them, Julian was still there, and by the looks of it, they had done a lot more than talk.

She closed the front of her robe, staggering to the bathroom. She leaned into the doorframe, too weak to stand on her own as she watched him gather his clothes from the floor. She chewed on her lip nervously, wishing to recall how his clothes managed to get in the bathroom floor.

"Did we?... You know." Harlow pointed to the shower, watching Julian pick up his shoes.

He stopped, looking to the vacant tub, then back to Harlow. "Not there."

"But... we did, didn't we?"

"You, um... you don't remember?"

Harlow shook her head, averting her eyes to the tile floor at her feet. She couldn't believe she had let it happened—after catching him in the act with someone else, how could she let it happen? She forced a smile, but was far from thrilled.