labyrinth Δ harry styles

Door Twenty-Eight: Dead Meat

*HEY...JUST WANTED to know if you're doing alright*  That was already the second time she tried reaching out to him. The first time Indira tried to reach out to him through text was during the morning just a few moments after she had woken up. She thought he would have shot her a text or something to signify that he was still alive, but she quickly came to the realization that she shouldn't expect things from people she hardly knows. And it was right for her to say that she hardly knows anything about Harry because they have not once gotten to the stage where they should be getting to know each other. She blamed herself at first since their first couple of meet-ups were usually small conversations about work and what they liked and disliked about it—at this point, her guard was still up. Per usual, Harry was always more discreet about his career before things escalated a lot more quicker than she had wanted to.

This second attempt to reach out to him was more later in the day, when hours had past. She couldn't help but admit that she was a bit anxious for his response, or what would happen if he didn't respond. Indira hoped with all her heart that he was safe at home like he said he would be. It was hard to tell if what he said was even true, but when has he ever lied to her, or made her believe that she should not trust him?

She sighed and sat back against the couch when she didn't see the white texting bubbles appear on her phone screen.

"Still hasn't texted back?" Natasha asked as she brought around Indira's plate of chinese take-out with the chopsticks poking out of the brown tinted noodles.

"Oh, uh, thanks," she said first. "How'd you guess it would be him?"

"Isn't it always?" Indira turned her head to meet Natasha's eyes, but her best friend did not reciprocate the action.

Over the past couple of weeks, Natasha has lightened her fury against Harry, seeing that her rage was only appearing because of her protective side. It was radio silent for a few days after the girls' altercation, but things just became weird for both of them to be living in the same house and not speaking to one another. Natasha took the mature step and spoke up to Indira about her feelings. Just as she expected, her protective nature came from a hurt place, and all she wanted to make sure was that Indira was safe—mentally and physically.

"I just wanted to know if he got home safe but I haven't heard back. I'm sure he's fine..." She slurped on her noodles and tried to focus on what was playing on the tv.

"I thought you were at his house all day?"

"We went out later that night to a party, but I, um, decided to come home early since he wanted to stay longer." Indira bit her tongue, not wanting to release more information about that event than need be.

Her best friend didn't answer, instead she scooped up her rice with a spoon and silently munched on it, also focusing her attention to the tv. She grabbed thee remote and started flipping through the channels until she landed on one that peaked her interest. Indira was too distracted with her food to see what she had selected.

As Indira reached over to get a sip of her soda, she heard the familiar comedic voice over.

"Can we watch something else?" She asked, hoping not to sound suspicious.

"What? Why? I know you like watching TMZ," Natasha said.

All Indira could hope was that they wouldn't cover the story about the Gucci event and especially the leaked pictures of Harry and her. She placed her plate on the coffee table in front of them and stood up to pretend to go to the bathroom.

They wouldn't cover it would they? She asked herself. For a good minute or so, she tried to convince herself that they wouldn't, especially since Harry is not that big of a celebrity at the moment. Maybe it was just one article, she told herself. Her hands grasped the edges of the sink, leaning her weight on them. She glanced at the mirror and took a deep breath.