Tokyo Drift || HS

9 || More Like A Respect

AS SOON AS I walk in the apartment door, Jalen is on me like a moth to a light.

"You spent the night?" His eyes rake over me skeptically. "Why didn't you answer my calls? What happened? Were you gettin' some?"

I shut the door behind me, ignoring his game of twenty questions.

My silence only stirs him on.

"Damn, Indi, you ain't messing around." He howls, a wide grin on his face.

My hangover is surprisingly not as bad as I expected it to be. It might be due to the ginger tea that was left on the counter this morning and the fresh fruit that was delivered by room service. But still, Jalen's loud voice is not necessarily pleasant after a night spent drinking until almost 3 AM.

I know I should answer him though - tell him everything. But in reality, I just spent the whole ride home thinking over every aspect of the last 16 hours and I'm still not even sure what to say.

"No," I roll my eyes. "I wasn't Jalen. Look, I'll tell you everything I promise. Just give me a second to get through the door."

I squeeze past his tall frame blocking the hallway and make my way toward the kitchen. I grab a box of cereal and the carton of milk from inside the fridge, then pour myself a large helping of what looks like Frosted Flakes. It tastes similar, but I'm not exactly sure because I still can't tell one thing from another in the Japanese shopping centers.

Jalen sits on the other side of the island, looking at me like a kid who's anxiously waiting for dessert. What I would really like to do right now is go take a long warm shower, but I can tell he's not going to let me get away that easily.

After two more minutes of him staring at me with big puppy dog eyes, I cave and tell him everything.

Reminiscing on the night isn't actually that bad, and usually I would have been more excited to tell Jalen in the first place. But when I woke up this morning to a note on the counter with no sign of Harry or Mitch in the apartment, I found myself in a bit of a sour mood.

I don't know why I'm so bothered.

The note was nice, and Harry was really considerate. He thought of ordering me ginger tea, had set out some glasses for water and called up a bunch of food. I didn't even mind the bitter taste of the hot drink because now it's starting to taste like something sentimental.

The note said that "something suddenly came up with work" and that he hoped I would "order or use whatever I need".

By all means, he was a real gentlemen. I have no reason to feel upset.

But I can't shake the feeling of disappointment that's been swallowing me in a haze all morning.

After eating and changing back into normal clothes, I folded his shirt and sweatpants and left them on the counter. I walked out of the penthouse apartment with the smell of him still sticking to my skin.

"I mean, the man's in high demand, Indi. He's Harry Styles. What did you expect?"

What did I expect?

It's not like the Harry I've met exudes warmth and companionship. Although, from what I heard from Mitch, it wasn't always like that.

"Nothing." I defend. "I don't know. I just - I just, thought that I'd see him in the morning. That's all."

"It's not like he ran out the morning after a hookup, right? Y'all just talked." Jalen justifies.

"Yea, no, really. It's fine. It's seriously not a big deal."