Tokyo Drift || HS

23 || Homecoming

I DON'T KNOW HOW to cope in the aftermath of the flood, and a large part of me realizes I still haven't.

After Anne's call and our exit out of the elevator, I was in a state of disbelief. I made it home like a walking zombie. Barely aware of everyone's presence or their absence when they left.

I took the night to mourn. To let the panic of being used by Sebastian extract its toll. Jalen mainly left me alone, and for that I was grateful. I knew there was nothing he or I could do.

I couldn't turn back time. I couldn't return Anne's exhorting words. And I couldn't get anyone to force Harry to help.

I eventually came to the realization that I just needed to move on. Logically, the only thing on the line was my reputation. And Anne seems forgiving.

Well, that and my relationship with Harry.

Anne's warning rang loud in my head the first couple of days after her call.

No Harry.

No contact.

The thought of pulling back from the man that I'd come to feel so known by - so close to - sounded like hell. His pale green eyes and captivating voice have already been haunting my dreams almost every night since he left.

But after the next morning, when I pulled myself up by the bootstraps - attempting to just keep moving and get back to normal, I realized that her request might not be as hard as I thought. When no response from him came in the next day, or the following several for that matter - I began to wonder if this "avoid Mr. Styles" thing had already been sorted out for me.

I feel like an idiot.

Here, in this city, we were in a different world. Outside of Tokyo, we don't exist.

I want to forget everything.

Forget him.

Just move on.

But I can't - even the memory of him is tattooed on my skin. I see it wrapped around my body every morning when I wake up and look in the mirror.

I finally caved and told Sophie and Penny everything. They didn't fully believe me at first, but as the confessions went on, their demeanor quickly changed from one of doubt to grief. But the last thing I want is their pity. I walked headfirst into this mess. It's no one's fault but mine.

"Here, take this." Christa hands me a drink, pulling me out of my mind.

An abundance of wine sits on the table in front of me, along with a strange combination of Japanese snacks and fruit.

Jalen and I are leaving tomorrow morning, so the group decided to throw us a going away party. It looks as if they pulled together all the strangest items from the city market to make sure we get our fill of authentic food before we leave.

I smile back at her.

"Thanks. I'm really going to miss you guys. You didn't have to do all this."

"Yes we did." She grins. "Living here won't feel the same without you both."

Jalen sits with Ryan and Lily in the living room. Peter walks toward our table and I realize there's one more thing I need to do.

"Give me one sec." I incline my head toward Peter.

She nods in understanding.

"Peter," I slow to a halt in front of him. "Can I talk to you for a moment?"

"Of course." He stills. His bright eyes gaze down at me.

"Well, I just wanted to say I'm really sorry. I shouldn't have accused you about the magazine. And you didn't deserve that. You've been really understanding of everything. So I wanted to apologize."