Peekaboo Harry • HS

Epilogue

As Jewel walked the street to Dani's house, she tried hard not to play with the straps of her backpack and look like a restless child. It was a pretty cool day, so she took her time as she walked, enjoying the cool breeze that blew her way every now and then. Honestly, she was nervous. Jewel was certain that something was up.

At first she had been psyched to read the news that Harry Styles was back. And Jewel was just so excited to call Dani to fangirl together, but her phone was still out of reach. It was strange that she couldn't share a 1D moment with her best friend/cousin, but it was even stranger that she didn't hear a word from Dani. All her social media accounts were quiet, frozen in time, coincidentally the same time that Harry disappeared. Jewel assumed that Dani was probably grieving; they've talked so many times about how Dani would die out of sadness the moment Harry got married or had a new girlfriend, after all.

Still, days without talking to Dani had been a bit sadder than usual, although it forced Jewel out of her comfort zone. She talked to more people online, and actually went out on a few "dates" with her other friends. So when she got a text from her aunt-Dani's mom, that they needed her to stay the weekend for Dani, she was excited. It had been months since they last had their sleepover, and she just missed Dani. Period.

There was uneasiness in the pit of her stomach, that's for sure. Jewel knew Dani inside out, and she had tried her best not too read too much from her absence (though that in itself was extremely alarming). The text from her aunt caused both relief and panic in her, despite being in contact with Franny every now and then. Franny had reassured her that Dani was just "occupied", and said nothing more. She took her word for it. A part of her wished she had gone here sooner, but even she had previous engagements and work to take care of.

Was Dani really that distressed over Harry's disappearance? Jewel felt her stomach twist. She was still hoping she wasn't right. It couldn't have been that serious, could it? Despite fangirling over One Direction, there was still that blurry line between fiction and reality, right? Dani couldn't have possibly ditched their friendship just because of Harry's disappearance...

Hoping for the best, Jewel stopped in front of Dani's house and rang the doorbell. She put a big smile on her face as she saw Rosie emerge from the house to greet her hello.

"Jewel!" she heard her aunt call her. "Come inside!"

_______

Staring at the mirror, Harry Styles narrowed his brows and run his fingers through his hair. He flipped it over to one side. Unsatisfied, he flipped it over again. From the reflection, Harry could see Liam, obviously trying not to say a word. A part of him felt sorry for his friend, but perhaps Daddy Directioner was "pressured" considering his mom had talked to him to "make sure" he was alright throughout the day. His unofficial babysitter.

It was the first time Harry had stepped out of the house since his return, and the first thing he did was to go to an interview. His family had been against it, even the rest of the boys were against it. But Harry couldn't rest. He couldn't sleep. He couldn't do anything without thinking of his fans, knowing they needed answers. He needed to tell them, needed to make a statement that he was alright.

Harry couldn't even imagine the multitude of theories about his disappearance, and he didn't want his lovely fans to believe any of those. For the first time in his life, he wanted to cut to the chase and out with the truth. Something was urging him to do this, he knew. It felt like a responsibility. A duty, even. As if not doing this meant that he was going to disappoint her.

He felt like he was going to throw up.

Her?

He blinked.