End Up Here || h.s.

I. Summer Begins

Song for the Chapter: "Devil's Advocate" ~ The Neighbourhood

Maine is beautiful in the summer; it's the end of June and the summer breeze couldn't feel better. First party to kick off the season and I've only had two beers. Not my usual amount, considering we've been here for a couple hours now but I've been distracted. The house we are at has a beautiful view of Portland's cityscape.

I shift my position on the deck's railing while taking another hit of my joint, barely listening to the conversation Harry and his friends are having. His friends have never really liked me, I think they blame me for his bad habits. Which is hilarious, in my opinion, since he's twenty fucking two - but whatever, can't please everyone. I take another hit and zone back into the conversation at hand.

"Really? You're all enjoying college that much?" Harry asks them.

"Hell yeah, it's way better than high school ever was," Niall replies.

"I agree, it's so much easier! Only having classes I want to take makes learning and sitting in class a breeze. It's shit I wanna actually know." Zayn says.

"Plus living on campus and meeting new people is dope. Not to mention all the ladies," Louis smirks.

Harry laughs and smirks back at Louis. I just roll my eyes at them and take another hit.

"Maybe I should've gone, now I feel like I missed out on all the fun," Harry continues before sipping on his beer.

"Ugh, I beg to differ," I say quietly to myself.

"What was that Kris?" Zayn asks. Goddamnit, I hoped no one would hear me.

"I said I beg to differ, we didn't go and we're still at the same party you're at tonight right? Still having the same amount of fun regardless?" I say.

"Yeah well unlike you Kris, we wanna go somewhere in life. Not just work in a bar for the rest of our lives."

"Well at least I saved myself thousands of dollars instead of wasting on a... what was it again? An art history degree? Yeah, I'll pass."

"Yeah, instead you piss your thousands away on drugs," he spits back. Now I'm fucking pissed, about to hop off the railing and get in his face before Louis butts in.

"Alright guys, Jesus. Chill out."

I glare at Zayn before deciding not to argue anymore; it's not worth my fucking aggravation. I pinch my blunt out and put it in my pocket as I walk through the house to look for a cooler. I find what I'm looking for, all the Bud Light I could steal. I grab three, knowing I definitely need to catch up, and walk to the front of the house. I walk out the door and sit on the porch, popping the cap off with my keys. I relight my joint and start taking drags; blowing the heavy smoke out of my mouth. Right after I chug my first beer, I hear the front door open as I pop open another one. I feel someone sit next to me as I take a sip of my newly opened bottle. I put the blunt in between my lips and take a long hit. I blow out slowly as I look over to see Harry.

"Are you alright?" he asks.

"Of course I'm fine, I'm a big girl. Your friends fucking hate me and they blame me for your choices. It is what it is," I tell him as I stare at the joint in my hand. I look up to see his face and he's already looking at me.

"They don't all hate you."

"Okay well Zayn certainly does."

"He just doesn't understand. I made my own choices and I have to live with however my life ends up, just like you do. Just cause they don't agree doesn't mean he hates you."

"Then what would you call that back there? A friendly disagreement?"

"I don't know what I'd call it other than uncalled for. I told him to shut his mouth before I came out here; so did Niall and Louis - in their own ways of course."

"I don't need you trying to save me."

"Shut up and just say thank you," he says before taking the blunt out of my hand.

He puts it in his mouth and takes a slow, long breath in. Once he takes a few hits, he hands it back to me and I do the same thing. We sat in silence for what felt like hours, but was really only a few minutes. He reaches over for my third beer and I grab his hand before he can take it.

"What? You already have one," he says.

"Yeah, and I'm trying to catch myself up to where I should be at this point in the night. Get off your lazy ass and go get one from inside," I say before drinking a decent amount of the beer I already have open.

"You're such an asshole," he laughs going to get up.

"And don't you forget it," I wink, downing the drink in my hand. I pop open the third as Harry goes into the house. I smoke the last few puffs I can get out before smashing the nub under my feet.

After a moment, Harry pops his head out and says he's going back to the boys. I nod, getting up and following him back to the deck. As he opens the back door, he stops me and reaches into his pocket. I smirk as I see a small baggie with two tablets in it, knowing exactly what they are.

"For later when we get bored of everyone," he says before putting the bag back into his pocket and allowing me to step through the door. He sits back down in the chair he was before while I resume my position on the railing. I decide to just ignore their conversation, not wanting another fight to break out.

I look back onto the cityscape and watch as the sun finishes setting. I could never decide what was more beautiful; the city during a sunset or when it was dark out. All the lights illuminating the buildings windows and neon signs of local businesses - it's like a second night sky. I couldn't help but stare for a moment before turning to look at Harry.

He's laughing at something, they all are, but I only look at him. He looks back at me and sends me a wink before resuming his conversation. I roll my eyes and take another mouthful of beer, finishing the third bottle.

After a few hours Louis offers us a ride, since he's sober, and we accept. We head back to our apartment in downtown Portland. Our place is small and we share everything; bathroom, bedroom, you name it. It's all we can afford right now and we're honestly both fine with it. As soon as we get home, we go into the kitchen to grab a quick snack. We go into our room and get ready for bed.

"Damn Kris, I forgot about our little treat," he says pulling out the baggie he showed me earlier.

"It's fine H, you were enjoying yourself tonight, we'll do it another night," I say taking my sweatshirt off.

I go to the bathroom to take off my makeup and to brush my teeth. I tie my hair up in a loose messy bun and wash my face. I untie my hair as I head back into our room and see Harry already passed out on his bed. I pull some of the covers out from underneath his body to lay them on top of him, so he won't get cold, and turn the lamp off. I walk over to my bed and snuggle under the covers. I close my eyes and fall asleep still feeling a little buzzed.