SAVED

Chapter 40

(thanks so much for 16k! hope you guys enjoy this chapter. i'm not sure why it turned out so short, sorry about that. i’ve decided to add amanda seyfried as nora. please vote/comment if you like. feedback is real important to me and please know that i would update more often if i had a better idea of what you guys were thinking. if any of you want to message me regarding this fic, go right ahead.)

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Harry’s POV

Her eyes remain focused on the light wood of the bar as Anna pours the red colored liquor into a martini glass. 

“All I know is that her name is Lauren, it’s her twenty-first birthday and she’s going all out. She must be real high end for Ronnie to have made us clean the entire fucking place.” Anna says with a roll of the eyes.

I start to gaze the same way Emma is when it hits me.

Fuck. It can’t be. Can it?

Get yourself together, Styles.

I take a long sip of the drink before me, knowing that it will definitely be the first of many tonight. I end up finishing the glass in seconds as Anna eyes me with a look of impressment. 

“When are people due to arrive?” Emma questions. 

There’s a nervous edge to her voice that is similar to the feeling now rattling inside me. 

“Should be sooner than later I suppose.”

Within the passing minutes not another word has come from Emma and her quietness is setting me more on edge than I already am. She won’t even make eye contact with me as she sips  her drink quietly.

No. I fucking refuse to let tonight go down this way despite who’s faces I may see. I stand and lace her hand in mine as we walk aimlessly throughout the club. I set my drink down before collapsing into a sofa chair and pulling her into my lap. I don’t want to make myself regret coming out here with her. I want her to enjoy herself and let loose for once in her life. God knows she needs it.

She relaxes against my chest as I kiss her shoulder and place my hands on her thighs. 

“What’s on your mind?” I question softly. 

I inhale deeply to calm my nerves as a loud, familiar voice suddenly echoes throughout the club. 

What are the fucking odds that my ex booked a club that I chose to come to tonight? Of course it took me until now to remember that her birthday was coming up.

When I first moved here I wasn’t really looking for a relationship. I had no idea what to make of American girls. Meeting Lauren was more a ‘spur of the moment’ type of thing. She had worked in a book store when I first met her and things quickly got serious between us. She was warm hearted and beautiful and we had some great times together despite the short time we dated. Our breakup resulted from her moving up to Connecticut for college. I missed her terribly after she was gone, but the phone calls and skype talks just weren’t the same as holding her in my arms. After a few weeks it got to the point where we weren’t speaking at all and that was that. I didn’t think I would feel that way about a girl again until I met Emma and a whole new level of love was discovered.

I’m not even sure why I’ve got myself worked up to be honest. It’s probably the possibility of James being here which isn’t unlikely, but so what? This club is massive and he won’t dare step a foot near Emma as long as I’m around. 

“Birthday girl must be here...” Emma mutters before finishing off her drink and placing it on the table beside us. 

“Is it...your Lauren?”