Lush Expiration | Harry Styles AU | BOOK 3 ✓

11

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Vicky West

It was Friday. Red and I asked a few dancers to join us for a beer at one of the bars around the corner. Not everyone was absolutely ecstatic about gulping down several bottles of beverage, so we were with five in total.

The fours shows for this week were done, and Ethan gave us an extra day off. At that moment, I instantly liked Ethan for his generosity.

I asked for another beer, and realized that after tonight I would sleep comfortably in my own bed at the beach house. It took me two days to turn the beach house into my own place. I liked how Louis had decorated the house together with Alexus, but it felt like I paid for an expensive stay.

If I was going to be there on a daily basis, it had to feel like home.

After Louis visited me – and practically announced a future engagement between Harry and Emma – I was left with a thing that was going to put me through a lot of emotions.

Apparently, Louis had expecting that Harry and he would go over some of the happenings from the past. He did something that could be seen as betraying your friend, but he was determined that I needed to hear everything from Harry too. Therefore he recorded the conversation entirely.

Hearing on record how he thought of the situation – and thought about me – was pretty painful. But I had received answers whilst I never thought I'd get them.

Knowing that he was more hurt about my engagement three years ago, did frustrate me. I asked myself why I hadn't noticed how he was really feeling. I guess he was keen on hiding it from me altogether. It did made me feel like a bad former girlfriend.

Also, when he mentioned the part about leaving me in Texas I didn't understand why my words had such grand impact on him. It was never my intention to push Harry out of my life. All I wanted was to have him closer to me.

Unfortunately the past couldn't be changed anymore, and I needed to be okay with him being together with Emma. It did occur to me that he wasn't entirely sure if a marriage with her was a smart idea.

But I'd never confront him with the recording – with his words. This was a secret between Louis and I. I told myself that, perhaps, one day I'll be mad at Harry but I should keep my mouth shut about what I know. He was slowly but surely not my first priority anymore, and I had to continue with being this strong. Any obstacle wasn't allowed to push me back into this black hole.

The only good thing about the recording was that he admitted he liked Red – something I didn't see coming when I listened to it too. Still I didn't want to bring that part up. Louis didn't show up at the beach house to give me a detailed explanation about his feelings, he was only present to deliver the recording.

I felt my phone buzzing in the pocket of my jeans as I took another sip. Red was explaining to everyone in great detail how much she loathed the recent outfits of the show. It was such a simple subject she talked about, but due to her massive sass every story was worth listening to.

Marcel: ''Are you home?''

I frowned slightly when I read Marcel's message. Before we left the club I had told him we'd go out for a drink . . or six.

Vicky: ''I'm drinking with some dancers. Sup?''

I noticed how he typing back to my forthwith. Marcel wasn't the youngest of us all, and to see him being very active on WhatsApp was a rare event.

Marcel: ''You need to get home. We need to talk.''

Something in his words caused me to sober up. I gave Red my bottle, and she questioned me what I was going to do. I assured her that I'd text her once I'd be home with why I needed to leave the bar so abruptly. I didn't want to talk to her privately, and make the dancers wait for the ending of her amazing rant.