Melanie is in the middle of telling us a story of how Elijah surprised her for her birthday when Harry leans in, his lips brushing up against my ear.
"I need to leave," he says in a whisper.
I turn to face him, my eyebrows furrowing out of confusion. He told me he was free tonight. Why does he need to leave? He doesn't have anything going on with work and all of his friends and co-workers have gone back home since the tour ended. I can't think of what he would need to leave for, unless it was an emergency.
"Why?" I ask him.
"I - uh - I just need to make a phone call. It's my mum. I don't know how long I'll be so I figured it would be best to go back to the apartment," he tells me, stumbling over his words in the process.
"Oh," I reply with a frown. "Is everything okay? Do you want me to go with you?"
Harry vigorously shakes his head.
"No," he firmly tells me. "No, it's okay. Stay here, love. Enjoy the rest of your night. Everything's fine. My mum just has a question for me. It's nothing major,"
I don't reply because I don't know what to say. If it's not an emergency then I don't understand why the conversation can't wait until tomorrow. Why does he need to leave right now? This was supposed to be a fun night out together - one that we haven't had in ages. We haven't really spent much time together lately so I was hoping tonight would make up for that.
On the other hand, though, I feel selfish thinking that way. Yes, I'm upset he needs to leave but it's because of his mother. How can I be angry at that?
I try to seem unbothered as Harry apologizes to my friends and exchanges goodbyes with them. He assures them we'll all get together soon, but I don't feel very hopeful about that. It was a hassle to put tonight together as it was. I couldn't imagine doing it again. At least not now, while Harry and I are both in these weird places.
"I'll see you at home?" Harry softly questions me as he slides out of the booth and stands up.
I nod and he leans down, pecking me quickly on the lips.
"Yeah," I say. He goes to walk away almost immediately after the words leave my lips, but before he can get far I say, "I love you," since he forgot to. We always say it to each other when we part ways and it nearly breaks my heart that he didn't say it or wait for me to say it first. It's not a huge deal in the grand scheme of things, but it still saddens me. Maybe it's because of the bad mood I've entered due to Harry having to leave.
Harry stops in his tracks and turns to me, a weird expression on his face. It's one of sympathy and shock, like he can't believe he did that. He takes a step closer to the table again but I turn away, facing Christian and Melanie who clearly just witnessed the whole exchange. I down the rest of my vodka while Christian glances to his right.
"He left," he tells me after a couple seconds. I nod and place the glass down on the table. "Is everything okay?"
I shrug and twist the promise ring I wear around my ring finger.
"Yeah, it's nothing..." I say, although I'm lying to myself. It's not nothing. I've been on edge lately and this only worsens it. "It's just we never forget to tell each other we love you but this was the first night it slipped his mind,"
"Oh Amelia," Melanie sadly says to me.
"It's okay. Maybe something happened at home? I don't know. His mom called and needed to talk to him or something like that. Maybe he was distracted,"
Both Melanie and Christian furrow their eyebrows, like they're thinking of something I'm not.
"Isn't his mom in London?" Christian slowly asks me. I nod, not knowing where this is going. "Amelia, it's must be like three in the morning there,"
It takes me a second, but eventually I understand what both him and Melanie are thinking right now. Why on Earth would Harry's mom call him this late in the night, especially if it wasn't an emergency? Harry was very clear that nothing was wrong but just that he needed to talk to his mom. Maybe I'm overthinking it, but it doesn't make sense. Something about this just feels wrong.
"I - " I start, my emotions running rampant in my mind. I feel somewhat breathless and at a loss for words. "I'm going to go get another drink,"
I scramble out of the booth and walk towards the bar, Christian and Melanie not stopping me. I feel overwhelmed and I can't help but think about that Lauren girl again. It's been a little bit since that incident happened, but something in Harry's voice put me off that night. I really don't think he's cheating on me but he's been so off lately. It just doesn't seem that impossible anymore.
He wouldn't do that though. It must just be my insecurities popping out. I'm sure there's some sort of reasoning behind his weird behavior lately. There has to be. Plus, Harry said he doesn't even know Lauren. He wouldn't lie to me. I know he wouldn't. I wouldn't know what to do if he did.
...
They should have gotten Harry to play Hardin Scott in the After movies. I would have simply *passed away*
