Misguided

The One with the Date

L u k e

"She—what?" The room had been completely silent for a good few minutes, because everyone in it are in shock. I had finally spoken up. Someone had to, and it didn't seem like anyone else was going to say anything.

"She signed the papers." Harry whispers again. "I can't believe it. My marriage is over. I just, I don't. . .what am I supposed to do?"

"Isn't this what you wanted?" Katie asks, placing her hand on his shoulder. "She cheated on you, Harry. You don't need to be in a relationship where someone thinks they can cheat on you and get away with it."

"But—that night—and we reconnected." He jumbles a sentence together then buries his face in his arms that are crossed on the table.

"Maybe she just thought that was a good way to say goodbye." Michael cuts in, taking a seat on the other side of him. "She obviously wasn't happy in the relationship, Harry. You weren't either. I think it's better this way. You can start over."

Harry shakes his head. "I need some air." He's quick to exit, leaving Katie's apartment in the blink of an eye.

The air is tense between the four of us. Jennifer hasn't said a word this entire time. She's staring blankly at the nearest wall, but as I glance around the room all of my friends seem to be in their own little world. Which is understandable.

The door opens fifteen minutes later, and everyone's quick to turn to see who's coming in. When we see it isn't Harry, we're all quick to turn back to our original positions.

"Hey, you guys." Nicole greets us, cheerful as ever. When we don't greet her with our usual chipper voices, her eyebrows furrow together as she looks around the room trying to figure out what the hell is wrong with us.

N i c o l e

Confused. That's what I was at the moment. I walked into my apartment to share news about how well my date went, but all I saw were mopey faces and pouty lips. They didn't even say hi to me when I came in. Everyone just sort of glanced at me, so I naturally had to find out what's happened.

"Guys, what's wrong?" I ask. They all put on a fake smile and gathered around me. They looked like a small group of zombies and it was really creeping me out.

"Nothing." Katie speaks first. "How was your date?"

"It was amazing, but I'd rather know what's up with y-" Jennifer cuts me off.

"Aw, amazing?" She inquires. "What happened? What'd you two do?" I was about to pester them about what was going on, but I could see it in all their eyes that they just wanted a change of subject.

So, I sat around talking about Louis for twenty minutes. I told them about dinner and the walk in the park, how I had to hold his hand as we walked since I'm afraid of the dark, and how he found that amusing. I told them about the kiss at the end of the date and that we made plans for the following weekend.

"It sounds like you had a great time." Michael puts in, clearly tired. I glance around at all of my friends to see that they all seemed pretty sleepy.

"Guys, I'm sorry that I kept you up." I apologize. "If you guys were tired, you should've said so. I could've told you all about this tomorrow."

"It's fine." Luke yawns.

"But we should all probably get to bed." Michael suggests. "It's getting kind of late." They all excuse themselves, three of them leaving as Katie heads to her room.

After I've changed into my sleepwear, I gather a blanket and make myself comfortable on the living room couch so I can watch some tv until I get sleepy. But as I get comfortable, my phone starts ringing. I'm quick to pick it up once I see who's calling.

"Hey." I greet him.

"Hi, Nic." He replies. "I'm sorry to call you so late, but Katie won't answer her phone. Is it dead or is she asleep?"

"She went to bed about an hour ago." I answer. "What's up?"

"Oh, nothing. Just, can you tell Katie to call me in the morning?"

"Sure." I nod to myself. "But, hey, do you know what's up with Katie? And the others as well? I came in from my date and they just seemed very out of it."

"Oh." He sighs deeply. "I left those divorce papers at Delilah's apartment the other night and she actually signed them. We're getting divorced."

"O-Oh." Is all I can manage to say for a solid five minutes. "Harry, I-"

"Please, don't apologize." It's clear how frustrated he is. "I've heard enough apologies today. It isn't anyone's fault. It's my own."

"I wasn't going to." I admit. "I was gonna say that I wish there was something that I could do, and that she didn't ever deserve you. She-"

"You don't know Delilah." He intervenes. "You don't know anything about our relationship." I can hear the harshness in his tone, and my anger grows quicker than it should.

"I know enough about relationships to know that if someone cheats on you then they were never truly in love with you, and that you should be with someone who will love you just as much, if not more, as you love them." I raise my voice, but quickly lower it and blow out with frustration. "You're going to hear some major shit about Delilah for a long time from a lot of different people, Harry. Don't expect people to put her up to be some queen after all this mess. You didn't deserve to be cheated on. You deserve to be treated like the king you are, and if you can't realize that then I'm done with this conversation and I won't talk to you on this subject anymore. I definitely won't have anything nice to say about her, I can guarantee you that."

He's silent, then sighs heavily before speaking again. "Just tell Katie to call me tomorrow." And with that, the phone call is done. I'm left frustrated with someone who won't see his true value, all because the woman he loves did him completely wrong.

I should be happy after my date with Louis. But I'm not. I'm agitated.

Fucking Harry.