Through The Dark COMPLETED

Chapter 40

Later that evening they were all sitting at a table at the small diner in the resort. It was relatively quiet, as they had a late dinner and had informed the manager ahead of time they were coming. Dating Niall and Harry made everything just a bit more complicated. Everything was light and fun. There hadn't been a time where things seemed so light. Especially with Julie.

Harry watched her for most of the evening. There were still signs of fear in her. Especially when new people came into the diner.  She still seemed to watch over her shoulder some, but she was much quicker to relax. He saw that she had learned some methods to relax and come back into the present instead of letting the fear take over. They had managed so far to keep their relationship pretty quiet. Even though they had some small encounters where people wondered who the girl was with him, the rumors didn't seem to get out of control. Probably because the rumors of him and Kendall never seemed to go away. Some people wondered, some people didn't, and some assumed she was just Amanda's friend. He wasn't going to shout it from the rooftops. First because that just wasn't him, and second because he knew Julie wouldn't appreciate it. But he wasn't going to try to hide it anymore either. They needed to try to have as normal of a relationship as they could in order for this to work. He knew a relationship with him would never be considered normal, but what they could have as normal, they should.

Amanda smiled most of the night. It was so nice to have the four of them back together. Things had gotten so bad, and so complicated. But this was nice. This is how she wanted it. Her best friend, her best friend's boyfriend, and her and her boyfriend all happy together. She also was happy to see JJ laughing and relaxing. She hoped that JJ's sarcastic, funny, sassy personality showed up more from now on. She watched Harry for a while. She wanted to make sure that she still saw the sparkle in his eye when he looked at JJ. She was happy to see that it was still there. She had worried up until tonight. Harry dealt with a lot. She was proud of both of them. They had gone through so much. Hopefully, it was now going to be easier for them both.

Niall took Amanda's hand. He leaned over and kissed her. She looked happier than she had in quite some time. He knew she somehow was less worried about JJ. He was too. He knew there was still a lot to get through, a lot to process; but whatever JJ had done the three weeks she was gone seemed to help her cope with all of the things running around in her head. He sensed the fear still; he sensed the questions. He sensed still the vulnerability she had. But she dealt better. He was happy for everyone. He hoped going forward it continued to get easier instead of harder. He hoped that the worse was behind them.

Julie concentrated on the tools she had learned in therapy and the tools she was still learning. She tried to stay in the moment instead of wondering what could happen. It made her nervous when new people came into the diner. She was always concerned people would want pictures with Harry and Niall and that they would be interrupted; she tried not to worry about it, but it was still hard. She was still partially concerned about the fallout from Vegas. Johnny had yet to talk to any media and as far as she knew he'd stayed away, so far, but she was still worried about it. She had learned she needed to try and deal with things as they came up and not find trouble in things that hadn't yet happened, but it was hard. She did laugh and smile a lot more that night than she can remember doing in a very long time. She was so happy Harry was there. Her heart had been breaking when he was angry with her. She understood perfectly why he was, but she hated every second of it. She was trying her hardest to make sure she worked on everything. Used everything she was taught. She had to admit, it felt pretty good to get out of her head sometimes. She accepted it wouldn't always be easy for her. But she was more ready now to face things. At least she hoped so.

The diner had a small karaoke system in the corner. Julie had contemplated as they were sitting there, if she should go up and use it. Every now and then people would sing a song or two and it was fun. She was trying to do things out of her comfort zone. Finally, she got up some courage. She stood up. "Panda. Let's go sing karaoke."