Through the Lens

Goin Out

"Damn, Styles. Is that her?" Liam asked as he nudged me.

I swallowed hard, trying to break the trance I'd been in while I stared at her, shifting in my seat as I tried to compose myself.

"Uh, yeah. That's her." I sighed.

"No wonder you're so miserable. She's fit as fuck." Louis said and I shot him a look as he raised his hands in defense.

Niall just shot me a sympathetic look as he took the remote and changed to the next photo.

"Sorry, I didn't know that was in here." He apologized and I just nodded.

We spent the next ten minutes going through the photos, all of us letting Niall know which ones we liked the best. Liam and Louis both thoroughly impressed with Hailey's photography skills, which gave me a sense of pride for her. She had no idea how talented she was, and I always loved it when other people appreciated her work.

After shooting the shit for a while, we all headed out to the restaurant where Niall had made the reservation for his birthday. I had to admit, it was nice to spend time with the boys and see so many of our friends that I hadn't seen in so long. I caught up with everyone and learned what everyone had been up to all summer, doing my best to dodge the questions about my trip to Hawaii that everyone seemed so aware of. My mind kept drifting back to Hailey as it always did, worrying about her now that I'd seen that she wasn't quite herself, and wishing she was there with me.

We finished up dinner and headed to the club, Louis and Liam acting like caged animals who had finally been set free as they ordered shot after shot. The paparazzi had a hay day when we entered, but luckily inside had been rented out and was mostly people we knew. I held my glass of tequila on ice in my hand as I watched Liam force Niall take another shot, chuckling to myself as I thought about how shitty he was gonna feel in the morning.

"Hey, Harry." I heard a familiar voice say as I felt a hand on my shoulder.

I turned to see Kendall standing in front of me, next to Jeff and Glenne who looked like they'd just arrived. I wasn't surprised to see her there, her and Jeff were practically family, and Kendall had always been a good friend to Niall.

"Hey, Kenny." I smiled as I leaned down and kissed her cheek. "How you been?"

"I've been really good, actually." She smiled softly. "It's really good to see you."

I'd always been thankful that Kendall and I had remained friends after everything we'd been through. We'd dated on and off for years, and it had never gotten weird between us. She'd always understood the pressures of fame and insane schedules, and I think we'd both sort of used each other as a distraction whenever we were home. I think over time we just realized that we weren't really that into each other as anything more than friends, and it just kind of fizzled out. I really did value her friendship, and I was always happy to see her when we would bump into each other from time to time. She'd always been supportive of me and had my back, and I appreciated that.

"You too." I replied. "I called you after the whole Pepsi thing, I wanted to make sure you were okay."

I remembered seeing all the backlash she'd received for doing the commercial, and I'd felt horrible that she'd been torn to shreds by everyone. As someone who knew what kind of person she was, I knew she was devastated, and I'd reached out to make sure she was okay and never heard back.

"I know, I saw that." She sighed. "I'm sorry I never got back to you, it was just a rough time."

"No worries, I just wanted to make sure you were alright. I'm glad you're good now."