Love You Goodbye (h.s. au)

28

Two weeks had passed since Harry and I told Zendaya about us, and things were barely starting to feel normal again. After Harry had left the apartment that day, I was aware of everything I did in front of Zen. Harry showed up more unannounced and I found myself fidgeting if Zen was in the room, unsure how to act towards Harry with her around. Would we make her uncomfortable? Was she really okay with this, or was she lying? I'd asked myself these questions over and over again, and Harry wasn't stupid. He saw through me and I caved when he questioned me once when we'd been alone in the room. I voiced my thoughts to him and he only looked at me with an even stare, and asked why do you care so much what people think?

His question had stumped me, because truth be told I wasn't sure if my worry came from whether Zen was uncomfortable with my relationship with Harry, or if it had more to do with the warning she'd given me about him. Don't get too attached, and yet I already had. Maybe that was why I was trying to physically distance myself from Harry. He noticed it, too. After his question, I forced myself to not flinch anytime he touched me in front of Zen but I made sure to limit our physical contact. The furrowed crease between Harry's brows told me he suspected what I was doing, but thankfully hadn't brought it up yet. What would I say if he did?

My heart pounded in my ears as I thought about this now, watching the TV screen while I chewed on the nail of my thumb. I was sitting on the love-seat alone, my bare legs curled off to the side. Zen, Liam, and Jess were sitting on the other couch with a bowl of popcorn in their laps, the smell of butter in the air mixed with the joint Liam had lit floating up to my nostrils. When the hell had he lit that?

"Should we wait for Harry, to pick a movie?"

At the mention of his name, my head turned in the direction of Liam and I sat up. Back straightening against the armrest as I furrowed my brows at him. "Harry's coming?"

"Yeah, I mentioned I was coming here and he said he would see me here too." A lazy grin spread across his face, one I'd become accustomed to in the last two weeks. "Why? Miss him?"

My face heated and I crossed my arms over my chest, rolling my eyes and looking away like I always did. Harry's friends seemed to like teasing me about him lately and it never got any less annoying. "No."

"Well, the man misses you." Liam commented and my neck burned. "He never shuts up about you."

"What does he say about her?" Zen asked for me and I could hear the curiosity in her voice.

Liam blew out a puff of smoke, and threw his arm over the back of the couch. The fact he was even giving up this kind of information told me he for sure was high off his ass. "Nothing really important. Just ya know, 'Avriella this, Avriella that'." He shrugged. "He's always working on that painting of you, too. Have you seen it?"

This time, the burn traveled down to my neck and I sucked in my lips before shaking my head. I stopped though, seeing how Liam was looking at the ceiling now. "No. He refuses to let me see it until right before we turn in our project." I pause, then frown. "I would of seen it this week when they were supposed to be due but our professor pushed the due date back a few weeks."

"Huh," Liam watched the smoke he blew from his mouth float in the air and I glanced at Zen, who was staring at Liam in amusement. "Have you seen the pictures then?"

"Pictures?" I asked confusedly. "What pictures?"

"The ones he took."

What? "Of what?"

Liam frowned and looked back at me like I'd taken his joint. "How have you no-,"

The sound of our front door slamming echoed down the small hall before footsteps neared. Zen leaned over the side of the couch so fast she would of fallen off if it hadn't been for Liam's hand that wrapped around her calf. Even as high as he was, he still looked out for her.