etc. // hs

five*

"But-"

"Now," he continued, his voice low but firm.

She slumped her shoulders and walked inside obediently, giving me a pleading glance just before she shut the door.

"You can't just take my sister away," I broke the thick silence. "She needs to come home with me."

"Not with that prick in the house," he hissed. "She doesn't need to know that people like him exist."

"So I have to go deal with him alone?"

My question seemed to throw him off for a second but he recovered quickly, crossing his arms in front of his chest as I let out a deep breath.

"Fine," I surrendered. "I'll go deal with the lunatic ex boyfriend by myself."

As soon as I stepped inside the house, I could smell Steven's cologne. It used to make my heart flutter and my palms sweat, but now it just disgusted me as I found him sitting in the living room.

"Hey, baby," he grinned. "I was wondering when you would get here."

"How did you get in?" I asked quietly. He came to stand in front of me and I shied away from his touch, his lips pulling into a frown as he tried to kiss me.

"Spare key," he mumbled vaguely. "Your mom told me about it awhile ago."

"You should really go," I said as he attempted another kiss. "Gretchen-"

"...isn't here?" he finished hastily. "Come on Norah, just one quickie."

"No!" I shook my head. "No, Steven you need to leave."

"You're breaking up with me?" he asked loudly, his fists tightening at his sides.

"We weren't together," I pointed out quietly. "Please just leave."

"Norah-"

"Leave!"

"Fine!" he shouted, startling me a little. "But just know that you're nothing special because of this, Norah. I was fúcking two other girls besides you and they were much more fun."

He tugged at his roots and kicked over the chair next to me, slamming the door behind him as he left abruptly.

I couldn't hold it in any longer, tears streaming down my face as I sank onto the couch. I didn't even like Steven that much, he was just the provider of something I needed at the time. But he was the closest thing I'd ever had to a boyfriend, so it hurt to find out he had cheated, especially when I thought he actually liked me for my personality and not just my body.

"Norah?" Gretchen's voice called softly. I quickly wiped my eyes and stood up, managing a weak smile as she came in the room.

"Are you okay?"

"Not really," I admitted with a small laugh. She wrapped her arms around my waist and laid her head on my chest, her warmth seeping through my clothes as I kissed her hair lightly.

She went to bed a few minutes later so I took a warm bath and cried myself dry, my tears drowned out by some sad music I thought would help (it didn't.)

I was even watching Family Guy on Netflix to try to cheer me up but it didn't work either, leaving me to stare blankly at the screen while eating a very large bag of goldfish.

My phone was buzzing nonstop with texts and calls from Harry so I put it on silent and slid under my covers with my bag of goldfish and a copy of my favorite children's book- Curious George.

Suddenly there was a pounding on my bedroom door and I jolted slightly, spilling the goldfish all over me as I tried to get free of my sheets. Apparently rolling around is not the way to go because I just ended up falling off my bed with a loud thump and hitting my head in the process.