The Night We Met

XII

Grace has always been Lili Reinhart to me 🤍

Also I apologize in advance for a boring chapter LMAO I struggled so much with this one but it's essential for the plot 😭

...

Roslyn

"You're what?!" Grace whisper-yells to me as we're sitting in a small booth of a diner.

My face reddens and I hastily look around to make sure no one is listening to our conversation. Luckily, the diner is pretty empty so no one is directly around us to be able to overhear us.

"I'm - uh - Harry and I are...together I guess? I dunno," I stammer.

Grace stares at me with wide eyes and an open mouth. I've been putting off speaking to her about Harry and me for quite some time now but I finally decided enough was enough. It's been more than a few weeks of Harry and I causally seeing each other, plus he gave me the okay to tell people I trust. Grace is at the top of my list. I've just been nervous to speak to her, I guess. I'm not sure why. I think I'm partially nervous she'll be angry I kept this from her.

"You don't know? This is crazy," Grace says. She presses a hand to her forehead. "Absolutely mental." I awkwardly smile at her as she removes her hand from her forehead to look at me. "So you and Harry met at Stella Vultus..."

"Correct," I respond.

"The same night we went back in May?"

"...yes..."

"And I'm only just finding out about this now...?"

I grimace. I feel guilty for not telling Grace sooner but, to be honest, I wasn't ready. I didn't know what to say. I couldn't tell her that night that I was leaving with Harry and the months after felt like a weird, alternate reality. Then, when he found me again, I had no idea how to tell anyone. How could I explain how we met?

Oh yeah, remember when we went to Stella Vultus? Well, we somehow met and started talking and then we fucked at my apartment. But wait! The night must have been so memorable for him that he went looking for me three months later just to ask me on a date. 

"I'm sorry," I apologize. I give Grace a sympathetic look. "I really did want to tell you but I didn't know how. It all happened so...quickly."

Grace opens her mouth to respond but our waiter appears with our food before she can continue. He places our meals in front of us causing us to smile at him in return.

"Is there anything I can get for you?" he politely asks. He looks between Grace and me, oblivious to the conversation we were having.

"I think we're okay," Grace responds, to which I nod in agreement.

The waiter - a teenage boy with shaggy blonde hair and bright blue eyes - smiles at us in response before leaving.

I awkwardly pick at my fries as a weird silence falls over Grace and me.

"Tell me it from the beginning," Grace requests after a brief moment.

I roll my lips together.

"Okay - um - we ran into each other when I went to use the bathroom," I slowly start. I sigh. "Then I came back down, rejoined you, and - "

"And you didn't tell me you ran into Harry Styles after the fact?"

Slowly, I shake my head.

"We immediately got caught up in dancing and I couldn't exactly shout that I just ran into him with all those people around, especially Tamara and Kelsey because you and I both know they'd immediately try to go track him down. I planned on telling you later or when we had a moment to ourselves but then I ran into him again and - well - one thing lead to another..." I trail off while my eyes dart around the diner, purposely avoiding Grace's intense stare. I can't tell if she's angry at me for not telling her sooner, intrigued with the story, or happy for me. Perhaps she's feeling all three.