Drowning

Eighteen;

"You said you messaged Luke the other day. I just wondered if Harry-"

"No. And he never will. Because I made him hate me. Can we just drop it? I don't wanna talk about Salma, the baby, or Harry."

"Okay." she nods.

Lauren didn't exactly understand why I was so against Salma and Daniel having a baby. She knew I disliked Daniel, but not the reasoning behind it. Sometimes I wondered if, deep down, she knew.

"I'm gonna go pee," Lauren informs me, standing from her seat.

"Enjoy," I chuckle.

Left to my own devices momentarily, I pulled out my phone to scroll aimlessly through social medias.

But then, my peripheral vision saw something. Someone. Familiar and warm with a shadow of dread surrounding them. Accompanied by a certain friend, too.

"Oh shit." I whisper to myself, looking back down at my phone, desperately trying to remain calm, hidden, and, well, invisible.

Moments later, it became apparent that my hiding was of no use.

"Zahara, hi!"

"O-oh! Hi, Luke. How are you?" I say politely, my eyes darting from him, to the tall brunette man ordering the coffee a few feet behind him.

"I'm excellent, thank you." he smiles warmly. "How are you?"

"Yeah. So good," I nod, allowing myself to lie to him.

Interrupting, thankfully, Lauren returned from the loos, looking just as shocked and confused as I probably did. Her eyes darted from Luke to Harry. It was as though you could actually see the clogs working in her brain.

Harry had finished ordering the coffees, so he just stood near but far.

"I'm Luke," Luke says, introducing himself to Lauren. His eyes lingered on hers for a moment too long.

"I'm Lauren," she says, smiling a tight, forced smile.

"Right, well, we were just leaving." I say, standing abruptly from my seat.

"Bullshit!" Luke laughs, but his word came out a little too loud for an intimate cafe. People turned their heads and Harry quickly stepped in, swatting Luke on the arm.

"Hi, Zahara. Lauren. Sorry about him." Harry says awkwardly.

"I just mean, your cups aren't takeaway and you're not finished." Luke sighs, rolling his eyes. "You can't avoid each other forever."

"That's not for you to determine, Luke." I say, shaking my head, and avoiding eye contact with Harry.

"He's right, Zar." Lauren whispers, nudging me. I scowl at her.

"To be honest, I'd like to talk." Harry sighs. I could feel his strong gaze on me.

I took a few moments to ponder it.

"Fine." I say.

"Fine?" Harry repeats.

"Fine. But we'll leave. Get your coffee transferred into takeaway. I'll do the same." I say bluntly.

"Yeah, course." Harry nods.

"Laur, is that okay?" I ask, turning to my best friend.

"More than okay!" she says enthusiastically.

"How long will you be?" Luke asks Harry.

"Dunno." Harry shrugs.

"I'll get mine to go, too." Luke says.