Cliché || H.S.

Chapter 48

Harry grips my arm harder, his face set. "Ah yes, we met at Nina's birthday party," Harry nods curtly as he takes Jon's hand in a firm handshake. This night had gone smoothly and I had been so wrapped up in the anxiety about the film itself that I hadn't even thought of the two of them running into each other as a possibility. I feel like an idiot for not thinking of this first.

Jon nods back in a similar fashion, and I'm pretty sure you could slice through the tension. Jon looks back to me with the same melted look he always has with me, and it takes everything in me not to avoid his brown eyes. "So you two are back together I take it?" Jon questions.

"Um yes... yeah we reconnected shortly after I got back to LA," I nod awkwardly. I look down at my fidgeting hands which are spinning the stem of my champagne flute, trying to find a way out of this situation. Even if you take the whole Harry thing out of it, I may or may not have broken this guy's heart.

"Well officially in LA," Harry speaks up, looking down at me, "There was a little bit in Georgia though... Just poor timing for us but all is well now." He looks down at me like he's fawning, but I can tell by the grip he has on me that it's supposed to be possessive. Could you not have shut your gorgeous mouth for just one second?

Jon clears his throat, rocking back on his heels. "You seem really happy, Lil. I'm happy for you." Harry looks between us, an unreadable look on his face. I give a tightlipped smile to nobody in particular. Please just kill me now.

"Thank you... I am happy, and I hope you're doing well too," I say, hopefully with a sense of finality.

"Um yeah, I should get going, but you two enjoy your night," Jon waves, and I'm so thankful it's not another hug. I watch as he disappears, cringing now that I'm left alone with Harry.

"What was that about?" Harry asks, his voice low. I shake my head, setting my glass down on a vacant table. "Nothing," I respond, avoiding his probing eyes.

"Clearly that wasn't nothing. You looked like a kid who just got caught stealing."

I sigh, pressing a hand to my temple. "Can we please not talk about this here?" I request, finally meeting his intense gaze. I'm not sure how he'll take all of this information, and in case it doesn't go well this is the last place I want to have the conversation.

"If we can't talk about it here then let's go somewhere we can talk about it," Harry says sternly, and I know he's not going to let this go. I close my eyes while I take a deep breath, bracing myself. This night was supposed to be a celebration, and I want to ask him that we let it go until we get home, but I know neither of us would be able to enjoy the rest of the evening.

"Let me say goodbye to Celeste and we'll go."

The car ride to Harry's is spent in silence, and I want to reach out to him, to know that everything is okay, but I don't know if I can. Harry and I never fight, I have no idea how I'm supposed to do this. Hell, we're not even fighting yet, but the storm I feel brewing is enough to make anyone prepare themselves.

Once we get home we both make our way upstairs wordlessly until we reach his bedroom. He shuts the door behind us even though we're the only two here. "So can you tell me now what the fuck happened back there? Because that sure as hell wasn't nothing."

I gesture for Harry to sit down on the bed and clear my throat, "I want to preface this by saying that I don't want to fight with you, but um, while I was in Atlanta Jon and I dated for a little while. Maybe a month or two," I confess, staring down at the skirt of my dress. I was supposed to leave it back at the hotel for Annabelle but I was too scared to request that we make a stop on the way home.