Number Neighbour » h.s

[nineteen]

"And I don't."

"Then just listen!" Olly's voice was raised, causing Nina to look at him in shock.

"Alright, mate, this isn't good. Just respect that she doesn't want to talk or to listen. No need to raise your voice like that, should learn better on how to handle rejection." Harry spoke, face hard.

"How about you learn to fuck off?" Olly replied sarcastically, looking at Harry, "Get out of it."

"You're pathetic." Nina shook her head at him, "You come here expecting what? And now you're insulting my boyfriend? A man you wish you were half as decent as he is? Stay out of my life," Nine raised her pointer finger, "You've done enough damage and I'm finally fixing it up."

With that, Nina turned and walked inside, but not before grabbing Harry's hand to pull him with her, slamming the door.

_

Nina was acting as if nothing had happened; she didn't mention who that was to Harry, didn't even cry out of anger.

The moment they stepped inside, she told him about the food she had prepared and was excited for him to try, and even later, as they ate the last bits of food on their plate, Nina was asking Harry about how things were at the studio.

"They were nice," Harry replied slowly, looking at her unsurely as she ate, "Finished two tracks today."

"That's great!" She beamed, "What are they about?"

Harry wasn't sure whether Nina was just an amazing actress when it came to hiding her feelings, or if she really just didn't give a shit about the incident he had seen. Nonetheless, Harry placed his hand on hers, "Honey, do you want to talk? About what happened out there?" He nodded his head to the side.

At the question, Nina's smile faltered, looking down at her plate before playing with the penne pasta with her fork, "Sorry." She mumbled.

"Look at me," Harry said softly, "Nina, look at me, honey."

And she did.

"It's okay. Whenever you want to talk, I'm here, and I'm all ears."

At the assurance, Nina seemed to relax – maybe she relaxed too much because the next thing she knew, her eyes were getting tearful.

"That was Olly."

It seemed like someone punched Harry in the throat as he heard what she said. As if his guts had spiraled around one another, Harry suddenly felt full.

"Olly." He repeated, "The ex?"

She nodded, "The ex."

"Oh."

"Yeah," she chuckled slightly, "Oh."

"He seemed pretty devastated to say the least." Harry said, trying to not come off us as rude or, worse – jealous and insecure. Olly was handsome.

Nina gave him a shrug, "Guess so. Wanted to apologise," she rolled her eyes, "To talk."

"And? What about you?"

"What about me?" Confusingly, Nina asked, looking at Harry.

"Do you not want him to talk?"

The scoff that Nina released wasn't directed to Harry, but rather the idea of having a talk with Olly on how he fucked her up.

"No, I don't," she replied, "That-" she paused, closing her eyes as she took a deep breath before looking back again at Harry, "That bloke had me waking up one morning, after 4 years of being together, to an empty bed and one single note that said he was sorry. A single, fucking note," she stressed, "One whole month of me trying to reach him, only to find that he blocked me from everywhere.