Anna

37

Harry's POV

Anna Marie Towns was written in gold by the first page of her leather bound journal. I ran my fingers over the page and smiled. She was a bloody idiot if she thought I was going to let her break up with me over nothing at all, even though we're clearly in love. I'd never loved a woman before, other than my family of course. Anna was it for me.

I knew I shouldn't have taken her journal, but she had me so mad. I thought maybe it'd be an excuse to see her again. Maybe I could change her mind.

Now I'm sitting here running my fingers over the first page just thinking about how I never should've taken it. I can't bring myself to read any of it, but I'm sure it's filled with the magnificent things she keeps to herself. It looks well used. It's probably almost filled up.

"Harry?" Mitch's voice had me looking up and slamming the cover shut. "You alright?"

"Yeah?" I tapped my fingers. "No."

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"Anna dumped me." I looked up at him. "Basically said she couldn't do it long distance and she won't come with me because she wants to be here with Susie. She told me she'd never be selfish enough to ask me to stay here."

"What did you say?"

"I told her I was selfish, and asked her to come with me back to London." I sighed. "Then she told me she loved me, asked me to leave, and I stole this as I walked away."

He eyed the journal and shook his head. "She said she loved you?"

"She did."

"Do you love her?" He asked.

"More than anything." I said simply.

"Well, what are we going to do about it?" He says down beside me.

"Not much I can do. She seemed so upset but there's nothing I can say. I mean she's right I guess, I'm leaving tomorrow for London and she's staying here. I pined after her from a distance a long time, and I know it's terrible but I guess that's what it'll have to be for now."

"Or?" Mitch's fingers danced over her journal.

"I can't read it." I sighed. "It's a huge invasion of privacy."

"Well, I can." Mitch picked it up and threw it open.

He thumbed through a few pages and I just sat there. His face dropped some pages and he chuckled at others. Then he flipped to the back. His eyes looked to me then back to the words on the page.

"I have an idea." He said closing the book.

"What is it?"

"Remember the internship she was applying for?" He asked. "The writing one in London?"

"Yeah?" I wasn't following.

"Your sister writes, maybe she knows someone who could take a look at a sample and give Anna Marie a call?" Mitch shrugged.

"I don't have a sample of anything and it's too late. The deadline passed weeks ago. Plus, Anna didn't want that internship anyway. She just wants to travel and wrote something honest. Not trash magazine articles." I said.

"But you do have a sample, and it's very honest." Mitch held up the journal.

"I can't do that Mitch." I said.

"You haven't even read it. It's amazing." He smiled like a proud dad. "She has a real way with words."

"I stole it though." I said. "She'll hate me."

"I don't think so." He shrugged. "She said on page thirty one that's she'd love you forever, and that you could never do anything to change that."

"Stop it!" I smacked his arm.

"So does Gemma know someone or not?" He asked.

"I don't know I'd have to call her." I shrugged.

"Well," he tucked Anna's journal under his arm. "I'm bringing this with us. Don't be late tomorrow. I'd hate to miss our flight to London. You know I've never been to the UK before. Think anyone will mistake me for a celebrity?"

"I wouldn't worry about that." I rolled my eyes.

"Is it a small area or over populated?"

"London's quite big." I shrugged.

Mitch burst out laughing. "Shut up! Finish packing and let's get your depressed ass a drink."

I nodded. A drink wouldn't fix my heart ache, but it would certainly dull it. That's all I could really do for now, dull the pain. Anna Marie was going to haunt my mind until I figured out how to make this right.

I finally finished packing and met Mitch in the living room. He had two shots of tequila on the table in front of him and a beer in his hand. I eyed the shits and sat beside him.

"How are things with Macy?" I asked.

"Fine." He shrugged. "After I told her about Ashley it was like a new chapter for us. It feels weightless. There's no secrets or lies. She's guarded but it's not secretive, it's like she's scared to get in to deep."

"Are you happy?"

He smiled a cheesy grin. "She makes me incredibly happy."

"What happened with Reggie?" I asked.

"Well," he sat back. "After he slashed her tires and destroyed her apartment she stayed with me until we left for promos. Then she stayed at Anna Marie's grandma's place. The police took him in and he was in possession of some serious narcotics and an unregistered weapon. I guess he's facing some serious time in prison."

"Oh my," I was a bit surprised. "What's next for you and Macy? Now that we're going to be in London?"

He gave me a sad smile. "She said she'd call every night and come see me in a few months."

I nodded. "So she's willing to try long distance?"

He patted my shoulder and grabbed a shot. "To new adventures."

I grabbed mine and clinked it to his. "New adventures."