Camille Cottin as Céline La Fleur aka The Co-Star.
It's been a few days since the doctor suggested Harry gets admitted into a rehabilitation centre for his physical and mental recovery. The answer was a straight up no and mild panic attack from him.
Knowing the type of person he is, Nia instantly understood and supported his reaction. The last thing he ever wants to feel is weak and right now, there are many reasons to feel that way.
Nia is wrapping up a report on her laptop when the older physiotherapy nurse enters with Harry on the wheel chair.
The past few days have seen progress in his physical recovery and he's even starting to randomly walk around his private ward.
The fatigue is still there and of course, his limbs still shake at any given time.
However, little progress is still progress. Nia smiles and closes her laptop just after hitting the send button.
Harry is wearing an oversized fluffy sweater and he looks endearing with his extra curly hair today.
The mild scars on his face are gradually fading but the darkness under his eyes are still present and that brightness that was once in his eyes has slowly faded away.
The man is tired and moody. He tries to smile as he's wheeled into his ward but it doesn't touch his eyes.
Nia understands this and Zayn has also pointed out the same thing about her.
"How was the therapy session?" she speaks up, asking the Nurse.
"Someone's left foot is returning back to life without excessive pains," the woman replies, brightly.
"That's great. Thank you so much," Nia replies, giving her a smile.
"Oh dear, just doing me good job," the nurse chuckles, pushing the chair near Nia.
Harry silently nods in agreement and she looks at him with a supportive smile. He tries to return the smile and he doesn't bother.
The nurse says nothing and calmly walks out of the ward, leaving them alone.
Nia returns her laptop into her handbag and pushes away her hair from her face.
It's been a while since she properly took care of her body and it's starting to tell with how wild her own curls are gradually becoming. He studies her for a hot minute and admires her side profile.
It's a beautiful face.
He has always known every corner of that face and he's in awe of the changes that have come within a year. Nia notices that he's just silently staring at her and she awkwardly clears her throat before turning to stare at him.
"How are you?" she asks, softly.
"P-Pain....not bad," he rasps and clears his throat.
"That's good to hear. Have you spoken to Jeff?" she asks, staring at him.
"No," Harry replies, furrowing his brows.
Nia notices the change in body language. He is a little stiff and annoyed. She will not push this.
"Hungry? Zayn sent us some food, he made veggie Biryani," she stands up.
That's one meal Zayn has always made for them as a couple. Even hearing the name triggers a flood of memories. Mostly good memories. He naturally wants to protest but deep down he knows it's really pointless.
Zayn went out of his way to cook a whole meal for him and the least he can do is be grateful. Their relationship doesn't have to be great for them to be cordial with each other.
Besides, Nia is his friend and well her friend should also be his friend. In a way.
"Oh....k-kind?" he says, unsure.
"Yes, you're right," she nods in agreement.
"Friend....to Nia," he doesn't mean to giggle.
"You know, he's also your friend. You two got super annoying as friends," she chuckles in memory.
"Okay, okay" Harry looks away as he struggles to get his next words out. "H-Hate...me,"
Nia pauses as she holds the bag of packed lunch. She leaves the bag on the table and walks over to Harry. Nia calmly squats before him and touches his shaky knuckles.
He is still looking away because he cannot learn vulnerability in a few weeks.
"You know that Zayn doesn't hate you," she speaks, softly.
"Nia...too?" he asks, calmly.
That was not a question she was expecting to get today. She instantly clears her throat and feels a bubbling feeling in her chest. Probably gas or anxiety. Or both.
Fine, he was an asshole towards the end of their relationship, but that was because he needed to be defensive and cocky about facing his feelings. Does that make her hate him? She doesn't know.
Okay, he didn't directly contact her during the whole year of being apart but that was because she was direct about her boundaries. Does that make her hate him?
He keeps insisting that he never cheated and she doesn't know if she wants to know why he was getting super cosy (and touchy) with his co-star just after filming for weeks.
Of course, she hated him as soon as those pictures were intentionally leaked just a week before the teaser of the film dropped. At that moment, she hated every single thing about him.
She hated the co-star and hated the movie. She never cared to watch the movie and never cared to celebrate him getting awards for the movie. Does that make her hate him though?
It's hard to explain what exactly she feels about him in the current moment.
"I...I don't hate you," she breathes out.
"No....no, hate...me...lot," he groans as he fails to explain himself.
"Easy. Try saying that again," she urges, calmly.
"No...a-annoying to say," he flushes and gives a little smile.
"It's not annoying to express your feelings," Nia sighs, staring at him.
Harry slowly shakes his head like a pouty child and Nia fights her smile at how his hair lightly bounces in reaction.
"Nia...hates...," he pauses and points at himself when the words fail him.
Nia frowns as she brings his shaky finger from pointing at him and just clasps it between her palms.
It's hard to state how she's truly feeling but this idea of her hating him makes her feel annoyed.
"Stop it, I don't hate you, okay?" She tries to sound stern.
"Angry?" he asks, trying to let go of her hand to point at himself again.
"Am I angry at you?" she asks to be clear.
"Yes," he replies with a nod.
This makes her pause and they maintain eye contact for an intense moment. They both know the answer to this question. There's no point lying or sugar coating it.
"Yes, I'm angry," Nia replies.
"I...I know," he says.
"So, why are you asking me again?" she blinks at him.
"I...," he pauses and slowly blinks. "I...too."
"You're also angry?" she asks, fighting her tears.
"Yes," he fakes a frown and slowly smiles.
Nia manages to smile a little at how he's trying to make the situation lighter than it's intended to be and she slowly shakes her head.
"You're so stubborn, Harry," she breathes out.
"Like...Like Nia," he replies.
"No, I'm not stubborn," she states.
"Oh...Oh very," he insists.
"You're way more stubborn than I am, look at how you treated Zayn," she raises an eyebrow.
Harry pauses and scrunches his lips before shrugging. Fine, maybe he's a little stubborn.
"Okay...okay," he chuckles.
"Ready to eat now?" she asks.
Nia stands up with a smile and is about to walk away. Harry realises that he's not done expressing himself and he calmly stretches out his hand to get her attention.
"If...angry, why...h-here?" he asks.
"I'm here because friends can be angry at each other and not want the other person dead," she replies with a smirk.
Harry doesn't mean to sheepishly giggle on hearing this and Nia fights herself from giggling along. He seems to be talking himself out of his moody self and that is a good sign.
He tries to instantly reply but it's hard and he unintentionally lets out a groan.
"....dead," seems to be the only word that comes out.
"Yes, your accident was horrible and I was your emergency contact," she subtly reminds him.
"Yes...okay...yes," he mumbles and drops his eyes.
"Are we ready to talk about that?" she returns to stand in front of him.
"M-Made...angry?" he bites down his lip.
"It didn't make me angry. It made me confused," Nia sighs.
"W-Why?" he blinks with a frown.
"Harry, we broke up a year ago. You were pissed and I was furious. How did I remain your emergency contact?" She asks, kindly.
This makes the wheels turn in Harry's head and he realises that he was not prepared to talk about any of this. He lightly pats his knee with a palm and avoids Nia's warm gaze that is currently above him.
This woman has paused her entire life to be here with him and watch him recover. Does it matter why he took her off his contact list only to add her back and now make her his emergency contact?
A lot has certainly happened in a year and he knows that talking about this will trigger unwanted emotions. Worse than the unwanted emotions he's currently dealing with.
"Okay...okay," he nervously chuckles.
"We don't have to talk about this, okay?" she assures him.
"I...like it," he blurts out.
"What do you like?" she asks, waiting.
"Talk...to...you," Harry says and looks away yet again.
"You know you cannot keep avoiding my face. I'm here to stare into your soul, mate," she chuckles.
Just then, there's a gentle knock and someone enters. Nia pauses and looks up to see an older woman with blonde hair walk in. The woman commands presence with an aloofness and is elegantly dressed in a suit as she struts in.
The moment Nia's eyes land on her, she's taken to that morning of the pictures leaking all over the internet. Suddenly, her breathing gets a little stressed and her whole body starts feeling numb.
Harry tenses as he looks up and flushes pink, feeling extremely uncomfortable. Nia nearly falls as she steps back and Harry calmly grabs her wrist. He'll rise up from the wheelchair if it means keeping Nia safe.
She gently tears away from the hold and steps away from him.
"Am I disturbing?" the woman asks in her thick french accent.
"Why are you here?" Nia blurts out before catching herself.
"I'm sorry?" the woman is taken aback.
"I shouldn't have said that. Wait, this is none of my business," Nia quickly says.
"No...no," Harry mumbles.
"I'm Celine La Fleur, have we met?" Celine asks, with a warm smile.
"No, we haven't met. I'm Nia," Nia replies.
Celine pauses and her smile slowly disappears. Of course, she's heard of Nia. The woman she unintentionally hurt.
"Oh shit, I didn't mean to show up unannounced. I heard about the accident and had to see Harry," Celine starts to explain.
"What? You don't owe me any explanation - I didn't know you two were still a thing and I...I actually feel stupid still standing here," Nia continues to say, tears stinging her eyes.
Harry groans as he tries to reply to that utter nonsense he just heard from Nia but Aphasia decides now is the best time to showcase itself. He wants to counter what Nia just said but the words are completely seized and his groans make no sense.
"A thing? We were never - he's just a colleague," Celine replies, calmly.
Nia gathers her things in her hand bag as a mild panic attack kicks in and she turns to them with tears in her eyes. It's worse that she's literally breaking down in front of the two people who hurt her the most just a year ago.
Harry slowly stands up from the wheelchair and staggers a little, making Celine rush to hold his shaky hand.
This makes Nia flinch in annoyance and she just stares at him with those doe eyes of hers.
"I'll go," she directs this at him.
Harry slowly shakes his head in defiance as he stares at her with a frown and Celine feels completely lost in the middle of this intense moment. The tension is palpable.
"I think I should...I feel like I've done something wrong," the older woman says.
"You ruined my relationship. I think you've done enough." Nia says and walks out of the ward.
It dawns on Celine as she calmly releases Harry and he slowly limps to the bed. She folds her arms and sighs in defeat. It all adds up now and she makes sense.
Celine stands before Harry and gently pushes his hair away from his face. She looks a little pissed off but her compassion is more apparent.
"If your words have failed you, you can sign to me. Have you told her the truth about what really happened?" She asks, frowning.
Harry stays still for a moment as tears sting his own tired eyes.
"I don't need her hating me even more." He manages to sign with his shaky fingers.
Is this a dramatic couple - sorry, friendship?