Songs:
Before He Cheats: Carrie Underwood
Leave: Jo Jo
Wake Up Call: Maroon 5
If I were A Boy: Beyonce
A.J.'s Pov
Aside from Harry's semi altercation with Stephen, our night was going pretty well. Harry was being extra flirty. I had a stinging feeling that he was only doing it to annoy Stephen, but I chose to think that he was just really happy to be out with me. When we entered, Johnny's penthouse, the place was rather calm for a party to be taking place.
"Hey, Kit," Johnny greeted me with a giant hug. "Twice in the same week, I'm honored," he said as he led me in, Harry never letting go of my hand. "What's all this?" He asked gesturing towards our hands.
"They're lovers," Chris interrupted as if anyone was talking to him.
Johnny playfully pulled me into his arms, Harry still didn't let go of my hand. "I do not recall authorizing any such paperwork and since when are you allowed to look so girly?" He questioned me.
"That's what I said," Chris yelled over his shoulder as he poured himself a drink.
"I'll fill out any necessary paperwork," Harry played along, finally letting my hand go.
Now with both hands free, I pushed myself away from Johnny, desperately needing some air. "That's all nice and dandy gentlemen, but I am not a piece of property and I can make my own decisions, thank you very much."
"We're just looking out for you, plus it was Robbie who made up the rules, so take it up with him," he said with a smirk, earning him a punch to his bicep before I joined the rest of the crowd, leaving Harry to deal with Johnny and Chris. I sat on the couch with Niall and Ed, who had decided to play with some of Johnny's guitars that he had set up in his living room, which I assumed was for this particular reason, because he couldn't play an instrument if his life depended on it.
After about half an hour of us just messing around with the guitar and singing, Chris came from wherever he had disappeared to, joining us on the edge of the armrest. I looked around to see if I spotted Harry, but he was nowhere to be found. I found myself a little irritated, but decided not to let it get to me. We were at a party, here to have fun. About another half hour passed and the penthouse was starting to look more like a party, yet Harry was still missing in action.
"Come on join us for a drink," Niall captured my attention, handing my a tall glass of some dark brown liquid.
"No, thank you."
"Come on, Sloan, you're an Irish woman, it's your duty," he insisted with a large smile.
I looked at him and the glass hesitantly before I took it from him, if Harry and everyone else in this place could have a good time, so could I, besides it was pretty hard to say no to that infectious smile. A small part of me wanted to decline, knowing that someone should be responsible, but I was always the responsible one, it was my turn to have some fun. I took the glass from him, finishing it off in one large gulp before I chickened out.
"Holy crap, you are Irish," Niall laughed, taking my glass to refill it. Instead of declining, I gladly accepted, not caring at this point.
Yet another half an hour passed and there was still no sign of Harry, but this time I decided not to let it bother me. Instead of getting angry or leaving the party, I pushed any thoughts of my so called bo out of my mind, choosing to dance with Samara, Louis, and some other people who I didn't recognize while Niall kept my glass full of whatever dark liquid he was giving me. I took a sip of each, but I ultimately ended up giving them to Samara, who was more than happy to take them off my hands.
I felt my head buzzing, I knew enough to know it wasn't the alcohol, the room was too crowded and I was feeling suffocated. I needed air, desperately. I pushed my way through the sea of people until I was outside on the balcony. I took a deep breath, my lungs being met with the cold, brutal air. It wasn't until my breathing was stable that I realized, I wasn't wearing my jacket. I wrapped my arms around myself, trying, but failing to keep myself from the cold. Which was useless, but I wasn't ready to go back inside.
"It's a little cold out here, isn't it?" a voice asked from behind me.
I turned around, greeted by a blue eyed, blond man. Stephen. "Yeah, November can get a bit cold," I mumbled.
He took off his jacket before taking a step towards me, placing it on my shoulders. This felt wrong, the scent was off. It wasn't Harry's usual distinctive scent, I was never able to pinpoint what it was that I would smell on him, all I knew was that it was Harry's scent. Stephen smelled of a mix of ginger and vanilla, an odd contrast to what I was used to. When I looked up at him, I wasn't met with the usual green eyes I had become accustomed to, instead they were blue. His hair was short and blond, not long curls and brown, his face lacked a set of dimples that appeared when a smile was formed. Now that I was standing in front of a handsome man, comparing him to Harry, finding everything wrong with him, my heart began to ache. I had come out tonight to be with, Harry, yet he had ditched me to do god knows what.
I heard him speak, but I had no idea what it was that had been said. I opened my mouth to ask him to repeat himself, but another voice interrupted us. "What's going on here?" The heavy, English accented voice asked.
My heart jumped a little when I heard the familiar voice, but quickly recovered. Just like Stephen's appearance, this new voice was also off. I turned to the direction of which I heard the voice. Louis. "Hey, I just needed some air," I said as I shrugged off Stephen's jacket before handing it to him. "Thank you, Stephen," I said to him as I walked back towards the door where Louis was holding open. "I think I'm going home," I informed him quietly as I walked inside.
Louis followed me as I made my way through the cramped penthouse looking for my jacket and purse which I had left in a room, Johnny had told us we could use to leave our things. I found my jacket as soon as I walked into the room, I put it on before throwing my purse across my body.
"So you're just going to leave, without Harry?" He asked, I couldn't tell if he was using an accusatory tone or not, but either way, I was in no mood to deal with anyone, I just wanted to get home.
"If you haven't noticed, I spent most of my night with all of you, while Harry probably left hours ago," I pointed out as I made my way back out of the room.
"Well, you can't just leave by yourself," he seemed to accept my explanation. "Harry would kill us if we let you go off on your own," he finished as he followed me.
"I can fend for myself, thank you, though," I tried to stay as polite as I could, it wasn't his fault his best friend was a jerk.
As I made my way through the semi deserted hallway, with Louis hot on my tracks, a familiar voice coming from behind a cracked door, caught my attention. It was, Harry's. I felt my heart beat faster and a small smile play at my lips. Despite my subconscious warning me not to open the door, I opened the door. What my eyes saw caused my entire body to collapse on the inside, I felt my breathing become labored again, but I shut my eyes and inhaled deeply to try to calm myself. She was right. I should have listened.
Louis's POV
One job. You had one job, Louis. I mentally scolded myself. I knew what this fool was up to this entire time, I knew this would be the way the night would go when I saw the way he reacted at the cinema. We all knew it. Our mission for the night was, operation: distract, A.J., which was going fine until that stupid, perfect hunk of a man, blondie decided to make a move on her. Honestly, he knew she was taken, where was the respect?
A.J.'s body stayed frozen in her spot, her eyes screwed shut as she took in deep breathes. He eyes finally fluttered open as she trained them in Harry's direction. I watched her for a minute, her breathing became uneven and tears were beginning to form. I turned my attention towards where her eyes were fixed and I must say, I was not pleased to say the least.
Mistake number one: This one was obvious, he was acting like, Harry.
Mistake number two: He made a promise that he wasn't keeping at the moment.
Mistake number three: He had three bimbos surrounding him, who were not shy about letting their hands roam freely.
Mistake number four: When the redheaded bimbo, how clearly had way too much makeup on, to his left asked if he was with anyone; the idiot had the nerve to shake his head, no.
With that I turned my attention back to, A.J., whose breathing had become erratic since the last time that I had seen her and her face was quickly changing colors. "Sloan, are you okay?" I finally asked as I rubbed her back, trying to comfort her or ease her breathing when I remembered someone mentioning that she had asthma when we had first met. I quickly grabbed her bag, rummaging through it until I found her inhaler.
I shook it a few times before I forced it between her lips, counting down from three before pushing the canister down. She took a deep breath, but her breathing was still not back to normal, I heard Harry behind me trying desperately to get her attention and get me to move, but I wasn't letting him near her if she was having this reaction.
I pushed him away before I shoved her inhaler back in her mouth, repeating my actions from the first time. This time, her breathing began to calm down and become somewhat normal. Her eyes were no longer on the verge of tears, replacing the hurt was hate. I finally heard, Harry behind me asking her, repeatedly, if she was okay. Even I became irritated, I loved the boy dearly, but he could be a bit of an idiot at times. Before I could fully understand what was going on, A.J. pulled Harry by the sleeve of his jacket into another room, leaving me alone. I hoped she would beat the shit out of him, that bastard.
Harry's POV
Fuck. I felt my heart beat fast against my chest, afraid of what she was going to do. She couldn't physically hurt me, well she probably could, but I knew she wouldn't do that. I was more concerned by the look in her eyes, it wasn't the usual kindness that I had gotten accustomed to. Her usual light, honey brown eyes were dark and full of hate.
"A.J., please, let me explain," I tried to plead with her, but she wasn't having it. In retrospect, I shouldn't have called her, A.J., well I shouldn't have done what I was doing in the first place, then I wouldn't be in this mess. I didn't know what I was doing there, I was used to being single and not having to worry about anyone else.
But this isn't just anyone. This is Katarina. My Katarina.
Before I could get another word in, she shut the door to the bathroom we had just entered, behind us, locking it before she pushed me against the door. I was surprised when her dark red lips connected with mine in a heated, sloppy kiss, but I had a feeling she didn't care. I put my hands on her hips, only to have them smacked away. She pinned my arms at my sides, she didn't have to use force, I knew better than to make another move without her say so.
Her lips began to drift from mine, down my body until she was on her knees in front of me as she unbuckled my belt. I didn't like the turn this was talking. "Katarina, you need to stop," I tried to keep my voice as even as possible.
She flicked her dark eyes in my direction as though she was mentally telling me off, which I deserved. Her small hands rested on my hips for a split second, her eyes never leaving mine. Whatever she had planned on doing, she just changed her mind. Her vengeful, hate filled eyes were now sad.
She gripped my jacket as she leaned her forehead against my chest. I let my arms wrap around her, holding her securely against me, hoping that she would just forget what she saw and let me explain myself.
We must have stayed like that for a full five minutes, neither one of us saying a single word or moving from our spots.
Her small hands spread along my chest, pushing herself away from me. They rubbed up my body, stopping once they reached my cheeks. "Please don't, ever, talk to me again," her voice was quiet.
I was about to protest, but her lips came crashing against mine, kissing me passionately. I kissed back, hoping that I might be able to change her mind, my hands pressed into her back, pushing her closer to me. But, she resisted, eventually pulling herself from me.
Her thumb rubbed against my lips, wiping away her lipstick stain. I kissed the pad of her thumb, desperate for any type of connection with her. I needed her to know that I wouldn't let her go so easily, though my words were failing me. I wanted to scream, but my voice was failing me.
She shut her eyes before pulling herself fully from my, turning towards the mirror. I watched as she cleaned the smeared lipstick from her face, not bothering to acknowledge my presence. She tossed the tissue into the waste basket before pulling out a tube of lipstick and reapplying the dark red shade to her lips. Her eyes finally came up to meet mine through the mirror, "if sex was all you wanted, you should have just asked," she said quietly, anger and determination laced in her voice. "I'm sure we could have worked something out and avoided any of this."
With that she pushed me away from the door before slipping out, leaving me dumbfounded. Did she really think that's all I wanted from her?
I quickly regained consciousness, my legs carrying me quicker than my mind could think out properly what to do next. "Katarina, wait," I tried following her, but she wasn't having it.
She said something to Louis as she passed him by, which I wasn't able to make out. Louis stepped in front of me, cutting my line of vision. "You need to let her be," he said, holding me in place so I wouldn't go after her.
"Louis, get out of my way, I need to talk to her," I felt my voice begin to crack.
I tried to keep walking, but Louis's body blocked me from moving, before I knew it, I was back in another room. "Harry, I don't know exactly what you were doing, but from where we were standing, it didn't look too good. You need to let her go and have some space to think, at least," he tried to reason with me.
"If I let her go now, she'll-" I couldn't finish my sentence, because I didn't want to believe it myself.
"Mate, you fucked up," he said as he forced me to sit on a chair that was in the room. "You need to own up to that and deal with the consequences."
He was right, I did fuck up. I hadn't planned on it, it just happened. I had just got this girl, who was so closed off to anything that had to do with love or relationships and I ruined it in a matter of minutes.