(Harry)
I looked down at the photos and gathered them together, taking them with me as I left Zayn's house to get to my car.
Tom and Olivia's cars were outside of Tom's house and I decided to walk over.
I knocked on the door, tried the handle and it was unlocked. I cracked it open, still knocking.
"Tom?, I yelled.
"Yeah! Who's that?", he called out and I headed toward his voice.
"Harry", I called back.
"Come in, come in", he said and I rounded a corner to find him sitting in his kitchen, eating some grapes and working on his laptop.
"Hey, Mate", I said in a low voice, rubbing the back of my neck.
"What's up?", he looked up from his laptop, then down at my shirtless chest, then at the photographs I was still holding, while he chewed another grape.
"I fucked up, Tom", I sat next to him and set the pictures on the table, facing down. I ran my fingers through my hair, then pulled it all up into a bun.
"What is it?", he finished chewing, wiped his hands on his jeans and put a hand on my shoulder.
I crossed my arms, then lowered my head, raised my right hand to my closed eyes and rubbed them, hard.
"The girl next door", I said.
"Yeah, my dick neighbor's girl? Lilly", he nodded.
"Lila. Yeah, I hooked up with her and....", I said, then took a deep breath in, "....she's seventeen years old", I breathed out.
"She's sev-", he started.
"I didn't know! I mean, she looks at least twenty one or twenty two, right?", I said, loudly.
"What, is she saying that you raped h-"
"No, no, no, no, nothing like that. We didn't have sex, we just....in fact, she's....", but I decided to leave out the part about learning that she's still a virgin. I still haven't had time to think about that.
I decided to just show him. I picked up the photographs, flipped them over and slid them in front of him.
"Oh, shit", he shuffled through them and rubbed his jaw.
"Zayn told me he'll use these pictures to have me arrested if I ever see her again", I looked down at them.
"So...he's not using these as long as you stay away from her?", Tom asked.
I just nodded my head, my lips pressed into a line.
"Fuck, man! You scared the shit out of me!", he slapped me on the shoulder, "UH, not that difficult. What you do is....", Tom leaned toward me like he was telling me a secret, "....you don't see her again", he sat back in his chair and I stood up from my mine.
I walked to Tom's refrigerator and grabbed a Corona. After popping the top and taking a long swig, I put the bottle down and looked Tom in the eye.
"I can't stay away from her"
"Oh my God. You're going to wind up on the news....", Tom groaned and rubbed his temples.
"You're going to be passed around prison like a peace pipe..."
I ignored him and drank the rest of the beer.
"In all seriousness, Harry", Tom stood up and walked over to me.
"You'll steer clear of her, right?"
"I'm in love with her", I looked at him.
"I won't touch her, Tom, I just want to be around her", I looked back at him and continued.
"I know how insane it sounds, but I can't stop thinking about her. I want to be with her. My heart aches, I feel butterflies when I think about her", I grabbed another Corona.
"Harry, I wouldn't minimize how you feel about someone based on how long you've known them, Dude", Tom said.
I smiled at him, silently thanking him.
"I get it, Harry. I do, I know. Olivia, right? I fell for her and when I couldn't be with her, I'd get this anxiety from that ache of missing her. I felt like any time away from me, could be putting distance between us or she'd meet someone else or something bad would happen"
"Oh my GOD, YES. That's exactly how it feels!!", I put my bottle down and grabbed both of his arms, thankful to be talking to someone who understands.
"I know, Harry. It's just that this is really risky for you, man", Tom looked at me with pity.
I looked at my feet.
"You're not going to listen to anyone to anyone as usual, are you?", he more stated than asked me
No
I wasn't
"Well then we've got to get ahold of the negatives of those photos and all copies made", Tom spoke quickly.
We stopped talking when we heard the sound of heels clicking against the floor louder and louder. We looked at each other and instinctively ran over to the table and stood in from of the sprawled out photographs.
Olivia and her friend, Cheryl, walked in and looked at us funny.
"What...are you doing?", Olivia asked, smiling, suspiciously.
"We're....", Tom looked at me, then over at his laptop, "watching porn".
I closed my eyes, raised my eyebrows and used my thumb to rub in between them.
"Tom...", Olivia cocked her head to one side and took a step closer, trying to look behind us.
"We were planning a surprise party, great, you ruined it, way to go, girls", he rolled his eyes and put his hands on his hips.
She stared at him.
"Fine", he took a deep breath, "Harry and I are in love. I didn't mean to hurt y-"
"Tom. It's fine", I said.
I know both Olivia and Cheryl and they're both very trustworthy friends.
The girls walked around us and saw the photos, they both covered their mouths and at the same time, said "Oh my GOSH".
"Wait, is that....the girl that wore the bikini to Tom's party last Friday?", Olivia asked.
"Alright, alright, you've seen enough", I gathered them together again and set them aside.
Tom went to get me a shirt and Olivia put out a small spread. We talked while eating different kinds of cheeses and crackers with the grapes.
Tom made mimosas and I kept drinking them.
It's 9:46 in the morning and I've had a double of bourbon, two beers and now I'm on my third mimosa.
What the hell
Let's do this
I gave the girls a basic rundown of what was going on.
"Cheryl, that girl was so fun", Olivia said with almost a wistful smile, "So freaking funny, you would've loved her"
"She's funny....sweet..gorgeous. She's thoughtful and kind...", I could hear my words getting sloppy from the alcohol, but I kept on.
"You wanna know what I love about her?"
Tom was catching up to my buzz pretty quickly.
We're normally not drinkers during the week, but I really needed this and I could tell that Tom could sense it, so he joined me.
"What do you love about her, Harry", Tom hugged my arm and then petted my hair like I was a pet.
"I love....that she, it's like....she...", I was making way too many hand gestures with my eyes squinted while I made them.
I looked over at Tom.
"She's like this....fucking energy. I wish I could absorb it or something. It's like wherever she is, she makes it the place to be, you know what I mean? When she leaves, the place feels cold", I pulled one of my rings off and rolled it back and forth in between my thumb and index finger.
"Even if the place is full of people, if she's not in it, it seems empty to me", I kept rolling my ring, but without looking at it, lost in my thoughts of Lila.
"This is....I'm so sorry, Harry", Olivia said, looking at me with sad eyes.
"Yeah", Cheryl whispered and it took me off-guard to see tears in her eyes.
"Seven months isn't that long to wait, Harry! After she turns eighteen-"
"She gets married", I cut her off.
"The weekend after her birthday, they get married", I said and Cheryl looked down.
"Fuck this", Tom stood up and grabbed my shoulder.
"Let's go find her", he finished.
"Tom, Zayn'll have him put in jail", Cheryl said.
Suddenly I heard Zayn's voice in my head.
You contact Kalila in any way after today, I call the police
After today
So, technically...
I smirked at Tom and we headed for the front door.