paige's pov.
"clara and ethan are gonna have to start staying at your place when you come over because i don't think i can spend another night hearing them fuck." i whined to grayson, him laughing in return.
last night, ethan ended up staying over and i guess one thing led to another between him and clara, keeping me and grayson up all night.
"honestly, babe, you can't really be mad at them because that used to be us so." he responded. i rolled my eyes and turned off the bathroom light, walking back over to the bed and quickly pecking grayson's lips.
"today's sophie's birthday." i informed him, walking over to my dresser and pulling a drawer open. i looked around and found my white lulu shorts, slipping them on over my underwear.
"are y'all celebrating tonight?" he asked. i nodded and looked at myself in the mirror, seeing the t-shirt i slept in and my messy hair. "yeah, we're throwing a party for her at the zeta house." i explained. this time, he nodded.
grayson stood up from the bed and walked over to the bedroom door. i made my way over to him as he opened it, revealing clara and ethan laying on the couch.
"is sophie still asleep?" i asked as we entered the room. clara looked up from her phone and laughed, "bitch never came home last night."
i sat down on the edge of the couch, looking at her in confusion. "what do you mean she never came home?" i asked. "i mean, she texted me last night saying to not wait up for her." she explained. my jaw dropped.
"do you think she...?" i started, looking at clara to see her raising her eyes rows and nodding. "that bitch so fucked him." she laughed.
sophie's pov.
"what're you doing tonight?" harry asked me, his arm resting gently over my waist. my eyes softly fluttered open, looking into his eyes as he stared back at me. i smiled, a small blush creeping onto my cheeks.
"my friends are throwing me a birthday party." i said, watching him laugh at my response. "nothing, i still just think it's funny you're in a sorority." he said, his smile remaining on his face.
i sat up in his bed, seeing my clothes from the night before scattered around on the floor. "well, i am twenty-one today and in college so it shouldn't be that hard to believe." i replied.
he sat up next to me, pulling the sheets completely off of him and climbing out of bed, walking over to his dresser and pulling out a pair of sweatpants and slipping them on.
"and do you have a date to this party?" he asked, standing at the edge of the bed with his hands on his hips, waiting for my answer. "actually, i don't. i'm still looking for one." i said, a small smirk on my lips.
i climbed off of the bed, wearing nothing but my underwear and one of his t-shirts. i walked over to him, crossing my arms over my chest as i moved closer to him.
"i mean, maybe, if you're up to it, you could be my date." i smiled, looking up at him. my arms made their way around his neck, his arms wrapping around my waist. "i think we could make that work." he smiled, leaning down and reconnect our lips.
last night after our meeting, harry invited me to stay over for a little bit and have some drinks. we ended up talking about everything, friends, family, careers, high school, everything. a few drinks turned into many drinks, and next thing i knew, we were in his bed. oops.
"so what do i have to wear to this party?" he questioned, his forehead resting against mine. "surprise me."
sarah's pov.
"one more." i begged shawn, watching him shake his head and walk over to the light switches, switching off the recording booths lights. "no, that's all you can hear right now. besides, we have to get ready for sophie's party." he responded, reaching his hand out to help me off the couch, making me gladly accept it. i groaned, throwing my head back as i followed him out of the room.
after staying at shawn's place last night, he invited me to come with him to his studio to hear some of his songs off his new album, and let me tell you, they're pretty good.
"i planned that whole damn party and paige and clara are supposed to be there setting up in like an hour. we don't need to rush." i mumbled, grabbing shawn's hand as we walked down the hallway.
"yeah, but i wanna see you in the dress you bought for it." he smirked as he looked down at me, giving my hand a quick squeeze. i sarcastically scoffed, rolling my eyes.
as we got closer to the main glass doors, at least forty people standing outside the doors came into view. "how the fuck did they find us?" shawn asked his manager, andrew, as he walked up behind us. "i guess fans saw you and posted it somewhere. it's okay, everything will be alright. just hold sarah's hand and lead her through the mob." andrew ordered, walking in front of us and opening the doors.
bright flashes immediately started going off, making it hard to see where i was walking. i held on to shawn's hand as we pushed through the crowd, probably squeezing too hard from being so overwhelmed. people shouted numerous things at us, questioning who i was and stuff.
"who's the girl?"
"is this your new girlfriend, shawn?"
"were you working on a new album?"
"introduce us to your girlfriend?"
once we reached the black suv, shawn opended the door for me, practically pushing me into the back seat as he climbed in behind me. "thank you everyone for coming out. shawn has some things he has to do tonight so he can't talk right now. please respect his privacy at this time. thank you!" andrew announced before he opened the passenger seat door and climbed in, slamming the door behind him.
the car ride back to shawn's was quiet, mostly because i was scared to say anything to him since he stared at the window the whole time, remaining dead silent. "that was crazy." i finally spoke up once we walked into shawn's kitchen, watching him open the fridge and grab a beer. he twisted the bottle cap off.
"yeah and it was at the wrong time, too." he mumbled, his face starting to get red from frustration. i raised an eyebrow, partially confused by what he meant by that. "what?" i questioned, walking over to the kitchen island and setting my phone and wrislet down.
"i mean, i'm just not ready for everyone to know i'm in a relationship. i don't even know if that would be good for us." he responded, taking a sip of his beer and looking down at the floor after. "not good for us? what the fuck is that supposed to mean?" i rudely asked, crossing my arms over my chest as i waited for his answer.
"sarah, we met literally three days ago and we already decided to be dating. don't you think that's a little too fast?" he spat, looking at me for a brief second before walking away, heading towards the stairs.
"you're joking, right?" i scoffed, only being answered with complete silence as i followed him up the staircase and into his bedroom, shutting his door behind me, knowing his roommates may be home. "you know what's funny?" i started as i watched him sit on his bed, setting the beer bottle on the hardwood floor as he rested his elbows on his knees and burried his face into his hands.
"the fact that you were the one who wanted to be with me. obviously i wanted to be with you too, but i'm the one who said we shouldn't rush into things. if this is about me not wanting to have sex with you yet-" i said, but suddenly being interrupted by shawn. "this has nothing to do with that. i respect you and your wishes, i am nowhere near upset about that." he responded, his voice started to raise a tiny bit.
i laughed. "then what the fuck is this about then, shawn?" he remained silent. "you know, fuck you. i'm gonna go back to my place to get ready. we can talk about this whenever you decide to stop being a douche." i mumbled, walking over to the chair in the corner of the room and picking up my night bag, searching for my few pieces of clothing around the room. "babe, wait. i'm sorry, i didn't mean any of that to come out like that." he exclaimed as he stood up and walked over to me, trying to take the bag out of my hands.
i held a tight grip on the bag, glaring up at him as i watched him back away with his hands slightly up in surrender. i walked over to his bathroom and put my toothbrush, hairbrush, and makeup bag in my night bag. i walked back into his room and toward the door, stopping just before i left.
"just so you know, i'm not mad, just kind of annoyed. come to the party tonight if you want. if not, i understand." i said, glancing over my shoulder to get one more look at him before i left, seeing him standing with his head down and hands resting on his hips. i sighed and completely walked out, making my way towards the front door as fast as i could.
once i reached the front door and shut it behind me, i started walking on the sidewalk, my head starting to hurt from thinking too much. i'm not going to lie; what shawn said did really hurt me, especially since he wanted to get into a relationship now and getting to know each other better as we went on. but, deep down i also see where he's coming from. i know he's stressed about the album and other things, but he also needs to understand when you're in a relationship, you have to actually communicate about stuff like this.
i walked for about fifteen minutes before i noticed i was just about at my apartment. then it hit me. i grabbed my phone, but not my wristlet, meaning i don't have my key. "shit!" i cursed to myself, pulling my phone out of my bag as i opened the lobby door. i scrolled through my contacts until i found paige, hitting the call button and pressing my phone up to my ear, hitting the elevator button.
"hello?" paige mumbled from the other line. "hi, please tell me you're at the apartment." i pleaded, the elevator finally opening, causing me to jump in and pressing the fifth floor button. the giant box shifted and starting moving upward. "yeah, i'm about to head out. why?" she asked. "shawn and i kinda had a little argument and i left his place, but didn't realize once i got here that i left my keys at his place." i explained. once i finished, the elevator doors opened, making me walk fast towards our door.
"before you say anything, i'm outside." i said, hearing the line go dead and the door immediately swinging open. "i'm sorry, thank you." i mumbled as i rushed inside and towards my room, looking at my phone and seeing i had to leave in twenty minutes. paige knocked on my open door, making her way in before i could answer.
"what happened with you and shawn?" she questioned, looking at herself in my body mirror as i pulled my dress out of my bag. i slipped off my sweatshirt and took off my sports bra, slipping the red silk dress on over my body.
i pulled it down a bit so it was covering my ass, pulling off my leggings afterwards, leaving me just wearing the dress and underwear. luckily i did my makeup before we went to the studio so all i had to do was touch it up and quickly curl my hair.
"when we left his studio, there was a bunch of paparazzi and they were yelling all sorts of things about us. i guess it just overwhelmed him because he's not ready to go public about us, but also he's the one who started all of this." i explained as i took out my makeup bag and walked over to my bathroom counter, touching up my face powder.
i noticed paige walk away from the mirror and sit at the edge of my bed, looking down at her shoes. "i understand what you're saying, but you also need to realize what he's going through. i'm sure she has a lot of pressure on him right now, especially with him writing a whole fucking album. i just think y'all may need to take this relationship slower. i mean, come on, y'all met like not even a week ago and y'all are already dating? your saying that y'all wanted to go slow, but also you aren't at the same time." paige said, letting her words sink in, just nodding my head in response.
i looked at myself through the mirror, looking at my eyelash extensions and straight hair. "you're right." i mumbled, setting down my powder. "do you want to ride with me and grayson tonight just so you don't have to drive? we can wait a little bit longer if you need to finish getting ready." she offered, paige actually trying to be nice for once.
"i think i'm done. i'll just leave my hair straight." i replied, turning off the bathroom light and making my way towards my closet, pulling out my black, suede heel sandals, quickly slipping them on my feet.
clara's pov.
"i don't know where the fuck paige and sarah are, but i need them to hurry the fuck up." i spat, setting down two more packs of white claws on the kitchen counter of the zeta house. zoey laughed as she pulled out a few bottles of md and set them next to the few packs of alcohol.
"i'm sure they're on their way." she said trying to reassure me, but my impatient ass shook my head no. "i hope the crashed." i laughed, grabbing one of the md bottles and opening it, taking a long sip of the drink.
"they're probably getting more alc." she mentioned, opening the white cooler next to her and putting the white claws in it to keep them cool. "i'm sure it's nothing to worry about."
as soon as she said that, paige and sarah made their way into the kitchen, grayson following behind them. paige and grayson both carried two packs of smirnoffs and sarah holding four bags full of lokos.
sarah slammed her bags on the table, then walked out, causing me and zoey to look at each other in confusion. "what's her problem?" zoey asked, looking at paige as she just rolled her eyes. "her and shawn has a fight. it's honestly nothing, she's just kind of overreacting about it." paige informed us, setting the packs down and immediately grabbing a smirnoff and twisting the top off, taking a sip of the drink.
i nodded and held onto my drink, walking out of the kitchen and into the living room, already seeing too many damn people in this big ass house. there had to be at least two hundred people here already.
my eyes scanned the room, seeing sophie walk in, harry styles trailing right behind her. i choked on my drink when i saw him, genuinely surprised he was here.
a hand placed itself on my waist, causing me to look up and see ethan. "hey, babe." he said, placing a kiss on the side of my head. "hey." i replied, my eyes staying pinned on sophie and harry as they walked up to us. "holy shit." ethan mumbled.
"hey guys." sophie smiled at us. i returned the smile, noticing harry's arm wrapped around her waist, keeping her close to him. "harry, this is clara, one of my roommates. and this is her," she started, looking at me and ethan as she didn't know what to call ethan. "her boyfriend." ethan answered, putting his hand out to shake his, harry reaching out to him as well.
"it's nice to meet y'all." he said, flashing us a smile. holy shit. he's fine as fuck. "where's sarah, paige, and zoey?" sophie asked, looking at people around us to find the rest of our group. "zoey, paige, and grayson are in the kitchen getting drinks ready, i don't know where sarah went. she's kind of in a mood." i explained, opening my bottle and taking a quick sip, screwing the lid on right after.
sophie furrowed her eyebrows and tilted her head, waiting for me to explain further. "apparently her and shawn got in a fight earlier." i went on, sophie's eyes going wide as she nodded her head.
"well, i want a drink. let's go." she said, pulling harry's arm and dragging him away from us and towards the kitchen. i turned and looked at ethan, his hands remaining on my waist. i smiled up at him as he looked around at everyone, a confused look coming onto his face.
"what's wrong?" i asked, turning around to see what he was looking at until my eyes landed on one person. oh shit.