McKenna Prentiss | November 20, 2017
VSFS Afterparty | The Ritz-Carlton, Shanghai, China
As soon as Bella, Taylor and I finished changing into our afterparty dresses, we made our way to the Ritz Carlton, where they hosted a private afterparty for the models, producers, performers and close family and friends.
I wore a simple navy blue silk dress that fell a few inches above my knee, my whole chest area was exposed and I just opted for a black lace bandeau to cover it. And in Bella's words, I was smoking.
My parents opted out of the afterparty, saying that they were tired and was jet lagged so they just wished me congratulations and that we would have breakfast or lunch tomorrow. I agreed, and my eyes were soon scouring the events hall for a pair of eyes I had been waiting to see since I got here.
"There's my angel!" A voice interrupted my search, and I turned to see the Irish lad standing in front of me, his arms wide open. My smile falters a bit, hoping I would see Harry first since I was whisked away before I could meet him after the show.
"Ni!" I tried to cover up my disappointment as much as I could, and gave him a grin, running to him and jumping in his arms.
"You did great up there babe! I'm so proud of you!" He whispers in my ear as he spins me around, arms clasped tight around my waist.
"Thank you for coming Ni." I say once he puts me down, placing a kiss on his cheek. He grinned at me, and we approached the make shift bar that was set up towards the side of the hall.
As Niall orders drinks for us, my eyes started to search frantically for Harry, immediately spotting him across the room talking to Bella and Taylor. He probably sensed that I was looking at him, and lifted his gaze from Bella, and turned to where I was standing. We locked eyes and he smiled. I smiled back at him and waved. He kissed Bella on the cheek, and started to walk towards me.
"Hey Ang-Kenna" He was probably about to call me the nickname he gave me earlier, but his eyes trailed from me, to the arm wrapped around my waist.
"Niall!" He says, his tone confused, but he covered it up with his smile.
"Hey H, been a while." Niall says, dropping his hand from my waist to hug Harry. It was an awkward hug to say the least, both looking like they would be somewhere else, or with someone else.
"How's the album going?" Harry asked, taking a sip from his drink. I gulped mine in one go, feeling the tension hit me more than the two ex-bandmates having a stare off in front of me.
"I'm gonna go find Bella." I mutter after they start to silently converse with their eyes. I quickly escape the testosterone, and search for Bella. I spot her sitting in a booth with Taylor, Josephine, Jasmine and Lais.
"Thank God." I quietly mutter to myself as I sit between Taylor and Lais, who glanced at me with confused looks.
"Public boyfriend and private boyfriend are having a staring contest. Too much testosterone." I say, pointing to Harry and Niall who still seem to be just standing there staring at each other. Are they conversing with their fucking eyes or something?
"Wait, what?" Taylor shrieks, her head snapping to me with brows furrowed in confusion.
"Oh, yeah, dating Harry because management told me to, and I think I'm dating Niall? I don't know." I shrug, damn Chinese alcohol is really strong.
"How's that going for you?" Lais asks, nudging my shoulder, I shrug, not quite sure how to answer her question.
"Kenna! You're here, let's get another drink. It's not like you'll get a fucking hangover anyway." Bella yells above the music, stretching her hand towards me and I grab it, walking towards the bar with Bella next to me.
"So, what's boy toy doing here?" Bella has absolutely no filter, and I immediately burst out laughing at her nickname for Niall.
"He's not my boy toy." I say, and she shrugs, taking a sip of her drink. We were seated at the bar now.
"So, what are you guys then?" She asks, and I groaned, throwing my head back and and sighing.
"The amount of times people have asked me that today, I swear," I muttered, taking a gulp of the drink the bartender placed before me, and asking for another one, "I'm just going with the flow."
Bella looks at me with concern in her eyes, and I look at her with confusion in mine. What is up with people today?
"Kenna, come on, talk to me, I know we haven't known each other for long, but you can trust me." She says, placing her hand on my shoulder, giving me a small smile.
"You are going to have to get me drunk first missy." I say, giggling as I point to her, she shakes her head, and scoffs at the lack of openness I have.
"Come on Kenna, you don't have Kelsey here, and she told me to take care of you. Come on, let me be best friend #2?" She asks, pouting at me as she holds two fingers up. I groan and roll my eyes.
"Sorry Bels, but Harry is best friend #2." I shrug, and sip my drink. She glares at me.
"Fine, I'll be Best Friend #3. Come on Kenna, please! Let me help." She begs, clasping her hands together and it's as if she was about to kneel in front of me, but I just groan and nod. She claps her hands excitedly, turning to the bartender asking for some vodka shots. What did I get myself into?
Harry Styles | November 20, 2017
"Hey Jeff, yeah I'm heading out, I'm not in the partying mood anymore." I spoke to Jeff who was currently on the other end of the line. He asked if I was sure, and if I was okay, I told him I was fine and just tired.
I make my way around the party, bidding my goodbyes to some friends. I was saying my goodbye to Candice and Adriana who both kissed my cheek and gave me a hug. I turned and saw Bella talking to Kenna, they were seated at the bar, and it looked like Kenna was pretty drunk, Where's Niall now huh?
I was about to approach them to bid my goodbye's, but I suddenly heard Kenna say my name.
"Sorry Bels, but Harry is best friend #2."
"Fine, I'll be Best Friend #3. Come on Kenna, please! Let me help." Bella replies, I managed to sneak beside the two of them, both too caught up in their bubble to notice I was within their vicinity.
I know my mother taught me that eavesdropping is rude, but this is Kenna, and Bella said she wanted to help, I want to know what help she needs.
"Okay fine Bella, but you cannot tell anyone!" Kenna says, downing two shots after she clinked her shot glass with Bella.
"I think I might have feelings for Harry?" Kenna spits out, and I can't really see her facial reaction, but I notice Bella looking at her with wide eyes.
"Shut the fuck up! I knew it! I fucking knew it." Bella says, her voice loud.
Kenna has feelings for me? What is she doing dating Niall then? Are they even dating? Why didn't she tell me I thought we were best friends? She knew I was dating Camille, but what if she had feelings for me before I dated Camille. This whole PR thing could've been true, we would've dated since the beginning, right?
The never ending questions seemed to overflow in my head as I make my way out of the hall, not even bothering to say my goodbyes to Kenna. I don't even know where I stand with her now. Why am I worried, she didn't see me near her anyway. She couldn't have known I was eavesdropping. Curiosity killed the fucking cat alright.
I don't know what to do with this information, should I ignore it? Should I act like I know? Would she notice if I act like I knew?
The questions never seemed to stop, and all I wanted to do was curl up in my hotel room and sleep. But I wasn't particularly lucky that night. My mind kept racing, questions and what if's constantly filled it, and I wanted to yell.
I was back in my hotel room now, pacing back and forth in front of the window overlooking Shanghai. What about Niall? Does he know? Is she going to hurt him? I had my hands in my hair now and I grip it in frustration, who the fuck could I talk to right now?
Gemma.
I immediately called the one person who would be blunt about giving me advice, and would be level headed in terms of situations like this.
"Harry why the hell are you calling from half-way across the world?" She asks as she answers my call.
"Well, hello to you too sis." I respond sarcastically, rolling my eyes.
"Hello brother, what do you want?"
" I don't know. I can't sleep, and there's something on my mind. I just- ugh- I don't know what to do with this information." I groan, my brain suddenly filling itself with more questions.
"Well, what's on your mind?"
"Kenna just told Bella that she has feelings for me." My eyes widen at my sudden confession. Kenna just told someone else she had feelings for me. With all the questions that had been swirling in my mind, it never seemed to sink in that she had feelings for me. And I might feel the same way.
"Holy shit." Gemma snaps me out of my thoughts, her tone as shocked as I had expected.
"I know, now I don't know what to do. Should I continue on like nothing happened? What should I do? What about Niall? Should I tell her I feel the same way?" I started rambling on, but Gemma cut me off.
"H, hey just breathe. Why not just take it one day at a time yeah? Try to sleep it off H." She suggests, and I just sigh in response. This isn't how this is supposed to go. Kenna and I are supposed to be friends, I'm with Camille. Fuck I forgot about Camille.
"Thanks Gem. I probably am going to sleep now." We both say our goodbyes and I flop down on the bed. Kenna just blatantly admitted that she likes me, how am I supposed to take that information in? Okay, granted I wasn't supposed to hear that, but how does one just forget about information like this? What the fuck am I supposed to do now? Maybe Gemma is right, maybe I do need to sleep it off.
November 21, 2017
I woke to my phone ringing, I was too focused on sleep that I didn't even bother to check the caller ID.
"Hello?"
"Oh shit, I'm sorry, didn't know you were still asleep." Kenna's voice rang through my phone, and I immediately sat up.
"Sorry, I just woke up." I pinch my eyes shut and mentally face palmed, well duh.
"Oh, well I wanted to see if you wanted to join us? Some of the girls and I wanted to visit Disneyland. I called up Mitch and Sarah as well and they seemed up for it." She seemed excited when she mentioned Disneyland, this girl is definitely a kid at heart.
"Erm, who's the girls?" I asked, apprehensive about who we're going out with.
"Bella, Taylor, Lais, and Jasmine." She lists off, and I nod, sounds good.
"Well alright, let me get ready and I'll meet you guys in the lobby, say 30 minutes?" I jump out of bed and start to get ready.
"All right, see you in a few H." She says and hangs up. I quickly rush into the shower and decide to push back all the thoughts that were running through my head since last night. Wait, she didn't mention that Niall was coming, did that mean they're over?
I shake my head at the thoughts that seem to creep back in, no, today is going to be a stress-free day. We're going to Disneyland for fucks sake.
Soon enough I was dressed in some black jeans, a black shirt and my black trench coat, the weather said it would be cold today so might as well bring that. I had my phone, and wallet in my pocket and I quickly put on my red boots.
I texted Jeff what my plans are for today and he seemed fine with it, telling me to be careful and have fun. Sometimes Jeff acts more like a dad than my manager.
I finally arrived at the lobby, looking around for Kenna. I soon spot them by the lounge area, Kenna laughing at what one of the girls said, while Mitch and Sarah were cuddling by the loveseat.
As I approach them, I noticed how Kenna and I have almost the exact same outfit on. Her eyes meet mine, and it trails down to my outfit then back to my eyes. She laughs lightly and smiles at me.
"Ready?" I ask the girls, who nod excitedly. We all walk towards the van, Kenna and I walking behind everyone else.
"So, where's Mr. Boyfriend today?" I ask, and she shrugs.
"Had to head back to LA to finish some songs for his album." It was apparent that she was upset over it, but then she smiled up at me.
"But I'm glad you're here." She says, the smile never leaving her face.
"I'm glad I'm here too." I say, nudging her shoulder then hopping in the car. The drive to Disneyland wasn't long, and it was a weekday so we aren't that worried about fans.
Soon enough we had our passes and we entered the happiest place on earth. I noticed that Kenna couldn't stop smiling, her eyes lighting up at every attraction her sights landed on.
Bella, Taylor, Lais and Jasmine wanted to go their separate ways, while Kenna huffed and tried to get them to stay. Bella seemed determined that she wanted to give Kenna and I some alone time, so they left. Mitch and Sarah nowhere to be found as well. Huh.
"And then there were two." I say, Kenna turning and frantically looking for our friends who have left us to fend for ourselves.
"I guess it's just you and me then." She shrugs, linking her arm with mine and we start to skip around Maine Street.
"So, what do you wanna do?" She asks, looking up at me and smiling. I smile back down at her and she giggles. I miss this, I miss us.
"Ohhh I want to ride some rollercoasters, do you wanna go on one?" She asks, and I immediately tense. I hate rollercoasters, only having one experience when we had to do it for a TV Special.
"Erm, I d- I don't think-" I start to stutter but she cuts me off.
"It's alright if you don't want to H." She says noticing my apprehension and she places a hand on my shoulder.
"N-no, if you want to I guess we could." I say, trying to play it off that I wasn't scared. I'm a 23 year old man, I'm not scared of a rollercoaster.
"H, I don't want to force you to do something you don't want. Look we can walk around, take photos, meet characters." She says, her smile encouraging and light.
"Are you sure? If you want to ride we can, I can see you want to." I nudge her shoulder and she laughs lightly.
"If you feel like it, then okay, maybe one." She says shrugging and I nod. It doesn't have to be a scary ride anyway.
It wasn't as packed as I had expected, and it was decorated with Christmas ornaments and the characters were dressed in Christmas themed clothes. Kenna's smile never left her face as we walked around, took some photos, and even when we sat down to eat, she still was smiling.
"What's got you in such a good mood today?" I ask as I take a bite of the Mickey Mouse shaped waffle she had bought for us.
"We're in one of the happiest places in the world H, why wouldn't I be in a good mood?" She says, smiling back at me and continues to eat her waffle. We bantered back and forth, and it wasn't an awkward silence, nor was it silent at all. This was the McKenna Prentiss I knew, this was the McKenna Prentiss I talked to at her best friend's birthday party.
Throughout the day, I never thought about what Kenna had confessed to Bella the night before. We weren't even acting as if paparazzi was following us, we acted normal.
If you count two best friends being handsy and cuddly normal, then yeah, probably normal.
The day ended with us waiting along Maine Street for the fireworks, I was standing behind Kenna, my arms wrapped around her waist, whilst my chin rested on top of her head. Her hands were placed above mine, and she slowly intertwined it. We had met up with the gang beforehand, and we were watching the fireworks together. Sarah and Mitch were cuddling with each other, whilst Bella, Taylor, Lais and Jasmine were standing there and admiring the show.
It was the most perfect way to end the night, and I'd never trade it for the world, because there's no place I'd rather be.
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aaaaaand here's chapter 19.2!! ahhhh harry knows! do you think it's a good thing he knows? 🤔
how about niall and kenna? 👀
do you ship KiAll? or Kerry? 👀
i hope you liked this chapter! 🤍
all my love,
savannah x