3 months later

“This rounds on me!” Emily shouted as she left my side to go to the bar.

“I don’t know if I need another round.” I laughed with Rachel.

I had kept my promise and went to the shows that I had already had plane tickets booked for. This was the last show I would attend so I knew I had to come. The last couple shows had been mildly awkward but nothing I couldn’t handle. I spent most of my time with the girls, trying to pretend that Harry didn’t really exist.

I was doing my part in trying to move on. I wasn’t over Harry, I would be a fool if I said I was. But I was working on it. I hadn’t gone on any dates or anything, I wasn’t even talking to guys, unless they were friends or clients. I had fully submerged myself in work and nothing else. The past few months were hard alone but I had my friends and family to keep me going. Talking to Harry every once and awhile when he would call was nice, but at the same time made everything harder.

“Here. I don’t remember what I ordered.” Emily handed me, Rachel and Lucy our drinks. “How many more songs do these bastards have?”

“Like 4? I think, I don’t know.” Lucy giggled.

Lucy had become a staple to our friendship group. She got along with all of us so well it was unbelievable. She and Calum were still happy as ever and I couldn’t help but be a little bitter. I know I was the one to end the relationship but that didn’t stop me from feeling jealous. I was upset and jealous over almost every couple I saw. But I wasn’t ready for anything these couples had. I needed to figure out my own shit still.

With me being drowned in work, by my own choice, I really hadn’t had time to focus on anything else. I was working through my issues slowly with the help of a therapist but I wasn’t back to my normal self yet. That was going to take time and I knew it. No one can instantly be better. It doesn’t work like that.

I tuned the concert in front of me and the screaming girls out for the rest of the show. I smiled politely when one of the girls said something but I was truly in my own world. Why had I come to these shows? Why did I answer the phone every time Harry called? I was supposed to be working things out for myself and here I was doing nothing of the sort really. You could barely call my twice a week appointments with a therapist progress.

“You look like you just had the most serious thought of the decade.” Rachel looked at me seriously.

“What?” I asked, not realizing everyone’s attention was now on me.

“What’s going on in that mind of yours?” Emily added.

“I can’t come to anything One Direction related anymore. I need to fully separate myself from Harry. I can’t do this if I don’t.”

“What about the friendship thing?” Emily pried.

“Fuck the friendship, I need to remove him completely from my life if I want to move on.”

“FINALLY!” Emily and Rachel shared a smile.

“We knew that if you didn’t take yourself away from all of this, you wouldn’t be able to do it. But you don’t listen to us, so we had to let you figure that out on your own.”

“It only took me 3 months.” I laughed.

“And a few drinks in you.” Rachel smirked.

“This isn’t the first post breakup drunk I’ve been.” I stuck my tongue out. “But it might be the drunkest I’ve been since.”

“You got pretty drunk the first day it happened.” Emily smirked.

“SHHHHH, no one is supposed to ever know about that and you told me your lips were sealed!” I whined.

“OOHHHHH, tell us, tell us!” Lucy urged.

“No… don’t you dare say….” There was no point in telling her not to say anything, she had already cut me off and began to tell the story.

“The day after Spencer dumped Harry’s sorry ass, he came over so they could figure out the situation with the apartment and after he left, she started with some wine coolers, then she decided she wanted real wine theeennnnn she decided she wanted vodka and then tequila and then beer and anything and everything that was left in the fridge. Long story short, she ended up puking by 2 in the afternoon, and I had the lovely pleasure of holding her hair back for 4 hours as she emptied the contents of her stomach.”

“Shut up! If you had just ended your engagement you would have drank yourself into oblivion!” I rolled my eyes. “Wait a second! You were there the entire time! You could have stopped me at any point because I know you just kept drinking those wine coolers! You’re a sucky best friend!” I shoved her playfully, making all the other girls giggle.

“Well here’s to no puking tonight!” Lucy smiled, holding up her glass. We shared the toast before heading into the back of the stage because the concert was almost over.

We walked linked together into the sitting room, waiting for the guys to finish up their set. We found 5sos already back there, making the time go by faster. I had to advert my eyes from how sickeningly cute Lucy and Cal were being. I felt the couch sink next to me, looking over to meet an exhausted pair of eyes.

“Good show.” I smiled.

“It was alright.” Zayn shrugged. “I just wanna light a spliff.”

“You and me both.” I giggled.

“Christ, you’re drunk already? Not fair.” He pouted as I held out my cup to him. He took it without complaint, downing the remaining liquid. “There’s so much tequila in whatever that is.”

“It was supposed to be a margarita but I might have paid the bartender a little extra to drown it in tequila.” Emily smirked from across the room.

“You or your significant other are always ease dropping!” I rolled my eyes, sad I had no drink left.

“WHO’S READY TO PAAAAARTTYYY?” Louis shouted as he came bustling in the room.

There was a collective cheer but I wasn’t too excited. I didn’t really feel like going out. The last couple shows I had agreed to come to after the breakup, we had gone out. We had all drank too much and I ended up going home with Harry. At the time, the breakup was fresh and I hadn’t done much to improve myself or move on. But now, already feeling intoxicated and finally deciding I needed to remove Harry from my life, I wasn’t sure going out was in my best interest.

“You know, I think I’m just going to head back to my hotel.” I shrugged.

“NO!” a mixture of the group shouted.

I looked around the room at everyone, from pleading eyes, to eyes who weren’t even paying attention. I sighed when I got to Emily. She was always my weakness when it came to going out. I’d try to say no, but somehow, she’d always talk me into it.

“Fine. I’ll go.” I stuck my tongue out at Em.

“Go where?” the voice I was dreading to hear, entered the room.

“Out apparently.” I shrugged, not even looking in his direction.

“Nice! I’m glad you’re coming!” he said excited.

“Mhmm.” I mumbled, still not bothering to look at him.

Emily giggled but didn’t give away she knew I was interested in what Harry was saying, even though it was pretty obvious. Everyone started to gather their stuff and head towards the exit. I got my belongings together and started to follow when someone pulled me back.

“What the hell?” I snapped my head to face Harry.

“I could ask you the same thing!” he spat.

“What do you mean?” I rolled my eyes.

“Don’t act all sweet and innocent. We said we were going to be civil and we’ve been doing so well the past few months, why are you being nasty tonight?”

“I’m not, I answered you’re questions, did I not?” I placed my hands on my hips.

“Yeah but you could have at least looked at me, or pretended you weren’t such a bitch.”

“Great, so clever, call me a bitch. Really mature, Harry.” I tugged my jacket onto my shoulder and started for the door.

“Well you aren’t being nice, so yeah, you’re kind of a bitch.” He glared at me.

“Yawn.” I faked a yawn, covering my mouth with the back of my hand. “Are you done?”

“This is exactly what I mean!” Harry yelled at me.

“Harry, I’m your ex, am I not supposed to be a bitch?” I smirked.

“Just tell me what changed. We were talking and hanging out and being cool. I mean sure it was only when you were in town for a show, but it was going well.” He shrugged. “I thought we were working things out.”

“New flash Harry, we’re through. There is no Harry and Spencer. There is no working on things. There is nothing, we’re done.” I stormed out of the room, leaving Harry standing stunned and alone.

I practically ran Zayn to the ground as I exited the room.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to run you over.” I smiled with a giggle, instantly forgetting my fight with Harry.

“No worries, ready to go?” he asked, fanning his elbow out for me. “Everyone else is already in the car, we were looking for you.”

“Oh yeah, I got held up.” I shrugged.

“Something wrong?” Zayn pried.

“Umm…” I thought for a second debating on whether or not I should tell him the encounter I just shared with Harry, but thought against it. “Promise me something?”

“Sure, what’s up?” He stopped to look at me.

“Make sure my cup is never, ever empty tonight? Make sure I’m the drunkest you’ve ever seen. Make sure I get back to my hotel somehow. Make sure I do not go home with anyone.”

He looked at me hard for a second before snapping back into normal Zayn. “Yeah, yeah. No problem. I’ll take care of you tonight. Don’t even worry.”

“Thanks Zayn.” I smiled hugging him tight. “Thank you.”

“And don’t think we aren’t going to talk about whatever just happened. Not now, but we will later.” He slung an arm around my shoulders.

“Who ever thought we’d be besties?” I smiled up at Zayn as we continued down the hall.

“I knew it from the start!” he chuckled. “We have gotten closer since you and Harry broke up, which is odd but oh well.”

“Yeah it is weird that we’re closer now. Have you told anyone that you visit me sometimes?” I asked curiously.

Since the break-up, Zayn would occasionally make special trips to New York to make sure I was doing okay. He called me every day and had gone above and beyond anything I could ask of him. No, we weren’t getting close romantically, we are and will be friends forever. Zayn just seemed to hold a protectiveness over me, and I wasn’t complaining. It was nice to have someone there for me whenever I needed it. When I’d be stressing out and talk to Zayn about it, he would try to come see me as soon as possible. He understood my struggle with getting off of drugs and cleaning up myself physically and mentally. He had gone through something similar before I met him so it was nice to have someone who could legitimately relate to the situation. When I would get down or say I didn’t care, he would fly to me and shake me back into the swing of things. He was the extra push I needed throughout this process.

“No, management knows I’m flying to New York to ‘visit someone’, but I haven’t told anyone that someone was you.” He shrugged, nonchalantly. “I don’t really think it’s anyone’s business.”

“I agree. Thank you for keeping this to yourself.” I squeezed his hand that was draped over my shoulder.

“Spencer, you came to me with something super personal, of course I’m not going to tell everyone. Besides, everyone knows what is going on for the most part, right? So it’s not like I’m really keeping a secret.”

“True, but still, thank you.” I smiled up at him.

“It’s been my pleasure.” He smirked, bringing us to a halt in a large underground garage.

“Shut up.” I rolled my eyes. “Where’s the car?”

“It was here when I left to find you. They said they’d wait for us. One had already left, but they said they’d hold the second one for us. Fuck.” He ran a hand down his face, pulling out his cellphone. He walked away, talking quickly to someone on the phone, trying to find us a ride.

“Where’s the car? I thought we were going out.” My head spun around to see Harry standing behind me.

“I guess they left. Zayn is trying to figure it out.”

“Delightful.” He huffed at me.

“Look, don’t get pissy because something isn’t going the way you want it to.” I rolled my eyes, turning around to see if Zayn had gotten us a ride.

“Me? Pissy? I can’t believe you had the audacity to say I’m pissy!” Harry moved in front of me.

“You are being so ridiculous. Just go back over there or something.” I waved him off.

“I can’t believe you.” He said flatly. “You are the most infuriating woman I have ever met!”

“That’s my job! I’m supposed to piss you off!” I yelled back.

“We were fine a week ago! What the fuck happened?” Harry ran a frustrated hand through his hair.

“I’m gonna step into this before it gets out of hand.” Zayn said, wrapping a protective arm around me, pulling me back into him. “We have to take a cab, so you need to both get your shit together and put on happy faces for the public. Alright?”

“Fine.” I pouted, crossing my arms over my chest.

“Whatever.” Harry rolled his eyes, walking away from us.

“Spencer, does the media know you guys aren’t together?” Zayn questioned.

“There was a few tabloids about it when it first happened, but thanks to me being stupid and drunk, they’ve caught Harry and me kissing on the sidewalks and going into and leaving places together.” I sighed. “I knew being ‘his friend’ was a bad idea.”

“Well you guys are going to have to make it seem like you don’t hate each other right now.” Zayn frowned.

“I don’t hate her.” Harry chimed in. “She’s just so frustrating.”

“Likewise.” I rolled my eyes.

“Okay so now that that’s cleared up. The cab should be here.” Zayn said. “But we have to go out the back gate because that’s as close as he’ll be able to get.”

Harry and I silently followed Zayn to where he arranged for the cab to get us. I was hoping Harry hadn’t heard anything about Zayn coming to see me, because I didn’t want it to stop. He really was keeping me grounded. We rounded a bend, seeing the doors that would lead us outside. Zayn stopped dead in his tracks as we saw the crowd of fans waiting to catch a glimpse of one of the boys.

“Do I have to act like I like him?” I sighed.

“Do you want the entire world to know you haven’t been together for months? Because it you don’t, they’ll figure it out.” Zayn gave me an apologetic look.

“This really wasn’t the way I had envisioned it coming out.” I looked over at Harry.

“Me either, let’s go.” He said, fanning an elbow out for me to take.

Reluctantly, I slipped my arm around Harry’s gripping his bicep. His eyes never left the doors in front of us. Zayn smiled slightly before opening the doors. The screams escalated as Zayn lead us through the line of girls. Luckily there was a fence blocking them from ever actually reaching us, but the screams were still deafening.

The amount of love all three of us received was outrageous. This wasn’t the first outing between Harry and since the breakup, but it had been the first time we’d soberly left to go anywhere together. Harry squeezed his arm tighter, bringing me close. I looked up at him the same time he looked down at me. A smile creeped onto his face, causing me to smile back. He leaned down close to whisper in my ear.

“I don’t dislike you in this moment.” He joked.

“Me either, but don’t get used to it.” I nudged his side with a giggle.

“Sadly I know.” He pouted.

“Don’t pout.” I rolled my eyes.

“I’m Harold Edward Styles, I’ll do as I please.” He said sternly.

“I’m Spencer Delany McMichael and don’t give a shit. Stop.” I shot back.

“Shut up.” His smile returned.

Those were the last words any of us spoke the entire way to the club and weirdly, we were all okay with that.


---------------------------------


Later in the club

“I thought you had decided that you’re staying far away from him.” Emily practically yelled into my ear on the dance floor.

“I am!”

“Then stop eye fucking him!” she shoved me off the dance floor and back into the section we occupied.

“I’m not doing that!” I argued.

“Yes you are! Don’t even look at him! I will not let you go home with him tonight or ever again!” I nodded, listening to her but my eyes drifted back towards Harry. “I said don’t look!”

“I’m sorry! I’m drunk and he’s hot and I love him.” I pouted.

“You’re not going over there.” She yelled back.

“You’re mean.”

“No, I’m doing Zayn’s job for him while he’s in the loo!” she smirked. “What’s going on with you two anyways?”

“We broke up so nothing.” I said, though I knew exactly what she meant.

“No Spenc, you and Zayn.” She eyed me.

“Nothing, why do you ask?”

“Well you guys were always close but I didn’t think you were ‘have Zayn fly to New York every chance he gets’ close.”

“Wait, you know he’s been coming to see me?” I raised an eyebrow.

“Yes, the guys might be oblivious but I’m well aware.” She stated. “Plus he left one of his boarding passes in the hotel the other day when I was visiting Lou. I just slowly have been putting two and two together.”

“He could be seeing anyone in New York though.” I shrugged.

“You already told me he was coming to see you.”

“I know, I was hoping you forgot.” I giggled.

“I’m drunk, but not that drunk.” She smiled pulling me into a hug. “So are you going to tell your best friend what’s going on between you and mister human god himself?”

“He’s been helping me a lot with everything that has happened recently. I never really dealt with anything properly since my overdose and it finally all caught up with me, but you knew that. He’s been through similar situations so he can honestly relate. He’s been coming to see me to make sure I’m okay and help however he can. Honestly, without him I might not be as stable right now. You and my other friends and family have been great but none of you have went through it. So he sees it in a whole other light.” I let out a long sigh before being pulled right back into another hug.

“That makes a lot of sense. I’m sorry I can’t help more, but I do what I can.” Emily smiled down at me.

“You help in so many ways I can’t ever thank you enough.” I smiled back.

“So you aren’t banging Zayn then?” she asked, right back to quirky Emily.

“NO!” I practically shouted, not able to control the laughter that escaped with it. “I’m not banging anyone, if you really need to know.”

“Just Harry?”

“That stopped. I haven’t since the last stop I came to. And Zayn promised he wouldn’t let me go home with him tonight.”

“Are you ladies talking about me?” Zayn smirked appearing behind Emily.

“Yes! Aren’t all the women in the world talking about the Zayn Malik?” Emily batted her eyelashes.

“I hope if they are, one of them comes my way soon.” He chuckled. “Wanna dance Spencer?”

Emily shot me a ‘you better not be lying to me about him’ look quickly before excusing herself to the bar and to find Louis. I took Zayn’s hand and moved to the dance floor with him. The beat was fast and it took no time at all to find our rhythm. Zayn expertly wound his hands around my waist, pulling me in close. We stayed facing each other so we could hear one another.

“Are you having fun?” he smiled his perfect smile.

“Yes! And you’ve done a lovely job of keeping my glass full all night.” I joked.

“Hey, I promised I would! What kind of gentleman would I be if I broke that?” he laughed.

“That’s very true. I might hire you full time.” I smirked. “That way I’ll never be sad or sober.”

“I like happy, not sober Spencer, so I’m going to have to decline that offer. Sorry.” He shrugged with a goofy grin.

“Thanks, I agree.” I giggled, the alcohol taking its full effect.

“So what are your big plans when you get back to NYC?”

“Nothing, just catch up with work and see what’s been going on with my family.” I shrugged. “Exciting life, I know!”

“Well I’d say your life if pretty exciting honestly. Not many 21 year olds get to do what we do.”

“You’re 22.” I said, not even thinking straight or getting his point.

“Yes?”

“You said 21 and we. You aren’t 21. Don’t lie.” I tried to keep a straight face but failed miserably.

“Well excuse me, not many 21 and 22 year olds get to do what we do.” He rolled his eyes. “I’m serious, you’re living half of the world’s dream right now.”

“What? Dancing with Zayn Malik from One Direction? Swoon.” I fanned myself like I was over heating from how hot he was.

“Well that, and the part where you just opened your own fashion business. But what do I know?” he chuckled.

“Don’t mean to interrupt, but may I cut in?” I heard the voice I least wanted to hear in my extremely happy moment with Zayn.

Zayn looked at me, almost asking if he should shoo Harry away or let him take his spot. I sighed, knowing it would more than likely cause a bigger scene to not dance with him. I nodded at Zayn who let go, quickly being replaced by Harry.

“This place is nice.” Harry said.

“Yeah, it’s alright.” I nodded.

“Having fun?” he asked.

“Yeah, it’s been a great night since we got here.”

“Good. I’m glad.” He smiled.

Nothing had ever been this awkward between Harry and me. Not even the first time we literally ran into each other. I didn’t know what to say and it seemed like he was fishing for a topic of conversation as well. We danced in silent for a bit before he broke it.

“Look, I don’t want to stop whatever it is we have going on when you come by the tour. I like going out with you and drinking and letting the night led to whatever. I told you I at least wanted you in my life as a friend, so I intend to maintain that.” He caught me off guard.

“Harry, we go out, I get too drunk, then we go back to the hotel or wherever and have meaningless sex.” I sighed.

“It’s not meaningless.” He argued. “Not to me at least.”

“It might not be meaningless, but it has to stop regardless.” I rolled my eyes.

“Why?”

“Because we’re grown, broken up adults. This isn’t what adults do. This is what frat boys at college do with girls.”

“I never went to American Uni, so I wouldn’t know.” He smirked.

“I hate you.” I gritted my teeth.

“That’s a lie.”

“In this moment, it’s not a lie.” I stared into his eyes, daring him to try me.

“You know what? I don’t know what your problem is, but you are ridiculous. How do you go from acting like we’re best friends to nothing in a matter of about a week?” he stopped dancing, but didn’t let go.

“Maybe I realized some things. Some things that needed to change. Harry we aren’t together so we need to stop acting like we are. Okay? I need space and time away from you right now.”

“What if I don’t want that?” he questioned.

“Well then that’s tough shit because that’s what I want and that’s what is going to happen.”

“Why are you the only one who gets a say in this?”

“It’s my life Harry! I need to do whatever is in my best interest right now. We aren’t together so I don’t need you to like what I decide to do. You’ll be fine, you’ll get over it. Trust me. You will.”

“Just like you got over it by fucking Zayn?” he snapped.

“EXCUSE ME?” I took a step back from him.

“You heard me.” He spat. “He’s been going to New York an awful lot, we all just figured he had met someone he wasn’t ready to tell us about, but it all made sense when I heard you and him talking earlier at the arena. I get it. One bandmate wasn’t enough, you had to do two. I’ll be sure to tell Emily to hold Lou close because next thing you know, you’ll be trying to fuck him too.”

Before my brain had time to process what my body was doing, my right hand connected with Harry’s cheek forcefully. I let my hand fall to my side as he reached a hand up to rub his face.

“And you know what the fucked up thing is?” He continued. “I’m not even sorry about anything I just said.”

“Go to hell.” I said before spinning on a heel and heading towards the couches that held the rest of my friends.

As I reached the area, everyone knew something was wrong. I usually was really good at hiding my emotions, but just like all of our other fights, he cut deep. This only helped me realize even more how I needed to distance myself from him. It’s obvious that he hadn’t changed and he will never change. I picked up my belongings in a rush, wanting nothing more than to go back to my hotel and fly home tomorrow.

“What’s wrong?” Emily asked, standing up to comfort me.

“What did he do now?” Lou joined her side.

“He’s a pompous arse.” I rolled my eyes. “I’m just going to go. I’m sorry. Bye guys!”

I received a collective bye and a few hugs before I was ready to go. I was just about to leave when Zayn stopped me.

“At least let me help you back to the hotel.” He offered.

“No, I’ll be fine, I sobered up pretty quick. I’ll call you later though.” I added, just to ease his mind. “Don’t worry about me, okay?”

“I’m always going to worry. Shoot me a text when you get back to the hotel, alright?” he sounded more like my mom than my friend right now.

“Always, enjoy the rest of the night.”

I made my way to the door, only to see the growing crowd of paps and fans. I wasn’t in the mood to deal with anyone, but I put my game face on and exited the club.

“SPENCER! SPENCER! WHERE’S HARRY?”
“SPENCER! HOW’S THE WEDDING PLANNING?”
“SPENCER, IS IT TRUE YOU AND HARRY ARE BROKEN UP?”
“WHY AREN’T YOU LEAVING WITH HARRY?”
“SPENCER, LOOK THIS WAY.”
“SPENCER, WHERE’S YOUR RING?”

Shit. I hadn’t even thought about that. I had been almost 4 whole months without wearing my engagement ring and no one had said a thing. At first, I felt naked without it, but slowly adjusted to not having it anymore. I don’t know why no one else has put it together, no ring, barely any Harry, maybe my drunken public kisses with him confused people. I sighed, running a hand through my tangled hair as I hailed a cab. The paparazzi continued to snap pictures and ask me questions but I was so far into my own little world I didn’t care. Once I got a cab, I hopped in and gave the cabbie my address. I was so done with this bullshit. No one followed me anywhere with cameras, no one cared who I was, not yet at least. I was done being Harry Style’s girlfriend. I was ready to be my own person, making a name for myself.



------------------

(One Week After Club)

“So what are you going to do?” Josh asked me from his office.

When I opened my own line, Josh quit Igor’s and joined me. Igor was more than understanding and even has been helping with any questions I have. At the time I was planning and beginning my own business, everything was way simpler. Harry and I were still together, we weren’t fantastic but we were still together. Ever since we broke up, I’ve been on edge, with myself and the paparazzi. The interaction we had over my visits was enough to keep them off our backs. But since my scene outside of the club, they’ve been on me hard. Apparently, Harry left the club with some slag hanging all over him which wasn’t good for either of us. He had called me to try and explain everything, but frankly I didn’t care. He could do whatever he wanted with whoever he wanted. Coming into work every day had been hell because as far as the public knew, we were still together. Harry had begged me not to say anything otherwise, because he didn’t want the extra attention until after the tour. I wasn’t sure if not coming out with a statement was the right thing, but for some odd reason, I was obeying Harry’s wishes.

“I don’t know Josh.” I pouted coming out of my office, walking over to his. We were the only two people in the office right now, so it didn’t matter what was said.

“Girl, ignore what he wants. Who cares if being honest with the public causes him stress?” Josh argued.

“Because I know how stressed out he was on tour when we were happy. I don’t want to make it any worse.” I sighed, leaning against his door frame.

“He’s been less than understanding about your feelings since the breakup, fuck his.” Josh raised an eyebrow. “Do you know what I mean?”

“Yeah, I guess. I don’t know still.”

Josh went to say something when the elevator doors dinged open.

“Who’s that? I thought we were the only two supposed to be here today?” Josh questioned, saying exactly what I was thinking.

“We are supposed to be the only ones here, it’s Sunday.” I took a step out into the hall, waiting for whoever was here to round the bend.

“Who is it?” Josh asked impatient.

“I don’t know yet!” I rolled my eyes.

As soon as the body rounded the corner, my face lit up. Josh got up to see who I took off towards.

“Shocker.” Josh giggled from behind our embrace.

“Nice to see you too, mate.” Our visitor smiled at me and then over my shoulder to Josh.

“I’ll leave you guys too it.” Josh smiled, before heading back into his office.

“Why are you here?!” I couldn’t keep the smile off my face.

“I had a day off.” He shrugged. “The guys were all just planning on laying around, napping today so last night I arranged for an early flight and here I am. I stopped at your apartment but Ana said you were here. I wanted it to be a surprise.”

“Zayn! You didn’t have to come all the way here for a day.” I said, leading him into my office.

“Yes, I did. We’re leaving America next week and it’s going to be hard for me to come as often.” He shrugged, plopping down in a chair in front of my desk.

“Wanna go grab lunch?” I asked.

“Yeah, let’s go. My treat.” He smiled.

“Hey, Josh we’re going to head out for some lunch, you can take off if you want. We were basically done anyways.” I told him.

“Alright, play safe.” He winked at me. He would never stop loving the fact that I was so close to these guys.

“Shut up.” I rolled my eyes, heading back out into the hallways where Zayn was waiting.

We walked in silence to the elevator until the doors shut in front of us.

“Play safe, huh?” Zayn smirked down at me.

“He’s an idiot. He also loves your bum.” I smiled.

“Well have you seen it? It’s very nice.” He wiggled his eyebrows, spinning around to stick his butt out towards me.

“You’re weird.” I giggled as he straightened himself back up.

“But that’s why you love me.” He smiled. “Where do you wanna go? It’s really nice out, maybe we could take a stroll somewhere.”

“Aren’t you worried about people seeing us out together? Then the guys will know that you’ve been coming to see me.”

“Well Harry actually asked me to come this time.” Zayn paused as I quirked an eyebrow.

“Did he?” Zayn nodded. “Why?”

“He wanted me to try and smooth things over, I’ll tell you over lunch so no one else can hear.”

“Let’s go to the bistro around the corner. It’s nice.” I smiled, ignoring the comment about Harry.

I didn’t want to think about Harry asking Zayn to come talk to me. But worse than that, I didn’t want to think about Zayn agreeing to actually come and try to work things out for Harry. We walked in silence for a little before Zayn threw his arm around the top of my shoulders.

“Stop over thinking it.” he simply said.

“I’m not thinking about anything.” I looked up at him.

“Spence, I know you well enough to know that you’re over thinking what I just told you. I literally said one sentence, relax. I’ll explain it all later.” He smiled down, causing me to smile as well.

“Whatever you say Mr. Malik.” I wiggled my eyebrows, knowing he hated when people called him that.

“You just think you’re so funny, don’t you?” he rolled his eyes. “I’ll get you back.”

“And how so?” I challenged.

“I don’t know, Spenny. But I’ll think of something.” He winked.

“I hate you!” I jokingly punched him in the chest. “How dare you hit me where it hurts when I’m vulnerable?”

“Vulnerable? Thought you weren’t thinking about anything?” he laughed.

“Doesn’t mean I’m not vulnerable! I just went through a terrible breakup! Have some sympathy.” I placed a hand over my heart in fake hurt.

“Always so melodramatic. Girls.” He rolled his eyes again.

“You roll your eyes more than my kid sister.” I giggled.

“How is your family actually? I haven’t seen them in a while!”

“They’re doing alright! Mom’s super busy, Dad is Dad and Ry is getting ready to go to college soon. It’s so nuts. I’m getting so old!”

“Oh no. Poor Spencer is 21.” He wiped pretend tears from his eyes.

“I still hate you.” I shoved him away as we reached the restaurant.

“Hi, table for 2 please.” Zayn smiled at the hostess. She stared at us for a second before snapping back to reality.

“Oh yes of course! Right this way!” she caught he stumble and lead us towards the back of the restaurant. She placed our menus on the table, smiling at each of us. “Oh Miss McMichael, I’m sorry I didn’t even realize it was you!! Is this table okay?”

“Yeah! It’s great, thank you!” I smiled. She nodded, heading back towards the front.

“Regular or something?” Zayn asked.

“Yeah, me and Josh come here all the time.” I shrugged. “I’m glad no one drools over me so hard that they forget how to speak though.”

“I’m sure plenty of people, men and women alike, drool over you.” He chuckled. “You’re as famous as me now.”

“Yes, but I’m not a human god.” I tossed my hair jokingly. “Or whatever is they’re calling you these days.”

“Human god works for me.” He shrugged with a laugh.

After our waitress came and took our order, Zayn shifted the conversation away from the playful banter, to serious.

“So hear me out before you freak out, okay?” he eyed me.

“Okay, I promise!”

“So I had planned on coming to hang out regardless, but then Harry came to me with this idea.” He paused. “He told me ‘since you already are going to New York, can you stop and see Spencer?’ So reluctantly, I agreed. Not reluctant to see you, because that was my plan anyways, but to talk to you about what he wants me too. He wants me to try and fix whatever he did at the club the last night you saw him or something. But I know that’s not what you want.”

“Not really. I’m so irritated and done with him.” I sighed. “Why is he trying to get his friends to talk to me now?”

“Not that I’m choosing his side, but he’s having a really hard time with this.” Zayn frowned. “He’s been drunk more than not, he’s losing weight, he’s just a mess.”

“It’s not easy for me either, but I’m doing it. Between the two of us, I’m surprised it’s him who’s dealing with this the wrong way.”

“Me too. So with that being said, I tried my best to talk to you about taking him back. You just aren’t budging.” He laughed hard, having barely even mentioned Harry.

“I need some advice.” I started, Zayn nodded. “I want everyone to know we’ve broken up. I’ve spoken to my publicist and she thinks it’s a good time to break the news because people think he’s cheating on me since he’s leaving bars with slags. What would you do?”

“Honestly, I wouldn’t have waited this long. It’s insane for Harry to keep asking you to not open up about what is going on. I think you should go through with it. Do what is going to make you happy. We all just want to see you happy, Spencer.”

“I know. I want to be happy too.” I smiled across the table. “Thanks for not giving up on me.”

“Thanks for not giving up on yourself. I know how hard this can be.”

I smiled mostly to myself because other than Kasi, Ana and Emily, I really never had someone like Zayn. Yeah, my best friends helped me through everything and anything, but none of them were like Zayn. My friends wouldn’t over sugar coat things, but they’d try to spare my feelings. Zayn just told me like it was, whether I wanted to hear it or not. With Ana busy in grad school, Emily modelling all over the world and Kasi living in another state now, it made it hard to deal with this. The little escape Zayn gave me from my mind when he visited was everything I needed. My friends and I have been tossing the idea of making the breakup public, but they’d always tell me ‘it’s up to you’. Although, that’s essentially what Zayn did, he also told me what he’d do. I took everything he said to heart because he had been through all of the same things I was going through. Zayn’s phone began to ring, bringing me from my thoughts.

“Hello? Yeah mate, what’s up?” he rolled his eyes, mouthing Harry. “Yes, I did have a chance to talk to her. I’m not really sure what she’s going to do. I’ll try my best. Don’t worry, you’ll be fine….yes you are a fuck up. I’ll try my best. I know. Okay. Bye.”

“He’s dumb.” I said, without even knowing what he had to say.

“He just wanted to make sure I was going to talk to you. He has no faith in me.” He scoffed.

“Well he shouldn’t, because you basically talked me in to releasing the news, the complete opposite of what he wanted.”

“He doesn’t need to know that, now does he?” Zayn wiggled his eyebrows.

“You suck as a brother and bandmate.” I said tossing a sugar packet at him.

He stuck his tongue out but agreed with me. “Yes, I’m just doing what I think is best.”

We settled into a comfortable silence. Our food came out and we ate, avoiding the topic of Harry and the breakup all together. We laughed over stupid things and just enjoyed each other’s company. Zayn was interesting and unique, I was never bored with him around. We finished our meals, paid, gathered ourselves and headed out.

“OH I’ll kill you Zayn!” I punched him in the arm as we exited the restaurant. There were a handful of paparazzi outside, waiting to get their picture.

“Me?? What if they came because of you!” he tried to argue.

“Shut up. Let’s go.” I rolled my eyes, wrapping my hand around his bicep so we wouldn’t get separated. “I hate you guys for being you. Why couldn’t Harry have been a normal guy who bumped into me on the street! Ugh!”

“You love us though.”

We pushed our way through the crowd, listening and sometimes laughing at their questions.

ZAYN, SPENCER! ARE YOU TOGETHER NOW?
WHERE’S HARRY?
SPENCER, HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT HARRY’S WILD NIGHTS OUT?
ARE YOU AND HARRY STILL TOGETHER?
ZAYN, WHY AREN’T YOU WITH THE BAND?

We hailed a cab, the paps blowing our plan to walk, and made our way to my apartment. Once we got back, Ana, Zayn and I just relaxed with some wine and a few movies. I couldn’t be more thrilled about all of my friends getting along and making my life seem easier than it was sometimes. I enjoyed nights like this, it kept me grounded, even if we did take shelter to avoid being seen anymore. These are the kinds of days I wouldn’t trade for anything.




-------------------------------------------------------

(ONE WEEK LATER-Harry POV)



Spencer McMichael and Harry Styles have called it quits.

The fashion designer and the singer split after a year of dating and 6 months of engagement, a source tells PEOPLE.

The couple ended their relationship shortly into One Direction’s American leg of their current tour but remained friends, the source says. They were even spotted partying with friends, months after the breakup was said to happen.


McMichael and Styles, both 21, were first linked early last year, when they were trying to keep their relationship private but were spotted out in New York City.

Though they attempted to keep their romance under wraps, Styles took McMichael all over the world with him. About a year into their relationship, McMichael started her own, so far successful, fashion line.

The stars remained tight-lipped throughout the relationship, but in an interview with Ryan Seacrest, McMichael did gush about how happy the couple was, being in love, buying homes together and what the future held for the pair.

Perhaps McMichael didn’t foresee the future as clearly as she thought. A source tells PEOPLE the couple has split over distance and an unhealthy amount of fighting. The source also spills that Styles did not see the break up coming and is dealing poorly with the situation. McMichael has said to be the instigator of this breakup and seems to be moving on just fine.

Last week, she was seen dining and cozying up to fellow One Direction member, Zayn Malik. While many believe she is jumping from member to member, the source insists that Malik and McMichael are strictly friends.

A rep for Styles could not be reached, however, McMichael was willing to speak to PEOPLE herself saying, “I would never hurt Harry in the way that I’d date another member of the band. I want nothing but pure happiness for Harry in his entire life. He’s a great man but unfortunately things happen that are out of our control. I’ll always love him from the bottom of my heart and wish nothing but the best for him personally and in his career.”

Both celebrities will have plenty of distractions post-breakup: Styles will continue on the One Direction tour, while McMichael is currently working on her Spring Line for New York fashion week.

So ladies, three members of One Direction are single at the same time, and men, better get in line for a look at McMichael.



“I can’t believe she did it.” I ran a hand down my face.


“She called you and told you she was.” Louis tried to reason.


“I thought she’d change her mind! I thought she’d want to get back together by now. I thought we weren’t really going to be finished.” I yelled, growing angry.


“Mate, we’re all really sorry that this happened, but don’t yell at us.” Louis looked at me.


“I’m sorry. I’m just…I don’t know. I’m not okay.” I sighed. “I miss her.”


“We know man, and we’re going to be here for you, like we’ve been from the start of everything. We aren’t going anywhere and who knows what the future holds.” Liam patted me on the back.


“Zayn, did you talk to her like I asked?” I looked at him.


“Yes, I did. I just think she was really done with the relationship. No matter what I could have said would have made her change her mind. Sorry mate.” Zayn looked at me sympathetically.


“You aren’t with her, right? Or even like in any sense?” I asked, feeling childish.


“No, I’ve never nor would I ever, date or hook up with any of our ex’s. I would never do that to you. We’re just friends, Harry.”


“Alright. I had to ask because of those pictures of you guys. She used to hold my arm like that when the paps were around. I just had to make sure.”


“No, don’t worry. Nothing is going on.” Zayn nodded.


“What am I going to do?” I asked no one in particular.


“Man, we’re going to start writing the new album, we’re going to finish this kick ass tour we’re on, and you’re going to slowly move on. It doesn’t seem easy now, but soon enough you’ll be okay. Maybe not right now but soon enough we’ll have our crazy Harry back.” Louis smiled at me.


“I guess. She’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me though.” I closed my eyes.


“Then don’t stop fighting for her.” Niall’s voice shocked me. He had been mostly quiet about the breakup, checking up on me every now and then.


“Fight for her? Did you hear what I just read? She wants nothing but the best for me.” I rolled my eyes.


“Didn’t you just tell us she was the best thing to ever happen to you?” I nodded as he continued. “She wants the best for you, she is the best. Fight for her. Maybe let her cool off a bit, don’t rush into it, but fight for her and never stop. If you love her, prove to her you love her. Stop leaving clubs with random girls, stop getting photographed completely hammered, stop being reckless and start being the man she fell in love with in the first place.”


I sat in silence for a second, taking in what he said. He was right, I was being an idiot. I wasn’t making her love me, I was making her fall out of love with me.


“Niall, I hate to admit this but you’re right.” I smiled at him. “You always have the best relationship advice, why don’t you have a girlfriend? Jeeze!”


“I ask myself that every day.” He chuckled. “But I’m serious, don’t give up on what you love. You never know what could happen. Maybe it isn’t really the end, maybe she just needs a break or to date someone else to realize that it’s you she needs to be with.”


I nodded, really thinking about everything he just said. I shouldn’t give up. I was going to give her some time and space, maybe even struggle through watching her date another bloke, but I wasn’t ever going to give up.


“It’s not over.” I said with a smile on my face. “I’m going to get her back.”

Notes

GUYS. THIS IS IT. SORRY IT TOOK ME SO LONG TO WRITE THIS CHAPTER. I WANTED IT TO BE EXACTLY PERFECT. SORRY IF THERE IS ANY ERRORS OR YOU HATE IT. I DON'T SO THAT'S ALL THAT COUNTS. BUT THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR READING THIS STORY. I WILL BE STARTING A SEQUEL CALLED LOVE & REDEMPTION, SO STAY TUNED FOR THAT. I'LL ADD ANOTHER UPDATE WITH THE LINK FOR THAT ONCE I GET SOME TIME TO WRITE. I'LL PROBABLY START IN ABOUT A MONTH ONCE THIS SEMESTER OF SCHOOL ENDS. SORRY THIS IS IN ALL CAPS. I BET MOST OF YOU DON'T EVEN READ THIS. BUT LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK OF THE END AND WHAT YOU'RE EXPECTING IN THE SEQUEL. I'M SAD THIS STORY IS OVER BUT VERY EXCITED TO MOVE ON TO THE SEQUEL AND ALL THE GOODIES THAT COME WITH IT! JUST LIKE HARRY SAID, "IT'S NOT OVER!"

LOVE YOU ALL. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR SUPPORT AND LOVE. HOPE YOU GUYS STICK AROUND TO CONTINUE TO READ. (PS THIS CHAPTER IS 29 PAGES AND 8173 WORDS LONG ON WORD. WOW.)

LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE xx