Dahlia’s Point of View

The flight from New York to London was long enough as it is, but add the constant anxiety and stress I have been having and the flight seemed to last for days. I knew I was being unreasonable spending so much time thinking and worrying about my situation with Harry, but I couldn’t seem to help myself. There were much worse things happening in the world, but as I said, it’s nearly impossible for me to go even a minute without thinking of the tall, green-eyed and curly-haired man. I felt guilty, stressed and confused about my thoughts lately. I also felt like my head was going to explode from my never-ending stream of worries and concerns.

This trip back to London would be good for me. Although in a few days time I’d be back in the danger zone with Harry, I’d take my time here in London, packing up and shipping my things and properly saying goodbye to Louis’s family. I knew it would be hard to pack up the house Louis and I had moved into four years ago because of all the memories it held, but I needed the closure. I still loved him, I really did, but I was thankful to have distractions (no matter how exhausting he may be) in my life to save me from dwelling over what had happened.

It was time to move on with that chapter of my life, and I was ready to begin the next.

I took a taxi from the Heathrow Airport to the house and wasted no time getting started. It was one in the morning, but I was still on New York time. I tried to push aside any and all thoughts of Harry, and began sorting through everything in the house. I had made great progress by the time I started to tire, separating everything into keep, donate and trash piles. I was grateful I had pushed Louis to stick to a smaller home when he had wanted a larger one all those years ago; I don’t think I could handle anymore packing by the end of the night.

As I curled up into the bed in the guest room (it would be too difficult to sleep in the room Louis and I shared), I thought about the previous night and wished Harry was holding me in his arms tonight, too. The guilt resurfaced as the thought invaded my tired mind, being in the house I shared with my late boyfriend, but I couldn’t help it. I hadn’t spent the night at Harry’s, but I didn’t leave until three in the morning. I was now wishing I had stayed the night.

The next morning, I woke up with the mindset to head over to Louis’s mother’s house today. I needed to explain to Johannah and Louis’s sisters that I’d be moving to New York. I had become very close to Louis’s family since we began dating, and I’d even become closer to them then my own family, being that they lived so close. It would be difficult to tell them I was leaving, but I knew they would support my decision.

I put off the inevitable meeting, however, by boxing up more of the stuff and organizing to have it shipped to my new apartment. It was noon by the time I was at Johannah and Daniel’s house. Ever since Louis’s accident, it was hard for me to see his family just because they reminded me of him so much, but I loved them as if they were my own family.



“Oh, Dahlia, it’s so good to see you,” Johannah gushed as she greeted me at the door. “How are you doing, love?”

I hugged her tightly. “I’ve been doing better. How about you and the kids?”

She held my shoulders to look at me. “Things are getting easier, but we’ll get there. Come in, sweetheart, I’ll get some tea going.”

We walked into the house and made our way to the kitchen. I always smiled walking down the halls of her house that were covered in pictures of her seven children, and even a few of me and Louis.

“So what brings you here today? Not that I’m complaining, it’s been too long since I’ve seen you.”

Johannah set a cup of tea in front of me before sitting across the table with her own. “I know, I’ve been pretty busy. But I actually wanted to talk to you about something.”

“What is it?”

My heart was pounding against my chest as I tried to force the words out. I knew she’d be happy for me to get away and begin living again, but I was also worried it would hurt her. She’d just lost her son, and I didn’t want her to think she was losing me either. In the previous ten years I’d been dating Louis, I became very close to his family. Johannah was like my second mother—she was always there for me, especially in the times my own mother had let me down.

“I’ve decided to move back to New York.”

I searched her eyes to get any intel on what she was thinking, but I couldn’t figure her out. Thankfully, she saved me from guessing and finally said something. “Oh, Dahlia, I’m happy for you.” Her eyes began to water, but she was still smiling. “I’m sorry, I’ve been an emotional mess lately, but I’m truly happy for you.”

I felt myself get emotional as I took a sip of my tea. “It’ll be good for you to get a change of pace.”

“That’s what I was thinking,” I agreed softly. “I don’t want to leave you guys, but I think I’ll have a better chance at finding a job there, and—“ I couldn’t finish my sentence as I choked up. Damn emotions.

“I understand, Dahlia. We’ll miss you around here, but we never expected you to stay. I can only imagine how hard it is for you…”

“I just don’t think I could handle staying in that house; everything reminds me of him,” I said, trying to hold back my tears.

Johannah frowned and took my hand atop the table. “Dahlia,” she sighed, “I love you, and I loved that you and my son were together, but I know one day you’ll have to move on. We never expected you to stick around forever. It’ll be good for you to start over, and start living again. You’ll always carry Louis in your heart, but it’s okay to be happy again. He would’ve wanted you to be happy.”

At this point we were both crying. I was so happy she understood my decision, and that she had said such encouraging words. She was right, and I was so glad I had her in my life.

“It’ll all work out, sweetheart. We love you, and nothing will change that. We’re still here for you, and you can always come back to visit us,” she smiled.

---

Harry’s Point of View

Lia had been in London for only a day now, but I was already missing her. It’s crazy to think I went five years without seeing her. I don’t know how I did it.

I decided to go out with Vince, Tucker and Marco, the members of one of the bands I was managing. We had become good friends over the time we had been working together, and it would be good for me to get out to distract me.

We went to The Pitstop, a sports bar on the Upper West Side and played some pool while drinking beers. The night had actually turned out pretty well—I was much more relaxed than I had been since Lia left, and I was having a good time with the guys. That is however, until I was sitting at the bar with Vince, watching the baseball game that was on the television above.

All was well as we were chatting about the game and about their upcoming tour, but then he just had to bring her up. I had finally warmed up to him again after the stunt he pulled at the album release on Sunday.

“So tell me about this Lia girl.” At the moment he said that, I was conveniently taking a drink of my beer, but spit it back into the bottle at the mention of her name.

“It’s Dahlia,” I told him sternly.

“Oh, my bad. You kept calling her Lia, so I thought that’s what she liked being called.”

“No,” was all I said.

“All right… So tell me about Dahlia. How come you’ve never mentioned her before? She’s fucking hot.”

I was holding my beer bottle so hard I thought it’d break. This guys knew how to push my buttons.

“She dated Louis. I’ve known her since I was in the band. We’re good friends,” I told him, wishing to end this conversation. “And she’s off-limits.” I felt the need to add that last part.

“But I thought you guys weren’t…?”

“We’re not. But she’s still off limits. Besides, she’s not looking to date right now. So don’t even think about it.”

“Chill, Styles, I was just saying she’s hot. I mean even you can’t be oblivious to that just ‘cuz you’re good friends.”

“No, I’m not.”

That seemed to shut him up. For a good two minutes.

“So you guys aren’t even fucking?”

It took everything in me not to beat his ass. I didn’t even know why I was getting so worked up—he didn’t know everything about her or our relationship, and this is how guys talked about girls. I could hardly be angry at him for what he was saying, but for some reason, I couldn’t stand it.

“No.”

“Damn, the boss is friend-zoned,” Vince laughed. “Now I know why you’re so fucking crabby.”

I wanted to punch him in the gut so bad. “You don’t know what you’re talking about,” I seethed. “Now shut the fuck up, and quit talking about her.”

“All right, man,” he agreed, taking a sip of his drink.

“Hey Vince, we’re heading out. Need a ride?”

I mentally thanked God for Marco interrupting us.

“Yeah,” Vince said. He pulled his wallet out and gave the bartender his card to settle our tab. “See you tomorrow, boss.”

I nodded at the band, and took one last drawl of my beer to finish it, having every intention of leaving myself. I probably looked pathetic sitting alone at the bar, but it was quite nice to have no interruptions for a bit. Gave me time to think, although lately that was never a good thing for me.

Just as I stood up to put on my coat and leave, someone tapped me on the shoulder. I was just thinking how odd it was that no one had come up to me tonight, asking for autographs or pictures—not that I was complaining.

“Harry,” a familiar voice spoke as I turned around.

I mentally cursed. “Hey, Quinn.”

“What are you doing here alone?”

I looked at the red head standing in front of me. “I was just here with some friends. About to head out.”

“Have one more drink with me,” she smiled and looked toward the bar.

I don’t know why, but I nodded in acceptance. I blamed the buzz I had from drinking so much already, but I think I was just feeling lonely. I wasn’t ready to go back to my place to be alone in my feelings.

“We’ll have two Buds,” Quinn told the bartender before turning to me. “So Harry, what have you been up to?”

I shrugged back out of my jacket and sat on the barstool. “Working,” I said, taking a long slug of my beer the second it was put in front of me.

“Is that why you ended things?” She asked. It was only a matter of time until she mentioned that, but I was hoping she’d at least let me get a little more drunk before she did. “What we had was good, Harry. Don’t you think so?”

I didn’t answer. Yeah, the sex was good. No, I wasn’t looking to go back to what we had before. Quinn was nice enough, but she has the substance of a fifteen year old. All she talked about was partying, drinking and sex.

“I’ve got a lot going on right now,” I conceded.

“I can tell, babe. You look so tired and stressed. Maybe I can help with that?” She said, pressing her body against mine.

“I’m fine.”

I order another beer, and Quinn told the bartender to pour two shots of whiskey. I don’t know why she’d done that, but I threw back the shot without question.

“Come on, Harry, let’s go back to your place.” Quinn was practically sitting on my lap at this point, pressing her tits into my chest and whispering in my ear. “I know you’re stressed with work, babe. I’m willing to forget about you breaking things off with me, and we can go do what we do best.”

I finished off my bud as she nibbled on my ear. The following events I’d blame on the alcohol. “Let’s go.”

I slapped a fifty down on the bar and grabbed my jacket. Quinn followed me out of the place and I flagged down a cab. There had been two paparazzi staked outside the bar, but I ignored them and got in. I was used to that shit.

All I knew was that I was horny as fuck and Quinn could take the edge off tonight. No doubt I’d rather have Lia in my bed, but I knew that would never happen.

We didn’t speak as we went up to my apartment, and I was fine with that. Quinn was not the type of girl I wanted to do anything with other than fuck, as much as a douche bag that made me.

I pulled her against me as soon as the door was shut and began kissing her. The entire time I couldn’t help but think how much I wished I was kissing Lia.

We ended up on the couch, the one that Lia and I had been snuggled up on just the other night. Fuck! I couldn’t get her off of my mind! Not even while another girl was wrapped around me, grinding her hips against my dick.

Quinn didn’t waste any time running her hands down my body, pulling my shirt off and quickly working the button and zipper of my jeans. She was kissing my neck as she shoved off my pants, and began pulling at my boxers.

At that point, I tried to grab her hands, but she wasn’t having it.

“What the fuck, Harry?”

I rolled my head back to look at the ceiling and ran my hands through my hair.

Quinn wrapped her hand around my length, but I pushed her away. “Why aren’t you getting hard?”

“Just get off me.” I needed this badly, but obviously my dick wasn’t having it. I couldn’t get hard while making out with a girl other than Lia on the couch where we had cuddled up together just two nights ago.

Lia would be the death of me. First she consumed my thoughts, now she was taking over my dick. Fuck.

“Harry.”

“You need to leave.”

“No! Do you not think I’m hot anymore? This was never a problem before!”

I groaned and pulled my boxers back on. “Just leave, Quinn. I’m tired.”

“Fuck you, Harry.”

Andddd she still wasn’t leaving.

“Do you need money for a cab?” I asked, walking over to where I dropped my jacket to grab my wallet.

I handed her a hundred and held the door open. “Wow. You’re an asshole, Harry.”

“I’ve been called worse,” I told her. She grabbed the money but stayed inside the apartment. “Quinn, there was a reason I broke things off between us. Now leave and don’t call me.”

“Fuck. You.” She finally left.

I slammed my door shut, locked it, then grabbed the closest thing and launched it across the room. “Fuck!”

I was fucked. I couldn’t even get hard with another girl. All I wanted was to be with Lia, and at this point, I didn’t even care if it was in a sexual way. I just wanted to be close to her. To watch her laugh as we watched a movie, or see her smile when I bring her coffee. I just wanted her to be here.

The next thing I knew, I was laying on my bed, my phone pressed to my ear, calling her. It was three in the morning here, so it’d be eight in the morning in London. I didn’t even think about waking her, I was just desperate to hear her voice.

And when I heard it, I finally relaxed for the first time since she left. “Hello?” Her voice was full of sleep, indicating I had woken her up.

“Hey…” I suddenly felt like an idiot. Why did I call her?

“Harry?”

“Yeah… hi.”

“Hi.” I could tell she was smiling, and that made me grin like a damn fool.

“Sorry for waking you up.”

“It’s fine, I should get up anyway. What are you still doing up? Isn’t it like two there?”

“Three,” I corrected her. “And I couldn’t sleep.”

Fuck. Now she knows I was thinking about her while I couldn't sleep.

“I’m sorry, that sucks.”

“It’s cool. Just thought I’d see what you’re up to.” Good cover, Styles.

“Well I need to finish packing up the house today… I’m coming home tomorrow.”

I was about to jump for joy, but I kept it cool. “So soon?”

“Yeah. I didn’t want to stay long, and the packing went faster than I had thought. Why, you liked not having me around?” She joked.

“Yeah, I was hoping for a few more days to myself.” Like hell I was.

Lia giggled, and fuck it was my favorite sound in the entire world. “Well I’m sorry. I’ll try to keep to myself once I get back.”

“Oh no, you’re not getting out of making my cookies. And I expect a back massage, too.”

“We’ll see,” she laughed. “So what’s been going on there? How’s your work going?”

It was weird how much I loved how she wanted to hold a conversation with me. I liked how I didn’t need to force things between us, and how it wasn’t awkward.

“It’s going,” I laughed. “No, it’s fine… busy. Oh hey, I got another gig for you, if you want to do it. I just signed a country singer from Tennessee, and he’s coming here to record an album. Would you want to shoot the cover?”

“Seriously?”

“Seriously.”

“I’d love to!” She beamed. “Wow, thanks.”

“Thank you. You’re doing me a favor, like I said, the other guy I used for photo shoots was a total ass.”

“I’m glad you consider me a step up from that,” she laughed.

Much more than a step up, I thought to myself.

“Of course. Well, I’ll let you go. I should probably at least attempt to sleep.”

“Okay, yeah. I need to get packing. I’m glad you called. Good night, Harry.”

“Good morning, Lia.” I was grinning like a love sick fool as I hung up the phone.

Notes

Sorry for taking so long to update! But I hope you like the chapter :)


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