18 Going On 30 || h.s. au

eight

HARRY'S POV

I've seen a lot of shit in all my twenty eight years, but nothing, and I mean nothing, has ever had as much of an effect on me as seeing her again for the first time in years- in the goddamn lift of all places- had on me just now.

I sat in my car for ten minutes in complete silence after seeing her. At least I think I saw her.

I could've very well been hallucinating.

But when the lift doors opened that very last thing I would've ever fucking expected was to see Lainey standing on the other side.

She was a bit taller than I remember. She was wearing a pair of black jeans with a white blouse tucked into them and sneakers on her feet. Her hair was still that soft red color but with a bit more brown than it used to have, and it didn't have that natural wave to it anymore.

I felt like I was on a prank show and cameras were about to jump in my face.

So it was ten minutes after I forced myself to start my car and begin my drive home. It probably wasn't safe for me to do that with the cloudy state my mind was in, but I had to leave before she walked out of the building and I saw her again. I don't think I could've handled that.

I'm sitting on my couch now. Slumped down in contemplation, questioning everything. The biggest question is, simply, what the fuck just happened? I've pinched myself several times to make sure I wasn't dreaming. I'm not.

With only the mere fifteen seconds I simply got of her face, seven years worth of memories came rushing in like a dam had broken inside my brain.

It's ridiculous to think I could ever forget them. The day we met, when little me saw her sitting there at lunch. I remember thinking she was so pretty. When our mums met for the first time and talked each other's ears off for ages, and then in the same night the rest of her family came over and we all ended up having dinner together.

Late nights at the pond. Doing homework together and then rewarding ourselves with Honey's. Loads of jealousy on my end. The day she left for Edinburgh. I still remember that day so clearly and the emotions I felt.

Little did I know that no day would ever be the same after that.

I wanted to say something. Anything, but I didn't know how. I felt like I was paralyzed making eye contact with her. I finally managed to open my mouth but then the door started to close and she didn't make a move to stop them, so I kept my mouth shut.

After all this time, all these years of wondering where she ended up, it has to be in the same fucking building we just moved too.

I've been working as a physical therapist since I got out of university. Owen, the owner, and I met through a mutual friend right after I graduated while I was looking for a job that had at least a little relevance to my degree as I got my masters. He's a few years older than me, and luckily for me he was just getting started on his business and needed to start hiring physical therapists. The business was still in its infancy, but I helped him with some of the process and we moved into our first location six years ago.

It's steadily grown and gained traction since then, and we found this building not too long ago with an entire open floor for rent and we went for it. The location was tremendously better and the space allowed us to expand our services.

Everything was going great, and one damned lift ride caused my world to come crashing down.

The same fucking building.