the drive from elton's to devyn's went by in a blur. harlow had her bluetooth connected and was shuffling through her playlists for the drive over, dancing excessively for a passenger in a vehicle. tara and devyn were also both bopping along and laughing obnoxiously loud, while katrina was splayed across the two girls and sam, which kept the girls from dancing like harlow. sam simply managed to be a human seatbelt for his girlfriend, holding her and she tried to wiggle and dance as well.
when carter pulled up in front of devyn's place, he waited patiently as the four shuffled out in the back, smiling at them as they thanked him for the ride. harlow turned to carter expectantly, hoping he'd come in even though he said he was going home.
"call me when you're ready to go, ok? my ringer is already on." he stated with a quick kiss.
harlow nodded, a small smile gracing her features. "yeah. i'll give you lots of snuggles tonight. i can even be the big spoon," harlow meant it, but carter just laughed endearingly at the girl's words, "thanks, lovie. see you tonight!" with a final kiss, harlow removed herself from the passenger seat to the sidewalk, waving to carter as he drove off.
devyn was waiting for harlow, but the others had already gone inside to meet their friends that didn't go to the engagement party.
"carter didn't want to come?" devyn asked as harlow crossed the distance to meet her.
harlow shook her head, "nah, he's gotta work in the morning. doesn't want to be out late."
devyn just nodded in response.
the music was loud even from outside of the house, and even though harlow was definitely drunk, she was worried devyn and xepher would get a noise complaint. so once she had made her rounds inside and had grabbed a new drink, she had convinced xepher to let her play music, meaning she could control the volume.
her group of friends were spread out around the house, reggie was playing kevin in a game of beer pong; aryia, cassie, devyn, xepher, and griffin were sat around a table in the living room playing an intense game of drunk jenga; and sam, katrina, and tara were stood in the kitchen chatting.
harlow bounced around from group to group as she waited to face off in a game of pong against reggie. her aim was piss poor though, and she lost rather quickly. with a drink in her hand, she flopped over the couch and landed not-so-gracefully on the floor beside devyn, who was quick to prop her up. from there, harlow watched her friends play the rest of their drunk jenga, waiting for the game to restart so she could enter as well.
so while she waited, she drank accordingly. before her friends finished her game she had finished another drink, and was now definitely feeling the effects of the alcohol in her system. her head was a little bit fuzzy and she felt warmth in her stomach. mostly she wanted to get up and dance, but she also wanted carter to be here so she could make out with him on the couch.
in her distracted state, harlow was unaware of tara and katrina talking in the kitchen, in fact, she didn't even glance up as tara made her way over to harlow, wanting to warn her about who was about to step through the doors.
before tara was able to make it across the room to her friend, though, the door opened. harlow came back to reality then, initially because of the cool draft coming through the open door, but then because of the voice she heard. clear as day.
in an instant, harlow felt her stomach turn violently. she whipped her head so quickly towards devyn that she received an almost instantaneous headache. her vision blurred, and she couldn't help but feel like she was about to throw up just because she heard his voice.
devyn met her eyes, and simply shrugged before harlow could even get any words out. "i couldn't uninvite him, harls. it's not fair for him to be left out," she whispered, trying to be as discreet as possible, as she was surrounded by their friends who were more than likely straining to listen in.
harlow fought to regain control of her body, not wanting to unload the contents of her stomach on devyn's hardwood flooring. once she managed to swallow away the feeling in her stomach, she spoke in a matched volume, "could've told me. at least given me the choice."
"well, if i told you would you have come?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.
"what do you think?" harlow deadpanned, angrier with devyn than she should have been. she was mad mostly because of colby, but the alcohol surely didn't help. in fact, it was partially why she wanted to spew her emotions onto the first person she could reach, and unfortunately for devyn, that was her.
devyn rolled her eyes dramatically, "which is why i didn't. you need to get over it, h. you're with someone else now, i think that means you can be in the same room as colby. unless you still have feel-"
the uneasiness in harlow's stomach returned as devyn spoke. "i am over it," harlow insisted, "also, it's none of your fuckin' business. just, stay out of it, dev."
if devyn was angry with harlow for being snappy, she didn't show it. "i believe you, okay. i believe you. i'm just trying to get us all back to normal. i miss everyone being together like this,"
harlow tried to bite her tongue, she really did. "should we invite corey too then?" xepher's gasp broke through, reminding harlow that her friends were sitting across from the two. another wave of sickness washing over her at the realization. "i'm going to the bathroom, i don't feel good," harlow cut in as she pushed herself to a standing position.
without even a glance in colby's direction, harlow made a beeline to the bathroom. if the tension between the two wasn't obvious before, it would surely be obvious after the way she ran out of the room.
the bathroom was empty thankfully, and harlow had barely managed to close the door behind her when she heard a series of knocks at the door.
with her nerves at an all-time high, she instantly felt saliva pooling in her mouth, a sure sign she was about to be sick. the person knocking incessantly at the door didn't help, especially when harlow imagined that person to be colby.
before she knew it, she was kneeling in front of the toilet, spilling her stomach contents into the toilet bowl.
what made the situation even worse was that as harlow threw up, she heard the door open. she could make out a person shuffling inside, then heard the door close and lock. but she was so weak that she couldn't lift her body enough to twist and see who it was.
the sound of running water filled her ears, and then there was a hand scooping up all of her hair. harlow immediately tensed up, still unaware of the person behind her.
"that quickly, huh?" katrina joked, and harlow instantly felt her body go lax.
harlow laughed weakly, reaching for the toilet paper beside them to wipe her mouth. "s'fucked, i know," she managed to reach up and flush the toilet, then pushed herself to lean against the tiled wall. "thought you were him for a sec, had me fuckin' freakin', kat,"
now it was kat's turn to laugh, "just me," she paused to reach up and turn the running water off, "don't think anyone heard ya, though. i managed to turn the taps on just in time,"
harlow just closed her eyes and hummed in response, trying to get her foggy brain to work properly.
"do you want me to call carter?"
harlow shrugged. if katrina called carter right after colby arrived, it would be obvious to everyone why she would be leaving. she didn't want to look weak, even if she felt that way right now. then again, she didn't want to be in a room with her ex-boyfriend either.
"think i'll stay," harlow stated after a beat of silence, "m'here now, right?"
katrina grinned instantly, helping her friend stand. they peeked in a few drawers, looking for a spare toothbrush so harlow could at least not taste like her vomit. after she was properly cleaned up, she took a deep breath in preparation for the events of the night.
before she could grab the handle to the door, though, katrina spoke up, "y'know, i know i don't know exactly what went down between you and colby. and i don't want to pry, this isn't me prying, i swear. i just, i mean obviously whatever it was really hurt you," harlow frowned, but katrina kept talking, "i think that staying here tonight is really brave of you, harley. it's a big step."
harlow softened at that, moving to wrap her arms around her blue-haired friend. "love you, kat,"
although katrina and harlow both left the bathroom more sober than they had entered it, no one questioned the two girls. katrina followed harlow over to her spot on the floor, where her friends were waiting to start the next game of jenga.
devyn glanced apologetically at harlow, but she tried not to concentrate on it. it was in harlow's best interest for her to go about the night acting as though this was normal. as if harlow and colby were often at parties together with their friends. as if their hearts hadn't been broken a year ago by each other.
over the course of the next hour and a half, harlow got progressively drunker. drunk jenga was not in her favor, as she had chugged two full drinks and taken two shots plus a body shot just within one game.
it was as normal as it could be.
and colby kept his distance, lingering at the pong table with jake and sam, or hovering around in the kitchen with tara and cassie. but he could still watch harlow from a distance.
maybe it was leftover colby radar from when they had dated, but harlow was distinctly aware every time colby had his eyes on her. she could feel them, like lasers cutting through her. electric, but in the most painful way possible.
each time harlow felt his blue eyes on her she tensed up, but each time she did so, katrina gave a subtle squeeze on her leg or arm, bringing her back down once again.
and when harlow was sure colby wasn't looking at her, she'd chance a glance in his direction. even then, it was never more than two seconds, as she didn't want to be caught looking.
again, it was just about as normal as it could be for their group.
the game had finished, and harlow's head was spinning. a drag of a cig and fresh air would likely clear her head, so she let katrina know that she was heading outside to do just that.
"d'ya need me to come with?" she asked with a wince.
harlow shook her head, "you don't need to babysit me, kat. plus i know you get headaches when you're around smoke. i'll be like, ten minutes tops,"
and with that, harlow was walking towards the front door, wanting to sit down on the steps out front rather than stand in the backyard.
the sky was much darker than when carter had dropped the five off. time seemed to pass much faster than she had thought. she didn't want to wake carter up too late, but she also wasn't quite ready to leave yet. maybe in another hour.
as harlow stared into the dark sky, she lifted her lighter up, igniting the end of the smoke and inhaling deeply. even with one drag, her body felt more relaxed than it had been since colby had walked through the door. perhaps this was one addiction she wasn't going to be able to quit.
with her head leaned against the metal rail of the steps, she continued taking small drags, trying to make it as slow as possible to avoid going back inside.
the front door opened then, and harlow knew at that moment that she was not going to be lucky enough to avoid colby like this for the second time in the night.
she didn't have to glance behind her, just like she didn't have to lift her head earlier. she knew colby was standing behind her. stuck against the door, unsure of what to do or say. she could literally feel waves of nerves rolling off him and crashing into her. even after time apart, she could read his emotions well.
harlow took one final puff of her cig, then dropped it on the ground to squish under the toe of her shoe. and even though she knew that colby was likely feeling nervous or anxious near her, she wasn't ready to be the one to ease those nerves just yet. so she waited, wanting him to speak up first.
again, there was a beat of silence, and then his voice broke through. it was quiet, maybe even gentle, "um, hi," another pause hit, but this one was significantly shorter. "i don't know why i followed you out here. or, i mean, i do. old habits die hard, i guess,"
harlow's heart felt like it was being pinched as the words rolled off his tongue. old habits die hard.
it was how they had met, and in a weird way it was the sticky adhesive that kept them together. their deepest secrets and greatest wishes were almost always shared over a cigarette and a redbull. it was their history. it was them.
harlow must've been silent for longer than she had realized, because colby was suddenly speaking again, "fuck, i'm sorry. this was weird. i should have used my brain, duh. uh, i'll leave you alone. i'm sorry again, harley,"
her stomach twisted as she listened, heartbeat rising as his voice cracked slightly and again as he uttered her nickname.
she felt like she was floating, not really attached to her body. she felt her arm lift up, the pack of smokes held lightly in her hand. "d'ya want one?"
THOUGHTS
little bit of a cliffhanger!!
let me know what you thought
of this chapter! i'll try to have the
next chapter out in the next few
days.