Lucky Penny [h.s.]

50. (*)

Penelope.

Harry and I had never been in this much silence.

I almost let out a sigh of relief when he opened the door of his apartment and I saw Mitch and Sarah inside. Harry didn't give them a look, instantly headed to his room and closed the door while he let the three of us in the living room.

I let out a soft breath upon the deafening silence and smiled at Mitch and Sarah, "Hey."

Mitch frowned, "Hey... What's going on?"

I shrugged as I kicked off my loafers, "Harry and I went out to dinner and then grabbed a drink and we ran into all those old friends of his and his ex."

"Oh no." Sarah muttered under her breath while Mitch gasped, "Kiara? Really?"

"Yeah." I sighed, joining them on the couch as I glanced at Harry's closed bedroom door, "He hasn't said a word since."

"Wait, wait," Mitch held his hand up in confusion, "Talk us through it, how'd it go?"

I relaxed into the couch a little, "We sat down at the bar and everything was good, and then four people walked in and he got all nervous. He said they were his old friends, Kiara wasn't there yet at that point. He eventually went over to say hi to them and they asked for us to join them. So we did. We sat with them at their table and Harry talked to all of them, seemed to have a good time. And then Kiara came in and asked us to leave."

"She asked you to leave?" Sarah frowned and I shrugged, "Demanded it, is a better word. I used the restroom before we left and she followed me in there, giving me this whole speech on Harry..."

"Holy shit." Mitch muttered, "And he knows?"

"He saw her following me in and I told her she talked to me but I didn't tell him what she said."

"What did she say?" Sarah asked curiously. I looked at the closed door again and lowered my voice, "Something about him being a pathological liar, stringing people along, telling them what they want to hear and such."

Mitch rolled his eyes and huffed, "Jesus christ."

"I defended him, told her she was overstepping and that I didn't care what she said to me. And then we left and he's just been insanely off... Hardly said three words in the car while I tried to convince him that they were bad friends if they treated him like that, that I didn't care what she said to me..."

Mitch scratched the back of his neck, "He took it hard, honestly. It was like a heartbreak times five for him."

I shifted on the couch, nibbling my lip as my stomach was in knots, "I don't exactly want to ask for advice, but um... I'm not sure what to do here..."

"Wish I could give advice but Harry's kind of a closed books when it comes to his emotions. "Mitch sighed, "Kind of have to let him come to you, I suppose."

I chewed on the inside of my cheek, "I'll just quickly go check on him, I think."

Neither Sarah or Mitch stopped me when I got up from the couch and padded to the end of the hallway, knocking on Harry's door. He didn't answer so I knocked again, "Harry? Can I come in?"

Again no answer. I cursed under my breath, contemplating what the best thing to do was. I didn't want to push him if he quite clearly seemed to not want my company right now.

I waited for another minute before I decided to quickly peek my head through the door. The handle moved down and I opened it a couple of inches, seeing the lights on inside and Harry's body face down on his mattress. I pushed the door open a bit wider, hearing it creak, "Harry?" I carefully asked, "Can I come in?"