UNPLANNED

Part 17

You weren't sure how to feel. You were confused and upset and angry. And at the end of the day, Harry storming out of the house only felt like it confirmed your fears: he would leave.

He did, right?

He left, even if he came back and shut himself in his office. He left, even if he popped out only when Jane cried, before you could wave him off and say you could handle whatever it was and didn't need his help.

But the bottom line was that your emotions came out and that scared him away. You tried to hold it back and you tried to avoid the conversation because no matter how hard you tried, you didn't see a world where the ending of that scene would look any different.

A few days later and things had settled down, he cooled off and you gave each other enough space when you passed in the hallway or sat on the couch at night and watched the news. Things felt tense inside the house and outside, too.

Which is why, four days later, you were sat uncomfortably in a chair next to Glenne in some restaurant in Hollywood.

"This is the most uncomfortable thing I've ever done."

"Oh stop," she waved you off, a full 180 from the Glenne you once knew.

She didn't seem to completely understand what you were saying. Your eyes trailed down the table, Lexi was busy chatting with a girl you'd met a few times. The band was there, Jeff, other faces and names that offered hugs and hellos as if you'd been around the whole time.

But that wasn't what made you uncomfortable.

"Oh," Glenne's mouth set in a firm line when she saw what you saw. She leaned in and let her voice drop lower. "She worked on the album, I think, helped write a song or two."

"I don't care," you lied, picked up the drink in front of you and took a sip through the black straw. Another gulp, maybe you could ease the knots in your stomach with more alcohol.

He'd been nice leading up to this, said he liked your dress when you sat awkwardly in the car on the drive here. He got Jane bathed and dressed when you got ready, passed her off to your mom for the night after she made the drive down from Santa Paula.

But his arm was slung around the back of her chair now, he nodded and smiled when she said something funny, leaned in to hear her over the noise of the restaurant as if they were old friends.

Glenne sipped her own drink, kept her eyes focused on the two of them, just like you. "She's nice, she's not someone you need to worry about."

"It's fine," you shrugged, hopefully more convincing this time. "We're not together–he can do what he wants."

She turned to look at you, her eyebrows arched when she held her straw between her fingers and took a pull. "Right," she laughed.

"I mean it, Glenne."

"What do you mean?" Jeff materialized behind you both, pulled out his chair on the other side of his girlfriend and rejoined the table.

"Y/N's just going on about how her and Harry aren't together," Glenne looked up at Jeff, offered him a sweet smile when he bent down to kiss her on the head.

Jeff laughed at this, smiled over at you and placed his napkin on his lap. "But like, you're not not together, right?"

"We're just not together. One 'not.' It's not a thing."

They both looked at you, straight-faced and expectant, like suddenly you'd let out a laugh and admit this was all a silly joke. "What?" You asked.

"Nothing," Jeff shrugged. "Just, I thought things were going well."