Conceited [H.S.]

SEVENTY-TWO

Chapter Song: Canyon Moon by Harry Styles

...

HARRY STYLES

Two Weeks Later

I push my sunglasses up to hold my hair back, using them as a headband rather than blocking the sun as it sets in front of me.

The noise of the street chatter below me is all that I can hear, along with the occasional horn of a car or Vespa passing by. My pen twists between my fingers as I stare at the blank page of my notebook.

Time has been slowly passing by since I first sat up here. I hadn't really taken the time to come up to the roof lounge of my hotel, nor cared for it, until the hotel informed me a private area overlooking the city was available to me.

I'm sure I have Jeff to thank for working it out with the staff.

This is the most relaxed I have felt in a month. During my first two weeks away, I was getting used to the concept of a long-distance relationship, along with the fact that the person who has ultimately brightened my everyday life isn't simply a fifteen-minute drive away.

Just as I began to cope with that change and became somewhat confident in my relationship with Andrea, even thousands of miles apart, Luke reentered Andrea's life in the worst possible way.

It took an immense amount of convincing to keep me from going back. Nate and Jo both assured me over the phone that Andrea was coping as well as she could, given the circumstances, but every bit of me wanted to be there with her physically. Suddenly, the phone calls and text messages were no longer enough to ease my mind.

Andrea was the only one I listened to. The only voice of reason that I cared about.

She stayed with Jo for a few days, even after her apartment had been cleaned. Although my trust in Jo isn't as strong as it was previously, I pushed my feelings aside. Andrea needed to be with someone that she trusted, and someone she knew was aware of her history with Luke.

Our calls have become more often since she found her apartment destroyed, not that I would ever mind. We've both had a fair share of calling the other more frequently.

Andrea started opening up about work to me again when she felt in the right state of mind to return after using sick hours to call out for two days. Something I attempted to cover, but she refused. Profusely.

She's spent more time with Noah since I left, and she finally asked me if I'd like to meet him. My heart nearly burst out of my chest when she asked, which I immediately agreed to, but the thought of formally meeting someone from her family makes me utterly nervous. It didn't help that she told me she was as well.

It made sense after she explained it to me. She's never been able to introduce someone she was dating to her family, and this would be the first time.

No pressure.

With each passing day, she slowly started to feel safer in her apartment and to stay at my place on her own when she felt like it. Her happiness and security only increased when the police called to tell her that Luke had been arrested.

The piece of shit was arrested and charged with breaking and entering and larceny.

I was terrified when I picked up the phone to hear Andrea crying, but soon I learned they were happy tears.

It took them a few days to gather enough evidence to get a warrant for the fucker's arrest, but once they did, it only took a few hours for them to locate and arrest him.