Nothing Good Gets Away

Chapter 53

HARRY STYLES

I give myself one last look in my bathroom mirror, uselessly straightening out my black tie and pushing my fingers through my hair. I'm very aware that I don't look my best, even dressed that way. My eyes look as tired as they are, and my lips seem to be perpetually chapped these days. I just haven't been doing so well in the last five months, give or take.

"Ready, H?" Nicky calls out from my living room. "We should be on the road if we wanna make it to her parents' house on time!"

"Yeah, I'm coming," I mutter back, grabbing my chapstick from the vanity to run over my lips again before dropping it into my pocket.

I shut the light off and listen to my Oxfords squeak on the hardwood floor as I meet her and Zayn in the living room. They look amazing together, with Nicky in her autumnal orange dress and Zayn in his black suit. I've never seen them so dressed up before.

"Wow, you look handsome for once," Nicky teases and brushes her hands down the shoulders of my jacket.

"Thanks," I force a tight smile and look down at myself. "I guess we should go, huh."

"Mhm," she turns to Zayn, holding her keys out for him to take.

For the whole drive to Malibu, I keep my eyes closed and let myself drift in and out of sleep in the backseat of Nicky's car. I slept for maybe three hours last night when I couldn't stop tossing and turning with all my thoughts running wild.

I've been thinking of leaving, and how I should say goodbye to Rowan. I don't want to be selfish, but I also don't know if I'm physically capable of sitting down at her wedding and watching her vow to love someone else for the rest of eternity. The thought makes my heart race in the worst way, and it makes me feel the need to sling my arm over my midsection like I might be sick. But what kind of best friend doesn't attend their best friend's wedding? She would be devastated, and I'm not sure I can do that to her either.

"Jesus," Zayn and Nicky both murmur together as the car begins to slow, which can only mean that we're either in Rowan's parents' neighborhood or outside their house. When I open my eyes, I'm met with the mansion.

"You need to get a better job, baby," Nicky squeezes the back of his neck as he parks on the other side of the street.

"I'll say," he scoffs and looks to the home. "Maybe her dad's part of the mob or something."

Albeit small, that brings a genuine smile to my face as the three of us step out of Nicky's humble car in comparison to the others surrounding us. There are over a few million dollars just sitting on the street in the form of metal and machinery, and it's just totally normal.

"Do we knock?" Nicky asks me.

"I'm sure we can just walk in," I test the door handle, and it opens right up for us.

Nicky walks in first, marveling at the chandelier the same way Zayn is doing, and the same way I did when I stepped in the house for the first time. It's already decorated for Christmas too, which only makes it look more beautiful than it does on a usual basis.

Over all the chatter from the guests inside, I still look up to the stairs when I hear heels clomping on the hardwood. I see Rowan with a glass of champagne in one hand, holding the railing with the other as she walks down in a floor-length white dress with long sleeves. The material looks heavy with all the embroidered beading, but she looks like an absolute vision.

"Hi," she breathes out like she's relieved to see us, hugging Nicky first.

"Zayn and I both want to be adopted," she says, squeezing Rowan back as she laughs.