Floss // A Harry Styles AU

twenty-six

Geri

"What is she doing?"

Zara scratched the side of her head. "No idea. She's been like it all morning."

Geri watched with great discomfort as Floss, for the sixth time since she'd arrived at the garage, hopped into the cab of a Ford Ranger, tried the ignition, grunted after it roared to life, turned it back off, hopped back out and tinkered with something under the hood, and repeated it again.

"What's wrong with the car?"

"Nothing." Zara said. "She fixed it first thing this morning. The first time she did this little routine."

Geri sighed with a frown. An 'SOS' text from Zara first thing this morning was both on the bottom of the list of things she expected and the last thing she needed. She wasn't convinced it was quite so urgent, but looking at the state of Floss this morning, she'd been wrong.

Floss looked more dishevelled than usual. It wasn't extra grease or dirt on her face, but it seemed she hadn't brushed her hair before she left the house, or slept well last night. These were of course all assumptions, but the dark bags under her eyes with the big giveaway.

The two girls approached their friend with caution when she paused again at the bonnet, a little too long this time.

"Floss, honey..." Geri spoke slowly, resting a hand on her shoulder, "I think the car is fine."

"What?" She asked, turning a wide stare on them.

"The car, mate." Zara said in a calm voice. "You fixed it half an hour ago. You can leave it now."

Florence blinked, looking at the car and then back at her friends. "Really?"

"Yeah..."

She gave another panicked look around the room. "Fuck." She whispered, and then promptly started to cry.

"Hey, woah," Geri cooed, bringing her into a tight hug, "what's going on, mate?"

"This is a disaster!" She wailed into Geri's chest.

Zara was watching her with a completely bewildered expression. "I'll put the kettle on, shall I?"

"Good idea." Geri mumbled.

She ushered Floss into the office and sat her down on the chair by her desk, brushing her hair out of her tear-soaked face. "It's alright, Floss. It's okay."

"It's not okay!" She cried, shoving her face in her hands.

"What's going on? Why are you so upset - did something happen with Ruby? Or Harry?"

"No!" Floss screamed, and pushed the balls of her palms into her eyes.

Geri took a step back. She'd never seen Floss this distressed before, or even in this state. Not even when she found out she was pregnant. Floss was a bit nuts, but she'd always managed to keep herself... together. This was something else entirely.

Zara appeared with three mugs on a tray a few minutes later and put them on the desk. She then forced a tissue into Floss's face. "Alright, you massive fruitcake, talk to us."

Floss blew her nose, glaring at Zara as she did so. She then took a deep breath and sank into her chair. "Federico is back."

Geri's mouth fell open.

"Well, shit." Zara huffed. "Have you seen him?"

Floss nodded with a pout. "Yeah, he showed up at my house yesterday completely out of the brew."