(ATLANTIS) - haylor au

chapter thirtytwo (1/2)

(harry)

Sarah's sobered up a bit and disappears into the bathrooms. I sigh out of relief, thankful that I don't have to small talk with her for the rest of the night.

This night's already too much for me. I give in and decide to get myself a drink. Taylor's still near the kitchen when I get myself a beer. Our eyes meet for a second and she goes back to her conversation with someone else from our Chemistry class.

I decide to go to the backyard and find my other friends, confident that all the soccer guys are there. Lo and behold, they are. Trey is getting shirtless for a keg competition against the Lacrosse team. What surprises me more is the fact that Zayn's there. "What are you doing here?" I raise my eyebrows and give a cheeky smile.

Zayn rolls his eyes and takes a sip of his beer. He doodles on the water condensation on his beer can as the conversation around drowns us both. This is weird for him to shut me out. He shuts us out in front of the girls but never when it's just the guys.

"What?"

"Gigi's upstairs having a "fight" with Zack." He puts quotations around the word fight. I'm trying to read him to see if there's hurt coaxed with his satire.

"What the fuck." I say with my face distorted. "And you were like alright?" It comes out more satirical and ruder than I expect but I go on. "Yeah, why don't you go with the guy who habitually hits you and is probably drunk right now." I've made my point and Zayn winces, turning to me. It's then I realise I shouldn't mentioned about Zack hitting Gigi.

"What're you two fucks up to?" Liam arrives with a half smile on his face and a beer can in his hand. As he glances between Zayn and I, his eyes narrow before speaking. "Who died?"

"He hits her?" Zayn finally speaks.

My eyes meet Liam's, throwing a panicked look. "Yeah." I say, defeated. "Don't tell Gigi I told you."

"Are you saying that Gigi hasn't told you this?" Liam asks.

"Of course not." Zayn's tone is different. Angry. "How the fuck does Zack even have the audacity to come around near Gigi?" He goes on, pacing in circles and clenching his free hand into a fist. I can tell the anger he's feeling because that's exactly how I felt when I'd heard it.

Liam and I exchange a few looks as we stand silently, watching Zayn's anger/ irritation grow. "I'll try to go look for them." I hear myself say and raise my hand to stop the two of them from following me. The house feels cramped now as I push my way into the living room, spilling my beer that I've barely gotten to drink.

I go to the kitchen, instinctively. In the back of my mind, I'm trying to look for Taylor. I need her to find Gigi. Taylor's not where I last her which I'm not surprised about because she's been there long enough to walk away. I walk around the first floor, pushing my way through, hoping to see that tall blonde girl but no luck. Deciding that I've had enough, I make my way upstairs; where Zayn says Gigi and Zack are.

Carefully, I walk around but there are a few people on the second floor. This is where all the bedrooms and bathrooms are; perfect for drunk people to make out and have sex. My mind races as I hear Gigi's voice and walk toward the room. I stop in my tracks, seeing Taylor and Karlie in front of the door.

Like she has a Harry-detector, Taylor immediately meets my eyes. Her shoulders are slouching, biting her fingernails as she leans against the wall while Karlie bangs on the door. "Styles." She says as I stop beside her.

"They're yelling." Karlie turns to face me.

I step forward and start banging on the door again. "Zack, it's Harry. I swear to god. I give you 5 seconds to open this door." Incessantly, the three of us continue banging on the door before the door flies open. "How nice of you. Maybe we can join in the conversation." Gigi storms out the room, walking past us. I watch as Taylor follows her, leaving Karlie and I.

"Didn't I tell you to mind your own fucking business?"

"I guess I missed the memo." He pushes me, trying to follow Gigi. I grab onto his arm. "Maybe I should remind you that this is my business. I told you to stay away from Gigi."

He scoffs. "Wow, you're really a piece of work, Styles. You can't get into Taylor's pants and now you're going for Gigi."

Before I can say anything, Karlie speaks. "It's called being a friend, jackass. Harry's not the only one you're going have to deal with if you come near Gigi." She pushes him and I pull her back.

"Karlie!" I say as Zack pushes her back, harder. A look of shock flashes on her face as she falls backward before I grab her. "Not fucking cool, Zack!" I yell, trying to get Karlie to balance herself.

Zack laughs for a moment at Karlie which only makes her angrier. She peels my hands off herself and lunges herself toward her. It happens too quickly and I only watch with wide eyes as Zack falls over.

"Don't fucking try me." Karlie's dainty body's over Zack's huge one as she slaps him. He almost throws her on the wall as I grab her off. "Don't think I'm Gigi that's going to roll with your punches, Zack." Her breathing is unstable as she glares at him and I have a firm grip on her arms.

Zack scoffs but storms off and I see him walk toward the stairs; downstairs. There's a brief moment when I look over at Karlie and I've still got my grip on her that she smiles.

"You've got balls, Kloss." I smirk at her, letting her go.

She shakes her head, laughing. "No, I've got ovaries." In exasperation, I cover my face at her poor joke but laugh still. Our moment's cut short when Gigi and Taylor come back from the bathroom, asking us what happened. We decide to keep the whole thing to ourselves; not wanting Gigi to stress out even more.

As the four of us head downstairs, Taylor flashes me a look from the front, telling me that she knows something happened. I shake my head, reassuring her nothing did. It's only a white lie.

Karlie and Gigi head out to the backyard when I tell them that Zayn and Liam are out there. Taylor asks me to come get a beer with her before we follow them out. She already knows I won't be drinking much. There's always an ulterior motive with her but I say okay anyway.

"Will you tell me?" She says, taking a sip of beer. It's crowded in the kitchen too and Taylor doesn't even care as she bumps into someone else, leaning on the kitchen island. I'm guessing that the alcohol's slowly getting to her as well.

We both share a look as I stay silent. With my lips pressed, I shrug my shoulders and shake my head again. This makes her roll her eyes and groan. "Just let it go, Tay." Before I realise, I snatch the beer in her hand and take a sip. I don't know why I did it but I enjoy the feigned look of annoyance she flashes me.

"Fine." She shrugs her shoulders, pouting. "Don't tell me." I'm slightly taken aback as she decides to drop the subject. We both walk out to the backyard, catching up with our friends. My hand still holding Taylor's beer which she takes back, her fingers grazing over mine as she does. I wanna shake off the feeling of her fingers on mine but it keeps coming back again and again even after the moment's passed.