regrets ⇝ hs

xxiv. gin and tonic

BROOKLYN'S POV

Kayden dragged me into an unfamiliar building and then up a flight of stairs, not before warning me to keep my mouth shut and only speak when spoken to. The drive had only taken roughly a half an hour, so I assumed we were still in Spain. We came to a door that he swiftly opened, entered and pulled me into, closing it as fast as he possibly could. I swallowed hard as I was met with the old, familiar faces of the rest of Kayden's gang, though I did not recognize a few newcomers. And one happened to be female.

"You remember the original boys, don't you?" Kayden asked, making me nod and tuck my hair behind my ear. "Well, say hello to our newbies! This is Matt, Colbe and Leah."

I gave a slight nod of my head in their direction, my eyes lingering on the very innocent looking girl for a few moments before I directed my attention back at Kayden.

"Why don't you tell them how you know us, Brookie?"

I gulped and ran a hand through my hair. "I met the gang back in Paris...and I was a seller for awhile..."

"But you betrayed us, didn't you?" Kayden snapped, making me flinch. "You betrayed us for that bastard, Styles. How many times has he fucked you already?"

"We haven't had sex," I squeaked out, letting out a deep breath. "Harry and I weren't together like that. Romantically, I mean."

"Oh, sure you weren't," Kayden scoffed, pointing to a chair for me to sit on, which I did. "You know, girls like you deserve to be punished. You also led me on, Brooklyn. Remember that? Remember when we were dating?"

I nodded stiffly and looked at Kayden. "I'm sorry," I mumbled and shook my head, pushing a hand through my hair, "it wasn't my intention to hurt you."

"Oh, but you did. And now, it's my intention to hurt you. And your precious little Harry Styles too," Kayden smirked and gave me a wink.

My eyes widened in shock. He had said he wouldn't hurt Harry as long as I came with him. I hoped that he was just using this as a way to scare me, because it was surely working. I could already feel the sting of tears burning my eyes as my mind came up with a ton of scenarios of Kayden hurting Harry.

"Hurt me," I uttered and shook my head, "but leave him alone. You told me if I came with you, it would keep him safe and here I am. Leave Harry alone. He doesn't deserve your bullshit, he did nothing wrong."

Kayden just let out a laugh before turning to grab a bottle wrapped in a brown paper bag and taking a swig from it.

HARRY'S POV

I woke up to the sun shining through the balcony door, letting me know that it was already beautiful outside. I rubbed my eyes and sat up to stretch my arms and legs out before it hit me.

Brooklyn wasn't in bed with me.

I frowned and looked to her bed to find she wasnt there either. In a panic, I stood up and walked to the bathroom, willing that I'd find her there in my head. I turned the handle and when it opened, I already knew I would be disappointed. Brooklyn always locked the door when she was in the bathroom. I tugged my lower lip between my teeth and sat down on the edge of my bed, my heart racing as I grabbed my phone and dialed Brooklyn's number.

"Hello! This is Brooklyn and if I didn't answer...sorry! I'll call you back as soon as possible! Leave a message!"

I gripped the phone tightly in my hand, calling her repeatedly to the point where I was just calling to hear her voice through the answering machine. I had my hopes set on her just having gone out for a walk or something, but my hopes were soon crushed when I noticed all of her things were gone.

I shook my head in disbelief because, no, this wasn't happening. Brooklyn hadn't taken off and left me on my own, she wouldn't do that. She didn't do that.

I called her number one last time and got her answering machine once again, a tear rolling down my cheek this time. I hastily wiped it away and hung up the phone, sitting down on the edge of my bed and gripping my curls.

I couldn't grasp the concept of her leaving, just like everyone else had left my life and just how she said she wouldn't. My heart refused to believe it, but my mind was repeating the same words over and over again; she's gone, she's gone, she's gone...

I shook my head and wiped more tears that had managed to escape from my eyes as I sat there with my thoughts. I didn't know what to do, now that I was alone. My heart was racing and my head was spinning as I did the first thing that came to mind.

I quit our jobs at the supermarket.

I got myself together and got dressed before heading out of the hotel room and down to my car. I leaned against the door for a few moments, my head resting on my arm on the window before climbing into the driver's seat. I put the keys in the ignition and started up the car, pulling out of my parking space and driving off.

I drove about 15 minutes away from the hotel and pulling into a parking space at a local bar and restuarant, climbing out and slamming my door shut behind me. I made my way inside and immediately sat at the counter, ordering myself a beer and a few Vodka shots. As soon as they were brought back - and a tab was started with my credit card - I downed them within ten minutes before ordering another round with a Jack and Coke. I took my time on these, my eyes scanning the vicinity of the bar before looking back towards the bar with my head down.

Of all people, I never expected Brooklyn to be one to just pack up and leave with no warning just as we began getting closer. This was the exact reason I didn't believe in love, nor did I ever want to. Because just as I started feeling something for Brooklyn, just as I began getting butterflies in my stomach speaking to her like a fucking five year old girl, she ran off to who knows where without even saying goodbye, leaving me alone and heartbroken.

-

This went on for several weeks. I woke up every morning, watched TV until noon, ate lunch, and left to the bar around 3 to return around 4am the next morning after I had taken a nice nap on the bar and sobered up enough to drive home. The several bartenders knew me by my first name and knew the first thing I'd want when I walked in would be a beer and some Vodka. It had to have been three weeks now that Brooklyn had been gone, and she was almost completely vanished from my mind now; at least, she was when the alcohol was consuming my thoughts.

Day 22 and I was sitting at the bar, ordering another Gin and Tonic at around 10pm as I sipped the almost empty one in my hand. The bartender nodded and walked off to make it as I spun around on my stool towards the improvised dance floor. A heavy sigh escaped my lips as I watched bodies dancing with and on each other, enjoying themselves in their drunken states even though they'd probably do something they'd regret and forget about in the morning until someone reminded them. I slowly spun back towards the bar, my eyes still glancing around before I caught a flash of a familiar face. I dropped my glass on the counter and stood up, moving to a different stool to get a better view of what I believed I had seen.

My eyes hadn't failed me. There, on the restuarant side of the bar in one of the large, corner booths, was Kayden, Jordan, Blake, and Brooklyn.

SOMEONE EXPLAIN TO ME HOW I HIT 17K READS WHEN I HAVEN'T UPDATED IN WHAT.....3 WEEKS????? THIS MAKES NO SENSE????? UM......I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH THANK YOU SO MUCH I WANT TO HUG THE LIFE OUT OF YOU ALL IN A GOOD, NON-MURDEROUS WAY.

ALL I ASK IS THAT YOU PRETTY PLEASE VOTE/COMMENT BECAUSE WHAT ARE READS WITHOUT FEEDBACK? ESPECIALLY COMMENT BECAUSE I REALLY WANT TO KNOW WHAT YOU ALL THINK. XOXO -ADRIANNA