Kiwi // H.S. // A.U.

Chapter Twenty

HARRY

When I walked into the diner, I hadn't expected everyone to be there. I thought it was just going to be Lu and Oli, but the rest of my friends were there as well. Everyone except Emma.

I sat down with a head nod, ordering a coffee with our waitress before tuning in on the conversation. Oliver was talking about a case he just closed involving a stolen diamond at some arthouse. I listened quietly, interested in the caper tale, almost not sure if it was even the truth.

"So, how was yesterday, Harry?" Oliver asks me after he's finished.

"A lot of fun, actually. Missed Jason and the kids. Wished they lived a bit closer." I tell them the story of how my niece, Rosie, started badmouthing a Liverpool fan in front of us, telling him their starters weren't nothing compared to "ours."

Lu smiled, "That's my girl! Taught her well, I did." She says proudly, "I wish I had gone. Yesterday was a total nightmare."

Maura huffed, and drank her orange juice, seemingly holding back a comment. Luanne shot daggers at her across the table only confusing me more.

"What happened?" Oli asked. I knew he worked that extra shift last night on purpose, so he didn't have to sit through meeting another one of Lu's flings.

"I don't even want to talk about it." Lu groaned.

I furrowed my brows, "Okay, you can't just say that and not expect us to be curious."

She sighs and looks at the table, "Well, it turns out that Marcus is one of Emma's exes best friends."

My jaw dropped at this, mind jumbled in my head. Why didn't Emma call me last night? I ended up back home around eleven-thirty. It wasn't that late. "I'm sorry... What? Emma's ex?"

Luanne nodded, "Yeah, it was so awkward, and I felt awful."

"Easy to see those pricks were her old friends who talked shite about her." Maura mentioned.

"Yeah, when we opened the door, the guy was so cold towards her." Mike interjected, and I found myself feeling guilty.

I should've been there.

"What exactly happened?" I asked quickly, needing more answers. I saw Oliver watching me, but ignored his curious stare.

"She was fine for a bit." Naomi told me, "Stuck with us, didn't really talk to them other than those two girls in the kitchen, but she took care of that. It wasn't until her ass of an ex showed up that it got really bad."

"I should've just left after Marcus tried to tell me some bullshit about Emma being a terrible person." Lu groaned frustratingly, "He really tried to get me on his side, the bastard."

"Ugh, why didn't you?! Then we all could've left before Armageddon!" Maura says loudly, obviously frustrated.

"Maura, you didn't have to go all she-hulk on them-" Naomi tries to say.

"Yes, I did! I wasn't gonna sit there and let Zara or whatever the fuck her name is talk about Emma like she's- she's- ugh, still makes me so mad!"

I'm getting frustrated at the fact that they can't just give me a linear timeline of what Emma had to sit through, and Oliver can tell, saying, "Can you guys just tell us what happened?"

Everyone looked at Luanne who sighed again, "Well, when Emma's ex and his new girlfriend showed up it was... awkward is honestly too nice of a word. His girlfriend, Lauren, was actually super nice, and was talking to Em like they were good friends-"

"I did think that was weird." Mike said.

"Yeah, I talked to Em this morning, and she told me that Lauren doesn't know that her and Jake used to date."