FINE LINE | HARRY STYLES

THIRTY-SEVEN.

OCTOBER, 2019. CONT.

Blair and I ended up in some cute little brunch place we've gone to before with other friends. We're sitting with our menus, complete silence in between us. Given by the way she's sighing, I can tell she has more to say.

I shut my menu and place it down against the table with a cocked brow. She sends me a tight smile from behind her own menu.

"B..." I drag out, leaning forward.

"I just don't get it." She finally huffs, slamming her menu down.

"Get what?"

"Can I get you any drinks today?" The waiter asks, pulling out his little notepad.

"Coffee, please." I speak, feeling Blair's eyes still on me.

"Kale smoothie. Thank you."

"I'll be right out." He grins at us, his eyes lingering for a bit too long on me.

"Monet, there's no possible way you and Harry are just done for good." Blair finally says, crossing her arms.

"Well we are. Why is that so hard for you to understand?"

"Because..."

"Because what?"

"Because for fuck's sake, Monet! He went to Paris with a fucking ring!"

My heart races inside my chest, skipping a few beats. And then it drops like a damn drop zone ride at an amusement park. I can't react. Not the way I want to. We're broken up for all she knows.

And I need her to believe it.

"He did?" I ask her quietly, eyes wide and full of curiosity.

The waiter had returned, and he places our drinks down.

"Ready to order?"

No.

I feel like I've lost my appetite for the next ten years of my life.

"Uh, blueberry pancakes, please." I stammer.

My brain is scrambled. I can't even think straight as as I sit there listening to Blair order. Her mouth moves but words don't come out.

He's gone once again and Blair faces me.

"Yeah, Monet. That's why I'm so confused as to why you came back alone. He had the ring ever since he went back to London. Before the accident he was going to see you and get you back for good. Then you left for LA. So I convinced him to catch you at the airport to Paris. He had the ring with him. Told me he was going to do it in Paris."

"Oh."

"That's why I don't understand how someone can just change their mind like that. He seemed so fucking ready. It doesn't make sense so I'm wondering what the hell happened."

Sitting here, her words don't sit right. They drop to the pit of my stomach and sit there like a heavy brick.

Harry had gone to Paris with me, intending to come back engaged. He wanted to propose properly unlike the first time. Yet, he didn't even utter the words marriage once.

So it really made me think.

What changed his mind?

"As far as I know, he never mentioned anything of that matter and we were just constantly fighting. We realized how miserable we were and decided it was best we just end it for good."

"It still doesn't make sense to me. You guys are soulmates. I know it. The universe constantly brings you guys back into each other's lives. I mean fuck, Monet. You were there when the band broke up. You've seen him at his lowest and stuck around for as long as you could."