I flinch as I grab my phone and look at the screen, the brightness hurting my eyes since I just came out of sleep.

I couldn't read who it was and I didn't feel like putting my glasses back on, so I just answered the call that woke me up at two in the morning.

"Hello?"

"Maaaaadie." The person slurred, and I panicked when I recognized the voice.

"Harry? What's wrong?" I sat up quickly and reached for my glasses, slipping them onto my face.

"I miss you."

I sighed lowly. "I miss you too. Are you drunk?" I asked, hearing him slur his words when he spoke.

"Jussst a lil bit." He giggled.

"Are you at home?" I asked worriedly. I would hate if he were out right now because I wasn't there to take him home. I was in New York until tomorrow night.

"Yeah, but I can't sleep without you."

I exhale in relief as I hear him moving around on his bed. "I'll be there tomorrow. I promise."

"Okay." He mumbled, followed by quiet sniffling.

"Are you okay?" I asked softly, laying back down in bed and just listening to his voice. He had to have gotten drunk for a reason. It was a little late for a college party so that couldn't be why he was wasted. I also noticed he's been drinking a lot these past few weeks.

"No."

I frowned. "Can you tell me why?"

"My dad called me today." He whispers. I know how much his dad is a sensitive topic considering he left them when Harry was only six, and it killed me to hear the pain in his voice. I wanted to be there with him and it took everything in me to not hop on a plane and go to him right now.

"I'm sorry, baby. I wish I was there with you right now." My eyes burned with tears for him as I remember my own experience with a parent that neglected me. It's a shitty feeling that resurfaces every time I see my mother's face.

"Me too...I wanna go to sleep so I can see you tomorrow, but I can't sleep without you." His slurring wasn't as bad now, but I still felt terrible for not being able to comfort him.

"Hug your pillow and imagine that it is me." I tell him, sort of regretting it from how silly it sounded.

I heard him moving around and soon he was back on the phone. "I did it."

"Is it helping?"

"Mhm. It already smells like you." He replied after yawning. "Can you sing to me?"

I absolutely suck at singing, but if it is going to help him fall asleep, I would do it with no hesitation. He would always sing to me when I couldn't sleep so it is only fair I do the same - with the same song as well.

"What song?"

"The one that was playing when we were watching the sunrise together last year - the first time." He murmurs.

I took a deep breath before singing his request, knowing the Bruno Mars song he was talking about.

I continued to sing to him until I heard his light snores on the other end by the time I finished. I smiled to myself and whispered "Ti amo" into the speaker before setting my phone down next to my head. Just in case he woke up and needed someone to talk to, I never hung up the phone. I just listened to his steady breaths and imagined him laying here with me.

• • •

"Are you sure you don't want to come? We haven't been to one of David's parties in forever."

"I'm very sure, Riley. I have a flight in the morning." I tell her as she follows me down the stairs to my apartment.

"Everyone is going though! Zayn, Adam, Louis, even Harry." She wiggled her eyebrows at the last name, making me shake my head.

"Just go have fun, Riley. I'll see you guy when I get back." I tell her, opening the door and letting her onto the floor first before following her. The same people she had named started to walk out of Zayn's apartment and over to us.

"Last chance, Mads. We are leaving." Zayn asked, tossing his arm over my shoulder. "You really want to spend your night alone?"

"I won't be alone. Nick is on his way." I say, grabbing his hand and removing his arm from me.

"Lame." Louis snorted, rubbing the top of my head and messing my hair up. I slap his hand away and take a step back.

I still wasn't over the fact that he and Nick were hooking up and neither of them told me. Nobody else knew besides Harry and I, but they didn't know I told Harry anything. Since Nick was coming over, I was going to take that opportunity to talk to him.

"Have fun." I say to them through a quiet laugh, opening my door.

I felt worry suddenly spread through my chest as I remember Harry was also going to the party. I trust him and I know he's sober, but I still worry because the people that go to those parties are very persistent and reckless when it comes to alcohol.

"Zayn, wait!" I called after him as they were on their way to the elevator.

Zayn turned around and stopped when he saw me coming towards him. He met me halfway, and I saw him smirk. "Change your mind?"

"No, just-keep an eye on Harry. Please?" I pleaded in a whisper so only he heard me. "And do not hesitate to call me if something happens."

He smirk fell and was replaced with a sympathetic smile. "I know, Mads."

"Thank you." I sighed in relief, accepting his short side hug before letting him go back to the elevator.

"No need to." He said as we walked away from each other.

I give him a thumbs up before going back into my apartment, feeling a little more relaxed. I trudge back into my bedroom and grab my suitcase from the closet. My flight to Italy was in a the morning, and I had yet to start packing. My aunt said Nonna had another doctors appointment to get a scan of her brain tomorrow too, so that was another thing that added to my stress besides this whole thing with Harry. I genuinely had no idea what was happening between us, and I wanted to figure it out. We haven't done anything since that night, but we definitely weren't friends. I knew that much.

As I waited for Nick to arrive, I unlocked my phone and checked the weather in Italy the week I was going to be there so I knew what to pack.

Unfortunately, there weren't any seats on my dad's flight tonight, so Brandon and I booked ours for tomorrow morning since it was the only other flight this week that wasn't booked out.

As I was going through my closet, a knock on my front door told me Nick was here.

Once I swung that door open, I glared at him. "We need to talk."

"Christ. Whatever happened to saying hello?" He replied, feigning a look of hurt as he followed me into my room and tossed his phone on the bed, sending it flying to floor after bouncing a couple times.

I hate when that happens.

"Fine. Hello, Nick. How have you been?"

"I've been good, thank you. Now what would you like to talk about?" Nick asks with a grunt as he bent down to pick his phone up and set on the bed properly this time, glaring at it.

I looked at him in disbelief. "You know damn well what I want to talk about. When in the hell did you and Louis become a thing?"

"We aren't a thing yet." He sighed. "Yes, we may or may not have slept together the other night, and we went on a date last night, but we haven't confirmed anything. We wanted to keep it quiet until we knew for sure."

I sat down next to him with a sad frown. "I just wish you would have told me."

I couldn't help but feel like I was being a hypocrite. I didn't tell him about what happened with Harry and I, so what gives me the right to question him?

"I know, I'm sorry. To be fair, you haven't been keeping me updated on your situation with Harry." He pointed out.

"You're right, and I am also sorry." I apologized before smirking. "So...you and Louis."

He rolled his eyes with a smile. "Shut up."

"Do you like him?"

"A lot." He replied honestly, and it made me happy to know that he was happy.

"No more Natalie?" I snickered.

He groaned and fell back onto the bed. "I can't believe I actually liked her. She was a damn headache."

"Glad you finally realized that, buddy." I chuckled, laying down next to him. "Wanna know something that happened the night you hooked up with Lou?"

"Hell yeah. Spill." He snorted.

"I almost slept with Harry."

I've never seen him sit up so damn fast in my life. "Hold up. You what?!"

"We almost had sex." I repeated bluntly, standing up and grabbing the rest of the outfits I picked out in my head.

"What do you mean almost?"

"He came over to apologize for ignoring me after we kissed. I don't know how, but we just started to flirt, I guess. One thing led to another and I ended up initiating a very heated make-out session. Brandon and Anna came home before we could get far enough to call it sex." I explained to him, leaving out details that he did not need to know while I folded everything and put in the suitcase.

I packed my clothes, my underwear, and a couple pairs of shoes. I was all set.

"Well then. I certainly missed a whole lot." He scoffed, watching as I hopped around my room gathering some belongings for my carryon.

"Yup."

He continued to watch me in confusion. "What are you packing for?"

"Italy."

"Why?" He questioned, sitting up with me and watching as I walked back over to my closet.

"Nonna might be sick again so Brandon and I are flying out there in the morning." I explained.

"Oh. Maddie, I'm so sorry. Why didn't you tell me?" He frowned in sorrow, standing up and walking over to me with a concerned look on his face.

"I only found out last night."

"Is Anna going?" He asked as he leaned against the wall.

"Yeah. They are taking the baby too."

"Are you taking Harry?"

"No. Why would I?"

"I don't know. Support? Unless you want me to come with." He suggested.

"No, I think I'll be okay. I'm not gonna pull either of you away from your lives to babysit me." I answered, rolling my shirts and putting them in next to the pants.

Although, the idea of taking Harry stuck around a little longer in my mind. Even though we aren't together, I continued to tell my Nonna about him whenever I could, and she said she wanted to meet him. Plus, Nick is right. Brandon had Anna, my dad had Faith, but who do I have? Nobody.

Would Harry want to go to Italy with me? Should I even bother asking?

I was brought out of my thoughts when Nick answered his ringing phone, bringing it to his ear. "Hello?"

I stared at him while his face contorted and he stared at me. "We were talking while she packed so she couldn't check it." He spoke to the person before mouthing to me check your phone.

Doing as he says, I reach across my bed and grab my phone, my eyes widening when I saw a few texts from Zayn and a missed call from him. My heart started racing as I opened the texts, drowning out anymore noise. I pray to god that nothing happened to Harry.

- hey

- Louis is plastered and said something about Nick?

- anyways, I am gonna come drop him off. He's done for the night haha

I let out a deep breath of consolation. Nothing is wrong with Harry.

I spoke too soon because I then received a text from Riley a couple seconds later.

- hey um you know that girl you hooked up with in high school?

- she's here and she's flirting with Harry

- he looks really uncomfortable. Should I do something?

- if he is uncomfortable, then yes please

"Yeah. Alright, we are coming now." Nick says, hanging up on the person and looking at me. "That was Zayn. He said he's gonna drop off Louis but I'm just gonna pick him up."

"I'm coming." I answered, setting my packing plans aside and following him out of my room while I felt myself growing angry.

"It's raining so I'd grab a jacket." He said, handing my coat to me as I pulled my boots on.

The ride was just a few minutes and soon enough, we stopped in front of David's house.

Zayn and Adam were both outside in plain sight sitting on the curb talking while Louis was laying down on the grass like a starfish. When they saw Nick and I crossing the street and towards them, they both stood up. Zayn looked relieved for us to be here, and he tried to grab Louis' attention.

I texted Riley, asking her where she was and she replied with "I'm in the backyard with Harry and Talia."

"You get Louis. I'll be right back." I told Nick before walking off to the backyard in a hurry.

There were a lot of people, but luckily I was able to spot my two friends talking to a very familiar girl with fiery red hair.

Riley noticed me and her shoulders dropped as she stood up. "Thank god. This bitch is stubborn as hell."

Her walking over here made Harry and Talia both turn their attention towards me, and I saw a look relaxation on Harry's face when he saw me.

"What are you doing here?" Harry asked, stepping away from an annoyed Talia and approached me.

"Zayn said Louis was plastered so Nick and I came to get him." I answered, throwing my arms around his shoulders. He almost fell back in surprise but wrapped his arms around my back under my coat a few seconds later, allowing me to hug him as tightly as I could.

"Oh. Can I come too? It's pretty boring here." He asked, giving me a pleading signal by glancing over at Talia after we pulled away.

"Of course you can." I inclined.

"Boring? I can make your night pretty fun." Talia jumped in, and I nearly cringed at the sound of her voice. Not a day goes by where I don't regret sleeping with her.

"Back off, bitch. He said no a million times already." Riley rolled her eyes.

"Excuse me?" She scoffed, standing awfully close to my best friend and getting in her face.

"You heard me." Riley argued, but I immediately stepped in and pushed them apart.

"That's enough." I say through clenched teeth before they can both cause a scene.

"Aw, look at Maddie jumping in to save her friends. You and I both know you aren't a little angel, especially in the bedroom. Why don't you rejog my memory, for old times sake?" She smiled, twirling a piece of her hair as she added fuel to the fire building up inside of me. "I'm sure your boyfriend could join us."

That's when I lost it. Five years of anger I stored away just for her, I used it to reel my fist back and punch her straight in the nose.

Riley gasped through a laugh that bursted from her mouth, and I took a deep breath, all of my frustration towards Talia leaving my body in that one single hit.

"Okay, let's go!" Riley cackled as she grabbed my hand as well as Harry's and dragged us out of the backyard before I could do something far more worse than just a punch.

"Did you see the look on her face?" She exclaimed, still laughing as we reached the front lawn. We stopped once we were near Zayn and Nick, who were putting Louis into the front seat of Nick's car.

"You have no idea how long I've been wanting to do that." I chuckled in satisfaction, still a little stunned that I punched Talia. My knuckles were a little bruised from how hard I actually hit her, but I didn't care.

"Finally got his ass in the car." Nick shook his head in amusement as he approached us. "Ready?"

"Yeah." I looked back at Harry, who was still looking at me, impressed. "Coming?"

"Uh, yeah." He replied, staring down at our hands when I laced my fingers between his to pull him along.

I sat in the back seat with Harry, chatting with an insanely drunk Louis while Harry inspected my hand. I didn't know he was checking for an injury until I sat back and saw him staring intensely at my knuckles.

"It doesn't hurt." I tell him, but he shook his head.

"I still can't believe you just did that."

"She's lucky I didn't do worse." I retorted. "The way she was looking at you was disgusting."

"Is Madison Butera jealous?" He smirked, brushing his thumb over the slight bruising on my hand.

I kept my head done as I felt my face heat up. "Please. She's not even that good in bed."

"What about me? Am I good in bed?"

I nearly choked on my spit at the question, and I recovered by clearing my throat, looking up front to see if either Nick or Louis heard him.

"Mhm." I hummed, keeping my eyes forward. My breath got caught in my throat when I felt him brush my hair aside and his breath fanned against my ear.

"Louder." He whispered, nudging my chin jaw with his nose and pressing a small kiss to the spot beneath my ear before backing away from me, allowing me to breath.

What in the hell was that?

He didn't do anything else, and the rest of the car ride was Louis singing Chandelier at the top of his lungs.

We said goodbye to the "couple" when they got off on Lou's floor, but I was confused when Harry stayed on the elevator up to mine.

I gave him a weird look, and he knew it was because he didn't get off on his own floor.

"Am I not allowed to walk you to your door?"

Stunned by his question, I found it in me to respond. "I don't know. Depends on your motive."

"What if I have no motive other than wanting to make sure you get home safely?"

"I'd say you're a shit liar." I answered teasingly, keeping my eyes on the metallic doors in front of us.

He opened his mouth to speak, but the doors opening cut him off and I stepped out, walking towards my door with him on my trail.

As much as I enjoyed the teasing, the touching, and the flirtatious attitude, I wanted to understand what it all meant. Did he want to get back together?

"I believe this is where we part ways." I said poshly as we stopped in front of my door.

"So soon?" He pouted.

"Yes." I mocked his tone, unlocking my door and opening it.

"I don't get a kiss goodnight?"

My smile stayed, but it didn't stop me from feeling a little disappointed as the door closed behind us. I wanted to keep this playful banter going, but I was also getting tired of the suspicion of what was to happen after.

"What are we doing, Harry?" I asked, tossing my keys on the counter with a sigh before turning around and leaning against the counter.

He noticed I wasn't being all that playful anymore, and he frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, what are we doing? We kiss, we flirt, and hell, we nearly had sex the other night. If Brandon hadn't walked in, we would not have stopped, and you know it. " I finally say in exhaustion, feeling a million times lighter to get this off of my chest. "So what's going on?"

"You tell me. You are the one making the moves here." He answered.

"If I remember correctly, you kissed me first and then everything fell from there." I reminded him, folding my arms over my chest and waiting for his response.

He stared at me ready to say something, but his mouth closed, knowing I was right.

"I only made those moves because you were brave enough to do it first." I continued quietly. "If I haven't made it so obvious by now, I -"

I stopped myself there, not at all expecting that I was about to blurt out the fact that I still loved him.