"Couldn't quite see what the future held, but as days went by, it would tell itself."

Song: Let It Go

Artist: The Neighbourhood

Just as the last time Harry had allowed us to drink at his house, bodies were crammed inside. This time it seemed like there were even more people, and I wondered vaguely if he had invited them or if they'd just shown up. We were about to walk through when I heard my name shouted from behind me outside.

"Halle! Maggie!" I turned in sync with Maggie, squinting into the quickly falling darkness as Annie appeared with a wide grin. "Perfect timing, I just got here!"

"Hey, Annie," I returned, relieved it was only my friend calling my name. She had agreed to meet us here because she'd been busy before. Now that we were all here, we moved through the door and took in the groups of people in front of us. My eyes immediately started searching for Harry.

I wanted to have fun tonight, but in order to do so, I needed to talk to him. After our fight it was clear to me I had to tell him about what I suspected Ben and Miles had done. I didn't want to get in another fight over it, and I desperately hoped he wouldn't get too upset about it and start something.

"There's Jay, Annie wanna meet him?" Maggie said excitedly, a wide grin on her face.

"Don't get too crazy, Mags," I warned good-naturedly. "Harry said he doesn't really date so you don't wanna scare him off."

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Maggie laughed, rolling her eyes playfully at me. "Let's go!"

With that, she dragged Annie away from me to go meet Jay and left me to find Harry. I straightened up to try and see over the people crowding around but it was difficult. Trying to be as polite as possible, I pushed my way through everyone to search through the small house. It didn't take me long to find him, however, because as I rounded the corner into the kitchen I saw him almost immediately.

He was leaning against the counter with his arms folded across his chest. I was hit with the sudden memory of the first night I had seen him from across the party. He looked so casual, so cool, and so utterly above everyone else without even trying that I had to hold back from fanning myself. It was hard to believe that he was mine, and that he was in love with me. A wide grin stretched across my face as I took in the opportunity to watch him unabashedly.

My smile dropped from my face, however, when I saw a tiny hand fall onto his forearm. The tiny hand was connected to a ridiculously skinny arm that belonged to a girl I had never seen before. My facial expression changed so fast it was as if it physically fell as I glared at the girl. Who was she and why was she touching Harry? A blaze of pride flashed through me as he leaned away from her, a look of irritation clear on his face as she continued to attempt to capture his attention.

Her back arched forward as she pushed her chest out and batted her entirely too long fake eyelashes at him. He grimaced slightly as she leaned forward, and he shifted back even more before returning his attention to the other people around him. Before I knew what I was doing, my legs were carrying me forward into the kitchen where he stood. He saw me before anyone else, and a wide grin split across his face despite the girl still clinging to his arm.

The girl saw his change in expression and clearly thought it was because of her, because she shifted even closer to him as I neared. The second I was in front of him, I wasted no time in wrapping my arms around his neck and tugging his face down to me. I kissed him firmly, my lips pressing hungrily against his own as his arms uncrossed from his chest to land on my hips. My tongue slid across his own once before I broke the kiss.

I could feel the girl watching me but I couldn't be bothered to look at her as I grinned at Harry, his face only inches from my own. I vaguely heard the obnoxious "oohs" that sounded around us because of the sudden PDA, but I didn't care.

"Hi," I said, smiling widely at him. My elbows straightened out and I let my arms fall lazily behind his neck.

"Hi," he returned, his grin equally wide. The girl, who for some reason was still standing next to us, huffed in annoyance. I turned my gaze from Harry to shoot her a disbelieving look.

"Yes?" I questioned. Her mouth fell open as if about to speak before she snapped it shut again. She didn't seem to know what to say and was unable to do anything but scowl at me.

"He's mine, honey," I said, tightening my arms around his neck once more. Harry smirked as he pressed his lips into my temple, letting his mouth linger there to hide his expression. I felt his chest vibrate against mine as he chuckled deeply.

She shot me another indignant look before muttering what sounded an awful lot like 'bitch' under her breath before walking away. I laughed in triumph, pleased that for once, finding Harry with another girl had ended well. An excited buzz ran through my veins from my public claim over Harry and his immediate acceptance of it. It was easy to ignore her lame insult. Speaking of insults...

"I had no idea you were so territorial," he laughed, pulling back from me slightly to look me in the eye.

"I'm sick of watching girls think they can have you so... I guess I am, yeah," I said, a self-satisfied grin on my face. He grinned, pleased that he had elicited such a jealous reaction from me. My momentary triumph was diminished, however, by the reminder that I needed to tell him about my car.

"Can I talk to you?" I asked. I tried to keep my tone light so he wouldn't assume something bad. His grin faltered slightly before he replaced it quickly, a flash of doubt crossing his eyes.

"Sure," he answered. He looked like he was trying to remain positive even though I knew he could sense what it was about. I gave him a small close-lipped smile before grabbing his hand and pulling him away from the crowd. His large hand nearly completely captured mine as I wove through the people, leading him this time instead of the other way around. I listened as he shot several 'heys' and 'how are yous?' around to the various people we passed, and I was once again struck by the realization that he was, apparently, very popular.

It was such a strange concept to me to consider him that way, but I supposed it was true. Every time I had seen him at the start of our relationship, he had been positively surrounded by people. Even now, at what was supposed to be a small gathering before heading downtown, a bunch of people had shown up at his house uninvited. He just didn't seem to be that way when he was around just me, though. When he was with me, it seemed like he had only a few friends, and me, even though it was abundantly clear that wasn't the case.

I finally managed to pull us through the crowd and down the hall to his room, where I let myself in and watched Harry close the door behind us. He leaned back against it, watching me closely with a ghost of a grin on his face.

"What's up?" he asked, cutting to the point. His brows pinched together tightly as what was left of his smile fell from his face.

"Um," I said, stalling. He raised his eyebrows expectantly at me. I didn't like how he stood so far from me, watching me like he was expecting the worst. I crossed the room to him where he'd stopped by the door and grabbed both of his hands in mine.

"Don't get mad," I started, my voice calm.

"That's not a great way to start but okay," he muttered, his voice strained.

"Someone painted a word on my car last night while I was here," I told him, wincing slightly as I waited for his reaction. His face didn't change as he studied me further.

"What was the word?" he asked.

"Slut," I grimaced. His face tightened at the word and his hands gripped mine more firmly.

"Who did it?" he pressed, his tone telling me he already suspected what I did.

"I don't know for sure but I have a pretty good idea..." I trailed off, hoping he'd finish.

"Fucking Ben and Miles," he muttered, tearing his gaze from me distractedly. "I swear to god they are the most immature idiots on this planet."

"It's not a big deal, Harry," I said, trying to soothe him. My thumbs ran across the backs of his knuckles.

"It is, Hal! They can't pull that shit- it's so stupid. And they can't talk about you that way," he said, his voice growing angrier by the second.

"Harry, please, it's fine," I said, trying to calm him down.

"Wait, this happened last night?" he said, suddenly realizing what I'd said.

"Yes," I said sheepishly, wincing as I waited for his reaction.

"Damnit Hal, why didn't you say anything?" he grumbled, tearing his hand from mine and shoving it through his hair in annoyance.

"I just told you," I said.

"You waited a whole day!"

"I know, I'm sorry, but I wanted to tell you in person so I could calm you down," I reasoned, my empty hand now reaching forward to grip his hip.

"I am calm," he huffed, his chest rising and falling heavily as he glared at me, contradicting his words.

"You're not, Harry," I said, keeping my voice neutral. "Please don't do anything, it's just a stupid prank."

"It's not just a stupid prank and you know it," he said sharply.

I held his eye contact, a sad expression falling across my face as I let my thumb run along his hipbone. "I don't care about that. I just care about you not getting hurt."

My tone seemed to soften him slightly, and his harsh expression loosened. His hand, which was hanging limply by his side, rose to rest on my shoulder. He ran his thumb across my collarbone as he thought.

"I'm not gonna get hurt, Hal," he said. His voice had, thankfully, dropped some of the anger it had previously held.

"You won't if you don't do anything," I reasoned. "Please, Harry."

"Please, what?"

"Please don't do anything," I begged. "Just let it go."

He sighed heavily as he studied my face, his eyes flicking back and forth between mine quickly. I held my breath as I waited for his response, my heart thudding quickly in my chest. It seemed to take hours before he finally broke the silence.

"Fine," he muttered. "But you should have told me right away, Hal, we've been over this."

"I know, I'm sorry. Do you see my point though? If I had told you last night, who knows what you would have done."

"Yeah, yeah," he muttered, seeing that I was right. Tentatively, I leaned up on my toes to press my lips lightly to his. I was relieved when he returned the pressure, kissing me gently before I sank back down to my feet.

"So can we still have a good night now or did I ruin it?" I asked with a soft smile. My heart soared when a grin stretched across his beautiful lips.

"You didn't ruin it," he said. "Let's go have fun."

"Let's," I agreed, my grin widening even more as he kissed me one last time before leading us out of his room and back to the crowd. Almost immediately, we were intercepted by Annie, Maggie, and Jay.

"You two, stay out of each other's pants for five minutes and come play this game with us," Jay teased, seeing that we had come from Harry's room and incorrectly assessing what we'd been doing. Harry didn't bother correcting him before raising an eyebrow at me, silently asking if I wanted to. I nodded, shrugging. I was just happy I had told Harry without any major drama and that I'd managed to make him promise to behave.

We followed the three until they reached the tiny table Harry had in his kitchen. They each took a seat, leaving one open for Harry and I. Without a second's hesitation, Harry sat down and pulled me to his lap. He leaned over my shoulder, his height making it easy to see over me as he wrapped his arms around my waist. I grinned contently, loving that he was comfortable holding me like this in front of people.

"What are we playing?" I asked, looking around at the group excitedly.

"Fuck the dealer, everyone know how to play?" Jay asked, looking around as he shuffled the cards nonchalantly in his hands. I noticed his grin linger on Maggie for a few seconds before his eye dropped in a wink. I grinned at their interaction, pleased she didn't seem to be basing her affections on absolutely nothing.

Everyone nodded their consent, confirming that they knew the relatively simple rules of the game. I watched Annie stand to gather us drinks while Jay finish shuffling. I felt Harry press his mouth against my shoulder and let it rest there. One of my hands rested over Harry's as they wound around my stomach while the other reached up to accept the drink Annie handed me. When Harry made no move to release me and take the one she offered him, I rolled my eyes and set mine down before grabbing it as well. Annie shot him an amused look before taking her seat again.

"Don't be rude," I scolded quietly. I didn't sound very convincing, though, because the grin was still on my face. The fact that he didn't want to let me go even to accept a drink made me very happy. His arms tightened around me in a momentary hug before loosening them again, and he continued to rest his lips against my shoulder as he watched us play the game.

He declined his turn when Jay prompted him but did manage to take a few sips of his drink on his own. After several rounds and several drink refills, the small group of us was significantly buzzed off alcohol and the contagious giddy mood that had settled over everyone. Jay had taken over Annie's drink duty, and Maggie took advantage of his short absences to shoot playful glances at me. Harry groaned behind me as he tried to ignore her. He was extremely uninterested in her plot to get together with Jay, which I found adorable.

"Shall we go, guys?" Maggie asked after we finished yet another round of the game. She was practically bouncing in her seat, beyond excited to get to the bar and continue her scheme to get with Jay. Everyone checked their phones for the time before agreeing we should start walking. Harry pressed his lips at the base of my neck once before mumbling into my ear.

"Get up, baby."

His arms loosened and he placed his palms against my hips as he lifted me off his lap, allowing him to stand. He pinched my side lightly before moving easily through the bodies to shut off the stereo.

"Alright, everyone out," he called, his deep voice sounding commanding and powerful. Most people looked at him once before starting the process of leaving, but a few people ignored his request.

"Hey! Get the fuck out," he shouted again, irritation flashing through his tone and catching the attention of those who hadn't listened the first time. In a mere matter of minutes, the house was empty as people started their trek toward the bars, and just the five of us were left. After allowing Maggie to run to the bathroom and make sure she looked up to her standards, we were on our way.

We walked in a group and I bopped between my friends and Harry, despite his efforts to keep me by his side. Maggie and Annie giggled practically the entire way there as Jay talked to them about something they apparently found hilarious, and I found myself falling back into step with Harry. I wound my arm around his, looping it through the gap between his chest and elbow as we walked. I turned and shot him a ridiculous grin, which he caught easily before smirking at me in amusement.

"What?" he said lightly.

"Nothing, just having fun," I said honestly. I loved the feeling of having a few drinks down and being with Harry, especially when we were on such good terms. The added bonus of having my friends here and having them get along with Jay only piled on to my good mood.

"Alright, you goof," he said, chuckling at me. My palm slid down his arm before my hand locked with his. I swung it wildly between us, earning another skeptical chuckle from Harry.

"Easy, killer," he joked. I giggled and nudged him lightly with my shoulder. I hadn't even realized, but we had very quickly arrived at the bars. We didn't have to wait long before we had shown our IDs and were heading inside to the same bar we had gone to the last time we were here. The music was blaring and the lights were flashing just as they had last time, and the electric current started to flood through me instantly.

My grin widened as I pulled Harry after my friends up toward the bar. Maggie leaned over and ordered something before drawing back and flashing everyone an enthusiastic thumbs up. The bartender returned with a tray of shots, numbering far more than was necessary for the small group of us.

"Everyone take three!" Maggie shouted, pointing at the tray before handing her card over to the impatiently waiting bartender. She started gathering the shots and handing them out before realizing we couldn't take all three at once.

"What is it?" I shouted back, examining the light amber liquid in the shot glass she had handed me. I sniffed it tentatively and the scent of cinnamon filled my nose.

"Fireball!" she replied with a grin. Once everyone had at least one shot, we raised them up in the middle and Annie shouted a toast that no one could hear but cheered to anyway before throwing back the shots. The liquid burned in my throat and almost felt warm, but the cinnamon helped hide the sting of the liquor. Harry watched me closely for a reaction, but when I turned to grin at him he looked a little more relaxed.

Not even five minutes later, everyone had taken their allotted shots and Maggie was begging everyone to go to the dance floor. She had a hold of both mine and Annie's arm as she tugged us backward, pleading with us to go dance with her. I glanced at Harry with an amused look, searching his face for permission. It wasn't that I needed permission, I just didn't want to leave him and make him upset.

He stepped closer to me and ducked his head before pressing a lingering kiss to my lips. His hand held the side of my face as his mouth hovered less than an inch from my own when he pulled back to speak.

"Stay where I can see you," he requested.

I nodded, wanting to keep him in my sight just as much as he did.

"And don't dance with anyone," he added sternly, raising an eyebrow. I rolled my eyes playfully.

"Of course not," I said, closing the tiny space between us to peck his lips quickly before Maggie finally succeeded in pulling me away. I grinned at Harry one last time before I temporarily lost sight of him in the crowd that collapsed around him. The last thing I saw before Maggie pulled me onto the dance floor were Harry's blazing green eyes burning into mine.

Harry's POV

I took a deep breath as I watched Maggie drag Halle away, trying to calm the irritation that had flashed up at the thought of being separated from her. I didn't like that one bit, especially considering what had happened to her last night and who I had seen here last time. I didn't want to be that possessive guy that wouldn't let her more than a foot away, but hell if I was going to let her out of my sight. I watched her disappear into the crowd for a few moments before, thankfully, she reappeared on the steps that led up to the dance floor. I watched the back of her head as she followed Maggie and Annie until they situated themselves by the edge, clearly in my line of vision. I smiled in satisfaction that she had listened to me.

I had a clear view of her from where we had settled at a side table, even though it was just Jay and I now. I was too focused on watching Halle dance to notice anything else around me. The way she shifted her hips and the carefree way her arms twirled above her head were making it extremely difficult for me to remain in my seat; I wanted nothing more than to go up there with her and pull her body flush against me so I could feel the way she moved.

"Harry!"

I shook my head, my eyes snapping to Jay's face. "Sorry, what?"

"I asked if you've seen Miles lately," he repeated.

My blood, which had been boiling hot watching Halle dance, turned instantly to ice and I tried not to sneer in his face.

"Nope."

"Me neither," he said, frowning slightly. This was about the last thing I wanted to talk about because it was already hard enough for me to think about it without getting angry.

"When was the last time you saw him?" Jay pressed before taking a sip of his drink.

"The day I hit him," I answered. I held myself back from saying that Halle had seen him several times now.

"Yeah, me too," he said thoughtfully.

"Why?" I couldn't stop myself from asking.

"Well, I heard he's been hanging out with his old crew..." Jay said vaguely. My eyes, which had drifted back to watch Halle, snapped quickly back to his face.

"What? Are you serious?" I watched him closely for signs of the trepidation I was feeling at this news. My concern was reflected on his face as he nodded slowly.

"Yeah, that's what Pete said. He said he saw Miles going to Damon's house a few times now," he continued. This was surprising to me, because as far as I knew, Miles had cut ties with that group a long time ago. If he was reconnecting with them now, the same time he seemed to have formed a friendship with Ben...

"Well what the fuck..." I said, trailing off as I thought more.

My eyes left Jay's face to find Halle again. A jolt struck through me, however, when she wasn't where I had last seen her. The dance floor was void of her dancing form, and my eyes scanned it frantically for any sign of her. Maggie and Annie were still there, dancing without a care in the world, but I was certain Halle wasn't there.

The cold I had felt at the news Jay had just told me spread further through my body as I stood abruptly, the stool I had been sitting on crashing to the floor. I couldn't see her anywhere, and panic quickly started to rise in my body.

Where the fuck did she go?

"Remember what the people said, remember what the people said, when it's said and done, let it go."