A/N: We have a Hoodwinked reference coming up, so watch the vid pls it haunts me so it should haunt you... also how did Anne Hathaway get roped into doing this movie??

Harry and I finally make it back to our hotel room, and I quickly change out of my dress and shoes and such. I must say, silk is a fun thing to wear, but it's honestly just impractical for a college formal in New Orleans. That was not my best idea. However, regardless of the garment's functionality, I did look good, and I guess that's all that matters.

Harry is in the bathroom, so I take the opportunity to catch up on my Twitter feed; however, when I look at my phone, I see all the notifications from earlier, and I suddenly become very stressed out. All the stupid red numbers everywhere will literally drive me insane if I don't clear them all out, so before I can enjoy my daily fix of Jerry Miles video edits, I must first open all the messages that were sent to me during that time when in went MIA with Alexa. I do the phone calls and voicemails first, then move on to the messages, and when I do that, I am shook to see Gabrielle's name among them. I had completely forgotten that she had texted me.

Glancing over at the closed bathroom door to make sure that Harry won't walk in and see it, I hesitantly tap on the message to open it. I don't know what I was expecting, but what she sent me is definitely not something I saw coming.

Gabrielle: Hey, Camryn. I want to talk to you about what you said to me tonight. I'm heading back to the hotel right now, so just let me know when you get here. I hope we can clear all this up :)

This can't be good. On the other hand though, if I talk to her, then maybe I won't have to ask Harry about he and Gabrielle, even though I'm pretty sure I don't have anything to worry about. John is a selfish liar, so he probably didn't see what he said he did. Regardless of whether he was lying, I'd rather Gabrielle think I'm a petty bitch than Harry think I'm immature or something, so maybe a conversation with Gabrielle could be beneficial.

I just wish she hadn't added that stupid little smiley face at the end. It keeps staring at me and making me feel like I've done something to wrong her. I mean, she deserved what I said to her, right? I may be wrong about she and Harry, but she's still a snake of a person, so I don't think my words were completely uncalled for. At least, that's what I'm going to tell myself to feel better.

I type and retype my response several times before sending the most basic message in the world, telling her that I am here and that I'm free to talk whenever she would like to. A few minutes pass and there's no response, but finally, a message comes through just as Harry is stepping out of the bathroom. I look up at him and see that he is still dripping wet from his shower, his tattooed skin glistening in the dim hotel lighting. His wet, curly hair is kind of shaggy-looking, and I'm surprised to see just how long it is. Harry readjusts the white towel that hangs low across his hips, and a smirk finds its way to his mouth as he catches me staring at him.

"If you want me to take it off, all you have to do is ask," Harry says teasingly, walking to his bag on the other side of the room.

Blushing, I tear my eyes away from his rather sexy figure and look down to my phone where Gabrielle's message awaits me. Apparently, we're meeting on the fifth floor lounge in ten minutes, so now I'm going to have to find an excuse to give to Harry to explain my absence.

Or you could just tell him the truth like a normal person. That would work.

"I'm sorry for staring," I smile in embarrassment, locking my phone and standing from the bed. "Sometimes I just forget how out-of-my-league you are, and I'm left shooketh."

Harry laughs, pulling on his boxers beneath the towel and letting it fall to the floor. The thin black fabric clings tightly to his muscular thighs, and I feel my cheeks going red again at the sight of him standing in front of me.

Why does he have to be so damn hot all the time? It's distracting me. I'm pretty sure he does it on purpose, too. Like, he knows his thighs get to me, so he's probably trying to turn me on. Hint: it's working.

"You don't really think that, do you?" Harry asks me softly, grabbing his toothbrush and toothpaste from his duffel bag and making his way back to the bathroom. "You don't really think that I'm out of your league?"

Um, is he kidding? Of course I do. He's a hot British senior, and I'm... me.

"I mean, kinda." I cover my embarrassment with a forced laugh. Harry frowns and is about to say something, but I really don't have time for the pep-talk he is inevitably about to give me. I appreciate it, but now is not the time for such a conversation. "But let's not get into it right now. Gabrielle asked me to meet her upstairs in ten minutes, so I need to go see what she wants."

I am about to mentally pat myself on the back for my honesty with Harry, but I am distracted by the rather annoying thought that tells me that I shouldn't get a reward for telling the truth. I should be doing that anyway. I know that, but sometimes it's just hard to when I know it will bring about annoying conversations.... like the one Harry and I are about to have.

Harry's face twists to hold a very confused expression, and he audibly scoffs as he steps back into the bedroom to look at me, his toothbrush still in hand. "Ew. Why are you talking to her? I thought you didn't like her?"

Since when does Harry say, "ew?"

"I don't, I just– she wants to talk to me, so I thought I'd indulge her to be nice," I say, uncertain of whether or not Harry's response has encouraged or discouraged my going to meet Gabrielle. I mean, either way, I know I have to, but I just don't have any idea of how this is going to play out.

Harry gives me a strange look, then shrugs and walks back into the bathroom, "Okay. I'm going to bed, so take the key with you."

I wasn't expecting that reaction at all. But I guess it's not a bad one since he didn't ask too many questions that would inevitably lead me to reveal all the stress I have been feeling about Gabrielle.

"Okay." I slip on my Birkenstocks and begin the search for my sweatshirt. To my dismay, I am unable to find it, so I ask Harry if he has one that I can borrow for just a little bit.

Harry laughs from the bathroom, "I know in reality that I won't ever get it back, but yeah. There's one at the bottom of my bag."

He's right about not getting it back. If there's one girlfriend stereotype that I'm not afraid to conform to, it's receiving the title of being a sweatshirt thief. Thus, I open Harry's bag in search of a hoodie. Lifting the T-shirts our of the way, I find a terribly purple sweatshirt with the name "Jack Wills" stitched into the front. Who even is Jack Wills? And why would Harry buy a hoodie in this awful bright purple color?

"Harry, I don't mean to be mean, but this sweatshirt sucks," I tell him, pulling the clothing over my head. It feels nice, though. And it smells like Harry, so I guess it's not completely horrendous.

"I know," Harry chuckles, walking back into the room and pulling the covers back across the bed. "My mom got it for me a while ago, so I couldn't throw it away, but I leave it in that bag for a time such as this."

I playfully roll my eyes and pick up the room key from the side table by the bed, "Wow, how prepared of you."

Harry busts out laughing for apparently no reason, and I can't help but smile at him. I love that laugh of his so much; it's literally just as pleasant as listening to him sing.

"What's so funny?"

Harry plops himself down on the bed and sinks down into the pillows, his bare torso contracting with every movement. Damn, boy. Please, stop or I won't be able to leave.

"I don't know if it's because I'm still kind of drunk," Harry begins, catching his breath. "But when you said I was prepared, I just thought of the goat in Hoodwinked that sings the song about being prepared with all the different horns he has." Harry thinks for a moment, then shrugs, "I only have one horn though, so I'm not as prepared as he is."

Boi, what? Is he talking about his penis as a horn? But more than that, why is he referencing that weird ass movie? Also, I keep forgetting he's drunk because he keeps acting so normal for such long durations of time before he does something strange again. I guess this would explain why Harry said "ew" earlier.

"Hm," I hum, looking at him in confusion. "I'm going to pretend you didn't just say that, but okay. You need to sleep, so I'm going to go now and let you get to it."

Harry makes me kiss him goodnight, which I don't mind, before I leave to meet Gabrielle. I make my way to the fifth floor lounge and find that she is already sitting there on one of the couches, bare-faced and in her pajamas. I don't know why she seems so innocent to me right now; she's my roommate, and I've seen her looking evil in her pajamas before, so I don't know why now is all that different. Evil or not, I have to talk to her, so I approach where she is sitting and take a seat in the armchair next to her.

"Hey," she smiles weakly, sitting up a little straighter in her seat.

"Hi," I reply. My voice is shakier than hers. At least we're both a little nervous. Maybe she won't attack me then.

"Ok, well, there's no way to do this without it being awkward, so I'm just going to ask." Gabrielle takes a deep breath and then looks at me with a pained look in her eyes. "How did you find out about the cheating thing?"

At her question, I feel my heart plummet in my chest. Is that why she wanted to talk to me? To find out how I learned of her fucked up behavior so she might hide it better next time? Well, just fuck that. She can't just hook up with my boyfriend then expect to be able to speak civilly with me. Also, Harry, what the hell? He's got to be the greatest liar I've ever met, because if it weren't for Gabrielle's sketchy behavior, I don't think I ever would have found out. I was highkey convinced that I had just made all this up, but she has just confirmed that my overactive imagination is fairly accurate. I like being right, but right now, it really sucks.

"Did Harry tell you?" Gabrielle presses me, her eyes desperate for an answer. I want to slap her right now for her ridiculous inquiries, but I keep myself for doing anything rash. I mustn't hit her, and I mustn't cry. That's going to be my goal. She deserves to be hit, though. Who the hell openly admits to cheating without trying to apologize? A crazy bitch, that's who. And as far as Harry goes– just don't get me started on Harry. I'm too in love with him to think of the part he played in this betrayal. That would just push me over the edge.

"No, he didn't," I say dryly. "It wasn't hard to figure out, though. You two were uncommonly obvious. And the funny thing is that I had almost convinced myself that I was imagining it, but clearly, I should have clung to my initial evaluation."

Gabrielle's expression changes to one of confusion, "Wait, what? What are you talking about?"

Is she kidding me? She really has the nerve to play the fool with me right now?

"Harry and I never–" Gabrielle shudders and seems to come to some grand realization before looking directly into my eyes. "Camryn," she says my name patronizingly, and I can't help but roll my eyes. "You do realize I'm dating Calvin, right? I've been dating him for almost four years; we went to the same high school together."

What? No. No, she can't be. They didn't even act like a couple at all tonight. She's just making this up to cover her ass.

"You're not serious?" I ask her incredulously, and she nods slowly with her perfectly sculpted eyebrows raised at me.

Oh, hell. If she's telling the truth, then I have caused a shit ton of trouble for myself.

"Yes, I am," she confirms, unlocking her phone and showing me an admittedly cute picture of she and Calvin from what looks like her senior prom. "Did you think Harry and I were, you know, like a thing?"

"I mean, yes?" I mutter quietly, shifting my eyes to the floor.

Who the hell was she cheating with if it wasn't with Harry?

"So that's why you were so rude to me earlier," Gabrielle says with a soft laugh. "I thought Harry had told you about when I cheated on Calvin like three years ago and that you were rubbing it in my face or something."

She... cheated on Calvin? Not with Harry?

She reaches over and puts her hand on my arm, to which I look up at her in shock. Smiling, Gabrielle speaks to me with a very clear voice, "Camryn, Harry and I have never ever hooked up or anything close to it. He actually doesn't like me very much at all, but he tolerates me because Calvin is his friend. I'm sorry you didn't know. I'm sure that made things pretty frustrating for you."

Okay, what the actual fuck? Now I'm just confused. I was prepared to think that she and Harry were innocent, but after her really inconvenient wording, now I'm not sure what the hell is going on. All I know is that I was apparently wrong about Harry, and I probably could have saved myself a significant amount of trouble if I had just asked him about the nature of his relationship with Gabrielle. I just feel so stupid that I really have no idea what I could possibly say to her that won't shatter my pride. I guess if Gabrielle's telling the truth, then I don't have a right to my pride anymore. I've fucked up, and now it's time to face the consequences.

"If what you're saying is true, then I don't think you should be the one apologizing." I force a laugh and very pained smile. "John told me he saw you and Harry together, and I know now that I shouldn't have believed him. I was just so confused, and– I'm just sorry I accused you of cheating. That was so.... high school of me."

Gabrielle cocks her head to the side in confusion. "I understand.. but I don't understand why John would lie about something like that?"

I sigh, "Honestly, I think he wanted me to come running to him, and it might have worked if he didn't have a girlfriend and wasnt such an asshole."

"Oh."

"Yeah." I trail off not knowing really what else to say. I suppose another apology wouldn't hurt. "I really am sorry, though. I don't know what the hell came over me when I said that to you."

She shrugs, "Don't worry about it. Our first love always makes us a little crazy, especially when you think it might be threatened. You should have seen how I was with Cal when we were first dating. I don't know how or why he's stayed with me so long."

Two things: one, how could Gabrielle be so chill about all this? I would expect her to be angry with me for being so rude to her earlier; I guess I just assumed she was a pettier person than she really is. Though I won't ever admit it, I think right now, of the two of us, I'm probably the petty one. And given all that's happened tonight and all that could have been prevented had I simply talked to Harry, I think it's safe to say that I'm not as wise as I think I am.

And two, Gabrielle's mention of love makes my heart lurch in my chest. Yes, I love Harry, but I can't help but feel that my own stupidity has tainted that. Had you asked me yesterday while Harry and I were at the beach together, I think I would have been comfortable with him knowing that I love him, but now, not so much. You're supposed to trust someone completely when you love them, and given that I have chosen to trust my own assumptions instead of him, I think Harry would be deeply offended if he ever knew about any of this.

"You won't tell him about this, will you?" I ask her tentatively, forcing myself to make eye contact with her.

Gabrielle shakes her head, smiling, "Of course not." Yet again, I am shocked by how kind Gabrielle is being to me. Has she always been this nice? I don't think she has, but then again, my brain is not all that reliable anymore. Although, when Harry and I first started going out, she did act really weird and would ask all these invasive questions, so maybe there is something to be said about that.

"Thank you... Can I ask you something else?" Gabrielle nods, and I continue. "When Harry and I first started going out, you seemed to kind of have a problem with it.. is there anything to that, or am I just making shit up again?"

With a sigh, Gabrielle clasps her hands together and rest them in her lap, "Uh, well, you're not entirely wrong there. Cal and I were lowkey broken up for a spell at the beginning of the year, and Harry had been kind of rude to me about it. He also didn't appreciate that Cal and I had a bet to see whether you or Harry would admit to sleeping together first, so he was less than pleasant to spend time with after that." I widen my eyes at her in disbelief, and Gabrielle shifts her focus down to her hands. I would be annoyed by this, but really, it could be much worse, so I'm not going to say anything about it.

"Yeah, I know. That was sucky of me, but like, Harry would give all of us shit for being.. you know.. loud at the frat house, so we thought we might could give him shit because of you. Anyway, it didn't really work, and I ended up just being mad at him even though I deserved the way he treated me. So, the short answer is yes, I had a problem with it because I didn't want to have to see him at our dorm, but you really didn't bring him around that much, so I was just being a bitch for no real, justifiable reason."

I laugh half-heartedly, "That makes two of us."

Gabrielle raises her brow in amusement and rolls her eyes, "Girls suck, don't they?"

"Yeah," I smirk. "In more ways than one."

In a turn of events that I never saw coming, Gabrielle and I actually start laughing together, and for just a moment, I am able to forget about my stupidity and John and just all the shit of tonight. It's kinda nice, not gonna lie, but I know it won't last. Eventually, I'm going to have to go back to Harry and hide the fact that I went a sizable duration of time thinking badly of him. I don't want him to know about all of this because of how stupid I look, and hopefully, with Gabrielle's promise of secrecy, I'll be able to get away with it. It won't hurt Harry to not know about it, right?

"Speaking of sucking dick, Cal is probably still waiting up for me." Gabrielle stands, a mischievous gleam in her eye. I didn't ever think that she would joke around with me like this, but I sure am glad for it. It's making this conversation feel much less intimidating and scary, and honestly, that's the kind of positivity I need right now. "I'm kidding, but I should go. I'm glad we were able to sort everything out, though."

I smile to hide the fact that I am embarrassed with the reminder of my actions, "I'm still really sorry about what I said, I didn't mean to bring up old drama and accuse you of something so horrible."

Shaking her head and pulling her sweater tightly around herself, Gabrielle shivers at the cold air conditioning being thrust into the already chilled room, "No, don't worry about it. It was a misunderstanding, and honestly, just blame it on the alcohol and that John kid. He's more to blame than you are."

"Are you sure you're okay? I feel so bad about all of this."

"Yeah, I'm sure. It was a bit of shock at first, but I understand now, so there was no real harm done." Gabrielle clears her throat, "Well, I'll see you tomorrow, I guess. Go get some sleep. You look like you need it."

She's right about that one.

With that, Gabrielle and I part amicably. Who knew that all it would take to give me some peace of mind was a fifteen minute conversation with Gabrielle? I don't think I ever expected that I would return to Harry and I's room feeling so much relief, but I'm nonetheless very happy it. Everything Gabrielle told me seems to be reasonable enough, and honestly, I don't care to question it anymore. And as much as I hate myself for creating such a dramatic scenario that turned out to not even be reality, I'm happy with the way things have ended up. And I'm also glad Harry doesn't know. Now I can move on from it pretend like none of this ever happened.

When I get back to the room, Harry is alseep, so I am careful to be as quiet as possible when I make my way to the bathroom. After taking the world's shortest shower and brushing my teeth, I climb into the bed with Harry and end up just staring at the ceiling for a while, reflecting on how stupid I've been.

If anything, I think this is definitely going to be a learning experience for me, because it has really shown me just how important honesty and communication is. I know I've said that all along, but clearly, I'm not too great at following through with the concept. Now though, I'm going to make a conscious effort to be better, and I think it will be a good thing for both me as a person and for my relationship with Harry. I'm sure he doesn't want to be with an immature eighteen year old girl who's still stuck in high school, so maybe all this did need to happen.

I am pulled away from these thoughts as Harry shivers beneath the covers and tries to pull them up further around him. Now, I'm not normally one to be very bold in my actions when it comes to showing affection towards someone, but after all that's happened tonight, I just need Harry close to me.

Having said that, I turn over on my side and move myself to snuggle up against Harry's back. He stirs and rolls over onto his side so that he is now facing me, his warm breath softly grazing my rather cold nose. Despite this movement, I don't think he's awake. His eyes are still closed, but the corners of his mouth twitch so that it almost looks like he's smiling at me. And though I know it's impossible, I can't help but think that maybe he's smiling because of me. That's silly, I know, but I just love how full my heart feels when I allow myself the compliment of being the cause for Harry's happiness. It may not be true after tonight, but I'm just going to let myself think that way for now.

Harry just looks so serene and so perfectly beautiful in this moment, that I really can't  believe I could have ever thought him capable of wronging me. He's an angel, and for the time being, he's my angel. It's a ridiculously cheesy thing to say, but if you were here looking upon Harry as he sleeps, I think you'd know exactly why I have said it.

So, with Harry beside me, I drift into a peaceful sleep that I never would have expected to acquire this evening. I guess I have Gabrielle to thank for that.

•••

I made cookies today and am pleased with them.

Love you all! Thanks for reading❤️❤️❤️
(Also, we hit 75k yesterday like how?? You guys are awesome!!😘😘)
-Kate❤️