Harry sits at Zayn's table in front of his mug of tea, listening to Luke explain why it was so important for him to go back to Phoenix.

Harry's half-listening.

He's trying, really, but he woke up with a hangover that hasn't gone away yet. Niall's asleep on the couch. Zayn's showering in his room and hasn't come back out yet, and while Harry knows why Niall's practically dead, snoring on Zayn's couch, he also knows that Asmaa's just left and Zayn's bound to be in a good mood today, at least.

"I gotta talk to her, Haz--Haz. Haz? You listening to me?"

"Hell," he shakes his head, "sorry mate. Zoned out there."

"What's got you so deep in your head?" Luke asks. It's three in the afternoon but Luke's already taken off of work and Harry's just waking up...at Zayn's of course.

"Just got a lot on my mind."

"Like...?"

"Like," he shakes his head, sucking hard on his teeth, "I don't think I can go to Phoenix with you, mate."

And Luke laughs aloud, his laughter loud and strong over even Niall's snoring from the living room. "Yeah," he grins, "good one."

But, Harry shakes his head. "M'serious," he stresses. "I'm really actually serious about this one."

"Wait," Luke shakes his head, smile falling, "What! Why?"

"S'just..." he stares into his mug, "I just...s'a long night last night."

"Because?"

"Well," he stares into the breakfast tea despite it being long after breakfast, "I was at--"

"Phoenix," Luke nods. "Of course. What happened?"

"Well..."

The night went a little something like this...

It was nearly three in the morning when Harry gets a call.

It's poorly timed—a very poorly timed phone call—because of Niall's favorite stripper, the one they call "Minnie Mouse," with her pierced cheeks and her blonde hair and her pierced clit, who's got her legs spread in front of them at their private stage at their favorite table.

"Be right back," Harry calls over the music.

Niall barely hears him.

"Huh?"

"Takin' a call," he yells, and Niall's eyes barely flicker from Minnie Mouse to his raised iPhone.

"Yeah, yeah..." And Niall's throwing tons of pounds tonight, he always does when they see Minnie Mouse anyway, but it seems like extra pounds tonight 'cause they've got her at their actual table and she's not just up on the main three stages with the other girls.

And Harry chuckles to himself, 'cause Niall claims not to like Phoenix as much as he does except he somehow, someway, is always free each and every time he needs a partner for the night.

At this point, Harry came for the food.

Lies.

He came for the scenery and the women and all the bottle girls who were now his friends. They saw him and giggled to themselves and cracked their inside jokes because he was always there. But, in his defense, it was in a cool location and they had the best...wings.

And Harry often craved wings.

Not to mention, the club was unveiling new promotions; new parties that would surely increase traffic at a club already growing rapidly in popularity.

But the name flashing across Harry's screen has him scrambling from his table and hurrying towards the much quieter lobby. He hurries towards those double doors, the ones leading to the foyer and the ATM's because if there was one person who could get him from Phoenix at a time like this, well, it was Louis.

"Hullo?"

The heavy hotel doors swing shut behind him.

"Haz?"

"Yeah," Harry's underneath those red lights in the lobby, watching as a few newcomers pull pounds at the cashpoint. "S'me, Lou."

"Hey."

"Hey."

"Hey..." an awkward chuckle filters over the line, "Bet you're probably wondering what I'm doing calling...and at this time of night no doubt."

"I mean..." Harry looks around, "S'kind of confusing, yeah."

"I spoke to Ni recently, yeah? And he told me you'd be up around now," he laughs. "Said it'd be a good time to catch you since you're always out at the club."

"Oh yeah?" Harry bites the inside of his cheek, "What else he tell you?"

"Nothing," Louis chuckles. "And I called, actually, to talk about somethin' I told him."

"The wedding," Harry nods knowingly. "That's what you called about."

"Yeah...Actually? Yeah."

"Figured."

He clears his throat. "And Haz? I want you to be in it. I'm calling 'cause not only do I want you there, but I want you to be standing next to me, right where you should be—by my side as my bride walks down the aisle."

There's a silence as Harry considers this. It's not like he didn't know this was coming, but to hear it...

"I know how things ended," Louis adds softly. "And I wanted to properly apologize, to all you lads, but—"

"But, you're marrying the one woman we've warned you against."

"Which is why I want you to meet her; to get to know her. Truly. And you'll see that she's—"

"Not just in it for your money? That she's not everything we think she is?"

"That she's not at all anything like what you've made her out to be."

Harry snorts. "It's been a year, Lou. Barely a fucking year since you met her, and now all of a sudden her opinion's more valuable than ours."

"I knew this would come up," he sighs, "and that's why I wanted to get us all together so we--"

"Can what? Talk it out? Hold hands? Sing songs?" Harry chuckles humorlessly to himself, he was sounding a lot like Zayn. "What's the real end to this, Lou?"

"To patch things up," Louis replies. "I..." He gulps, "I miss you guys, if you can believe it."

And for a minute, Harry can't believe it. After all the shit that happened, it was like Louis completely abandoned them for some girl he'd known less than a year.

And now he was supposed to just be over it? He was finding it difficult to forget that fight, and Harry wasn't one to hold grudges.

Zayn on the other hand...

"Well," Harry shrugs, "Luke really needs us. I don't have details, but maybe if you're free..." what the fuck was Harry doing? Why was he doing this? Why couldn't he have run this first by Zayn? "...maybe you could go with him to Phoenix."

Louis laughs, "And have a real conversation? A heart-to-heart at the strip club?"

"Of course," Harry scoffs. "'Cause that's what real friends do," he chuckles nervously, wondering why the fuck he's just made these plans when he's already unsure of how things will go himself. "They help their mate make equally poor decisions at the strip club."

Harry returns to the table and pockets his phone. By now, Minnie Mouse is gone and Niall is staring off at the main stage.

"You'll never believe who called."

"Huh?" Niall looks over his glass of whiskey. "Who?"

"Lou."

Niall slowly lowers the glass. He lifts a blonde eyebrow, "For the wedding, eh?"

Harry nods.

"You know what this means, right?" Niall begins, reaching for the half-empty bottle of William Lawson's in their ice bucket.

Harry holds out his own glass, "What?"

Niall shakes his head, tongue darting out to lick his lips. "Zayn's bound to be next."

And Harry watches as Niall tops him off, watching the brown liquor fill crevices between the ice in his hand; those red Phoenix lights dancing to the house music playing overhead tonight.

"You think he'll answer?" Harry asks, teeth clamped on the inside of his cheek; he couldn't wait to talk to Zayn about this, honestly. "Zayn, I mean. Think he'll do it?"

"You remember how things ended," Niall replies. "M'surprised you did it actually, Haz."

"I mean..." He clicks his teeth, "I can't lie, a part of me wanted to say 'no,' but...y'know. His mum and all..."

"And it's time to put things in the past," Niall eyes his glass. "S'what I say, at least."

"But, Zayn?"

"Isn't heartless, mate. Like you aren't either."

Harry grunts.

And Niall nods. "Yeah," he says. "I think it's good—the fact this is all now...the wedding, I mean. It's about time we had a conversation; something real, and discuss what happened."

"Well," Harry shrugs, "I kind of invited him on our next trip..."

Niall laughs confusedly, "Our next trip to what, Haz?"

"Why, here," he downs the bulk of his drink, "I've invited him to Phoenix."

"Of course."

By the time it's nearly four in the morning, Harry's leaving Phoenix a bit later than he'd like to admit.

"That's it, I'm calling Zayn."

Why?

His car won't start.

"No!" Harry exclaims, grabbing Niall's phone from his hand. "He's got his girl over, remember?"

Zayn complained enough as it was about not seeing his girl regularly, and he'd been real clear about, "being quiet 'cause she's coming over after work to hang out," since he knew the two of them would be out late at Phoenix, tonight.

Harry really didn't want to ruin his alone time.

He wouldn't have wanted that himself, anyway.

"So? We're stuck in Shoreditch, mate. We've gotta call somebody."

Harry groans, his giant hands covering his face. It's pitch black on the streets, all of the clubs were closed now that were open. There's no one out, save for one or two cars in Phoenix' back lot.

"Shit," he mutters, because who could he call that's actually awake at this time of night?

He fumbles for his own phone. "Try Luke," he says at once. "And if you can't ring him, try Cal."

Niall nods, and Harry starts trying to dial Ashton because maybe he'd be up? Their other mates were all shots in the dark at this point, especially because it was incredibly late and on a weeknight, too, but that's when Niall starts nudging him, his own phone pressed to his ear.

"Haz...Hey, Haz..."

"What?" Ashton's number is going straight to voicemail--fuck, he's got to be asleep. "What's up?"

"'Ey," he exclaims, "Would you look at tha'..."

And that's when a young man with short-cropped blonde hair raps on the window. "Hey," he shakes his head, showing two sleeves of tattoos. "You gotta get out of here, bro," he looks around, "Parking lot's about to close."

"Sorry 'bout that," Harry replies. He smiles, despite never seeing this man before but also figuring he must work for the club. "We're having a few car problems at the moment."

"Shit..." The guy curses with his thick North American accent as if his car stalling is somehow a personal attack. "Fuck," he looks around. "Hol' up. I'll get you a jump."

"Thank you," Harry replies because, despite this guy seeming like a complete waste, he might actually be semi-helpful.

If he really could get his car to start.

And that's when he returns, rapping again on the window. "One'a my girls is gonna give you a jump," he nods.

And Harry presses his palms together, "Thank you."

"Hey, don't mention it," he takes a quick look over his shoulder, "Rory oughtta be out now. But," he eyes the Range, "you might wanna get that checked out in the morning."

No shit.

And the guy leaves. And he leaves Harry and Niall both sitting in the stalled car debating whether or not they should just fork over the pounds and call a taxi, because this night had been crazy weird anyway.

What were the odds of Louis calling?

Maybe it was time. Maybe this was a sign to take a break from Phoenix. Maybe Harry had finally had enough.

Maybe.

But, that's when a huge, shiny, black G-Wagon pulls up beside him. Harry had seen it before, parked neatly in the lot, during those previous times he's been, but it must've been parked elsewhere tonight because he hadn't seen it before now.

Or, noticed it anyway.

A window rolls down. There's a young woman driving.

Rory oughtta be out now.

"It's Rory."

Rory.

"My name is Rory."

It comes back to Harry in a wave.

Rory.

And she's yawning behind the wheel.

"Justin said your car won't start?" She asks, her eyes watery from yawning.

"...No," and Harry jumps from his car--he's got a billion things to say and somehow only manages, "Are you gonna...?"

"Here's my good deed of the day," she yawns again. "Just a sec..."

And Harry stands in the empty lot, watching as she pulls forward, swinging the Mercedes around to face his car. She's small and curvy, somehow seeming more so tonight than she had at the gym, or those times she'd been onstage, and Harry notices all of these things and thinks a million thoughts as she cuts the engine, stepping from the giant wagon he'd once helped her into.

She disappears behind the SUV, the sound of her trunk opening and then closing. Harry watches then as she approaches, and as she does so it's like all of their previous encounters come back to him; all the times he'd seen her in Phoenix come back to him.

There are thick wires in her hands.

"Hey."

"Hey, "he replies, and he's thinking of flirting but all he can think to say right now is, "Thank you."

It really is late.

"Don't mention it," and she hands him a jumper cable. "Turn off the engine," she says, "and attach this to the battery cells."

"Right," he replies. Harry does as he's told, slamming the driver's side door closed as he takes his side of the cables around to the hood of his car.

The cables stretch behind him, as Rory expertly pops her own hood and rises to her tiptoes, shining the light of her cell onto the mechanisms beneath her hood.

She clips her ends to the engine.

And she turns back around to face him. "Ready?"

Harry holds up his sides of the wires, chuckling bashfully. "So, my mate actually works at a garage, but--"

"But?" She yawns, laughing softly. "But?" She smirks, "You don't know shit, right?"

"Okay, well..." He hands over the cables, "I wouldn't say that much--"

And she--Rory--shakes her head as she stares into the front of his car. "It's all good," she replies tiredly; she sounds exhausted, an understandable feeling after just getting off of work. "Just, shine your light in here for me, okay?"

Harry does as he's told, and as he does so, he watches her expertly find the necessary positive cells of the battery and metal surface inside.

"You know a lot about cars, yeah?"

"Thanks to my mom."

"Your mum?"

"She taught me everything I would ever need to know about anything," she laughs, mostly to herself.

And she eyes him, "Answer's yes, though."

"That's..." Harry chuckles. "S'amazing," he grins. "My step-dad tried to teach me about cars," he watches her closely, "My mum taught me to bake."

"My dad wasn't around," she states tersely.

"Your mum did amazingly, then."

She blinks, deciding not to respond.

Harry takes the silence as an invitation to switch the conversation.

"You work at Phoenix, don't you?"

"You ask a lot of questions, my guy."

"M'right, aren't I?"

She lifts an eyebrow as if he didn't know. "Your ass is always there, isn't it?"

He grins, "Guilty."

And something about that makes her smile.

It's a small smile, but a smile. He'll take it.

"Seen you all over," he muses. And he looks around, "Where's your boyfriend?"

Her eyes widen at once. "Excuse me?"

"Said you had a boyfriend," he replies, grinning; shrugging. "Can't forget that bit of information last time we were at the gym," and he eyes her hands. "Not wearing a ring..."

"I didn't say I was engaged."

"Good for me."

There's silence, as this young woman stares now at him in a mixture of awe and confusion.

She blinks. "Who are you?"

He doesn't touch that. Instead, he asks, "Why doesn't your boyfriend pick you up from work?"

She blinks again, "Excuse me?"

"S'late," he shrugs. "Really late. And you're always driving. And weird people are out at late night hours like these."

"Like you?"

He grins as she snorts. "Just like me."

She shakes her head, "I'm fine on my own."

"Doesn't seem right though," he shrugs again, "to make your girl find her way home when she gets off this late. I mean," he holds out his arms, "look at me? Been stuck here for a while and all my friends are asleep."

"Could've called a tow."

"I wouldn'tve wanted my girl to call a tow," he tips his head sideways, "or have her helping strangers at four in the morning."

"I should leave then," she replies smartly. "Since my boyfriend doesn't want me out late."

"You're right, I don't."

"I don't want my man out late at some strip club," she pushes herself from his SUV, "when he should be coming home to me."

And she walks around the front of the car, back to her own. "Wait a sec before you start it up."

Harry hadn't had a crush in ages, it seems, but this girl...this woman, in her skinny black jeans and hoodie...she was just something.

She cranks her car, turning on the engine, and she sits for a moment, legs dangling out of her truck, hood pulled over her head, seat reclined as she drifts tiredly behind the wheel.

And Harry watches her from his own vehicle, wondering how she might react if he walked back over there and stood beside her. She seems more than tired, now. And grant it, they had entered the ungodly hours of the night, but she was here. She was still here because of him.

He wanted to like, give her a massage or something. Make her laugh. Help her into her flat because that's what you did when you were helplessly in love with a stripper, right?

He was just like his friends, wasn't he?

Pathetic. 

Her engine runs for a few minutes before she yawns again, jumping from her car to call his way, "Start it up."

Harry hurries back to Niall, who is practically asleep inside his Range Rover, and pushes 'Start.'

The engine revs to life.

"Oi!" Niall blinks drunkenly; jerking from sleep. "It's on!"

Harry ignores this, hopping from the car as Rory comes to collect the cables.

"Hey," he shoves his hands into his pockets, "thanks."

"I told you," she lifts the cables from the cars, "it's my good deed for the day," and she meets his gaze, "Gotta drive around for at least fifteen minutes or it might not start tomorrow morning."

"Wow...Yeah. Okay, then."

She nods.

And she takes a few steps backward; away. He could tell she was trying her best to get out of this parking lot; to leave.

"Thanks," he calls, adding, "Rory."

That halts her in her tracks.

"I..." She turns her head, staring over her shoulder. "Thought you didn't remember my name."

He grins, teeth clasped on his bottom lip as he holds open his hands and shrugs.

She shakes her head, laughing, "Wow."

"Hey," and he reaches out to her, hand extending to rest on her waist, dipping his head to meet her hard gaze, "Just so you know," he says, "if I had you to come home to, I'd have no need to come to Phoenix."

And he shoves both hands into his pockets, trying not to grin as he backs away.

She's staring at him.

And she shakes her head. "What're you waiting for?" She asks. "Your car's running. Why're you still here?"

"You pull out first," he calls back, and at the sight of her glare, he holds up both hands, "I'm not gonna follow you home," he laughs, "I just wanna make sure you're outta here safe, y'know?"

And she nods.

Harry climbs into his car, watching as she does the same. Her brights come on, and the G moves his way.

Again, she pulls up next to him.

And her window rolls down.

"Thanks again," Harry grins, flashing his rings as he waves.

"Don't mention it," she nods, "Harry."

And there's laughter in her eyes as she pulls out of the parking lot, leaving behind Harry to again, stare after her.

Harry pulls into Zayn's garage about twenty minutes later, helping Niall into the flat and onto the couch.

He pads down the hall. He's remembered to be quiet, knowing Asmaa was supposed to be over tonight. However, at the sound of the music coming from Zayn's bedroom, he's pleasantly surprised to know that his mate might still be up; he can have this conversation about Lou.

Hell, he might even be able to ask Asmaa about her friend.

The one he kept running into from Phoenix.

Rory.

"Zayn," he raps softly on the door, "Ni's on the couch and I--"

And Harry pushes open the door, only to meet the sound of slow r&b drowned out only by Asmaa's muffled moans. Her naked body is exposed, her hands are gripped in Zayn's hair, his face buried between her legs and his head is bobbing, tongue swirling, lips sucking on juices that makes Harry's mouth falls into a perfect 'o.'

Shit.

He backs from the bedroom, closing the door silently behind him.

__

"You're still coming," Luke says as Harry ends the story of the night before. "To Phoenix, I mean."

"Luke," he chuckles, "did you not hear what I said?"

"Of course I did," he replies, "and you really think you're gonna invite Louis out with us and not come?"

He had him there.

And amidst this silence, Luke nods.

"Exactly. You're coming."

"Fine, fine, but after this?"

"I say," Luke nods, "we should all take a break from Phoenix."

And at that, Harry grins—he needed a break from strippers, "Deal."

__

alright y'all i read all your comments about the smut (ew) and so i'll bless you with more it's all good just wait on it lol