double-updated because I'm on a roll with these chapters !!!

[warning: there's sexual assault in this chapter and I didn't remove the brackets because it's not that graphic and it happens quickly. But be aware, you can definitely skip the part if you want]

Up above is Jazmín Gonzalez played by Dascha Polanco ♡

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✧ I've seen cocaine bring out the demons inside

Cheating and lying ✧

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  Adriana woke up to soft sheets and the morning light that spilled through the gaps created by the partially closed curtains. A heavy groan escaped her lips as she snuggled against the pillow; scowling at the terrible headache she was currently experiencing. Her arm then reached out for Harry. Her dark brows lowered as a frown etched upon her face when her fingers felt nothing but air, dropping to the empty space on the bed that was near her. Her eyes fluttered open, blinking once to clear her blurry vision. A yawn escaped her lips as she used her hands to push herself up, eyes falling upon the wrinkled sheets next to her. 'Where is Harry?' was the first thought that came to mind.

"Harry?" she called out sleepily, dark eyes squinting as she gazed around the room. There was no sign of him.

She climbed off the bed, feet touching the cold floor making her shiver a little. Her feet carried her to the bathroom where she peaked her head through the open doorway, noticing that the shower was used, but still no sign of Harry. The toothbrush she used last night was sitting the cup that held his. She decided to quickly clean up and throw her clothes on, folding his t-shirt and boxers neatly and setting them on the hamper near his bathroom.

  When she went to grab her phone that sat on the nightstand near his bed, her eyes scanned the place for any sort of note or indication as to where he was. When there wasn't any, she just assumed that he was probably having breakfast.

Pulling her shoes on, she pulled her duffel bag over her shoulder and walked out of the room. She prayed she wouldn't get lost in his gigantic mansion, sighing with relief when she found his kitchen and living room. There was still no sign of him, which made her ponder even harder now.

  She grimaced at her headache as her thoughts dissipated when she entered his large, modern kitchen, eyes immediately landing on a middle-aged lady, rinsing some plates by the sink. Adriana felt herself grow a little tense, swallowing awkwardly as she pondered on what to say. The lady turned around at some point, her soft blue eyes landing on Adriana standing by the doorway.

"Hello there," she grinned immediately at Adriana.

"Hi," Adriana mumbled back with a light smile. "Umm where's Harry?"

"He left about an hour ago, not sure what for though," she informed her. "He told me to make you whatever you want for breakfast, and that Smithers will drop you off to wherever you want."

"Oh," Adriana uttered with a slight frown. "Well, I'll just have a coffee. Also, do you have any Advil? I've got a terrible headache."

"I do, I'll get you some. Also, are you sure about just the coffee? No food? I can cook up a batch of pancakes or waffles, or something savory like an omelet," she offered kindly with a grin, making Adriana smile and shake her head.

"I'll have breakfast when I get home," she told her, taking a seat by the kitchen island that was situated in the middle of the kitchen.

"Oh darling at least let me give you a croissant for on the way. I baked some just yesterday!" the sweet lady insisted, making Adriana chuckle a little.

"I can't resist a croissant I guess," Adriana said, making the lady grin turning around to fetch one. "I'm Adriana by the way."

"Yes I know Mr. Styles told me! What a lovely name you have," she told Adriana, who thanked her sweetly. She handed Adriana some Advil and a glass of water, which she gulped down quickly.

   "I'm Rita, the help."

"Are you from where Harry's from?" Adriana questioned, noticing the thick British accent that was laced with her voice.

"Oh no, darling. I'm from Birmingham, whereas Harry is from Cheshire," Rita explained while making Adriana's coffee.

"Oh, okay," Adriana mumbled in response, unsure of the places Rita had just mentioned, in England.

"Where are you from, darling?"

"Born and brought up in Houston, Texas, but originally from France and Mexico," Adriana told her, making Rita's blue eyes grow wide.

"My what lovely countries! Where from in both countries?"

"Well my father's from Marseille in France, and my mother was from Mérida in Mexico," Adriana said, grinning as Rita came over with a cup of black coffee and a paper bag containing the croissant. "Thank you so much, wait actually can I have another croissant?"

"Of course! Here let me pack a couple for you, I'm making another batch today anyways." Rita said, making Adriana protest lightly before the sweet lady had given her big paper bag full of croissants.

Adriana had just remembered Mateo's love for French food, and had only wanted an extra one for him. But now with the few extra croissants she decided she'd give some to Jazmín and her family as a little 'thank you' for allowing Mateo to stay over last night.

"Here you go, love. I'm just going to go get Smithers to wait outside for you."

Rita left Adriana alone to her thoughts, walking out of the kitchen. Adriana briefly wondered to herself if there were any other girls before her in her position, having breakfast the morning after a hook up. But then she recalled how Harry had told her that he had never hooked up with anyone before; he was mostly into doing dates and relationships. Never hooking up.

  Those thoughts were pushed away when she started thinking about why he left. She remembered agreeing to stay over last night, and how happy he was that she had finally agreed. He told her he was gonna treat her to breakfast, yet he wasn't here.

She wondered if it was their conversation last night right before sleeping that had caused him to leave like this so randomly without leaving a note. Was he mad? She asked herself. She knew she fell asleep without warning due to her chronic fatigue from the cocaine, something she didn't explain to him earlier. But he can't be mad because I slept while he was talking, she thought to herself as she sipped on her coffee. She was planning on continuing their conversation this morning anyways, she then went on to assume that he thought that she wasn't gonna do that.

"Adriana, love, Smithers is outside waiting if you're ready!" Rita called out from the doorway of the kitchen.

"I'm ready, thank you, Rita," Adriana smiled, grabbing her duffel bag and the paper one with the croissants.

Rita lead Adriana out of the mansion, point towards the gate where Smithers was out with the Rolls Royce. Adriana thanks Rita once again and bid her goodbye, jogging down the steps. Adriana couldn't remember seeing a water fountain in front of Harry's house when she came there, but there was one anyways as she walked the circular path and then straight to the gates where Smithers was waiting. She greeted him with a 'good morning', offered him a croissant, which he politely declined, and then told him the address of her home.

While she sat in Harry's car, she decided to call him, trying to see if he could explain why he left so randomly. She held her phone up to her ear, pressing her lips together as she heard a couple of rings before it went straight to voice mail. She frowned at her phone, finding it odd that he didn't answer since whenever she called he always picked up after the first ring. She sighed lightly, deciding to send him a text instead, assuming that he was probably too busy to answer his phone.

Princess 💘: whatever happened to treating me for breakfast? Hmm? :)

She hoped the text seemed playful enough so that he could get the idea that she wasn't mad or anything like that. She was just confused and found it slightly odd. Maybe he had someplace urgent to go to, you're just over-thinking Adriana, she told herself, looking down at her phone again, then switching it off. She tucked her phone into her pocket and began having a conversation with Smithers, as he drove her home.

∘❧∘

"Mamá!" Mateo exclaimed as soon as he saw Adriana appear at the doorway of the room he was currently in with Jazmín's boys.

"Mi estrella," Adriana grinned widely, crouching down for Mateo to run into her arms. He swung his tiny arms around her neck and kissed her cheek, hugging her tightly.

"I missed you, Mamá," he told her while she picked him up.

"Aw baby, I missed you too. I'm sorry I wasn't here last night," Adriana pouted at him, peppering his face with kisses as an apology. He giggled loudly, cupping her cheeks and kissing her nose that was scrunched up at him. "I got you some croissants!"

"Really?" Mateo grinned broadly, making her nod, putting him down.

"Yes! Come to the kitchen, Aunty Jazmín's got them laid on a plate. Ven todos vosotros," Adriana called out to Jazmín's two daughters and one son. Come, all of you.

Adriana leaned against the counter next to Jazmín as the children grabbed plates with croissants and exited the kitchen, running to the living room to watch some TV. Jazmín offered Adriana a croissant, which she declined because she wasn't hungry. But Jazmín insisted, knowing that one of the short-term effects of cocaine was loss of appetite.

Jazmín knew about Adriana's addiction and how it was getting increasingly worse. Adriana's appearance had worsened in Jazmín's eyes. Harry may have not noticed it because he hasn't known Adriana for long, not like Jazmín who's been helping Adriana out with Mateo for two years.

  Jazmín had seen Adriana relapse in the worst way possible, watched her lose weight where her ribs stuck out through her t-shirts and her cheekbones protruded in a sickly way. Jazmín had seen the bronze color of Adriana's skin drain out into a paler color where she wore make up every day just to make herself look healthy again.

"Had some fun last night?" Jazmín arched a brow at her while sipping on her coffee, making Adriana frown lightly in confusion.

Jazmín set her cup of tea down on the counter, grabbing her phone and opening up the front camera. She held it up at Adriana, making Adriana's eyebrows shoot up when she noticed a dark, purple, and bruise on her neck through the phone screen. Her hand immediately darted up to cover the bruise pathetically, wincing lightly when her fingers pressed too hard. Jazmín knew Adriana slept around a lot, and that Adriana hasn't been in a relationship ever since she was 20, which she knew only because Adriana had to explain how she had a son in the first place.

"Just a client," she muttered quietly, averting her gaze to her feet as her hand slid down from her neck.

"Don't lie to me, Adriana," Jazmín chuckled lightly, gazing at Adriana with her soft brown eyes. "Is he good to you?"

"Yeah," Adriana mumbled after a few seconds, deciding to give up and just tell her. Maybe she could even get advice on relationships. "He's lovely."

"Really? That's good," Jazmín grinned. "You deserve some good in your life."

"I have Mateo, he's all the good I need," Adriana told her with her arms folded over her chest.

"Yes of course. I meant, a good man, after all the shit ones you've met," Jazmín pointed out, making Adriana nod in response. "C'mon! Tell me more about him, babe."

Adriana nodded with a slight smile, deciding to be honest for once in her life as she began to tell Jazmín all about Harry right from the beginning. Jazmín listened with a smile on her face as she watched Adriana's dark eyes glimmer ever so lightly while talking about him, her lips stretched into a permanent grin. Jazmín could tell this Harry guy was making Adriana happy.

  She had noticed the slight smile that would dance on her lips every now and then Adriana and her son had dinner with the Gonzalez family. Jazmín knew it was a different smile to what she gives her son. She was just glad that Adriana found someone who was caring for her the way she needed to be cared for.

"But," Adriana sighed all of a sudden, making Jazmín's brows slope downwards. "We're not together."

"What?" Jazmín frowned. "Girl, you've got me thinking this boy was gonna wife you up this whole time."

"Oh god no," Adriana laughed lightly shaking her head, before her smile disappeared when she remembered her conversation with Harry last night. "Yeah, we're not together."

"Why not?" Jazmín simply asked, making Adriana sigh and look at her.

"You know why, Jaz," Adriana said to her. "I don't want him to suffer because of me," she continued, then proceeding to tell Jazmín everything that had happened last night with the conversation Harry and her had, as well as the many times he's brought up the idea of a relationship.

"You're afraid he'll get hurt," Jazmín murmured, making Adriana nod.

"Physically and mentally."

"Adriana, listen to me carefully," Jazmín said, reaching out to hold her hands. "I know you're an independent woman who was forced to take on the world at such a young age. I know because of that and the way people have treated you before, you're reluctant to accept this Harry guy. But maybe it's time to be selfish and accept his help? Not just his help; his care, his kindness, everything this sweet boy is offering you."

"But-" Adriana murmured in response, making Jazmín hush her up.

"I want to see you with this beautiful smile on your face all the time, the one Harry causes. I want you to be at least a little happy, for you and for your son. Mateo wants to see you happy too, and he likes Harry right?"

"He loves Harry," Adriana said with a roll of her eyes. "It's only been a day and he couldn't stop talking about him right after he met him."

"Well there you go, you've even got acceptance from your son!" Jazmín exclaimed. "Now call him again, and find out where the hell he is because you need to talk to him."

Adriana still had her doubts, there were just so many of them she couldn't push away just because she wanted to feel happy for once in her life. Nevertheless, she nodded and reached for her phone dialing Harry's number, only for her lips to turn into a sad pout when it went straight to voicemail for the fourth time.

"I feel like he's ignoring me," Adriana frowned down at her phone. "It's probably because I fell asleep while he was talking. I swear he's never this busy whenever I call him, and it's a Saturday!"

"What man is childish enough to play the silent treatment?" Jazmín scoffed playfully.

"Harry," Adriana answered. "He's like a baby."

"Well then he's gonna come crawling back so you just wait," Jazmín told her before one of her kids called out for her. "Maria! Wait a second!"

Jazmín left Adriana in the kitchen to ponder a little more, her dark eyes gazing at Harry's contact name on the screen with her lips pursed. She pulled her phone up to her face, typing out a text and sending it.

   Princess💘: baby, please answer my calls

"Are you gonna answer that?" Niall questioned just as the phone call from Adriana died, going to voicemail as Harry's eyes flickered from the TV to the phone and then back to the TV again.

"No."

"Princess? That's fucking cute."

"Shut up," Harry scowled, tossing a pillow at him before adjusting his seat on the sofa and sitting up with his elbows resting on his knees.

Harry was currently spending the day with Niall, having gone out for breakfast and then golfing and now relaxing on the sofa playing video games. He was being childish with the way he was dealing with Adriana, ignoring all her phone calls and messages just because he was upset they didn't come to conclusion last night. He knew it wasn't her fault she cared about him too much to actually be with him, but she was too pessimistic and had no faith in their relationship working in Harry's opinion.

"I think you're being a big, baby."

Harry paused the game, turning his head to face Niall, who was reading a book. His eyebrows sloped downwards as a pout was formed on his bubblegum pink lips.

"No I'm not. I'm just really upset!"

"Yes you fucking are. Stop being a baby" Niall sang, not looking up from his book as Harry folded his arms over his chest and pouted harder with a tight frown.

"She slept on me! While I was talking!"

"She's a fucking cocaine addict. Extreme exhaustion is one of the short-term effects, peach," Niall pointed out for Harry, making Harry's expression fall. "She was probably just tired, Harry."

"Still," Harry insisted. "She was being so freaking negative about everything! I'm fucking ready to give her my all and she doesn't want that!"

"You just don't get it, peach," Niall said with a sigh. "You said she said that she's an independent women and is reluctant to accept help, correct?"

"Yes."

"Maybe she's just finding it hard to accept the fact that someone actually cares about her and wants to help her and be there for her," Niall suggested in an obvious tone. "She sounds like she's had a really fucked up life, man. You've gotta understand that."

"I do," Harry mumbled. "It's just that I dunno, I wish she'd let me help her."

"Is it even about being her boyfriend anymore, or just helping her?"

"It's both," Harry said firmly. "I feel that-"

Harry's phone vibrating with another message interrupted his words, making his pale jade eyes flicker down to his phone where her contact name appeared with another message.

   Princess💘: Harry please don't be upset with me. I wasn't lying when I said we'll talk about it in the morning again. Ignoring me like this isn't going to make the situation any better. Call me.

"Yeah Harry, call her," Niall mocked, making Harry scowl and toss another pillow at him, before slumping down into the sofa.

"I'll call her tomorrow," Harry muttered under his breath.

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"Adriana! Room 5 please!" Morgan yelled out into the dressing room where Adriana was sat by her table, doing another line of coke.

Her cravings were much more intense now. It pained her to lower her head and sniff some of that white powder, but she needed it to get through the night. Her body was dependent on it. Once she was done, she stood up and checked her make up and outfit, just black, tight crop top that was tight around her chest without any straps, ending right under her breasts, along with a garter belt. Her bronzed, slim body was adorned with chains that crossed at the front of her abdomen, and her back.

She adjusted her hair as she walked down the dim lit hallway, eyes scanning for the golden plate with the number 5 on it. Once she located she took a deep breath, eyes fluttering close as she kept her ears alert for the music while she felt the chemicals of the cocaine bubbling in the blood of her veins. When she heard the music begin, she slipped her hands through the curtain and stepped in, holding a fake, sultry smirk on her nude lips.

Her dark eyes fell upon the man who was sat on the plush red sofa with a dirty smirk on his face. He was slightly older than her for sure by a few years, piercing blue eyes and jet-black hair that deemed him as quite attractive. But ever since she met Harry, she found it extremely hard to dance for other men for many reasons. Sometimes she just imagined it was Harry she was dancing for to help her get through the grueling work hours.

Her dark eyes were locked with his as she moved her body fluidly and sexily, staying in rhythm with the music as she walked towards him. His pearly white teeth sunk into his bottom lip as his icy eyes raked down her half naked body shamelessly, hand shifting down to between his legs. Adriana kept her facial expression intact as she cringed inwardly, knowing that she was going to have to sit on him at some point since apparently that was part of the routine now she was forced to follow.

The cocaine high had started to set in as she found herself feeling extreme euphoria, enjoying herself as she danced to the music. But unfortunately her customer was sitting there and waiting impatiently for her to start grinding on him, which she didn't want to do nor was going to. Her eyes flickered open, never realizing they were closed, when she heard him call out for her, beckoning her over. She strutted towards him, moving her body sultrily as she stood between his legs, feeling her skin crawl when his hands slipped up her bare thighs.

"I'd advice you to keep your hands to yourself," Adriana said with a playful smirk, something she always told touchy customers. But this man wasn't gonna have it.

He surprised her by pulled her forwards, forcing her to straddle his lap as she let out a small gasp. She tried to keep calm as he started feeling her up, rough, cold hands slipping up her bare thighs as his warm breath fanned against her cheek. A gasp of shock escaped her lips when the man suddenly grabbed her ass, giving it a tight squeeze while his other hand wrapped around her torso firmly to hold her in place. She began to struggle against him slightly, her heart pounding wildly as she felt fear fill her up.

"Shh don't be scared baby girl. You asked for it when you were looking at me with those innocent, pretty eyes on stage," the man whispered into her ear, tracing the curve of her ass as he tightened his hold on her.

"Let me go," Adriana whimpered ever so quietly, getting flashbacks of him. "Please!" she said loudly, making him grab her hair and pull her hair back.

For a second, she saw him. She saw his dark, brown eyes gazing menacingly into her frightened, wide ones. She saw his pink lips stretch into a vindictive smirk. She saw the monster that stripped her of her innocence and her dignity. Her body froze with fear as her dark eyes with dilated pupils widened even more when he wrapped his cold fingers around her neck and forced her down onto the sofa. Adriana struggled to breathe as the blue-eyed man began whispering again into her near while she kicked and screamed.

"Let's have some fun, shall we?"

She felt his cold fingers pry her legs apart so that he could slid himself between her legs, then cupping her sex firmly through her underwear. He held her wrists over her head and pushed his knee against her leg to keep it pinned to the sofa, spreading her apart so he could touch her. Adriana felt the panic being like a cluster of spark plugs in her abdomen, her eyes deceiving her as she saw a hallucination of him this entire time when it was actually the blue-eyed dark-haired man who was sexually assaulting her.

"Morgan!" she screamed at the top of her lungs, making the man scowl, undoing his tie with one hand quickly and stuffing the material into her mouth to keep her shut.

She watched him pulling her black panties to the side, letting a low growl at the sight of her lower region before slipping his fingers between her legs. Adriana felt tears fall from her eyes as she squeezed them shut, trying her hardest to push the tie out of her mouth using her tongue. Before the man could push a finger into her, the curtains were drawn apart, revealing Morgan and two strippers behind him. Horrified expressions were immediately etched onto their faces, before Morgan moved in a split second to pull the man off of Adriana.

Adriana watched in total shock as the hallucination of him disappeared in front of her eyes, and revealed that it was the blue-eyed customer she was dancing for earlier. Throughout the entirety of the sexual assault she thought it was that monster hurting her, assaulting her again. Her surroundings became a blur as she slipped off the sofa and fell to the floor when security guards who arrived after a minute or so dragged the man away from her. Two strippers rushed into the room once the man disappeared and helped Adriana who couldn't stop crying and shaking.

Adriana felt like her heart was going to burst out of her chest, and that she was going to faint. She had her knees drawn up against her chest tightly, dark, teary eyes darting around due to paranoia of him actually being here. She felt like she was going to have a panic attack, her breathing becoming more rapid and shallow by the second. Her stomach churned as images of the assault flooded her mind, along with old ones from the past, which were much more horrific.

"Make it stop," she cried softly, fingers sliding into her hair and clutching the strands tightly as she pressed her face to her knees.

She could hear voices around her, mumbling worriedly about what to do. She could feel one of the stripper's trying to comfort her but it wasn't working. Adriana could only think of one person whose arms she'd want wrapped around her tightly, keeping her safe. Immediately, she lifted her head up and asked the stripper comforting her, if she could get her phone for her.

"Sure, sweetie," Roxy nodded in response, standing up immediately and disappearing out of the private show room while Candice stayed by Adriana's side.

Once Roxy returned, Adriana took her phone and immediately started phoning Harry. It was around 1:00 in the morning and she wasn't sure if Harry was asleep or awake, but she couldn't care. She just wanted to hear his voice for now to calm her down before her panic attack hits her. After three rings, she almost cried in relief when she heard him pick up, a soft tired groan echoing in her ears from the other side of the line.

"Adriana?" he questioned lowly, making her bite her knuckle to stop her from crying.

"Harry, I need you."

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∙ okay! so to clear things up a little the man sexually assaulting her was blue-eyed and black-haired, but Adriana was having a hallucination due to the cocaine and thought it was 'him'. 'Him' being someone from her past.

∙ What did you guys think?

∙ Also, thank you loves for answering my question during the last chapter. you are all right about the cocaine on his body scene being romantisized, but I promise nothing like that is gonna come up again anyways. also I wasn't able to show the downsides of cocaine or whatnot during the chapters that have been up so far because I've been trying to keep Adriana's life a mystery from you guys, which was why i always wrote what like Harry was always doing and Adriana just being at the club and etc.

Until we meet again...

thiora ♡