Taking Chances

“What makes you think that?” I asked, taking special care to make sure my voice didn’t crack.

“Think about it. Has Harry ever called to ask where you were?”

I paused to think about it. “Nope. You’ve got a point.”

“So maybe we should go back to the apartment building. Because you might want to hear what she has to say.”

“You’re right,” I admitted in a breath, shaking my head. “As usual.”

She grinned at me. “Do you want me to take the bag? ‘Cause you’ve been carrying it for a while, and it’s obviously super heavy.”

I held it away from her, wrapping one arm around its middle. “No! I’m not making you carry this. You only got, like, two books. The other fifteen are mine.”

She laughed and shook her head. “I can’t believe that you bought fifteen books.”

“It’s not like I’m short on money,” I muttered under my breath.

“That’s a good point.”

Soon, we were at the apartment building. “Are you okay going back to Zayn’s apartment without me?” I asked Rebecca. “Because I think I’m going to go straight to Harry’s and see if you were right.”

“Of course I’m right,” she snuffed, reaching over and taking the bag from me. “But I think I’ll be fine in Zayn’s apartment alone. He’s probably just moping in his room, anyway.”

“Or on the couch. Remember,” I looked her in the eyes to make sure that she understood how serious I was, “remain completely mysterious about what we did. Don’t say anything. And, whatever you do, don’t tell him how much I might want to make up with him.”

Rebecca rolled her eyes. “Bailey, I’m not that pathetic.”

I let out a laugh that was a little too loud for the hallway of the apartment building. “I never said you were pathetic.”

“Just go to Harry’s.”

I nodded and got off the elevator, looking back only for a second to see her smile and wave as the elevator doors cut her off from me.

Taking a deep breath, I made my way down the hallway before stopping in front of Harry’s door. I knocked hard a couple of times.

From inside, I could hear whispering voices, then silence.

“Hello?” I called out. “Harry, it’s me, Bailey. But there’s no way I’m just walking in there after what happened last time I burst into a room unannounced.”

There was the sound of frantic movement, someone bumping into a chair, which scratched across the floor, before the doorknob finally turned. “Hi, Bailey,” Harry greeted. There was a huge grin on his face that had too much forced innocence to be real. Not to mention that he was only wearing a pair of jeans.

“Did you lose your shirt on the way to the door?” I asked teasingly.

“Oh, yeah. It must have fallen off,” he responded, checking behind him. “Why are you here?”

“Because you called me while I was out with Rebecca, and I figured that you wanted to talk to me or something. Or that Charlie wanted to talk to me.”

Harry’s blonde girlfriend came up behind him, a small smile on her face. Harry turned back at her, and, after she nodded, opened the door further. “Come on in, Bails.”

I brushed by him to see that I had been right about someone bumping into the chair; the one at the foot of the table was askew, facing toward the living room instead of its proper place. Charlie settled back down on the couch, her eyes fixed on her hands, which were wringing together on her lap.

I sighed and sat down Indian-style on the coffee table in front of her. “Hi,” I greeted just as Harry slipped into his bedroom to give us some privacy.

“Hey,” she responded.

“Look, Charlie…” I started, but she cut me off almost immediately, staring up at me with wide gray eyes.

“I’m so sorry, Bailey. I never meant to come between you and Zayn. I really love you two as a couple, and I love you so much, and I really didn’t mean to do anything to break you guys up. I’m so sorry.”

Tears were pouring down her cheeks, and I found myself staring at her, completely shocked out of my mind. “Wait…how do you…what?”

“Harry and I were in Liam’s apartment when you two started arguing, and I could hear lots of the things you were yelling.”

I winced. I hadn’t realized I’d been so loud. Ugh.

I felt myself blush as I sighed. “Look, Charlie…I’m sorry if I made you feel responsible. Sure, there were some things that you did that made me angry, but you weren’t doing anything maliciously. I know you weren’t trying to hurt me and I definitely know that you weren’t trying to get in between Zayn and me.”

“I wasn’t!” she insisted.

“I know,” I chuckled. “I never thought you were an awful person, and I’m sorry for upsetting you.”

“I’m sorry for upsetting you,” she countered. “Really. I promise that I won’t goof around with Zayn like I have been.”

I frowned. “Look, Charlie, I’m not saying that you and Zayn can’t be friends. Or that you can’t goof around, or that you can’t have fun together. I’m just asking that you don’t grind with him at the club.” I let out a small laugh. “Most of my problems are things that he’s done with you, not that you’ve done to him.”

“I shouldn’t have run to him over the Twitter thing,” she mumbled. “It’s just…I figured it would be a good idea because Harry would get too protective and Louis’ too…I don’t know, happy?”

I chuckled and leaned forward. My mind flashed back to a time that seemed so long ago, when I was sitting in my hotel room, bawling my eyes out. Louis had come in, sat on my bed, and stayed there while I cried, knowing that I needed a friend, but not a stifling presence. “Actually,” I assured her, “Louis is the best person ever when it comes to needing a shoulder to cry on, or if you need advice. He’s very balanced that way.”

Charlie smiled and nodded. “I’ll remember that next time.”

I stood up, and Charlie immediately hugged me tightly. “I’m so glad that you don’t hate me anymore.”

I kind of pet the top of her head, feeling a bit uncomfortable. “Charlie, I never hated you. I was just…I was angry and I said a lot of cruel things. I’m sorry. But I never hated you.”

She smiled. “Are you going to make up with Zayn now?”

I stared at the time displayed on the front of my phone. 12:33. “He might be sleeping,” I lied.

“He’s not sleeping,” she chuckled, putting a hand on my shoulder. “Trust me.”

I bit my lip and stared at the door for a second. “I don’t know. I really don’t.”