Grade 8

Two days later Lena found herself at Lou's with Eleanor, Sam, and Gemma. It had been easy to get Lena away from Mia for the day for a much needed girls day. Eleanor had made a more then reluctant Sam come along telling her they needed to make Lena feel comfortable around everyone again. Sam had a few choice words about that. Gemma was sat in a chair foils in her hair from Lou. Eleanor was showing Sam pictures from her recent trip to Rome. It was hard for Lena not to feel out of place around them. She had been away from the One Direction family for months and a lot had changed since then.

She quickly found out that Gemma had met someone but didn't want to tell her family about him just yet; that was proving to be hard as Harry was suspicious of where Gemma was speaking off to most nights.

"The little bugger won't leave me alone." Gemma groaned. "I don't want him to scare him off just yet."

Eleanor and Louis were planning on buying a house in Manchester a big move for them but Eleanor was excited.

"We just need out of London. It'll be nice to be near our families." Eleanor gushed. "It's such a beautiful house; I can't wait for you guys to visit."

Lou was making waves being an ambassador for Fudge gaining more and more attention as a stylist and hairdresser.

"People are comin' to me for advice." Lou laughed. "Can ya believe it. I'm loving it though."

Sam's big reveal though was the most surprising. In the months since Australia it seemed that instead of things getting better like it was for everyone else Sam and Niall were quickly losing everything.

"Niall asked me to move in with him." She said while Eleanor and Lou worked on Gemma's hair. "A few weeks before you finally answered his calls."

Lena felt the pang of guilty for ignoring Niall for so long. "That's great."

"It was great." Sam nodded. "For about ten seconds until I told him I couldn't."

Lena looked at Sam shocked. "What-why?"

"Because I couldn't live with him knowing he was pining after you." Sam shrugged. "There's a lot of stuff between Niall and I that needs to be worked through. Too much."

Lena was at a loss for words.

"Oi, how do I look?"

Lena turned slightly to look at Gemma still shaken from Sam's confession. Her hair was now a soft pink which looked good on her, but nothing could make Gemma look bad. "I quite like it. Looks proper alright." Sam smiled.

"Told you." Lou beamed. "What's Landon going to say when he sees you?"

"It's not him I'm worried about." Gemma shrugged. "As long as I like it who cares?"

There was a collective chuckle but it was easy to notice someone in their group wasn't alright.

"Lena, you look a little pale." Eleanor said eye brows knitting together.

"I'm fine." Her voice was up an octave.

"I was just telling her about me and Niall." Sam didn't look up from cleaning her nails as if that was more interesting to her.

The other girls shared a look. "What's goin' on?"

Sam looked up. "We're working through some things."

"But I thought he was adopting Olly and everything was ok." Gemma sank down on the couch. "Right?"

"Wait, what?" Lena's mind was reeling with all of this new information. "He's adopting him?"

"Yeah." Sam looked at Lena. "In a few weeks it'll be official. Which makes all of this even worse."

"Sam-"

"We're splitting up." Sam slumped down a bit her head falling back on to the couch. "After he signs the papers we have to set up a custody agreement for Olly."

"But you guys are happy together." Lou had just seen them together the night before there hadn't been anything out of the ordinary.

"We're not." Sam shook her head. "We've talked a lot about what our future look likes and we just can't see each other together. He wants to be Olly's father and I think that's great but our relationship is over. I wish for Olly's sake we could make it work."

"This doesn't make sense." Lena saw how much Niall loved Sam it didn't make sense that they would just end it like they were. "He loves you so much."

"I know. After you left though everything went to shit."

"Sam, that's bit true." Eleanor frowned. "Nothing really changed."

"Maybe not for you." Sam sat up her lip came between her teeth as she thought for a moment if she should say what she was about to say. She was in one of those fuck it moods though. "Louis wasn't involved with Lena like Niall was."

"Are you blaming me?"

The question hung in the air by the sheer force of the tension it brought with it.

"I am."

"You can't." Lena stood up brown eyes a blaze. "I haven't done anything wrong."

"You left with out fuckin' tellin' anyone!" Sam's ears had started to turn pink the color slowly spreading to her cheeks.

"I had to!" Lena cried her foot stomping like a child. "I couldn't stay there any longer I was killing myself! I had to leave."

"You could have said somethin' Niall blamed himself for weeks!" Sam stood up then her shorter height not detouring her from taking a step closer to Lena. "He thought it was all his fault he couldn't make you stay. Like he did something wrong!"

"I think we should calm down." Lou interjected. "We were all upset when you left but it's fine now. We've had time to move past that."

"Not everyone has. I know for a fact Niall and Harry are far from over it."

"I had to leave." Lena repeated. "I know I should have said something but I couldn't you don't know how hard it was for me."

"You don't have to explain yourself." Gemma said quietly.

"I think I need to." Lena sat back down the adrenaline that had pumping through her veins gone now replaced with a sickening feeling. "I was hurting myself, which I assume you already know, I made the decision to take myself out of a situation that was causing me pain. I couldn't be around Harry which meant not being around everyone else. When I got home I felt guilty for not telling anyone so I shut everyone out. Then I was doing better and every time Niall called I was reminded of everything all over again."



Finn sat at the sound board his eyes trained on Lena. She had been out of it all day messing up her words more then usual. He saw the look on her face as she stopped singing mid verse. They had ended the night at the Palm Tree on good terms after Harry left the awkward tension left with him. Finn didn't know what had happened in the two days since then that had gotten into Lena's head but he saw how it was effecting her.

"Can we do that again?" She asked the frustration she was feeling showing.

"Should we take a break first?"

Lena gave a quick nod taking the headphones off before exiting the booth. She fell into the chair next to Finn a puff of hot air coming from between her lips.

"Is everything alright?"

Lena shook her head. "No."

"Maybe we need to get out of here." He said gesturing around him. "Go for a walk and clear our heads, yeah?"

"Alright." Lena's face brightened.

They quickly put on their winter clothes bundling up for the frigid wind that had been going strong all morning. Finn lead the way out of the studio his steps quick. Lena followed after him trying to keep up with him.

"Fucking cold out." He mumbled as he opened the doors to the outside. "There's a coffee place not far from here."

"Caffeine is exactly what I need right now."

Finn slowed down his pace now that they were outside. His strides matched hers as they silently walked. Lena was taking in the street around her; having been in London for two weeks she was still in awe of the city. She still needed to make time to really explore before she left.

Hot Cuppa was nestled between two apartment buildings the small cafe was easily missable if you weren't paying close attention. Finn opened the glass door the scent of coffee grounds filling their senses. On the inside Hot Cuppa was filled with mid matched tables and chairs, in the small space there were only about five of them, and a brightly painted counter where a worn down register sat. There was only one person behind the counter a book open in her hand.

"Mel, you have customers." Finn said with a laugh.

The girl looked up the same pale blue eyes as Finn wide as she quickly set her book down. "Sorry, didn't hear the bell."

"Of course not." Finn smiled. "Melanie this is Lena."

"Oh hello." Melanie looked between them for moment. "Finnley won't stop talking about you."

"Mel." Finn's jaw dropped.

"Well don't bring her to meet me and not expect me to embarrass you." Melanie giggled. "It's pay back really."

"Melanie won't forgive me for embarrassing her in front of every boy she ever brought home." Finn said turning to Lena. "I feel like as her older brother it was my duty to protect her."

"Protecting me." Melanie rolled her eyes. "Did you come here for something?"

"Needed a break from recording." Lena said glancing up at the menus above Melanie's head.

"Well let me make you something!" Melanie jumped off the stool she had been on immediately going to work on a drink for her.

"This is kind of her passion." Finn said as he turned to sit at one of the tables. "I don't know how she loves it so much but she does."

"Everyone has to have something." Lena smiled. She sat across from him happy to be away from the studio for a little while giving her time to really clear her head. "I'm sorry I haven't been doing so well today."

"It's fine." Finn waved her away. "Everyone has a bad day."

"You can tell me about it if you want." Finn said after a moment. "I mean if you want to."

"It's complicated."

"Here you are!" Melanie announced setting two to-go cups in front of them. "I hope you like it!"

Lena took a genitive sip of her drink. "Hazelnut? I love hazelnut."

"Thought so." Melanie grinned. "I'm gifted, ya know."

Finn snorted. "Gifted, more like bloody mental."

"Fuck off." Melanie glared. "I'm going back to work, try not to disturb me yeah?"

"Yeah alright." Finn agreed with a roll of his eyes.

"It was nice meeting you Lena." Melanie said smiling wide. "I hope to see you again."

Lena returned the sentiment and thanked her again for the coffee. Melanie went back to the counter and began wiping down the machines behind it. It was silent as Lena enjoyed her drink, but it was always during the silence that she thought about what was bothering her.

"Have you ever made a decision that you thought was for the greater good but it ended up fucking shit up?" Lena asked needing to voice her thoughts.

Finn didn't answer her right look like he was deep in thought. "Yes." He finally said.

"I thought leaving in the middle of the tour was going to help everything, but now I feel like maybe I shouldn't have left."

"Why do you feel that way?" Finn May not have known exactly what was going on before he met Lena but he knew enough to know she had needed to leave.

"Seeing everyone again and hearing them talk about the last five months has been hard." Lena shrugged. "I just missed out on a lot and it seems like my decision to leave effected people more then I had anticipated."

"I think you shouldn't let anyone else make you feel like it was a bad decision." Finn told her one large hand coming to rest on hers. "Your happiness is all that matters. Are you happy?"

Lena grinned. "I am happy."

"Then that's all that matters."

Lena grinned. "Thank you, Finnley."