“What were you thinking?” Pete rolled his eyes at me.

“Pete, I was thinking that I was going out with my friends after a very successful night.” I shrugged.

Pete had seen the monstrosity that was leaving the event last night. When I had come home, I crawled into bed, and snuggled up to him. He pulled me in close, placing a kiss on my head. He asked how my night went, and if I had fun. After a quick, quiet conversation we both fell fast asleep. When we woke up though, that was a different story. Pete was up before me, like usual. I found him in the kitchen scrolling through his phone, sipping his coffee. I sat down next to him after pouring my own mug, kissing him on the cheek. My playful attitude quickly smashed by his nasty one. Which left us where we were right now, arguing over the pictures he saw on the internet.

“Yes, but did he have to be one of them?” he stared me down.

“Listen Pete, we’ve been together almost 2 years now, right?” he nodded. “And for those 2 years you’ve known my friends are not only good friends with, but in the same band as him, right?” he nodded again. “So why would it be abnormal for us to occasionally be seen together?”

“It’s not the fact that you were seen together, its how you were acting.”

“And those pictures show you how I was acting?” I glared at him.

“Enough.” He shrugged. “You’re holding his hand Spencer.”

“Peter Jackson Malone. Look me in the eye and tell me you know exactly what happened 30 seconds before this picture was taken.”

“I don’t really think I need to know.” he stated.

“But here’s the thing, babe. You do.” I narrowed eyes at him.

“Whatever little lie you’ve created with him and your friends, save it.” he stood up from the table.

“Are you fucking kidding me? You’re not even going to listen?” I stared at him, dumbfounded.

“I really don’t want to hear the details on how my girlfriend is cheating on me with her boyfriend.”

“You know what’s funny? You’re exactly like him, you don’t listen when we disagree, and you’re quick to accuse me of cheating, so why don’t I just leave you for him? HUH?”

“I DON’T CARE SPENCER, DO THAT THEN.” Pete raised his voice.

“OR MAYBE YOU COULD JUST LISTEN!” I yelled back.

He rolled his eyes, heading out of the kitchen. I followed him into our bedroom, waiting for him to say something, anything. He started dressing for work, completely ignoring me.

“Are you going to pretend I don’t exist now?” I sighed.

“You exist, but I do exist to you?” he countered.

“Why wouldn’t you?” I sat down on the bed, looking up at him.

“Because you’ve been spending an awful lot of time with Harry lately.” He finally looked at me. “He’s flying to New York to meet you, he’s showing up at events and you’re leaving with him.”

“He came to finish his fitting, you know I’m making the tuxes for Liam’s wedding, and he happens to be a groomsman, I’ve also met with Ashton, Rachel’s brother Lucas, and Liam’s friend Nate since coming back to NYC, they’ve all come over here. I don’t see why you’re being so fussy over Harry.”

“Because you were engaged to him, Spencer.” Pete said flatly.

“Yes, Pete, I was engaged to him. But I’m not anymore. I’m with you. I’m in love with you. Not him, so I don’t see why you can’t just let this go.” I ran a hand through my hair.

“I just feel like you’re willing to go back to him at any point in time. He seems to be your weakness.”

“Yes, there’s part of me that will always care about Harry, I think that’s natural. But that doesn’t mean I want to be with him.” I stood up, going over to him. “Pete, please don’t make this something it’s not.”

“Then what is it?” he asked.

I grabbed his hands, looking him in the eye. “The paparazzi got too close and when I turned around the camera flashes blinded me. I couldn’t see straight and Harry just happened to be the closest person to me. The bodyguards were too busy holding the paps back and I needed help. It was a purely innocent moment. I ripped his head off for helping me in the manner he did after we got in the car. Yes, I care about him, but at the same time, I dislike him. And if you can’t understand that, you don’t understand me.”

“It’s just so hard Spencer.” he sighed, wrapping an arm around my waist.

“You knew coming into this relationship who my friends were, and that I had a certain amount of fame. The media will twist anything around for a story. They kill for stories that make it seem like someone is cheating or that an old flame is being rekindled. But you have to understand that what you see may not be the entire story. We’ve been together two years Pete, please don’t do this right now.” I wrapped a hand around his neck. “I love you.”

“I’m sorry.” Pete placed a quick kiss on my lips. “I love you, too. Now let’s get ready for our days, and hopefully I can make this up to you by taking you out tonight after we get off work.”

I smiled, pecking his lips. “I would love that.”


---------------------





“Good morning.” I smiled, peeking my head into Josh’s office.

“Hello. Have a nice weekend?” he smirked at me.

“You saw pictures from the event, didn’t you?” I entered the room, closing the door.

“Yes, I did. I thought we hated him?” he raised an eyebrow.

“I do, we do.” I sighed. “It was just a misfortune happening and the media of course twisted it all around.”

“How did Pete react, or doesn’t he know?” Josh asked.

“We got into this huge fight this morning. He said I should just leave him for Harry but I finally calmed him down enough to explain what really happened.”

“And what did happen?” Josh propped his feet up on his desk.

“Paps got too closed, flashed their cameras directly in my face and made me see spots. I just needed someone to stable me until I could see well. Harry just helped me. He could have done it differently, but that’s all it was. Of course they tried to make it into something it wasn’t.”

“That’s why I hate those scumbags, they are terrible.” Josh sighed. “They cause so much unnecessary drama.”

“There wouldn’t be drama if people would just talk and believe the truth.” I shook my head. “Pete just lost his shit. He didn’t even give me a chance to talk. It reminded me so much like Harry. He’s never yelled at me before.”

“You guys have never fought before?” Josh asked surprised.

“I mean we have a few small disagreements, like when he didn’t come last night, but other than petty things, we’ve never really had serious fight.” I slumped down in the chair across from him.

“Well I guess that’s a good thing though.” Josh shrugged.

“Yeah, I don’t know. I think he’s over it. He finally cooled down and talked to me. We’re going out tonight. So we’ll see.”

“Yeah, Pete always seemed like the understanding type. So he was probably just hurt by whatever the article said, but you’re right, he didn’t need to blow it out of proportion.”

“I think we’ll be okay, he’s more mature than to let a stupid fight over an ex tear us apart.” I nodded. “Well I’m going to head into my office, I’m meeting a client in a few.”

“Oh, someone fancy?” Josh smiled.

“Actually just a normal joe shmoe.” I said standing up, gathering my bags. “She wants me to make a dress for something.”

“So it’s a rich joe shmoe.” Josh chuckled.

“Well I guess, but she’s not famous nonetheless.” I chuckled. “Come swing by for lunch, I brought wine.”

“Not more wine.” He sighed. “But yes, I’ll order out too.”

“See you later babe.” I winked, closing his door behind me.

I entered my office, getting myself ready for the day. I had come in earlier than usual, even though I had spent the night out. I had an appointment in about an hour and I wanted it to go perfectly. Generally, the clients I dealt with were of some form of status, but today, I had made an appointment with a normal person, wealthy, but normal. I liked being able to cater to everyone. My clothes were in stores that average people could afford, but for someone to come in and have a dress specially made was something I wasn’t used too, unless it was a celebrity.

I was straightening my desk when I heard a light knock on my door.

“Come in!” I shouted.

“Hey Spencer.” Lily stuck her head in. “Are you busy?”

“I’m never too busy for my favorite person.” I smiled up from behind my desk.

She smiled, coming in, closing the door behind her. “I have a few questions.”

“Sure, what’s up?”

“Well for starters, how was last night?” she smiled.

“It went really well! My speech was okay, man I was so nervous.” I laughed thinking about it. “But it turned out not to be so bad, and we actually ended up raising quite a bit of money from what I’m told.”

“Wow, that’s amazing. I can only hope to be a powerful woman like you when I’m older.” She smiled.

“You aren’t that much younger than me.” I chuckled, sticking out my tongue. “I’m only 5 years older than you.”

“You know what I mean.” She rolled her eyes. “But I just think what you’re doing is so cool.”

“Thank you, we need to get involved at younger ages so we can make an impact for a longer time.” I shrugged.

“And how was the after party?” she wiggled her eyebrows.

“Oh my god.” I laughed. “What about it?”

“Well everyone is talking about the holding hands moment, but once you got to wherever, how actually was it?”

“Yeah, it was actually a good time. We went to the club, got more intoxicated, and danced the night away. It was nice.” I sighed.

“But…?” Lily asked.

“But what?”

“Oh come on Spencer, we’ve only worked together for a short bit but I know when there’s a but.”

“God, too wise for your young age.”

“You aren’t that much older than me.” She shot back, laughing.

“Whatever.” I smiled. “But, you have to keep a secret.”

“Haven’t I kept every secret you’ve told me yet?” she looked over at me.

“Yes, fair enough.” I nodded. “But it sort of made me miss old times.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean like, being out with Em and Lou with Harry, made me miss him.” I shrugged.

“I thought you loved Pete, though?” she questioned.

“I do, yeah, I do love Pete.” I sighed again. “But I just have so much fun with them.”

“So you can’t go out with them because Harry might be there?” she asked. “If you have fun, with or without him there, what’s the big deal?”

“I don’t trust myself.” I dramatically plopped my head onto my desk.

“Why’s that? You love Pete, it shouldn’t matter!”

“Lily, when I dated Harry, I had the hardest times controlling myself around other guys. It didn’t matter what measures I took to make sure I wouldn’t cheat, it always somehow happened.”

“I thought you only slept with Niall.”

“I only slept with Niall, I made out with Efron, and had more so of an emotional fling with Luke Hemmings.” I let out a shaky breathe. “I came the closest to losing Harry over Luke. Not only did I, yes, kiss him, multiple times, but we had this sort of mental love affair. Luke made me seriously consider if I wanted to be with Harry. And as crazy this is about to sound, I think that could be happening with Harry.”

“You mean Harry is causing you to reconsider your relationship with Pete?”

“Exactly. And the shit part is, I think it’s all just a game to Harry.”

“Then play it.” Lily shrugged, so nonchalantly.

“What do you mean play it?” I looked at her confused.

“This might be where my youth comes in handy. I just graduated high school, I just finished playing all the games out there.” She shrugged.

“So what do I do?”

“You love Pete and want to stay with him, right?” she asked, I nodded.

“Well then make sure Pete knows that, make sure Harry knows that.” She paused. “But at the same time, make Harry squirm. He wants to cloud your brain? Cloud his first. Make him want you more than he ever has. We all know he wouldn’t be able to say no.”

“And how does one, make Harry Styles want you?”

“Spencer, you almost married the guy, you know exactly how to make him want you.” she chuckled quietly.

“I know that much, but I mean how do I get into those positions in the first place? We’d have to be alone, right?”

“Not necessarily.” She smirked. “I have an idea, if it’s not too forward.”

“Sure.” I nodded.

“It ties into my other question actually.” She looked at the ground. “So Niall asked if I wanted to go out this weekend, but let’s turn it into something fun.”

“Be careful.” I reminded her.

“I know, I know. That’s what I wanted to ask, if you thought it’d be innocent for the first time we went out, or not.”

“I think he’d play it cool for a couple dates, then try to get it in.” I laughed.

“Excellent, so I’ll tell him to invite Harry, maybe some other friends, and I’ll bring some friends and you can come, and we’ll make it interesting.”

“Why is he even in town?” I asked.

“I don’t know.” she shrugged. “But what do you say?”

“Fine. I’ll do it.” I rolled my eyes. “I can’t believe I’m doing this.”

“It’ll be fun, but it won’t get out of hand.” She smiled. “I promise. And Pete will still love you and vice versa at the end of the night.”

“Right.”

“Don’t catch feelings, remember…” she smirked another smirk that would rival Zayn’s. “It’s all a game.”

“You’re going to be the death of me, little one.” I eyed her.

“But we’ll have fun dying.” She smiled, standing up.

“Get out of here before I change my mind.” I laughed, watching her leave.

What was I getting myself into? I wanted to mess with Harry but at what cost?



-----------------------


(During appointment)

“So this is for your wedding then?” I smiled brightly across the desk.

“Yes, I’m so thrilled you’re willing to do this.” Kimberly, my new client, smiled.

“And you said the wedding isn’t for 2 years?” I jotted down some notes.

“Right, but when I talked to your secretary, she said you had a lot going on and figured it would be better if I came now to talk so you’d have ample time after your schedule calms down.”

“She’s a smart one.” I chuckled. “So let’s talk about what you really want for your dream night.”

“I was hoping for a mermaid style dress. Pristine, crisp white, with a sweetheart neckline.”

“That’s simple enough, what kind of details and fabric?”

“Chiffon, with very minimal detailing, I want it to show me off, not the other way around.” She smiled.

“Excellent. Now when you say minimal…”I started but was cut off by my office door slamming open.

“YOU DIRTY LITTLE SLUT.” I whipped my head to the yelling body.

“Zara?” I questioned, confused.

“Where do you get off going out with my boyfriend?”

“You need to leave, I’m with a client.” I stated, watching as Karen entered the room, trying to get her to leave.

“NO! YOU’RE GOING TO TELL ME WHO THE FUCK YOU THINK YOU ARE.”

“I know I’m Spencer McMichael and I know you need to leave, now.” I stood up.

“You are the most distasteful human being to ever walk the face of this planet!” she spat.

“Excuse me, I’m so sorry.” I nodded towards Kimberly, leaving the room, hoping Zara would follow.

“Don’t you dare walk away from me you little bitch!” Zara yelled from behind me.

I walked towards Karen’s desk, picking up the phone. “Hi this is Spencer McMichael. Yes, we need security. Thank you.”

“You think calling security scares me?” Zara laughed, getting in my face. “So are you going to tell me why you think it’s cute to use my boyfriend?”

“I have not a clue what you are referring too. You can leave on your own, or security will be here in no time to help you out.”

“I know you’re just trying to get Harry back from me.” She smirked smugly at me.

“Yes, totally, that’s why I love my boyfriend, that is not Harry Styles.” I rolled my eyes.

She took a step closer to me. “You cunt. You think you’re so cute, running around with your happy family façade but cheating behind your boyfriends back.”

“I am cute, thanks.” I tossed my hair over my shoulder.

“Stay away from him, or else.” She threatened me.

“It happens that he’s a client of mine, so that’ll be kind of hard.” I shrugged, not even bothering to raise my voice. “Now, there is the door.”

“Harry doesn’t want any piece of you. He thinks you’re a whore.” She thought she had something over me.

“Yeah, that’s what he was saying last night, when I was with him, not you.” I laughed.

“HOW DARE YOU!” She yelled before pushing me, causing me to lose my balance.

“I’m better than a girl fight, I’m a dignified human. Leave.” I said, standing back up as security came in.

I watched as she came closer to me again, this time not being able to reach me before security was dragging her out of the office. I plopped myself down in one of the waiting area chairs. I rubbed my eyes, looking around the room. Everyone had come out to see what the commotion was.

“You didn’t help your cause.” Josh chuckled.

“She’s an idiot.” I shrugged. “I don’t really care.”

“What a crazy person.” Lily giggled. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, now everyone get back to work, I have a client to finish up with then we can all order in some lunch.”


----------------------------------------------


(Dinner with Pete)

“Hey baby.” I smiled, as Pete came towards the table.

I had arrived at the restaurant before he did, I had been babysitting my glass of wine patiently waiting for him. I stood up to greet him properly. I place a quick kiss on his lips before sitting back down.

“How was your day?” he asked, as the waiter brought him his own glass of wine.

“It was interesting.” I chuckled.

“Why interesting?” he smiled.

“Well for starters, Lily asked me to go out with her and Niall and his friends.” I chuckled.

“Are you?”

“Yeah, I think she kind of wants me to keep an eye on them. She likes him but I don’t think she’s ready to do what Niall has in mind.” I stopped to sip my wine.

“Sounds fair. I like her, I wouldn’t want him to hurt her.” Pete followed suit, sipping his wine as well. “What else?”

“I was in the middle of this meeting with a new client and Zara, Harry’s girlfriend, busted into my office and was yelling about me being a slut and how I needed to stay away from her boyfriend and all this bullshit.”

“Seriously?” Pete chuckled.

“Yes! She was saying how Harry thinks I’m a whore, and that I can’t hang out with him anymore and all this random shit. And the best part is, I had security escort her out.” I smiled at that.

“She’s kind of right though.” Pete said.

“What?” I glared at him.

“Not the whore, or slut part. But maybe you do need to stop hanging out with him.” He paused, trying to read my expression. “That’s all.”

“Okay, first of all, last night was the first time I had seen him in a nonbusiness sense in like a year.” I stared him down. “Second, he’s now a client, so I can’t technically not see him. Third, do you not trust me?”

“Babe, I trust you. It’s him I don’t trust. Anyone with eyes can tell the boy is still in love with you.”

“Okay, maybe instead of telling me who I can and can’t see, maybe you need to trust me.”

Déjà vu. Harry was happening all over again, except at least Harry had something to actually be worried about.

“I just said I trust you.” Pete shrugged.

“You’re saying it, but you aren’t believing it.” I scowled.

“I just don’t like the world wondering if your mine or his.”

“You know I’m yours, right?” he nodded. “Then why does anyone else in this world matter?”

He looked across the table, lowering his voice. “Because maybe you don’t know who you’re with.”

“Oh my fucking god. Peter, are you kidding?” I huffed. “Pete, I love you to death and if you can’t see that, I don’t know why we’re here.”

“Maybe it’s time we step our relationship up then. Take it to the next level.” He shrugged.

“What are you suggesting?”

“I love you Spencer, and I want to be together forever, so why not show the world that?” he asked.

“I’m not ready to be married, Pete. You know that.” I let my head fall into my hands, resting an elbow on the table.

“I know. Just because we get engaged, doesn’t mean we need to be married right away.”

“No.” I eyed him down. “No.”

“Why not?”

“Because we don’t need a stupid round piece of jewelry to prove we are in love!”

“Spencer, I’m not going to be able to wait forever. I’m much older than you.”

“Pete, you’re on crack. You are 33 years old. You can’t possibly think that’s too old to wait.”

“I want a wife and a family, a happy home.”

“We don’t have a happy home without that?” I was getting angry.

“I’m happy without that, but I’m just ready for the next step.”

“You knew coming into this relationship, I was in a different place in my life. I was 22 when we started dating, you know I’m not much different than two years ago. So if you need a wife so bad, go find one.”

I stood up to leave, but he grabbed my hand, stopping me. “Spencer, I’m sorry.”

Reluctantly, I took my seat again, finishing off my wine. “You are so worried about what other people think that you aren’t even thinking about what you’re doing to us.”

“I know I said I wouldn’t rush anything, but I just need to know you’re still fully in this.” He looked at me.

“Yes! I’m one hundred percent still in love with you! And damnit if you can’t see that.”

He reached across the table grabbing my hand, “I’m sorry. I just get scared you’re going to go back to Harry, you guys have so much history and you were ready to marry him in less time.”

“That’s the thing, I wasn’t ready to marry him. I agreed because I thought I was. Newsflash Pete, I wasn’t and I’m still not.”

“I know, baby. I’m so sorry.” He bowed his head.

“Now can we just stop being foolish, agree we both love each other, leave some money on this table for the wine, skip dinner altogether and go home and fuck like rabbits instead?” I bit my lip, smirking at him.

“I think we should probably do that.” He said digging money from his wallet, tossing it onto the table.

Notes

hey everyone!
Sorry for taking so long to write this! I've moved across the country, into a new apartment, traveled to 2 different places to see the boys, and started classes all within the past few weeks! (give me a break!)

Sorry if this isn't that great and is all over the place too. I had a hard time figuring out what to write. I promise that it will be better next chapter because I actually know what I want to happen for that! I just apologize. This is a filler. My bad.

Happy Labor Day to those American readers and Happy thanks for reading my story Day, to everyone else! :)